White House economic adviser Brian Deese on Sunday called on landlords to seek rental assistance before beginning to evict tenants behind on their rent, The Hill reports. The federal eviction moratorium ended on Saturday at midnight, leaving millions of Americans at risk. "That money is there. The states have the tools, the localities have the tools and there's no excuse. They need to move that money to those renters and those landlords immediately," Deese said. "The key message here is that no landlord should evict without seeking that rental assistance ...” he concluded.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday would add 203 federal trial court positions in 47 judicial districts around the country, a measure to alleviate what sponsors of the legislation called a "crisis" of growing caseloads. The “District Court Judgeships Act of 2021” would provide more than double the 77 judgeships the Judicial Conference of the United States requested in 26 districts for the next fiscal year, Reuters reports. The bill uses a calculation of 400 case filings per judgeship to determine the number of new judges the federal judiciary needs. Under the proposed legislation, one additional district judge would be added in the Middle and Eastern districts of Tennessee.

In a unanimous opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the economic loss doctrine applies in fraud actions where the parties are sophisticated commercial entities and the claim is based solely on alleged misrepresentations or nondisclosures about the quality of the goods purchased through a contract. The economic loss doctrine states parties cannot recover under civil tort law for purely economic damages suffered under a contract and instead must look to the contract itself for remedies. In addition, the ruling addressed the application of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act to commercial transactions. Read more about the case or access the opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order making a “minor housekeeping amendment” to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10, RJCs 2.6 and 3.9. In October 2018, the court adopted a comprehensive revision of Rule 31 and a new Rule 31A, which set out rules governing alternative dispute resolution. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission has reported that comments for Rule 10, RJCs 2.6 and 3.9 continue to reference the prior version of Rule 31. The court adopted this order to correct those cross-references.

A total of seven kids in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) spent the night in office space at the Davy Crockett Tower in downtown Nashville on July 16, Tennessee Lookout reports. One child had no pillow, sheets, blanket or mattress according to a video obtained by the paper. Also visible: trash and at least one dirty diaper on the floor near the children. A caseworker said DCS has failed to provide enough back-up options as the pandemic has impacted the willingness of foster parents to take in children. “Being unable to find a placement was an ongoing problem before the pandemic,” the caseworker said. “It’s gotten much worse. The number of kids sleeping in offices has never been this bad.” DCS responded, saying it is “not a violation of policy for children to stay in DCS offices during the nighttime hours until an appropriate placement is found.”

Gov. Bill Lee issued Executive Order 82 on Friday to temporarily continue a limited state of emergency for the state, MSN reports. The order extends portions of Executive Order 77, which allow the state to use the National and State Guard to support certain healthcare and vaccination efforts. The order will remain in effect until Aug. 31.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition filed by Shelby County lawyer Urura M. Mayers seeking to dissolve a temporary suspension imposed on her in November 2020. The court suspended her license for misappropriating funds and posing a threat of substantial harm to the public. On April 29, a three-member panel of the Board of Professional Responsibility held a hearing on the petition. After consideration, it determined that Mayers failed to establish good cause to dissolve the temporary suspension. The court adopted the board’s finding as its own and directed Mayers to pay $1,338.40 in court costs.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today asked the Board of Professional Responsibility to review a guilty plea entered by Knox County lawyer Keith Allen Pope to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted. Pope pled guilty to violating a protection/restraining order on June 3 in Knox County General Sessions Court. He has filed a response with the board opposing summary suspension.

In Russell Fowler's July/August Tennessee Bar Journal column, he writes about how, in 1835, a priest who mistreated a group of poor, illiterate Zapotec Indians led to the rise of one of the greatest lawyers and leaders Mexico has seen. Fowler follows the life of Benito Juárez, from his humble beginning to his many accomplishments, including as governor and president. Through it all Juárez was renowned for helping the poor for free if he felt their cause just. "Juárez never wavered in his devotion to democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, separation of church and state and, a free market economy," Fowler writes. "And it all began with a pro bono case." 

After technical problems marred last week's remote bar exam, at least one plaintiffs' firm, Pennsylvania-based Sauder Schelkopf, is investigating potential litigation against ExamSoft, the software company hired to deliver the test. The National Conference of Bar Examiners, which designs the bar exam, said it is still receiving information from ExamSoft about the problem and does not know yet how many examinees were impacted, Reuters reports. Test takers reported that their computers crashed or froze during portions of the exam. ExamSoft has been sued in the past. In 2015, it agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a class action brought by test takers who encountered delays in uploading their essay responses during the July 2014 exam.