The Rogersville Review reports that Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny has chosen long time Coffee County resident and attorney Ed North as the temporary part-time Coffee County attorney, effective Oct. 1. North received his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2003. He has practiced continuously as an associate and partner of the Manchester-based law firm of Rogers, Duncan and North, and he is the owner and operator of North Properties and North Farms. North has served on the Tennessee Bar Association's House of Delegates since 2009, representing the 14th district.

YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee will host a Stand Against Injustice Lunch and Learn on Sept. 29 from noon until 1 p.m. CDT. The free webinar will focus on the school to prison pipeline and will feature a group of panelists who are working for social change in our communities. The panel includes YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee President and CEO Sharon K. Roberson, Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway, Disability Rights Tennessee Child & Youth Advocate Johnnie Hatten and The Education Trust in Tennessee's Reginald Nash. Register here.  

Sumner County is seeking qualified applicants for the position of the Sumner County Law Director. The Law Director is responsible for handling all the legal matters of Sumner County and is expected to be competent in a wide range of practice areas, including litigation, workplace and employment law, compliance with laws and regulations governing county governments, and more. Visit TBA JobLink for more information.

Democratic lawmakers want to add 51 judges to the country's federal appeals courts, a move they say is necessary to reduce case backlogs but that would also give President Joe Biden a chance to appoint more judges, Reuters reports,. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia on Wednesday led a group of seven Democrats in introducing the Circuit Court Judgeships Act of 2022, which they said would address understaffed appellate courts nationally. Under the bill, eight circuits would gain judges including the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit, which would get 10 more, and the conservative-leaning New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with 13 new ones for 30 total. Despite growing caseloads, the appeals courts have not gained any new judges in over three decades.

The law license of Richard Hovey Dinkins was yesterday transferred to disability inactive status by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Dinkins cannot practice law while on disability inactive status and shall comply with the requirements of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Sections 28 regarding the obligations and responsibilities of attorneys transferred to disability inactive status. To be reinstated, he must show the court his disability has been removed.

From conducting an initial client interview to completing a representation, a lawyer’s duty of communication with a client creates on-going potential for ethics missteps and legal malpractice liability. Sign up for this three-hour CLE webcast and learn what you can do to effectively meet this important attorney-client duty.

City Judge Johnny Houston was sworn into office during the Red Bank Commission meeting this week, the Chattanoogan reports. General Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell administered the oath. This will be his third term as the city’s judge. Commissioner Ruth Jeno praised Houston's work, saying he has always been fair, kind and generous and an exceptional judge.

Florida lawyer Kathleen Elizabeth Dyer and Montana lawyer Melissa Ann Edwards-Smith recently were reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee. Dyer was reinstated on Sept. 1 after having been on inactive status since June 26, 2015. Edwards-Smith was reinstated on Sept. 6 after having been on inactive status since May 31, 2013. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued the order on Sept. 12. 

Shelby County lawyer Johnnie Louis Johnson II was disbarred by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on May 25. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order on Sept. 12 asking Johnson to respond as to why imposition of identical discipline in Tennessee should not be imposed. Johnson has 30 days from the issuance of the court’s order to respond.

The Tennessee Supreme Court earlier this month suspended 20 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; seven of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the Sept. 13 fee suspension order and Sept. 15 IOLTA suspension order. Six lawyers have since been reinstated. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2022 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.