Lawyers play a critical role in improving outcomes for homeless youth by enforcing existing laws, advancing new policy, and removing legal barriers to benefits, education, employment, health care, housing, identification, treatment and services.

To help homeless youth, this summer the American Bar Association created the Homeless Youth Legal Network (HYLN). The network aims to serve homeless youth seeking legal assistance, help service providers working with homeless youth and train lawyers who want to help. HYLN has already launched a website; surveyed people and groups about the legal needs of youth in their community; launched a listserv for attorneys and other advocates; begun providing training and technical assistance to legal services providers and homelessness programs. The ABA will base some of the network’s practices on 12 model programs from across the country. For more information, contact Jennifer Kildee at 202-662-1732 or Jennifer.Kildee@americanbar.org.

COURTS

4 Nominated to Federal Bench
President Donald Trump in mid-July nominated state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, Thomas L. Parker, William L. Campbell Jr. and Eli J. Richardson to serve as federal judges.

Norris and Parker were picked to serve as judges on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Trump nominated Campbell and Richardson to serve in the Middle District. Nominees must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before they can take their seats on the bench, which had not happened at the time of this writing.

Court Shows Support for Indigent Task Force Recommendations
After careful review of recommendations from the Indigent Representation Task Force released earlier this year, members of the Tennessee Supreme Court are showingsupport for them.
“We are very supportive of the recommendations developed by the Task Force, which present a clear roadmap for much-needed improvements to our indigent representation system,” said Chief Justice Jeff Bivins. He added  that soon the court would develop a strategy to implement many of these recommendations.

Notices of Appeal Must Be Filed with Clerk of the Appellate Courts 
Since July 1, all Notices of Appeal filed with the Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals or Supreme Court must be filed in the office of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts rather than in the office of the Trial Court Clerk.

The Rules of Appellate Procedure related to the filing of a Notice of Appeal directed to the Appellate Courts changed July 1.

After that date, trial court clerks will no longer accept a Notice of Appeal for filing in their office; it must be filed in the office of the Appellate Court Clerk in the grand division of the trial court from which the appeal arises.

Supreme Court Creates Court Reporter Task Force 
In response to a lack of qualified court reporters in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court has created a task force of judges, clerks and court reporters to address the shortage. With grant funding obtained from the Office of Criminal Justice Programs, the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Court Reporter Task Force have begun work on the development of a pilot educational program with the goal of increasing the number of well-trained court reporters.

HEALTH

NYT Article Explores Drug Abuse in Legal Profession  
When she found her ex-husband dead from drug-abuse-related complications, Eileen Zimmerman began searching for answers, digging into the legal profession he had been a part of for more than 20 years. She found that the pressure and work culture of law firms, law schools — and the entire profession — contribute to the widespread and unhealthy norms for lawyers. In her compelling first-person narrative, published in the The New York Times July 17, she tells the story of following the trail of his addiction, including discovering cellphone records that showed the last call he ever made was for work: “Vomiting, unable to sit up, slipping in and out of consciousness, [he] had managed, somehow, to dial into a conference call.”

A recent landmark Hazelden/American?Bar Association study showed that drug abuse among America’s lawyers is on the rise and deeply hidden. Results showed that about 21 percent of lawyers qualify as problem drinkers, while 28 percent struggle with mild or more serious depression and 19 percent struggle with anxiety.

Nearly 21 percent of the lawyers who said they had used drugs in the previous year reported “intermediate” concern about their drug use. Three percent had “severe” concerns.

In Tennessee, the place to get information or help is the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. Learn more at tlap.org.

ELDER LAW

New Senior Law Website Launched
West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS) has launched a website to provide legal information and resources to Tennessee senior citizens. The site,TnSeniorLaw.org, includes nearly 60 printable factsheets and informative videos on legal issues relevant to seniors, including conservatorships, long-term care and Medicaid. Other topics on the easy-to-navigate site include senior scams and safety, protecting legal rights, custody and visitation with grandchildren, and senior services resources.

The project was made possible by a Serving Tennessee Seniors grant and adapted some topics from the Tennessee Bar Association’s Senior Law Handbook.

FAMILY LAW

AOC Updates Parenting Plan Forms  
The Administrative Office (AOC) of the Courts has revised the Permanent Parenting Plan and Temporary Parenting Plan Forms. Copies of the revised forms are available on the AOC website.

CRIMINAL LAW

Due Process Urged in Campus Sex Assault Cases  
The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s Task Force on College Due Process Rights and Victim Protection released a report earlier this summer that recommends due process protections for both the accused and the accuser in campus sexual assault cases, the ABA Journal reports.

It further recommends that both parties receive written notice before a formal investigation begins and that both parties be allowed to review a school’s initial investigative report.

VOTER LAWS

Hargett Denies Trump Request for Detailed Voter Data
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett in June rejected a Trump administration request for detailed voter data. In a letter from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sent to all 50 states, a host of information was requested from each state, including election security and voter data.

Kris Kobach, vice chair of the commission, asked that states share the name of all registered voters, their address, date of birth, political party, the last four digits of their social security number and voting history.

Hargett said he would not comply with the request, citing Tennessee’s laws. In July, NBC?News reported that 45 states and the District of Columbia had either declined to release any of the requested data or provided only limited information to the panel.