In an editorial, the Commercial Appeal on Monday looked at a local case of two teenage boys accused of participating in a mob attack, and whether some youths can be rehabilitated within the juvenile system or if the severity and nature of their crimes warrant transfer into the adult system. A decision by Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael is pending on whether they should remain within the juvenile justice system, where they may have a better chance to be rehabilitated, or have their cases transferred to Criminal Court, where they would be handled as adults.

Hamilton County Public Defender Steve Smith tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press he wants the office to run like a private law practice by adopting vertical representation. "I want a client to know who their lawyer is from the moment they're arrested until the moment that case is resolved, rather than just the office is assigned to that client," Smith said. In reality, the public defender’s office has until now used a horizontal model. Vertical representation is the standard recommended by the American Bar Association, and it's being slowly adopted in large metropolitan counties around the state, Knox County Public Defender Mark Stephens said.

The new wave of legal and law-related services has added to the complexity of practicing law. Explore the many angles of fee-sharing with nonlawyers, work product protection and new challenges to confidentiality during "The New Business of Law: Attorney Outsourcing, Legal Service Companies & Commercial Litigation Funding" on Nov. 12. Visit TBA CLE for more information.

Democrat Gordon Ball says a new poll he commissioned shows Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander ahead but with just 45 percent of the vote compared to 32 percent for Ball. Little-known conservative independent, Tom Emerson Jr., trailed with 13 percent of the vote. Ten percent were undecided. The poll of 595 voters was conducted last weekend by Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.

President Barack Obama told The New Yorker that the Supreme Court's Oct. 6 rejection of appeals from states seeking to preserve gay marriage bans is the best of his tenure. The former law professor says although the court was not ready to expand gay marriage rights nationwide, "it was a consequential and powerful signal of the changes that have taken place in society and that the law is having to catch up." WRCB has more from the Associated Press.

Restrictions over where people can place campaign signs and distribute political materials at Nashville voting locations could be unconstitutional, the Davidson County Election Commission has advised. In a letter last week to leaders of the Nashville Public Library and City of Belle Meade, election commission Chairman Ronald Buchanan urged both to scrap policies used in previous election cycles that regulate campaign activity on property beyond the parameters of 100-foot campaign-free zones. This zone, which extends from voting booths under Tennessee state law, is intended to give voters a space that is free of campaign activity, harassment or intimidation. Metro Nashville library officials, who oversee five early voting sites set to open Tuesday, still plan to enforce the policy, the Tennessean reports.

The U.S Supreme Court is asking the Obama administration to weigh-in on whether to allow Mississippi to file a new lawsuit alleging Memphis is stealing water from the state. Mississippi alleges that Memphis's wells have created "cones of depression" in the water table that remove water from Mississippi into Tennessee. It estimates that Memphis has "forcibly" taken 252 billion gallons of water since 1985. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood wants to refile a lawsuit over the water rights question. The U.S. Supreme refused in 2010 to consider a similar claim. The Greeneville Sun has more from the Associated Press.

Tennesseans with smart phones can now download GoVoteTN, an app that gives registered voters information regarding the upcoming November election, the Daily Helmsman reports. The app was unveiled Tuesday by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett and state Election Coordinator Mark Goins and offers registered voters early voting polling locations, maps, hours of operation and even a sample ballot that will show voters what the actual ballot will look like when they go to vote. “The app gives voters information that fits in the palm of their hand,” Hargett said. “The app allows you to do a little research before hand in order to make a prepared, educated, informed vote.”

The Rutherford County Election Commission recorded an early voting total of 5,164 through the close of the polls Saturday, the Daily News Journal reports. The total is less than the 5,969 who had voted by the same time frame in the previous 2010 gubernatorial election, said Alan Farley, who is the administrator for the local election commission. Early voting for the Nov. 4 election started Wednesday and will continue through Oct. 30.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has been ranked first on PreLaw magazine’s list of Best Law School Facilities in the nation in the fall 2014 issue -- snagging a spot on the cover of the magazine and an interview with Dean Peter Letsou. Vanderbilt University Law School's facility, the only other Tennessee school listed, is in the section for "Food, Parking and Fitness," for a new fitness center "within an easy 15-minute walk."