A new study finds that nearly $3 million has been spent on broadcast TV advertising for state-level races in Tennessee this year, WRCB reports from the Associated Press. The report by the Center for Public Integrity has found that 8,565 ads have run for and against judicial, gubernatorial and legislative candidates. Supreme Court Justices Connie Clark, Sharon Lee and Gary Wade and their supporters spent $929,000 in the August retention election campaigns, while opponents spent about $538,000. The study found that Gov. Bill Haslam spent $666,000 on about 1,900 TV ads despite not facing any serious opposition for the Republican nomination, and that advertising in state legislative races ran at about $799,000.

Plaintiffs who filed a securities fraud case against HCA Holdings Inc., the Nashville-based hospital giant, on Monday were granted class-action status in a suit stemming from the company’s $4.3 billion initial public offering in 2011, the Tennessean reports. The claim, brought by New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund as lead plaintiff, alleges HCA failed to disclose the company was experiencing a decline in Medicare and Medicaid revenues and had improperly accounted for previous reorganizations in a “false and misleading” initial public offering registration statement. The list of defendants includes HCA’s top executives as well as several high-profile investment banks and a private equity group.

A Harriman lawyer who paid a 14-year-old girl for sexual encounters he then videotaped walked away from a Loudon County courtroom Tuesday with probation, Knoxnews reports. Kent Booher struck a deal to plead guilty to lesser charges of statutory rape. As part of the plea bargain, Booher received a three-year probationary sentence and must be listed on the state’s Sex Offender Registry for 13 years. He will pay no fines, but was assessed court costs. Under the agreement, records of his conviction will also be sent to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility for consideration of disciplinary action.

The attorney for 22 plaintiffs seeking to oust Anderson County law director Jay Yeager has filed notice that he will appeal Senior Judge Don R. Ash’s decision to dismiss the group's lawsuit, Knoxnews reports. Ash said Yeager doesn't fall under the guidelines for ouster because he's appointed, not elected, and appointed officials can't be ousted. Also, the judge said in his four-page order, "petitioners can prove no set of facts that would entitle them to relief." Ash, who was appointed to preside over the case by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade, also ruled that the plaintiffs are responsible for all courts costs.

The federal prison population has dropped this year by roughly 4,800 inmates — the first decline in decades, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday at a criminal justice conference in New York City. ?With more population drops expected in the future, Holder says law enforcement needs to measure success by more than just prosecutions and convictions, WRCB has more.

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) is blazing the way in free legal information by offering the largest free legal database in the country, the ABA Journal reports. The concept for CanLII came about at a time when digital legal information was sparse and rarely available to the general public. The Canadian legal establishment worried that this information would be too rare or too expensive and wanted it to be free. To keep more than 1 million primary law materials free for the more than 10 million visitors expected to the site this year, the 14 legal societies in the Federation of Law Societies of Canada built relationships with courts all over the country at both the provincial and federal levels to get access to caselaw, statutes and regulations. 

Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Middle Tennessee was already having problems in the months leading up to the escape of 32 teens from the facility, according to recent data. The information obtained by The Tennessean shows between January and early September, there were 145 reported incidents of violence at Woodland Hills. Everette Parrish, an attorney appointed to represent the civil rights of youths at the facility, said he has received several reports from youths who escaped and returned, or were captured, that physical abuse had factored into their decision to flee. A special unit within the Department of Children's Services has opened investigations into abuse and neglect of teens at the facility, officials said last week. The Johnson City Press has more. 

Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold is joining a design review committee to provide security input for a new judicial building, the Daily News Journal reports. The new facility -- estimated to cost $65 million -- is supposed to open within four years on a block north of the overcrowded Judicial Building on the Public Square in Murfreesboro. It will provide criminal justice space for the fast-growing county, which reached a U.S. Census estimated population of 281,029 in 2013

Memphis-based Baker Donelson is participating in the OnRamp Fellowship, an innovative program to provide women lawyers re-entering the legal profession an opportunity to update their skills and legal contacts through one-year paid positions with top law firms. "Ensuring the retention and advancement of women attorneys continues to be a challenge for the legal profession," said Christy Crider, chair of Baker Donelson's Women's Initiative. "The OnRamp Fellowship program addresses that challenge by offering experienced female attorneys, many of whom have taken a break from their careers in order to focus on their families, the opportunity to return to the legal profession and expand their experience and skills.” The Chattanoogan has the story.

Email Newsletter Editor Tracy Kane (2014) at tkane@dodsonparker.com with personal and professional updates, news or other announcements!