The Young Lawyers Division of the Chattanooga Bar Association recently held a fundraiser for the Hamilton County Juvenile Court’s CASA program, the Hamilton County Herald reports. The fundraiser provided backpacks and other school items for children who are victims of abuse and neglect and receive services from CASA.

In an editorial, the Tennessean praises Attorney General Eric Holder’s challenge to the nation’s mandatory minimum sentencing policy and sees a need for the same approach to Tennessee’s criminal justice system. According to the publication, the state prison population has risen 4.5 percent in the past 10 years, and county and jail populations have increased 42 percent. In 2012, the state Correction Department went $20 million over budget. In Tennessee, state officials seem to understand the urgency of the problem created by overcrowding and recidivism and have called for alternative sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders as well as more drug courts to offer judicial supervision, treatment services and other incentives.

Small business owners can often save themselves a great deal of money and aggravation by handling legal issues immediately,  attorney Joe Chase writes for Thelaw.TV. Getting appropriate legal advice up front can, among other things, help protect a company against expensive lawsuits brought by employees, customers, suppliers and other parties; help protect a company's intellectual property and other proprietary information; and, ultimately, make a potential future sale of the business relatively painless. WCYB has more.

Chattanooga-based Miller & Martin has joined a group of top U.S. law firms that have come together to promote environmental sustainability under the newly incorporated Law Firm Sustainability Network (LFSN). The LFSN is a nonprofit organization of law firms and legal departments committed to promoting the benefits of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility throughout the legal industry. Founded in 2011, LFSN’s mission is to develop key performance indicators, foster knowledge-sharing, develop best practice guidelines, and recognize and promote sustainability innovations in the U.S. legal sector. The Hamilton County Herald has the story.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV is setting up a mediation program in an attempt to quickly settle the dozens of pending lawsuits filed by victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak that claimed the lives of 15 Tennesseans. Issued yesterday, the 13-page order follows closely the plan urged by victims’ lawyers. Two Nashville attorneys, Mark Chalos and Gerard Stranch, termed it an important victory. Chalos, who represents several victims, argued for the plan in a lengthy court session last week and said the order was “an important step for families to get justice.” The Tennessean has more.

The House Judicial Oversight Committee, tasked with the responsibility of investigating misconduct allegations against 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steven R. Bebb, recommended Wednesday that a charging committee be formed, the Cleveland Daily Banner reports. Though the attorney general's office found that none of the allegations it reviewed rose to the level of criminal charges, its final report stated Bebb and his office engaged in practices and recordkeeping that evidenced poor judgment, deficient recordkeeping and insufficient attention to the appropriate use of public resources.

Former state Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester is filing ethics and campaign finance complaints against Republican Gov. Bill Haslam for failing to disclose how much he has paid his former chief campaign strategist for political advice. Forrester told reporters in Nashville today that Haslam should be required to disclose how much he paid prominent GOP operative and lobbyist Tom Ingram following the 2010 governor's race. Haslam has defended his ties to Ingram and denied any inappropriate action. The Memphis Daily News has more.

The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a Brentwood ban prohibiting the sale of The Contributor homeless newspaper to motorist from sidewalks. According to the Nashville Business Journal, the court found that the ban is not an unconstitutional prohibition on free speech, and found that vendors can sell the newspaper using other methods, including going door-to-door or selling to pedestrians.

Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager wants to start charging jail inmates for their prison clothing, toothpastes, razor blades and toilet paper, Knoxnews reports. The proposal was one of several prepared for Anderson County Commission’s consideration this month. Other proposals include charging inmates a co-pay for medical and dental care and assessing fees for jailers to escort prisoners to hospitals to visit ailing family members or to funeral homes when there is a death in an inmate’s immediate family. Yeager said the resolutions are among several he’s in the process of preparing that would “put some of the (financial) burden on the inmate instead of the taxpayer.”

In the wake of the Justice Department's lawsuit to prevent the $11 billion US Airways and American Airline merger, lawyers for the airlines have come out swinging, the National Law Journal reports. "We're litigating this case, period," Dechert partner Paul Denis, who represents US Airways, said in a conference call. Denis was joined by Richard Parker, a well-known antitrust litigator at O'Melveny & Myers who was recently hired by US Airways to serve as lead trial counsel. "The government got this one very wrong," Parker said. "Both companies are looking forward with confidence to their day in court."