The Department of Children’s Services (DCS) says that it is struggling to find a solution to avoid having abused and neglected children sleep in state offices overnight. Some of the temporary faith-based shelters and community groups that volunteered to provide short-term housing have closed or pulled back on their availability leaving caseworkers with few options for overnight housing. The Tennessee Lookout reports that there are currently 27 shelters across Tennessee's 95 counties, down from 29 in April, to temporarily house kids coming into DCS custody.

In a special called meeting Thursday, Nashville real estate developer Jimmy Granbery was elected chair of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. The Nashville Business Journal reports that after the meeting, Airport Authority CEO Doug Kreulen issued a public letter justifying why a new board was installed; Metro Law Director Wally Dietz also circulated a letter stating that Granbery and board member Bobby Joslin (elected as vice chair) now have "an irreconcilable conflict of interest" because they also had seats on the pre-exisiting airport board. The Federal Aviation Administration has stated it will not recognize a new board until the lawsuit surrounding the airport authority takeover is resolved.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the Biden administration over the use of in-house judges to handle cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bloomberg News reports that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Congress violated the Seventh Amendment, which protects the right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits, by allowing the SEC to ask an administrative law judge to impose penalties rather than going to federal court. The 5th Circuit also said Congress gave the commission too much leeway to decide which cases will go before its in-house judges. The appeal from the Biden administration asserts that the ruling will have “massive practical consequences” across the government if it is not overturned.

Thomson Reuters will purchase the San Francisco-based Casetext for $650 million as part of its long-term investment in generative artificial intelligence. The ABA Journal reports that the legal tech startup was founded in 2013 and has about 100 employees. Casetext launched the legal AI assistant CoCounsel in March. The product, developed in a partnership with OpenAI and trained on the latest version of its GPT large language model, uses a chatbot interface to aid in legal research, document review and contract analysis.

Memphis Law School has released two new "Show Cause" podcasts. Act Like an Adult — A Drag Show Dilemma takes a look at Tennessee's Adult Entertainment Act and the recent federal district court ruling that found it unconstitutional. Memphis Law professor Regina Hillman joins the show to discuss a wide array of LGBTQ related topics. In the Legislative Weeds with Cannabis features Stephen Galoob, a professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law, on how states are regulating the marijuana market and how the landscape is changing across the country, at both the state and federal levels.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday that his office would seek the death penalty in the criminal case against Cleotha Abston-Henderson, the man charged with the abduction and killing of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher, who was kidnapped while running near the University of Memphis in early September. According to the Commercial Appeal, Mulroy's office also requested investigative findings from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which include a ballistics report, a firearm investigation, serology and DNA testing.

A new law, which took effect July 1 and was sponsored by Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, seeks to expand access to doula services for pregnant, low-income Tennesseans. The Daily Memphian reports that the bill creates a doula services advisory committee within TennCare. The five-member committee will advise the Tennessee Department of Health on standards for the profession and recommend reimbursement rates for TennCare coverage of doula services. It will also include the state’s commissioner of health or a designee with experience in maternal health or Medicaid policy, the director of TennCare or a designee, and three doulas, two of whom must be community-based and have experience serving Medicaid recipients in areas of the state with high maternal- and infant-mortality rates. “This is an important policy goal because Tennessee women are dying due to preventable, pregnancy-related complications at a rate 10 times higher than women in other wealthy nations,” Lamar said.

Public speaking is a core leadership skill and in today’s business environment, attorneys are expected to be comfortable with everything from moderating a panel discussion to leading a virtual meeting. Mimi Bliss of Bliss Communications has updated her highly-rated CLE on virtual presentations to cover a range of professional situations, from virtual courtrooms to professional conferences, panel discussions, and informal communications. In this on-demand workshop, you’ll learn how to sharpen your message; engage your audience; master the virtual presentation, including technology tools, lighting and set-up; and use voice, gestures and eye contact to speak effectively. Attorneys who participated in last year’s workshop said the speaking tips were actionable and relevant to lawyers. Join us online July 19 from 12-1 p.m. CST for this CLE and receive one dual credit hour.

Memphis Area Legal Services will host the June Second Saturday Legal Advice Clinic on July 8 at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38111 from 10 a.m.-noon CDT. The clinic operates on a first come, first served basis.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld decades-old federal standards that give preferences to Native Americans and tribal members in the adoption or foster care placement of Native American children, rejecting a challenge that claimed that parts of the law were racially biased against non-Native Americans. Reuters reports that the 7-2 ruling threw out a lower court's decision that had struck down — as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law — a requirement that "other Indian families" receive preference in adoption and foster care after members of a child's extended family or tribe members.