Candidates seeking to replace Juvenile Judge Suzanne Bailey offered suggestions on how they would improve the juvenile justice system in Hamilton County during public interviews. Ideas included jailing parents of truant children, holding Saturday court, and allowing reformed youth to determine punishments for new youth offenders. Judge Bailey announced in February that she will retire April 30. Commissioners plan to name her replacement next Thursday. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more. 

Law firm mergers and acquisitions in the South have been as high as it’s been in four years, according to the most recent data from legal industry consulting firm Altman Weil. The Nashville Business Journal reports the organization’s MergerLine indicates the highest number of mergers and acquisitions occurred since first quarter 2009, primarily concentrated among small firms. Of the 21 acquisitions announced through the first quarter, 19 involved firms with 25 or fewer attorneys.

Lawyers and doctors are finding some common ground in clinics and hospitals across the country, according to NPR. In an Ohio women’s clinic, doctors are studying how adding lawyers to the health care team can help improve patient care. Meredith Watts is an attorney for Community Legal Aid, a nonprofit that gives free legal help to low-income people, but works out of the clinic. Watt’s role on the team is to help solve issues outside a doctor’s control -- such as anxiety over an eviction -- that might affect a patient’s health. "It's exciting to be able to do what we think of as preventative law, rather than always being crisis intervention because you can help something not happen, before it becomes a crisis.” explained attorney Marie Curry who runs the medical-legal partnership.

The new toll free hotline for pro bono legal assistance 1-888 aLEGALz has received nearly 800 calls during the first three months of its opening, reports the Memphis Daily News. Funded by the International Paper Co. and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization, the hotline helps improve citizens' access to free legal assistance. Memphis attorney Tim Hughes, formerly of Memphis Area Legal Services Inc., was hired to man the line on weekdays and make the arrangements for legal representation. In addition to the hotline, the Access to Justice Commission also operates an online pro bono website, making Tennessee the first state to offer both options.

U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Jerry Martin is stepping down after three years to create a Nashville office for Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, a San Diego-based firm recognized as a leader in class action and whistleblower litigation. According to the Tennessean, the firm represents investors who allege deception and fraud, and has represented shareholders in high-caliber lawsuits against Enron, WorldCom and Wachovia. “I wouldn’t be happy representing big corporate interests,” Martin said Wednesday morning. “I’m more interested in unearthing fraud and representing the underdog.”

The amended version of the bill that would allow some school staff to carry their weapons in the classrooms passed the House Civil Justice Committee and the Senate Education Committee yesterday afternoon. The measure gives local school districts the final say about allowing employees to carry a weapon on school property, but an added amendment states that any staffer doing so must be certified as a police officer. Former police officers who are now teachers and criminal justice teachers who have extensive police training would qualify. WKRN has the story.

A bill that would have reduced the amount of pseudoephedrine cold medication that can be purchased unanimously passed the House Health Committee but was stopped in the Senate General Subcommittee. HB 617, sponsored by Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, aims to reduce the availability of the drug used in making methamphetamine. According to Knoxnews, Shipley expects it to pass the House then he will wait until next session so the Senate can reconsider it.

The Access to Justice Commission's free legal clinic will he held next Saturday, April 13 at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Yesterday's TBA Today gave the wrong date for the event. Clinics are held every second Saturday of the month.

The state House and Senate have agreed to have a joint committee conduct hearings during the summer and fall on federal laws and executive orders that some believe may have exceeded constitutional authority, Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, said Tuesday. The Knoxnews reports that Beaver’s announcement came after declaring she would not push for passage of the “Balance of Powers Act (SB1158), which would have set up a joint legislative committee to determine which federal laws should be nullified in Tennessee by the General Assembly.

A bill to change the state’s 2009 whiskey distillery law to include Hamilton County was approved 22-8 in the Senate today and now goes to the House. The measure would allow Chattanooga and other cities that have passed both liquor-by-the-drink and retail package store sales to operate distilleries. Chattanooga Whiskey Co. sought the legislation after Hamilton County was excluded from the original law, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.