The TBA Young Lawyers Division participated in two clinics this month as part of Celebrate Pro Bono Month. On Oct. 2, the YLD joined with Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts to hold a debt relief clinic. Sixteen low income debtors met with 14 volunteer attorneys to get advice about debt issues and relief options. Ten had their cases taken on a pro bono basis. Then on Oct. 6, the YLD joined with Vanderbilt University Law School and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services to host a TN Free Legal Answers Clinic. Volunteer attorneys met virtually with law students to answer 10 questions submitted on the TN Free Legal Answers website. Ten law students and seven attorneys volunteered their time.

Blount County lawyer Charles Alphonso Carpenter was permanently disbarred from the practice of law on Friday. The Tennessee Supreme Court reports that Carpenter consented to disbarment because he could not successfully defend charges filed against him. The court found that Carpenter failed to communicate with clients, file proper pleadings, correct errors in documents submitted and inform clients of his errors. He also received fees but performed no work. In another matter, Carpenter signed the name of his client to an emergency petition and then notarized, with his own notary seal, the signature. He also failed to respond to requests from the Board of Professional Responsibility. His conduct was determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 8.1(b) and 8.4(a), (c) and (d).

The TBA Labor & Employment Law Section will present two webcasts in November. The first, Wage and Hour Basics on Nov. 17, will feature Casey Duhart with Waller covering the fundamentals of state and federal regulations. Attendees also will learn about overtime, working hours and pitfalls of this practice area. On Nov. 18,  Greg Grisham with Fisher Phillips will present ADA Basics for Non-Employment Attorneys. The webcast will provide an overview of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for attorneys who do not focus on this practice area or would like to learn more about the ADA.

Adrienne Gilliam Fry recently was sworn into office as the newest judge on the 19th Judicial District Circuit Court, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Fry participated in a joint ceremony with Judge Robert Thomas Bateman in Robertson County and then in a second ceremony in Montgomery County. She fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Ross Hicks. Fry said the support she received at the ceremony was overwhelming. “At my swearing in, I saw individuals who had assisted me from the very beginning of my legal career, all the way through this transition." Fry was sworn in by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jill Ayers. Prior to her appointment, Fry was in private practice at Fry & Ritchie in Clarksville.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor spoke at a virtual event earlier this month and applauded the court’s new format for arguments, in which the justices freely ask questions, but after an attorney’s time has expired, each justice may ask questions uninterrupted in order of seniority. The new process was adopted in part because studies showed that female justices were being interrupted at higher rates than male counterparts, she said. The studies had an “enormous impact” and led Chief Justice John Roberts to be “much more sensitive” to those who are interrupted. Sotomayor also called for greater professional diversity at the event. She noted that with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s passing, the court lost its only civil rights lawyer, and that none of the current justices have significant experience with civil rights, criminal defense, immigration or environmental law. CNN has more from her speech.

For the second year, the American Bar Association is asking members to join its efforts to address significant issues that affect communities, the ABA Journal reports. ABA Giving Day, scheduled for Oct. 28, is a 24-hour initiative sponsored by the ABA Fund for Justice and Education. During the event, lawyers are encouraged to give to specific projects, including those that prevent housing insecurity, improve the child welfare system and obtain benefits for military families. ABA President Reginald Turner also challenged lawyers to spend 10 hours or more on pro bono projects by the end of the year. The inaugural ABA Giving Day raised $115,000 for eight programs in 2020. The giving event is held each year in conjunction with the week-long National Celebration of Pro Bono which begins Sunday.

Federal officials say Tennessee’s Medicaid program, known as TennCare, should return at least $397 million, and possibly as much as $767 million, due to years of alleged overbilling, mistakes and insufficient documentation, the Tennessean reports. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released an audit of the program this week. Auditors will now forward their recommendation to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which will determine what action to take. TennCare is disputing nearly all of the audit’s findings but did concede it made some miscalculations impacting about $22 million of federal funding. Those funds, it says, were eventually used to pay for health care of those in need.

University of Tennessee College of Law professor Penny White has been selected as one of the Chancellor’s Professors — a lifetime honor that recognizes extraordinary scholarly achievement and a record of excellence in teaching and service to the university. White, the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, began her career practicing law in the areas of criminal defense, civil rights and family law. She went on to serve as a judge at every level of the state court system, including as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court. She previous received the university’s Jefferson Prize for excellence in research and creative activity and the Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award. She has also been recognized twice with the law school’s Harold Warner Teaching Award.

Memphis lawyer Lenal Anderson Jr. died Oct. 9. Visitation was held today. A memorial service will take place tomorrow at noon CDT in the Goldsmith Room of the Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Rd., Memphis, TN 38117. Anderson attended Tougaloo College and earned a master in business administration from Harvard Business School. While in business school, he worked with fellow Tougaloo graduates to register African-Americans to vote in the Mississippi Delta. Several years later he earned his law degree from Columbia Law School. In 1979, Anderson returned to Memphis to teach and chair the business administration division at Lemoyne-Owen College. He also opened a private law practice where he served for more than 40 years. For the past eight years, he practiced with his daughter Nena. Donations may be made to the Memphis Area Tougaloo Alumni Chapter Scholarship Fund, C/O Sylvia Gray, 1612 Autumn Tree Cove, Cordova, TN 38016.

The Knoxville Bar Association will hold its Fall Memorial Service on Nov. 12 at noon EST. The group will celebrate the life of eight area lawyers who died in the last nine months. The service will be held virtually. Joining KBA President Cheryl Rice at the event will be Rev. Charles Fels and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee.