Kingston attorney Terry L. Stevens II has joined the staff of District Attorney General Russell Johnson as an assistant district attorney in the 9th Judicial District, covering Roane, Loudon, Morgan and a portion of Meigs counties. Johnson called Stevens a “good fit” for the position. “The judges, lawyers and clerks are all familiar with him," Johnson said. "And when I started looking for a person for this position, his name was first on almost everyone’s list of recommendations.” The Roane County News has the story.

White House counsel Kathyrn Ruemmier plans to leave government service for private practice by the end of the year, WRCB reports. The 42-year-old former prosecutor is a member of President Barack Obama’s national security team and advises him on a wide range of legal issues, including health care law, counter terrorism and judicial appointments.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has released an opinion upholding the constitutionality of the phone data collection program by the National Security Agency. Dated Aug. 29, the opinion said metadata that includes phone numbers, time and duration of calls is not protected by the Fourth Amendment, since the content of the calls is not accessed. The opinion cited the 1979 U.S. Supreme Court case Smith v. Maryland, in which the court ruled against a crime suspect challenging the use of a pen register to capture information about calls made. “Where one individual does not have a Fourth Amendment interest,” said U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan, who wrote the opinion. “Grouping together a large number of similarly situated individuals cannot result in a Fourth Amendment interest springing into existence ex nihilo.” The ABA Journal has the story.

According to a letter from the Labor Department, law students may work as unpaid interns on pro bono matters at law firms, provided certain conditions are met. The letter is a response to immediate past ABA President Laurel Bellows who sought assurances that the agency would interpret the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow such internships. “This clarification will assist law students seeking to gain legal experience and increase their volunteerism,” current ABA President James Silkenat said in a statement released on Monday. “It also will ensure law firms can continue to help the many people in need of legal assistance through pro bono efforts.”

Amidst the ongoing national debate about law school affordability and the value of the 3L year, New York Law School announced it will offer a two-year J.D. honors program starting in January 2015. It is the first law school to launch a program that cuts the cost of a law degree to no more than two-thirds of a traditional degree. “We’re offering an innovative, accelerated honors J.D. program, requiring an exceptional commitment to year-round, intensive academic work,” said Dean Anthony Crowell. “The program focuses on key growth sectors of the city’s economy: business and financial services; government and public interest; and intellectual property, media, and technology,” the National Jurist reports.

The Kingsport Bar Association, Legal Aid of East Tennessee and the TBA Young Lawyers Division will host free legal advice clinics to assist low-income individuals every third Thursday of the month. The first clinic will be held tomorrow in downtown Kingsport, 243 East Charlemont Ave., at 4:30 p.m. Read the press release for more information. 

In collaboration with legal and community volunteers, the Legal Aid Society will host a free citizenship assistance workshop Saturday in Nashville. The workshops provide an opportunity for local immigrant families to receive free assistance in applying for naturalization, opening the doors for increased civic participation and integration. Appointments are available from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Implacable Republican opposition to Obamacare has Congress once more veering to gridlock, according to the Memphis Daily News. In the House, more than 50 conservatives support tacking a one-year delay in implementing the health care law onto a bill needed to prevent a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1. Although President Barack Obama has already ordered a postponement for businesses, news sources report the President and Democrats will resist any further delay.

As victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak file lawsuits in advance of the Oct. 1 cutoff, many are counting on a consumer protection law passed by the state legislature in the 1970s to aid their cases, Nashville Public Radio reports. The statute says if a manufacturer is insolvent, then someone hurt by a product can go after the seller instead. The now-bankrupt New England Compounding Center produced and shipped the moldy steroids to pain clinics around the country -- including Nashville’s Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center, which administered more doses than anyone else in the state. Injury lawyer Mark Chalos says the clinic essentially acted as a seller under consumer statutes. The clinic’s lawyer – C.J. Gideon – contends that his client doesn’t sell anything; it provides services.  As many as 150 lawsuits are expected in Tennessee; more than three dozen were filed just yesterday, the Tennessean reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to decide when an online threat becomes worthy of prosecution. The justices will meet Sept. 30 to decide whether to review the prosecution of an Iraq war veteran who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for posting a YouTube video in which he sang about killing a Tennessee judge. “We think it’s potentially quite a significant case. People say things in the online world that they don’t mean seriously,” said the veteran’s attorney, Chris Rothfeld. “Second, it’s difficult to tell in the online world how a statement is intended. People say things and write things and they are read in an entirely different context.” Wired magazine has the story.