The Memphis Bar Association's Access to Justice Committee is accepting nominations for its annual pro bono awards through Oct. 12. Nominations, which can be submitted online, should include the name and contact information of the nominee and a brief statement supporting the selection. The committee will vote on the final recipients, with winners being announced at the 2022 Pro Bono Awards Ceremony on Nov. 3.

Just one month into her new role as the head of the Department of Children’s Services, Margie Quin says children in state care are sleeping on office floors and her staff is “traumatized.” According to WREG, Quinn told a group of state lawmakers this week that 100% of secure facilities are full with 11 to 15 youth waiting for appropriate placements. She went on to say that those sleeping in offices are “high-needs children” and sometimes youth who have committed a felony, which has staff and kids feeling unsettled. Quin promised lawmakers she is digging for answers and solutions to problems plaguing the department.

The next Veterans’ Legal Advice Clinic — a joint project of Knoxville area legal organizations — will take place this coming Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. EDT at the Knoxville Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St. This general advice and referral clinic is supported by the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers and Young Lawyers Division, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office, University of Tennessee  College of Law, Lincoln Memorial University-Duncan School of Law, and the local Veterans Affairs office. Sign up here to volunteer.

The Nashville Chapter of the American Constitutional Society will offer its annual U.S. Supreme Court preview on Oct. 18 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. This year’s program will feature Mark Joseph Stern, a senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate Magazine. Based in Washington, D.C., Stern has covered the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate and district courts, as well as various state and local courts since 2013. The event will take place at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC , 150 Third Ave. S., Ste. 2800, Nashville 37201.

The annual TBA Family Law Forum will take place virtually on Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT. This staple for domestic law lawyers features timely sessions on Rule 53 and collaborative family law, invasion of privacy, case law, legislative updates, ethics and attorney’s fees The program will feature Lisa Gill with Gill Family Law in Germantown; Memphis lawyer Loys Jordan III with McDonald Kuhn; 21st Judicial District Circuit Court Judge James Martin; Memphis lawyer Lucian Pera with Adams and Reese; Nashville lawyer Siew-Ling Shea with Rogers, Kamm & Shea; and Joseph Smith with the Miles Mason Family Law Group in Germantown.

Hamilton County Chancellor Pamela Fleenor has taken over as president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Fleenor is the third woman to hold the position and the first judge from Chattanooga to be elected president in 30 years. Among her goals for the year are to restore and increase public confidence and trust in the court system, and to reconnect judges who lacked fellowship with their colleagues during the pandemic. “The relationships are priceless,” she said. “Judges cannot talk about cases to anyone because it is confidential — not lawyers, not your family. But you can talk to other judges.” Fleenor is a Chattanooga native. She earned her law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and was a trial practitioner before running for chancellor in 2014.

Davidson County lawyer Dana L. Nero was suspended from the practice of law today. The Tennessee Supreme Court took the action after finding that Nero failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct.

Davidson County lawyer Isaiah Skip Gant was censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court today. The court took the action based on Gant’s representation of a criminal defendant. Following the client’s conviction, Gant told lawyers representing another defendant charged with related crimes that their client was innocent. According to the court, this implied that Gant’s client was not innocent. Gant also had an ex parte meeting with the presiding judge and told the judge he believed the other defendant was innocent — all while a motion for new trial was pending for his client. The court found that Gant did not have his client’s permission to reveal this information, did not tell his client of the conversations and continued to represent the client. Finally, the court found that Gant did not report possible misconduct of another attorney to the Board of Professional Responsibility. His actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 3.5, 8.3 and 8.4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today reversed a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals that granted relief to a defendant on an unpreserved and unpresented issue. The court found that the appeals court abused its discretion by granting the relief without giving the parties fair notice and an opportunity to be heard on the matter. The court said that while appellate courts have limited discretionary authority to review unpresented and unpreserved issues, they must provide fair notice and an opportunity to be heard before deciding such an issue. The decision came in the case of Lynn Frank Bristol, who was convicted on two counts of aggravated sexual battery in Coffee County and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Bristol had claimed his conviction should be overturned because of alleged discrepancies between the written jury instructions and the trial court’s oral jury charge.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications for the Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Section, vacancy created by the death of Judge John Everett Williams on Sept. 2. Applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 30 years old, a resident of the state for five years and a resident of Tennessee’s Western Grand Division. Applications must be submitted to the Administrative Office of the Courts by noon CDT on Oct. 24. Get full applications instructions here. Applicants will be interviewed on Nov. 22 at 9 a.m. CST in the courtroom of the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in Jackson.