Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands is now accepting applications for two attorneys to work on its Eviction Right to Counsel Project — a two year grant-funded project wherein low and moderate income tenants facing eviction receive appointed legal representation. The attorneys will provide legal representation to income-eligible clients in cases involving tenants’ rights, including public/subsidized housing, Section 8, private landlord/tenant issues and fair housing. Find application instructions and more information here or find more job postings on the TBA’s JobLink site.

Meet TBA’s Director of Finance & Accounting Derrick Dishner! Derrick oversees the processing of payables, budgeting and monthly financial reporting at the TBA. He says knowing that he’s “nurturing the financial health of the organization to keep it healthy for another 100 years” is the best part of his job! Don’t be jealous, but Derrick has two big trips coming up this year – a trip down the Rhine and to the Baltic!

The #TeamTBA series offers members a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the TBA and how each staff members makes the association run. Check back every Wednesday for a new staff profile in TBA Today and on the TBA's Facebook Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The Chattanooga Bar Association recently held a retirement reception for Judges Russell Bean, Jeffrey Hollingsworth and Don Poole, the Hamilton County Herald reports. Roughly 180 guests attended the event, which took place at Pinnacle Financial Partners. Bean, who served 22 years on Chattanooga’s city court, told the crowd that stepping down was “bittersweet.” Hollingsworth, elected to the Hamilton County Circuit Court in 2006, announced his plans to open a mediation practice with his daughter. Poole practiced law for 33 years before being elected to the county’s criminal court in 2006. He thanked his wife and fellow jurists for their support, adding he wasn’t quite sure what people mean when they congratulate him for retiring. “Maybe they mean, ‘Congratulations for getting old,’” he joked.

Two former employees of the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk’s office have filed federal lawsuits against their former boss for alleged age and disability discrimination, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.  Kathy Diane Lewis, 63, and Christine Dumais, 64, say Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to lay off older women in the office and replace them with “significantly younger females” with little or no experience. “Hammond established a pattern and practice of hiring females significantly younger than (Lewis and Dumais), and some of whom Hammond had become acquainted with at local bars and entertainment establishments,” the lawsuits state. Hammond allegedly told both women their positions were being eliminated due to lack of funds, but the suits allege the jobs were not eliminated, but instead filled by younger women. Lewis and Dumais filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and have since received a “right to sue” letter based on that agency’s investigation.

Metro Council will tonight reconsider a proposal to host the Republican National Convention in 2024, the Tennessean reports. Councilmember Robert Swope last month pulled his resolution to bring the convention to Nashville before a vote due to lack of support, but last week refiled it in a final attempt to secure council support. Swope also filed a resolution that would welcome the RNC to Nashville and "open a dialogue" with state lawmakers to allow Nashville to impose development impact fees, which could be used to fund the infrastructure and schools strained by booming development. The Republican National Committee will make a final decision during its Aug. 5 meeting, but its site selection panel has unanimously recommended Milwaukee as the location for the 2014 convention.

Frost Brown Todd is looking to hire an automotive/mobility restructuring associate for its Nashville office. Interested candidates should have 3-5 years of experience in handling workouts and restructurings in the automotive and mobility industry. Additional experience with Chapter 11 work, including the representation of debtors, secured creditors and unsecured creditors in complex bankruptcy cases, will be considered. See the job posting for more information on how to apply and find other openings through the TBA’s JobLink site.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery today announced that the state will join an Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force of 50 attorneys general to investigate and take legal action against the telecommunications companies responsible for bringing a majority of foreign robocalls into the United States. The task force has issued civil investigative demands to 20 gateway providers and other entities who, according to the release from the AG’s office, are not taking sufficient action to stop robocall traffic. “We wouldn’t be bombarded with robocalls if it wasn’t benefitting certain companies in the telecommunications industry,” Slatery said. “These calls are not only a nuisance but a scam risk to many in Tennessee and nationwide.”  

A story from MLK50: Justice Through Journalism highlights the differences in how Shelby County’s six General Sessions Civil Court judges handle eviction cases. MLK journalists sat through hearings in front of all six judges over the course of three weeks, observing at least 10 eviction cases in which the tenant came to court in each courtroom. Of those cases, Judges Danielle Mitchell Sims, Betty Thomas Moore and Deborah Henderson were the only judges to bring up the Emergency Rental Assistance funds — a federal program that could cover up to 12 months of past-due rent and two months of future rent. The Commercial Appeal has a breakdown of MLK’s report, including why other judges did not mention the ERA program in court and how certain state housing policies prevent judges from doing more in eviction cases.

Tennessee appellate courts hit a milestone recently after livestreaming 1,000 cases. Livestreaming began during the pandemic to ensure public access to oral arguments, but the Tennessee Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opted to keep livestreaming after returning to the courtroom. Participating judges say livestreaming improves transparency, encourages public understanding of the appellate court’s process and helps lawyers better prepare for oral arguments. “Transparency builds confidence and trust in the court system. We have always welcomed the public into the courtroom, but livestreaming opens the doors to thousands of more viewers,” Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page said. Appellate oral arguments have been viewed more than 140,000 times on the TNCourts and TNCourts2 YouTube channels, which have a combined total of more than 3,000 subscribers. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission interviewed five candidates for a vacancy on the Sixth Judicial District Criminal Court, which covers Knox County. Following the public interviews, the commission voted to send the names of Emily Faye Abbott, Hector I. Sanchez and Wesley D. Stone to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The vacancy was created after Judge Kyle A. Hixson was confirmed to the Court of Criminal Appeals – Eastern Section. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on the candidates.