Six attorneys have submitted an application for an open Hamilton County magistrate position. The applicants are: Robert T. Davis, James Micah Guster III, Charles D. Paty, Rachel Winfrey Ortwein, Elizabeth Schmidt and Andrew Trundle. The vacancy was created after Magistrate Andrew Basler announced he was leaving the post to join the District Attorney's Office. The County Commission will interview candidates on Monday at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Read more from The Chattanoogan.

Prosecutors in Baltimore yesterday asked a judge to vacate Adnan Syed’s conviction in the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, the Associated Press reports. The murder and Syed’s subsequent conviction were documented in the hit podcast “Serial.” In a circuit court filing, Baltimore’s state’s attorney said a lengthy investigation uncovered possible involvement of two alternative suspects other than Syed. Prosecutors did not argue Syed’s innocence, but said they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and recommended he be released on his own recognizance or bail. If the court grants the motion, it would effectively put Syed in a new trial status. His convictions would be vacated, but the case would remain active.

The TBA’s Real Estate Law Section will present its annual Hot Topics in Real Estate program on Nov. 4. The CLE, produced in cooperation with the Tennessee Land Title Association, is now being offered as a virtual-only program. Topics at this year’s program will include legislative and case law updates, ethics, an Airbnb panel discussion, horizontal property regime issues and more. The program will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT.

Newly elected Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp has asked longtime County Attorney Rheubin Taylor to resign, Chattanoogan.com reports. Taylor, who is 73 and has been in the post for 28 years, declined to step down, saying he has two years remaining on his current contract and wants to stay. Wamp also had asked Taylor to hire former General Sessions Court Judge Gerald Webb, which Taylor also declined to do. Webb, who was the first African-American judge on the county General Sessions Court, lost his post in the August election to Larry Ables, a former public defender, prosecutor and chief magistrate. Wamp is said to prefer Webb for the county attorney role.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands has named Shelby Dodson as the new managing attorney of its Gallatin office. Dodson previously served as a staff attorney in the office since 2018. Before joining the Legal Aid Society, Dodson served as an elder justice AmeriCorps fellow for the Tennessee Justice Center. She graduated from Belmont University College of Law in 2016. Dodson replaces Zac Oswald, who has been promoted to senior deputy director of client services. He will continue to lead the Housing Practice Group while taking on additional leadership responsibilities across the firm. He graduated from University of Miami School of Law in 2013.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, in remarks on Monday, cautioned that courts look political and forfeit legitimacy when they needlessly overturn precedent, the Associated Press reports. Speaking less than three months after the court overturned Roe v. Wade, Kagan said the public’s view of the court can be damaged, especially when changes in its membership lead to big changes in the law. She stressed she was not talking about any particular decision or even a string of rulings. Kagan struck a different tone from Chief Justice John Roberts, who spoke to a gathering of judges and lawyers in Colorado last week. At that event, Roberts said disagreement with a court opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court. Kagan also briefly addressed the leak of the draft opinion in the abortion case. She said the leak made the justices’ jobs much harder. WJHL has the story.

Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren were seeking a six-month delay in their trial, but U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson today doubled that time, rescheduling the proceedings for Oct. 3, 2023. A pre-trial conference is now scheduled for Sept. 22, 2023. Richardson also directed that all pretrial motions be filed no later than six weeks prior to trial, Tennessee Journal reports. The trial was originally set to start next month.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division is co-sponsoring a Citizenship Clinic this Saturday with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). The clinic will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT at 3310 Ezell Rd., Nashville 37211. The clinic will assist Legal Permanent Residents in their naturalization process. A mandatory training for volunteers will take place Thursday from 6-8 p.m. via Zoom. For more information or to volunteer contact YLD Public Service Committee Chair Alix Rogers.

The Memphis Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society is hosting a virtual event on Friday from 11:55 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. CDT in honor of Constitution Day. Professor Lee J. Strang, the John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values at the University of Toledo College of Law, will present on the topic “The Declaration of Independence: A Unique Role in Constitutional Interpretation? Any TBA member interested in joining the program can contact Greg Grisham at ggrisham@fisherphillips.com or 901-333-2076, or register online. Zoom details will be emailed after registration.

The Walmart Foundation has awarded $1 million to the National Judicial College and the National Bar Association (NBA) to fund non-traditional community-based diversion programs designed to end the cycle of crime. A special focus of the grant will be to give a second chance to youth and young adults with no, or a minimal, criminal history. Marvin Carr, Walmart's director of strategic initiatives and Center for Racial Justice, said the grant resulted in large measure, from a second chance program launched in Clarksdale, Mississippi, by NBA Immediate Past President Carlos Moore.