Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, laid out the conservative case for the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bi-bipartisan effort to allow states to collect sales tax from out-of-state online retailers when purchases are shipped in-state. “This is the way to avoid the state income tax," Alexander said to a room of Nashville business leaders. "If a large percent of people who owe the sales tax don't pay it, you're going to look somewhere else for the tax revenue to do the things that have to be done. The only other place to look in Tennessee is the income tax." The Memphis Business Journal has the story.

Memphis attorney Etandra Fenae Miller Douglas died last Thursday (May 23) at the age of 41. She was a graduate of the University of Memphis and Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. The visitation will be tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. at N.J. Ford & Sons Funeral Home. Services will be noon on Saturday at New Sardis Baptist Church, 7739 E. Holmes Rd. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery in Midtown.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has received five applications for a seat on the Judicial Nominating Commission, which was created by the death of commission member Elizabeth Collins. The newly appointed commissioner will serve out the remainder of Collins’ term, which ends June 30 – the date the statutory provisions for the nominating commission expire. The applicants are: Bradford D. Box, Thomas Verner Smith and Art D. Wells of Madison County; and Charles T. Tuggle and Stacie Smith Winkler of Shelby County. The comment period is now open. Comments should be submitted before 4:30 p.m. June 13.

Knox County Circuit Court Judge Deborah Stevens was sworn in yesterday by Gov. Bill Haslam, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Judge Stevens was appointed in February to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Wheeler A. Rosenbalm. The ceremony was a formality, as Judge Stevens was officially sworn in and began performing her duties in March for the 6th Judicial District.

The Judicial Nominating Committee will hold a public meeting in Johnson City on June 14 to interview eight attorneys who have applied to fill the Chancery Court vacancy in the 1st Judicial District. The opening is created by the retirement of Chancellor G. Richard Johnson, which is effective June 30. The candidates are Charles Keith Bowers Jr., Gregory H. Bowers, Suzanne Sweet Cook, James Collins Landstreet II, William Larry Monk Jr., John Chase Rambo, Lois Bunton Shults-Davis and Regina L. Shepherd. Learn more about the candidates on the courts’ website.

In a guest editorial for The New Normal, an ongoing series about changes occurring in the delivery of legal service, Kyle McEntee points out three main driving changes needed to improve the legal profession: decrease law school cost and debt accumulation; improve the bench and bar by redefining the law school mission to be more of a professional school rather than graduate school; and transform the profession’s structure to match the future’s needs. McEntee is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and cofounder of the blog Law School Transparency. Read more from the ABA Journal.

After debate over a budget increase request, the Shelby County Commission has approved more than $1 million to give to the juvenile courts after the U.S Department of Justice found problems with discrimination and children not being given their constitutional rights, WREG reports. The state is also giving $1 million. The commission also approved $300,000 to pay for the monitors who will come down from the DOJ to inspect and make sure the county is following orders. Although all don't agree, Commissioner Terry Roland says “the reason why we’re in this situation is because the pool of lawyers over there are mad they’re only making $40 an hour."

A free legal clinic will be held June 8 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library, 3030 Poplar Ave., in Memphis. This month’s clinic is sponsored by the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association and is open to all members of the public in need of legal advice. Initiated in October 2007, the Saturday Legal Clinic is sponsored by the Memphis Bar Association and Memphis Area Legal Services and is a project of the Access to Justice Committee, a collaborative effort of local bar associations and non-profit organizations to provide legal services to those in need. Volunteer attorneys provide free legal assistance to those in need on a first come, first served basis. For more information about the clinic or to volunteer, click here.

The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference announced in mid-April that federal defenders wouldn’t face more than 15 furlough days under mandatory budget cuts. Now, less than one month later, public defenders have been notified that the maximum furlough time has increased to 20 days. According to a May 10 memorandum sent by Chief Judge William Traxler Jr., chairman of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the committee reconsidered its April decision after getting new information on how defender offices were coping with the cuts, also known as sequestration. The Blog of the Legal Times has the story. 

Chattanooga-based law firm Hazlett, Lewis & Bieter PLLC will merge with Mauldin and Jenkins LLC in Atlanta, managing partner Donnie Luker announced. The Chattanoogan has the story.