CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of the Tennessee Heartland is holding a free luncheon Nov. 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Forest Hill Baptist Church in Maryville. State Sen. Doug Overbey will be the keynote speaker. Please RSVP to tiffany@casatnh.org. The Daily Times has more.

Civil litigation Firm Carlock, Copeland & Stair LLP has opened a new office in Chattanooga, joining offices in Atlanta and Charleston. Attorney Angela C. Kopet has joined the firm and will be leading the expansion as managing attorney for Chattanooga. “Our firm will celebrate 45 years in January, and it’s exciting to reach that benchmark with a new office, new opportunities and a future focused on growth and service,” executive committee member Michael Ethridge said in a press release.

District attorneys should not contract out their letterhead to private debt collection companies, who then use that official letterhead to scare consumers into paying debts, according to a piece in the ABA Journal. The article says that ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 469 released today explains that this practice violates ABA Model Rules against lawyer conduct involving dishonesty or misrepresentation and aiding or assisting others in the unauthorized practice of law. The opinion says that the conduct involves misrepresentation because it conveys the impression that the prosecutor’s office has reviewed the facts of the individual debtor’s case and has concluded that a crime has been committed.

The American Bar Association Working Group on Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors has launched the Immigrant Child Advocacy Network, a comprehensive website to provide information and resources for volunteer attorneys, advocates, policymakers who shape immigration policy and journalists who report on immigration issues. The Working Group was created by ABA President William C. Hubbard in response to the immigration crisis affecting unaccompanied minors and the critical need for additional pro bono lawyers to ensure children are provided legal representation in immigration proceedings. Learn more about the initiative at the ABA website.

Bill Hagerty, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, is stepping down to return to the private sector, Gov. Bill Haslam announced today. According to the news release, Hagerty will serve as co-chair of Haslam's 2015 Inaugural Committee; Haslam will name a successor at a later date.

The Tennessee Bar Association is "the most vivid example in the bar world" of effective use of the game format for online CLE programs, Dan Kittay writes in the latest issue of the ABA’s Bar Leader magazine. The TBA has spent five years researching different approaches to gamification, and also which software is best for creating interactive games, TBA CLE director Mindy Thomas Fulks told the magazine. Advocates of gamification say that it offers an alternate approach that is proving successful. Fulks credits TBA Executive Director Allan Ramsaur with striving to keep the bar “trendsetting.”

The Nashville Bar Association will conduct its 108th Memorial Service honoring deceased Nashville attorneys and judges on Nov. 20 at the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. There will be a reception immediately following the service in the church's Fellowship Hall. The Knoxville Bar Association will sponsor a memorial service on Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. at the Tennessee Supreme Court Courthouse, 505 Main St. in Knoxville. The service will be led by Supreme Court Justice Gary R. Wade and Rev. Charles W.B. Fels. A reception will follow.

The Knox County Juvenile Court will hold its annual Chili Cook-Off & Basket Auction for Kids this Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the court’s Volunteer Advisory Board and assist with hosting the annual Foster Care Appreciation Dinner for foster parents and kids. To enter the chili contest, contact Patrice Staley at (865) 215-6475.

The state appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against Gov. Bill Haslam over a state law that quashed a Metro nondiscrimination ordinance in 2011, the Tennessean reports. The ordinance sought to extend workplace protections based on city workers’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Soon after it was approved, the state legislature passed a law overruling the Metro ordinance. Plaintiffs in the suit argued that the state law sidelined protections against discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity.

The annual TBA Ethics Roadshow will make stops in seven cities this year. Join hundreds of your colleagues from across the state at the annual event in Jackson on Dec. 3, Memphis on Dec. 3, Nashville on Dec. 4, Cookeville on Dec. 10, Johnson City on Dec. 11, Knoxville on Dec. 11 and Chattanooga on Dec. 12. Visit TBA CLE for more information.