Legal tech blogger and Massachusetts lawyer Bob Ambrogi has released his annual list of top 10 legal trends from the last year. When examining 2021, Ambrogi names uncertainty as the number one trend, “as if we are serving time in a legal tech limbo.” Unlike 2020, Ambrogi also adds lack of progress in the world of regulatory reform to the list. The inequalities of remote work, lack of diversity in the legal profession and the courts’ adaptation of new technology are also featured on the list. Ambrogi rounds out the top 10 by asserting that the hybrid legal industry isn’t going anywhere. “The key takeaway from the past two years is that hybrid is actually better in most cases,” Ambrogi writes. “For legal professionals, it offers healthier work-life balance without diminishing productivity.” Read the full list here.

The City of Chattanooga’s Department of Equity and Community Engagement will hold its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 17, the Chattanoogan reports. Honoring the 2022 theme, “The Beloved Community … ”It Starts With Me!”, a short program will be held to kick off a donation drive that will be open from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. EST at City Hall. Mayor Tim Kelly will give welcome remarks, followed by music by The Littleton Mason Singers, a spoken-word performance by Jayden Coleman and reflections on service from the Mayor’s Youth Council. The NAACP will also be in attendance to conduct voter registration and a membership drive. Donations will benefit organizations located in the ML King Boulevard and 11th Street area, including Arts Build, The Community Kitchen, Patten Towers residents and more. Items needed are gently-used clothing, non-perishable food items, art supplies and personal hygiene products such as toilet paper, paper towels, soap and disposable masks.      

President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether it must keep the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, Reuters reports. Under the policy, migrants must wait weeks and sometimes years in Mexico for a U.S. court date on their bid for asylum. Biden attempted to end the policy in January, but a federal judge ruled it must be reinstated. An appeals court earlier this month agreed with the ruling. Biden’s Justice Department now seeks a ruling from the high court on whether the appeals court erred in their decision.

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Beginning Jan. 1, beauty professionals in Tennessee are required to undergo anti-domestic violence training, WSMV reports. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin, Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, and the YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee. International disinfectant maker, Barbicide, and the YWCA teamed up to create the Shear Haven Domestic Violence Training – a training video for salon owners and stylists on how to recognize the signs of domestic violence and navigate conversations with clients who might be in danger. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance and the state Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners are playing significant roles in launching this initiative, which will cost employees nothing.

A report published by the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) yesterday says Tennessee ranks 20th in the nation for number of state inmates infected with COVID-19 per capita, WSMV reports. According to statistics in the report, as of July, one in every 515 state prisoners who contract the virus had died and one in every 300 staff members who tested positive have died. TJC says COVID-19 poses a unique challenge for prisons due to the close confinement, restricted access to personal protective equipment, overstretched health services and more. In the report, TJC recommended that lawmakers consider meaningful healthcare reform to meet the needs of those behind bars. “As with so many systems, COVID-19 has laid bare the inequities and challenges that have long existed for some of the most vulnerable Tennesseans,” Just City Memphis Executive Director Josh Spickler said.

Mel Fowler-Green, executive director of the Metro Human Relations Commission, has announced she will step down from her role after seven years, WPLN reports. Throughout four mayoral administrations, Fowler-Green led the agency’s work on policies related to inclusion, equity, LGBT right and immigrant access to government services. Out of her accomplishments, Fowler-Green points to completing more community-based research, like a three-part booklet series on Nashville’s affordable housing crisis. She will return to private practice at Yezbak Law Offices, a firm that specializes in plaintiff-side employment and civil rights cases.

Tennessee state Rep. Clay Doggett, R-Pulaski, has announced that he will seek another term, Johnson City Press reports. Doggett, a small business owner, has served the 70th House District since 2018, covering all of Giles and parts of Lawrence counties. In the General Assembly, Doggett is a member of the Criminal Justice, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Naming and Designating committees. He also serves as chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee. Doggett sponsored the Leigh Ann Act, a law that allows anyone who knowingly violates a no contact order to be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. Doggett says additional support for law enforcement will be one of his top priorities in the coming year.

A Suffolk County, New York, jury yesterday found Teva Pharmaceuticals liable for its contributions to the opioid crisis, marking only the second opioid-related lawsuit to reach a jury verdict, the Associated Press reports. The drugmaker was found guilty of creating a “public nuisance” that ultimately led to an opioid epidemic linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in the past two decades. The suit focused on Actiq and Fentora, two brand-name fentanyl drugs that Teva promoted using a “deceptive and dangerous marketing strategy,” the suit says. Teva was the only manufacturing company left in the lawsuit after others settled, netting New York up to $1.5 billion. The court will determine how much Teva will have to pay in the case at a later date.

The MLK Commemorative Commission of Knoxville has announced it will celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a week-long celebration beginning on Jan. 7 and leading up to MLK Day on Jan. 17. The 2022 King Week Celebration will feature an MLK Gallery of Arts Tribute, a leadership educational symposium for dialogue on social justice issues, an oratorical contest for middle and high school students and much more. On Jan. 17, people will march in the yearly Memorial March Parade from Chilhowee Park to Overcoming Believers Church on Harriet Tubman Street at 8:30 a.m. EST, followed by a memorial tribute service at Overcoming Believers Church. Read more on the event from WBIR Knoxville.