Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) Commissioner Margie Quin is seeking $156 million in new funding, including $15.8 million for caseworker salary increases, the Tennessean reports. In her department’s budget request, Quin noted that nearly half of all new caseworkers quit within their first year. Quin called the turnover rate "horrific" as the department faces a challenge of correcting years of systemic staffing woes and increased numbers of children in state foster care. "It is no secret that DCS has failed to hire and retain staff, and as a result has seen unusually high caseload averages throughout the state, especially in hard-hit staffing areas like Davidson County," Quin told Gov. Bill Lee and his budget staff.

The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar today advanced a proposal to make standardized admissions tests optional at accredited law schools. The council voted on the amendment to its testing mandate, Standard 503, at a hybrid meeting in Atlanta. The standard currently requires law schools to use a “valid and reliable” test to assess applicants. Historically, that has been the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). At today’s meeting, the council also voted to amend Standard 501 to include an annual review of admissions policies and practices. The proposals will now go to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration at its February 2023 meeting in New Orleans. If approved, the changes would not be implemented until the fall of 2025, the ABA Journal reports.

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order seeking comments on a proposal from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission to increase the number of course hours for family mediators who wish to obtain the designation “Specifically Trained in Domestic Violence Issues.” The proposal from the commission would amend Rule 31(14)(g) to increase the required training from 12 to 16 hours. Comments should be submitted by Jan. 17, 2023, and reference docket number ADM2022-01538.

Following Yale Law School’s decision earlier this week to boycott law school rankings published by U.S. News, three additional law schools have announced they will do so as well. Harvard Law School, University of California Berkeley Law School and Georgetown University Law Center now say they will not participate in the rankings either. Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the rankings are “profoundly inconsistent” with the school’s “values and public mission” and penalize schools that help students launch careers in public service law. U.S. News & World Report said it has no plans to change its goals for the rankings. Reuters has more about Georgetown’s decision while Bloomberg looks at Berkeley’s move.

The next Second Saturday Legal Clinic (2SLAC) will take place Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to noon CST at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. Firm sponsors are needed as well as individual volunteer attorneys and support staff! Sign-up here. Then on Dec. 13, the Memphis Veterans Phone Clinic will take place from noon to 2 p.m. CST. Volunteer attorneys are needed to provide legal advice to veterans on a variety of civil issues ranging from child support to debt relief. Certification to practice before the Veterans Administration is not required to participate in this clinic. Contact Jake Dickerson to volunteer.

Jack Smith, a former HCA attorney and U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, has been named as a special counsel to oversee criminal investigations related to former President Donald Trump. Smith, appointed today by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, will oversee investigations into Trump’s actions related to the events of Jan. 6 and documents found at Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago. Smith served as acting U.S. attorney in Nashville during the Obama-Trump transition, stepping down in 2017. He then served in the legal role at HCA before moving to The Hague in 2018, where he has served as chief prosecutor for Kosovo war crimes cases. The Nashville Post reported on the Tennessee connection. The Hill has more on the appointment process.

Memphis lawyer Louis F. Allen died Monday at the age of 85. A 1964 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law, Allen primarily practiced as a trial lawyer and achieved partner status at both Waring Cox and Glankler Brown. He retired in 2017 after 53 years of service. He also served in the Judge Advocate General Corp of the Air Force Reserves. He was a fellow of the American College Trial Lawyers, Tennessee Bar Foundation and Memphis Bar Foundation. Visitation and funeral services were held today at Christ Church Memphis following a private burial. Memorial donations may be made to the church at 4488 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38117 or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

The YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee will host its next Stand Against Injustice virtual lunch and learn on Nov. 29 from 1-2 p.m. CST. This month's topic will be "Antisemitism in Our Day." The program will explore the rise of antisemitism in Tennessee and across the country. Speakers include the chair of the Nashville Holocaust Memorial, a Vanderbilt University anthropology professor and a local rabbi. Learn more here.

The Biden Administration today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a lower court order that blocked the president’s student loan relief program, The Washington Post reports. That order, issued Monday, came in a suit brought by six Republican-led states. Implementation of the plan has been on hold since Oct. 21, when the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency stay. Last week, in yet another a case — this one brought by two borrowers — a federal judge in Texas struck down the plan as unlawful as well. In that case, the U.S. government already has asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the decision.

An order issued yesterday by the Tennessee Supreme Court altered the requirements for meetings of the Tennessee Lawyers Fund for Client Protection. The amendment to Rule 25, Section 5.01 states there will “be no personal appearances except upon request of the Board” or “written authorization of the Board Chair, pursuant to a written request” that is submitted 14 days prior to the meeting.