Four legal advice clinics are being held this week across the state. In Nashville, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold a clinic on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. at the Nashville library and on Saturday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the McHugh Clinic. In Memphis, the Memphis Bar Association and Memphis Area Legal Services will hold an Attorney of the Day Clinic on Thursday from 1-3 p.m. at the Shelby County General Sessions Courthouse and the Second Saturday Legal Aid Clinic from 10 a.m. to noon at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library. All times central. Sign up online to help at the Nashville clinics. Contact Heather Staggs to volunteer for the Memphis clinics.

TBA's annual Hot Topics in Real Estate seminar, presented in partnership with the Tennessee Land Title Association, will be held virtually on Nov. 8 from 9 a.m to 4:15 p.m. CST. Topics will include powers of attorney, the new FINCEN rules, AI and the annual case law and legislative updates. Participants include Al Frazier with Fidelity National Financial Title Group, Ryan Martinez with Alliant National Title Insurance, Dr. Susan Tanner with the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and Charles Welch Jr. with Phelps Dunbar. Real Estate Section members enjoy discounted registration fees. Not a member of the section? Join here.

On Oct. 30, Maury County lawyer James Michael Marshall was suspended from the practice of law for five years, with four years to be served on active suspension and one year on probation. During the probationary period he is required to retain a practice monitor. The Tennessee Supreme Court found that Marshall failed to reasonably communicate with his client, act in a diligent manner, expedite litigation, pursue in a timely fashion the objectives of his client, communicate with his client that he accepted new employment, place client funds into trust, properly withdraw from representation, and failed to take reasonable steps to protect the client’s interest after terminating representation. His conduct was determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2(a), 1.3, 1.4, 1.15, 1.16(c), 3.2, 3.4(c) and 8.4(a). The court also issued an order temporarily suspending Marshall for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility about a complaint of misconduct. This suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

Williamson County Circuit and Chancery Courts are seeking attorneys for appointment to represent indigent clients. Attorneys are not required to be in court at the time of appointment. To sign up for appointments, please send your name, address, cell phone, email and area of interest (criminal defense, termination of parental rights, criminal contempt, etc.) to Stacy Green at stacy.green@tncourts.gov.

Five Tennessee trial court judges recently completed an intensive two-week general jurisdiction course at the National Judicial College. Circuit court judges Brent Bradberry of Carroll County, Damita Dandridge of Shelby County and Mark Hayes of Dyer and Lake counties, and criminal court judges Cynthia Chappell of Davidson County and Ryan Spitzer of Anderson County took the immersive course, which aims to provide judges with a solid foundation on courtroom leadership, judicial ethics, evidence, case management, judicial security and decision-making. Graduates can earn credit hours toward a Master of Judicial Studies degree. According to a press release, the Tennessee judges all agreed that the experience was worthy and will benefit the administration of justice in their respective judicial districts. Read more in the release and see a picture of the group.

A recent report from the ABA Journal captures the work lawyers, bar associations and legal aid groups are doing to serve communities hit by Hurricane Helene. From efforts in Augusta, Georgia, to Asheville and other parts of western North Carolina, lawyers have stepped in to provide both physical and legal assistance to storm survivors. The article also looks at how the ABA Young Lawyers Division’s Disaster Legal Services program operates in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That program is now coordinating delivery of free legal services in at least six states according to the Journal. Tennessee lawyers interested in helping should complete this online form. The TBA Disaster Resources page offers general information for those impacted by disasters, as well as those seeking to provide assistance. The TBA's Helene Disaster Response page has information and resources specific to this disaster.

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) recently launched a new fugitive task force and hired a new investigative counsel to tackle thousands of outstanding warrants in county. The Daily Memphian reports that the task force operates under MPD’s Organized Crime Unit with 29 officers assigned to it. Forrest Edwards also has been hired to serve as the task force’s new investigative counsel. Edwards, a former prosecutor in the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office, will serve as a liaison between the department and the prosecutor’s office, helping prosecutors build cases. MPD says there are about 24,000 outstanding warrants in the county and that the task force has made 280 arrests since its formation last month.

Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster failed to persuade a U.S. appeals court to block a proposed class action accusing them of charging artificially high ticket prices, Reuter reports. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld a lower court’s ruling that Live Nation could not force ticket buyers to arbitrate their claims through a new arbitration body called New Era ADR. The court said the arbitration rules — which it called “so dense, convoluted and internally contradictory to be borderline unintelligible” — were unfair to consumers and “overtly” beneficial to the company. Live Nation defended New Era, calling its rules "sensible, fair and similar" to those at other platforms. In a separate case, the U.S. Justice Department and a group of states, including Tennessee, asked a U.S. judge in May to break up Live Nation for allegedly violating antitrust law by controlling ticket sales and pricing.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered two cases: government-proposed net neutrality rules and alleged unfair labor practices by Starbucks. In the first case, a panel of three judges heard oral arguments about whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had the authority to issue rules prohibiting internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic from competitors or giving preferential treatment to certain customers. While industry groups argued that the “major questions doctrine” should limit the agency’s power, the government argued that the doctrine was properly applied. In the second case, the court heard from Starbucks Corp., which argued that the National Labor Relations Board erred when it ordered the company to pay “all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms” stemming from it found to be the illegal firing of an employee. Bloomberg Law reports on both hearings.

The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) will hold its annual Fall Memorial Service on Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. EST at the Tennessee Supreme Court Courtroom, 505 Main St., 2nd Floor, Knoxville 37902. The KBA notes that the event is intended to celebrate the careers of and honor, applaud and express gratitude for members who have died in the last year. Due to the number of losses this year, some recently deceased members will be honored at a ceremony in the spring. See the list of those to be honored in November and register to attend on the group's website.