Pope Francis will address congress during next month’s visit to the United States, and he could raise the issue of reforming the U.S. penal system, Yahoo Politics reports. “What we’re really hoping for are some specific United States statements,” said Karen Clifton, the executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, an anti-death-penalty group. “We do incarcerate per capita more than anyone else in the world. He’s got to bring those facts to life.” 

Nashville Attorney Jim Roberts filed suit this week in circuit court against his former client, Cheryl Gunn, claiming Gunn conspired with Roberts’ ex-partner Janet L. Layman to deny him expense reimbursements, the Nashville Post reports. Roberts and Layman won for Gunn an increased amount of child support. Roberts also claims Layman and Gunn fabricated charges against him to take to the Board of Professional Responsibility. Roberts is seeking $103,074.19 in unpaid fees plus costs. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has published the annual package of recommendations from the Advisory Commission on Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Proposals include new authority for appellate courts to dismiss appeals; provisions permitting electronic signatures in courts employing electronic filing; clarification of the effect of service of process on commencement of actions; adoption of the term preliminary hearing in lieu of preliminary examination in criminal procedure; and, refinement of procedure for correction of illegal sentences in criminal cases. The are no evidence rules changes proposed this year. A 90-page comprehensive restructuring and revision of the Rules of Juvenile Procedure is also included.

Six TBA sections -- Appellate Practice, Litigation, Tort and Insurance Law , Family Law, Juvenile and Children’s Law and Criminal Justice -- will be asked to review the proposed amendments and recommend comments on behalf of the association. Comments on the proposals are due to the Court by November 25, 2015.

The Tennessee Association for Justice is relocating to 629 Woodland St. in Nashville from its previous headquarters on Division Street. The organization plans to be fully moved into its new location by early next week. 

The University of Tennessee College of Law is one only four law schools nationwide showing an increase of more than 50 percent in applications for 2015, according to UT Law. As of Aug. 27, the college had received 1,036 applications for admission for the 2015-2016 academic year, a 55 percent increase over last year’s total. UT Law's class of 2018 contains students from four countries and 17 states, and is 22 percent racially diverse with an equal number of men and women.

University of Memphis law students filed 24 lawsuits Thursday against property owners as part of an anti-blight campaign, WREG reports. “This is more than just a lawsuit. This is an expression of values, and (the students) share the values, the value of having beautiful communities,” Mayor A C Wharton said. Property owners will now have to appear before a judge. Each law student will personally handle the cases they filed.

The state of Tennessee requested an independent accrediting agency to review certain practices and policies within the state prison system, The Tennessean reports. Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield asked the American Correctional Association to conduct the review. The agency will focus its review on five of the state’s 13 prisons, reviewing officer schedules and how the state classifies assaults or attacks within prisons.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Wednesday publicly censured Charlotte, North Carolina, attorney Aaron Alexander Smith, who is licensed to practice law in Tennessee. Smith harassed and threatened a former acquaintance resulting in the issuance of a restraining order. He successfully completed a pre-trial intervention program and the criminal charges were dismissed and expunged. Read the BPR release. 

The Knoxville City Council must vote on the fate of the historic Pryor Brown Garage following a ruling from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. That decision found that the council's lack of action on the agenda item did not settle the matter, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. City attorney Crista Cuccaro said a decision to appeal could be based on whether the ruling will impact other decisions the council has made when an agenda item failed because no vote was taken to approve it. “This causes us to raise our eyebrows and say, ‘OK, what do we want to do with this opinion?’ ”

Belmont University College of Law's American Inn of Court honored Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Andy D. Bennett with the student-nominated Outstanding Mentor award. Bennett mentored two first-year law students, meeting monthly to discuss topics including legal writing, study skills and test-taking strategies. The students were also invited to view a session of the Court of Appeals.