Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) held its 2023 Pro Bono Night in Knoxville on Nov. 2. The event brings together attorneys, law firms, bar associations, law schools and partner agencies to recognize excellence in volunteerism with the region-wide Pro Bono Project. The Pro Bono Project is a program of LAET and is a collaborative effort to provide essential civil legal assistance to individuals in need of support to secure housing, financial stability, safety and overall well-being. Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs served as the event’s emcee. Awards also were presented. Thomas Dickenson was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year; the Knoxville Bar Association was named Pro Bono Community Partner of the Year; and Kim Riddett was named Pro Bono Law Student of the Year. The University of Tennessee Legal Clinic and the LMU Duncan School of Law Expungement Clinic were recognized as the Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year. And retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee was inducted into the Donald F. Paine Memorial Pro Bono Hall of Fame. Read more in the group's news release or see photos from the event.

Sean and Leigh Ann Touhy have filed a court-ordered financial accounting that reveals Michael Oher received $138,311.01 from the family since 2007, the Commercial Appeal reports. That figure represents approximately one-third of the net profit the Tuohys received off the success of the movie "The Blind Side." The Memphis couple set up a conservatorship for Oher when he lived with them in the early 2000s. Oher, the former Briarcrest Christian School and Ole Miss star and NFL offensive lineman, filed a petition in August to end the Tuohys’ conservatorship, which Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes granted. In that filing, Oher also asked for the financial accounting, alleging the family enriched itself at his expense.

Giles County lawyer Richard Hannah Dunavant was reinstated to the active practice of law on Oct. 26 after being on disability inactive status since Jan. 21, 2016. He filed a petition on Sept. 28 demonstrating that the disability had been removed. The Tennessee Supreme Court removed the disability status and Dunavant is immediately eligible to resume the active practice of law in Tennessee.

Dickson County High School has a new four-legged student. The Tennessean reports that CJ, an 11-week-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, will work alongside students enrolled in the criminal justice career and technical education pathway. The dog will provide the high school's criminal justice students with a hands-on learning approach to a number of scenarios they may face in the field upon employment. Criminal Justice Career and Technical Teacher John Patterson says students will have to work to motivate CJ and be able to recognize his indicators when performing jobs, such as sniffing out drugs.

A lawsuit filed last week in Memphis federal court against the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) alleges that two teenage boys with disabilities were denied their constitutional rights while being detained in the DCS-run Wilder Youth Development Center in 2021. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the suit alleges the boys were denied their regular medications, which were prescribed for psychiatric diagnoses. The suit claims that one suffered injuries after being assaulted by fellow inmates and was hospitalized; the other was assaulted by two security guards who joined other youth in an attack and then was denied medical treatment for his injuries. The state announced in October that it is investing millions of dollars into upgrades at the facility.

The Biden administration today announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will expand health care coverage for certain groups of veterans and their families and create new programs meant to make care more accessible. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the administration also will create a new graduate medical education program to help expand health care availability for veterans in rural, tribal and other underserved communities, and that the VA will spend $5 million on an advertising campaign aimed at getting more veterans to sign up for services.

On Monday, reports emerged that Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert’s office was closing its Poplar Plaza location and that the office had been evicted for non-payment of rent. Halbert later issued a statement confirming the office closure but, according to the Daily Memphian, denied reports of eviction. She did however admit that the office was two months behind on rent payments, saying, “We were not evicted. Whether or not we may have gotten behind on a rent or two — that’s a different issue.”

The Freedom from Religion Foundation is asking Robertson County Schools to investigate a religious event that happened during basketball practice at White House Heritage High School on Nov. 1. The foundation, which works to uphold the separation of religion and governance, alleges that a member of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes (FCA) was invited to a basketball practice and was allowed to lead a “feet-washing and proselytizing event” during practice. The Tennessean reports that the school system says it is “exploring the entire event and doing an investigation to make sure we've got all the information and that our assessment is accurate.”

Longtime Lawrenceburg attorney Paul Alan Bates died Nov. 8 at age 75. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1967–1971. He attended law school at the University of Memphis and practiced law in Lawrenceburg from 1976 until he retired in 2010. Bates was also a substitute Lawrenceburg city judge for 15 years, a past president of the Lawrence County Bar Association, and a past member of the TBA, ABA, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and The Association of Trial Lawyers of America. A funeral service will be held on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. CST at Heritage Funeral Home in Columbia with visitation beginning at 11 a.m. Following the service, Bates will be interred in Maury Memorial Gardens with military honors.

Cassidy Busbin, an active-duty U.S. Army solider at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested this week on charges of cyberstalking after allegedly making threatening social media posts targeting judges, including one involved in his divorce and child custody proceedings. That post referenced a news story about a family court judge in Maryland who was murdered after granting full custody to the mother in the case. Court records say that Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn Olita “felt that if she continued to do her job, she may suffer the same fate as the Maryland judge,” and she felt “her life was in danger.” CNN has the full story.