Members of the Chattanooga Chapter of the American Inns of Court presented $14,400 in donations to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Over $11,000 of the donation was raised at an auction held during the group's annual holiday party, the Hamilton County Herald reports. The remainder came from private donations made by Inns of Court members. "This donation will allow us to provide 56,400 meals,” said food bank president Maeghan Jones, who also is a lawyer. “I’m amazed each year by the generosity the Inns of Court and our local legal community exhibit through their annual donation to help feed the hungry," she said.

The Putnam County Election Commission has been preparing over the last year for a busy 2014 election year, the Herald Citizen reports. In May, commissioners were briefed by Election Administrator Debbie Steidl on updates to Tennessee’s photo ID?law. In November, a new voting precinct was added. And the county’s 88 voting machines recently received software and screen upgrades thanks to a Help America Vote Act grant. The upgrades will improve how officials keep track of votes. County offices up for election include county executive, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, all county commissioners, circuit court clerk and general sessions court judges parts I and II. Also up for election for the first time in eight years?are all 13th Judicial District offices — circuit and criminal court judges parts I and II, chancellor, district attorney general and public defender.

As law schools are forced to tighten their belts, law libraries are getting squeezed especially hard, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. In fact, according to SUNY Buffalo Law School professor James G. Milles they are "doomed." “Law schools will not simply shut down or hand off their libraries—or few will. Rather, law libraries will be chipped away notch by notch, by attrition of personnel and services,” he writes in a new working research paper about the legal education crisis. Miles also notes that the problem isn’t just about money, but also about demand. Legal historians are “still attached to traditional law libraries” he writes, but most faculty now are doing most of their legal research electronically.

Need CLE hours fast? The TBA is offering its annual Year End CLE Blast on Dec. 27, 30 and 31. Programs will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is no need to pre-register; the registration desk will be open all day. Learn more at TennBarU.

As part of its 2013 Top Reads feature, the Nashville Post looks back at the year’s most popular litigation and lawyer-on-the-move stories. The top 20 legal articles of 2013 included coverage of some of the nation's largest corporate brands including Vanderbilt, Bridgestone and American Idol.

Days after acknowledging a massive hacking of customer credit card data, Target is facing at least two dozen lawsuits, CNN Money reports. Customers from California, Oregon and Washington to Louisiana, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have filed would-be class actions in federal courts, alleging Target was negligent and did not protect their card information. The retailer announced Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating the security breach of about 40 million credit and debit card accounts, the Associate Press reports on WATE. Security experts say it is the second largest theft of card accounts in U.S. history.

Lawyers representing victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak announced Monday a preliminary settlement of more than $100 million with the owners of New England Compounding Center (NECC) and its insurers, the Tennessean reports. The agreement was negotiated as part of bankruptcy court proceedings and is only for claims against the NECC, not for the dozens of suits filed against health care providers such as St. Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Clinic, which injected patients with the contaminated steroid.

Attorney John Herbison filed a 26-page motion charging Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Tom Thurman with making “reckless allegations” about defense attorney Albert Perez Jr., a member of the team defending former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vanderburg who is accused of rape. Thurman asked a judge to remove Perez, charging that he was involved in destroying evidence, the Tennessean reports.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is soliciting applications from persons interested in appointment as bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. The vacancy was created by the retirement of Judge Richard Stair Jr., effective Sept. 30, 2014. Applications must be received by Jan. 24, 2014. For more information on qualifications, download the court's notice.

Deputy Shelby County Attorney Marcy Ingram has been appointed interim Shelby County attorney by Mayor Mark Luttrell, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The post was vacated by Kelly Rayne, who left effective Dec. 31 to become vice president of public policy at the Greater Memphis Chamber. Ingram has served has Rayne’s top legal assistant for the past two years.