The Association of Corporate Counsel and Legal Aid of East Tennessee are partnering on a virtual event that will create and identify pro bono opportunities for in-house counsel and other legal staff in the Chattanooga area. LAET pro bono attorneys Caitlin Torney of Knoxville, Mary Frances of Chattanooga and Development Director Suzanne Wisdom will share and discuss ways you can offer volunteer pro bono services that will match your interests and abilities. The event will take place on Oct. 12 at noon EDT. Join the meeting via this Zoom link.

The Tennessee Supreme Court is set to hear four cases tomorrow, two of which will be livestreamed. State v. William Eugene Moon will begin at 9 a.m. CDT and Donna Cooper et al. v. Dr. Mason W. Mandy et al. will begin at 10:30 a.m. CDT. Both cases will be livestreamed on the Administrative Office of the Courts YouTube page. The final two cases will be submitted on briefs. Read details on all four cases on the AOC’s website.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery is leading a coalition of 52 attorneys general who today announced their strong support of U.S. Senate committee hearings addressing the protection and safety of kids and teens using social media. In a letter to the Congressional committee, the AGs wrote of their frustration with Facebook’s efforts to increase youth engagement despite internal studies that show “increased mental distress, bullying, contemplation of suicide, and other self-harm” for a large number of children. The coalition hopes the committee will “uncover critical information about the business practices that social media companies are using to gain the attention of more young people on their platforms.” 

Are you considering moving to a new practice management system, time/billing/account system, voice over internet phone (VOIP) system, or document management system? New scorecards are designed for printing and distributing to firm members to evaluate vendors. Access hundreds of resources in TBA’s Practice Management Center, including a new checklist on best practices for training employees on new technologies.

A new whitepaper offering 10 tips for cleaning up your Outlook inbox — Outlook Top 10 Tips and Tricks — is now available in TBA’s Practice Management Center. This and many other best practices are located in the Managing a Firm section that looks at cybersecurity, document automation and management, money and practice management, and a large section on technology with recent updates to our whitepaper on getting the best deals on technology.

TBA’s Practice Management Center offers comparison charts on many legal tech tools. This month, updates have been made to PDF programs and web meeting services. A new comparison chart on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 is also now available. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Google and Microsoft.

The Chattanooga City Council is set to suspend City Court Division II court operations following the retirement of current Division II Judge Russell Bean. Sherry Paty, who presides over Division I, would pick up Division II cases, Chattanoogan.com reports. The council says the move is necessary given budget limitations.

Hamilton County lawyer Coty Wamp officially announced her campaign for Hamilton County district attorney general today. She will seek the Republican Party nomination in the May 2022 election. Wamp currently serves as general counsel in the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. She previously spent three years as an assistant public defender in Hamilton County and an assistant district attorney in the 10th Judicial District. Wamp said her primary focus in seeking the job is to tackle violent crime. She also pledged to create a Gang and Violent Crime Unit.

A number of lawyers have been reinstated after being suspended for failure to complete required CLE hours. Of the group, 16 were suspended in 2021 for 2020 violations while one was suspended in 2007 for 2006 violations. The TBA also has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

The TBA Adoption Law Section will offer a free virtual webinar tomorrow, Oct. 12 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT on new "best interest" factors for termination of parental rights cases. The section’s executive counsel developed the factors, which became law on April 22. The live webinar will review each factor and provide a summary for how practitioners can effectively incorporate them into their practices. One hour of CLE credit is available on request for TBA members for a fee of $45.