The Knoxville Bar Association and Legal Aid of East Tennessee will hold a virtual Legal Advice Clinic for Veterans on Sept. 16 from noon to 2 p.m. EDT. This will be a general advice clinic that will cover a wide variety of legal issues, including family law, landlord/tenant, bankruptcy, criminal defense, consumer protection, contract disputes, child support and personal injury. Volunteers are needed. Sign up here to participate.

The scheduled federal execution of Keith Nelson took place late this afternoon after an appellate panel tossed a lower court’s ruling that would have required the government to get a drug prescription before it could use pentobarbital to conduct the execution. Questions about whether pentobarbital causes pain prior to death had been a focus of last-minute appeals for Nelson, who was convicted of raping and killing a 10-year-old Kansas girl.  WJHL has the story from the Associated Press.

Nashville-based law firm Tune Entrekin & White will move to a new location in 2021 — ending a 42-year run in the downtown UBS Tower (formerly known as the First American Center) at 315 Deaderick St. The firm is moving to the new Capitol View development, located at 500 11th Ave. N. on the western edge of downtown, Nashville Post reports. It is the first law office to announce a presence in the building, which also includes HealthStream, HCA Healthcare, LifeWay and Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Tom White, managing partner of the firm, said ease of access, free parking for clients, neighborhood amenities, and proximity to courts and government made the move “an easy choice.”

The TBA’s Adoption Law Section will present the 2020 Adoption Law Forum as a live virtual event on Sept. 24 from noon to 3:45 p.m. This year’s program will focus on post adoption contact agreements, including recent changes, basics and ethics. Speakers include Douglas Earl Dimond, general counsel of the state Department of Children's Services, who will provide legislative updates affecting the practice area; Bob Tuke with Trauger & Tuke; and Atlanta attorney Lori Surmay. The program offers 2.5 hours of general credits and one hour of dual credit. A networking reception will take place at the end of the program.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Niota Depot Preservation Committee will broadcast a live stream on its Facebook page of a pictorial stamp unveiling and cancellation ceremony of the USPS's new "19th Amendment: Women Vote" stamp. Niota is the hometown of Harry Burn, the young state representative who cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Saturday and will feature speakers including State Sen. Becky Massey, Niota Mayor Lois Preece and descendants of Burn's mother Febb Burn. Field representatives for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann also will speak. Head over to the Preservation Committee’s Facebook page to watch the event.

Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville, today announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and believes he caught the virus during the three-day special session earlier this month, the Tennessean reports. Beck began experiencing symptoms on Monday and tested positive on Tuesday — 11 days after the conclusion of the special session. In a statement Beck wrote that, while he wore a mask during the special session, not all legislators did. He criticized legislative leadership for holding the session, referring to it as “unnecessary and highly risky.” Beck’s statement comes one day after Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, was released from the hospital after spending more than a week in intensive care with the virus.

The Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association and several legal organizations in Memphis and across the state are looking for attorneys to volunteer for a virtual non-conviction expungement clinic this Saturday. The clinic is for Shelby County cases only, but attorneys do not have to reside or practice in Shelby County to volunteer. Training will be provided to those who volunteer, and lawyers may work on assigned files whenever they have time on Saturday. Register to help here or by emailing Kimi deMent Dean.

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk and WTVF NewsChannel 5’s chief investigative reporter Phil Williams both submitted a joint dismissal order to a judge this week, ending their years-long court battle, the Tennessean reports. Funk filed the $200 million libel lawsuit in 2016 after Williams reported on a deal Funk made with David Chase, a Nashville developer arrested on domestic violence charges that were later dropped. Williams also reported on a deposition Chase made during plea deal arrangements in which he suggested Funk was trying to “blackmail” him. After the dismissal order was filed yesterday, NewsChannel 5 posted a statement to its website saying it “never alleged – and never intended to allege or convey – that District Attorney Glenn Funk received an offer of a bribe, solicited, or accepted a bribe in connection with that case.”

Effective today, Memphis municipal courts have suspended all in-person cases after the high volume of people entering the Walter Bailey Criminal Justice Center caused concern about spreading the COVID-19 virus, the Daily Memphian reports. Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich recently said that between July 6 and  24, more than 18,000 non-employees entered the building. Anyone scheduled to appear in municipal court divisions 1, 2 or 3 should call the court clerk’s office at 901-636-3400, 901-636-3450 or 901-636-3499 for information on reset dates.

State election officials have confirmed that rapper and producer Kanye West will be appearing on the state's presidential ballot in November, the Associated Press reports. West’s presidential campaign submitted his petition last week and Secretary of State Tre Hargett this week confirmed that West had cleared the required 275 verified signatures needed to qualify as an independent candidate. The Daily Memphian reports that the signatures on West’s petition came from the Nashville and Clarksville areas and the Memphis, Cordova, Collierville and Arlington areas. West has also been successful in getting on the ballot in several other states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Oklahoma and Utah.