Deana Hood, who serves as the municipal court judge for Spring Hill and Franklin, has announced her candidacy for 21st Judicial District Circuit Court (Division II), the Williamson County Herald reports. According to a statement from her campaign, she will focus on her history of leadership and community service and commitment to the efficient administration of the Williamson County Court System. A 1996 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Hood started her career working for the county attorney. She later joined the law firm of Buerger, Moseley & Carson and then in 2000, opened her own firm. She was named municipal judge in Franklin in 2014 and in Spring Hill in 2018.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says he will retire on his own terms despite calls for him to step down. "I'm only going to say that I'm not going to go beyond what I previously said on the subject, and that is that I do not believe I should stay on the Supreme Court, or want to stay on the Supreme Court, until I die," he recently told National Public Radio. "And when exactly I should retire, or will retire, has many complex parts to it. I think I'm aware of most of them, and I am, and will consider them." Some want Breyer to retire now so President Biden can name a replacement while Democrats control the U.S. Senate.

A new dating app called Lawyr is intended to connect people in the legal community with each other or with others who want to meet them, the ABA Journal reports. The app is the brainchild of London lawyer Matthew Rhodes, who created the legal website RollOnFriday. The app is available around the world for lawyers, judges, law students and paralegals. Those who do not work in the legal profession may also sign up but will only be matched with a legal professional. Users can search based on age, distance, gender, legal position and practice area. There is no cost to sign up, but premier features cost about $7 per month.

Registration is open through Sunday for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services' annual Equal Justice University conference, which will take place virtually Sept. 21-23. The pre-conference kicks off Monday and runs through Friday. Sessions offered will include an update on trust account ethics rules, a review of the importance of medical evaluation in Social Security disability advocacy, a general review of the Rules of Civil Procedure and strategies for handling unemployment overpayments. Co-sponsored by the TBA, the conference also will include presentation of the 2021 Access to Justice Awards.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division, the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and Belmont University College of Law are partnering together to host a TN Free Legal Answers clinic on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CDT. For this clinic, law students will be paired in small groups with attorney volunteers and work to answer questions submitted on the TN Free Legal Answers website. Attorney volunteers are still needed and can participate both in person and virtually. Please contact YLD Pro Bono Coordinator Alix Rogers, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, to help out.

The Knoxville Bar Foundation is holding a ceremony to unveil the portraits of former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee and Chancellor Mike Moyers on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. EDT in the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building. Attendees are asked to register for the event and masks will be required regardless of vaccination status. McGee retired at the end of 2019. Moyers stepped down from the bench earlier this year to join the Knoxville law firm of Bernstein, Stair & McAdams.

Make plans now to attend the TBA’s Environmental Law Forum set for Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT. The forum will be presented virtually. Watch for more information coming soon and thanks to Chattanooga attorney and section chair Jennifer Brundige with the Tennessee Valley Authority for producing this year’s event.

Karla M. McKanders, a clinical professor of law and associate director of the clinical program at Vanderbilt University Law School, has been named chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration. She announced the news on Twitter. In an open letter to the commission, McKanders writes that she recognizes the divisions that exist around immigration, but believes that immigration is, and has always been, an engine of growth, development, diversity and ingenuity for the country. She also talks about her passion for issues such as access to counsel, due process safeguards, protecting families and minors, and ensuring a fair and efficient immigration court system.

A number of lawyers were reinstated recently after being suspended for administrative violations. Seven were reinstated after failing to complete required CLE hours: six in 2020 and one in 2017. In addition, two lawyers have been reinstated after paying their 2020 professional privilege tax. Finally, 18 have been reinstated after paying required fees: 15 who were suspended in 2021, two in 2020 and one in 2013. The TBA has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

Britney Spears may receive relief from a 13-year old court-ordered conservatorship, as her father James Spears this week filed a petition to terminate the arrangement. Attorney Adam R. Banner retraces the history of Spears' conservatorship and the pop culture response to it in a recent issue of the ABA Journal. From the “FreeBritney” social media movement to “The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears” documentary, fans have obsessed over Spears’ situation. During the pandemic, some reportedly scoured her Instagram account looking for clues, hints and “secret codes” they believed the singer was using to liberate herself from the conservatorship. While these popular responses may be entertaining, they often lack legal analysis. Banner fills in the gaps with his latest column.