Washington County is reshaping its legal team to mirror that of Johnson City, hiring a staff attorney, as well as having a private attorney on retainer to handle more weighty matters. Knoxville native Brett N. Mayes will begin his duties as staff attorney on Aug. 17, while senior attorney Thomas Seeley III will start Aug. 31. The Johnson City Press has more.

The deadline for applying for four new magistrate positions in Sullivan County is July 31. The magistrates will be responsible for meeting face to face with arresting officers, at night and on holidays when the circuit court clerk’s office is closed, to determine if probable cause exists to secure the issue of an arrest warrant. The Times News has more.

When Tennessee’s legislature reconvenes next year, the handling of deadly police shootings will be on the agenda. Sponsored in the House by Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, and Rep. John DeBerry, D-Memphis, and in the Senate by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, a new bill would mandate that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation automatically take over all officer-involved fatal shootings. It would also spell out how TBI’s findings are released. WREG has more.

This fall Carson-Newman University will launch a year-long themed event “A Simple Justice: The Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act,” the Times News reports. Signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the bill was created to guarantee African-Americans the right to vote and made it illegal to impose restrictions on any federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks.

James Caldwell Lee died Sunday (July 19) at the age of 90. He served in World War II in the Pacific Theater and was among the first troops to occupy Japan. Post service, Lee completed his undergraduate education at Rhode Island State University and obtained a law degree from Washington and Lee University. Lee practice law for 50 years in Chattanooga, serving as president of the Chattanooga Bar Association and as a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Rule 42 Committee. A family ceremony will be held with the Rev. Ann Weeks officiating. A gathering of friends will be held at the Mountain City Club, Friday from 5-7 p.m.

Google, Facebook, and eBay are just some of the companies supporting Samsung’s objection to the court decision ordering it to fork over profits from smartphones found to infringe upon certain Apple patents. It’s the latest development in a long-running intellectual property war that culminated in 2012, when a jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on a handful of Apple’s design and utility patents for the iPhone and awarded Apple $929 million in damages, an amount that was later reduced by $382 million. Samsung is now seeking a review of that decision. A coalition of tech companies that have a stake in protecting their own smartphones, software and related IP have submitted a “friend of the court” brief in support of Samsung’s petition. BuzzfeedNews has more. 

The AOC is seeking Wilson County attorneys who are interested in contracting with the AOC to represent indigent litigants, including respondents facing involuntary emergency judicial hospitalization. Judges will continue to have the discretion to assign attorneys, but only attorneys who have agreed to the contract terms will receive appointments. For more information, contact David Byrne, 615-741-2687.

The National Bar Association is calling on black lawyers to advocate for victims and protesters of police brutality by representing them in civil cases and pushing for reforms of the criminal justice system. Prominent black leaders in the legal community told hundreds of lawyers at the group’s annual convention in Los Angeles this week that they should take more civil cases and advocate for both legislation and politicians who support reducing police brutality incidents. The National Law Journal has more (sub. req.).

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to approve $181.5 million for a new federal courthouse in Nashville when it meets Thursday, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said. Nashville has been pursuing a new courthouse for more than 20 years, and last year then-TBA President Jonathan Steen reiterated the TBA's long support for the project, writing the White House concerning the “significant operational, space and security deficiencies” in the Estes Kefauver Federal Building. The funding must still win House approval, which might have to come through a conference committee agreement, since the House currently does not have money budgeted for the project. The Tennessean has the story.

Venita Marie Martin was temporarily suspended from the practice of law for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility regarding a complaint of misconduct. View BPR notice.