Retired Davidson County General Sessions Court Judge Daniel Eisenstein was recently honored by the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) with its Sam Cochran Criminal Justice Award. According to NAMI, the award “recognizes an exemplary individual whose work in the criminal justice system has improved the fair and humane treatment of people with mental illness.” During his time on the bench, Eisenstein presided over the Davidson County Mental Health Court. After retirement, he continued his work in mental health and its intersection with the criminal justice system. Eisenstein has previously been honored with Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee’s Louise B. Katzman Volunteer of the Year Award and NAMI Tennessee’s Vision of Hope Award and Professional of the Year Award.

Chattanooga Judge Russell Bean announced yesterday that he will not seek re-election next year after serving 22 years with Chattanooga City Court, Division II, the Chattanoogan reports. Bean was appointed to the bench by former Mayor Jon Kinsey in 2000. "My heart has been with City Court and I will miss it but it is time for another chapter in my life,” Bean said in a statement.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced this week that he is joining a coalition of 51 attorneys general in asking the Federal Communications Commission to move up the deadline for smaller telephone companies to implement caller ID technology. The technology, called STIR/SHAKEN, helps fight robocalls by ensuring telephone calls are originating from verified numbers, not spoofed sources. Under the 2019 TRACED Act, large phone companies were required to implement the technology by June 2021 and smaller companies were given until June 2023. The coalition is asking the FCC to bump the deadline up to June 30, 2022 at the latest. Read more on the AG’s website.

Tennessee veterans are underrepresented in the Veterans Affairs’ Department (VA) claims and appeals process, but a new three-hour CLE set for Aug. 12 is designed to encourage VA accreditation. The live virtual program will cover representation before the VA, claims procedures, benefits eligibility, right to appeal, disability compensation, dependency, indemnity compensation and pension benefits. Speakers include James R. Drysdale with the VA Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C.

Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom today announced her decision to seek re‐election. Statom was appointed to the court in 2012 by then Gov. Bill Haslam to complete the term of Judge Ronald Durby. She was elected to serve a full term in 2014. In addition to handling a criminal, civil and mental health hospital docket, Statom presides over the Hamilton County General Sessions Mental Health Court. Prior to joining the bench she was a Hamilton County assistant district attorney for 14 years and a Davidson County assistant district attorney for 10 years. She earned her law degree from the University of Memphis and an LL.M. in litigation from Emory University School of Law. Read the full release.

Dickson County Juvenile Court Judge Michael Meise is putting out a call for lawyers who are interested in taking appointed cases from this court. The court, located in Charlotte, is about 40 miles west of Nashville. Those interested should contact Judge Meise at 615-789-0250 or judge.michael.meise@tncourts.gov.

Memphis lawyer and former TBA president Lucian Pera, a partner at Adams and Reese, is one of two candidates running for American Bar Association (ABA) president-elect. Pera and Mary Smith of Illinois appeared before the ABA House of Delegates Nominating Committee yesterday during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago to make their case why they are the best candidate for the job. Both have served as ABA officers. Pera has served seven years on the ABA Board of Governors, including three as treasurer. Smith also served on the board for seven years and as secretary for three. The 69-member nominating committee will make its recommendation to the full House of Delegates for a final selection at the 2022 ABA Midyear Meeting, scheduled for next February in Seattle. Read more about their presentations to the nominating committee in this ABA press release. Pera outlines his credentials in this Linkedin post.

A state expert must complete her intellectual disability evaluation of Pervis Payne before a scheduled Dec. 13 hearing or the state of Tennessee must find a new expert, Judge Paula Skahan told the state's attorney at a hearing Friday. Skahan issued the rebuke after learning that the state's expert, clinical psychologist Dr. Tucker Johnson, might not be unable to complete her evaluation by December. “If you can’t do it, I need someone who can do it," Skahan said. "This is moving very slowly. Very slowly. I need to know what she needs and when it's going to be done." Payne's attorneys are currently petitioning the court that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of an intellectual disability, the Commercial Appeal reports.

TBA delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting today got personal briefings from a number of ABA leaders, including House of Delegates Chair Barbara Howard and ABA Executive Director Jack Rives at the Tennessee delegation breakfast in Chicago. The delegation, led by former TBA President John Tarpley, also hosted a reception for about 100 lawyers and officials from across the country Sunday afternoon. That event is jointly supported by the University of Tennessee College of Law, the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, the Belmont University College of Law and the Vanderbilt University Law School.

With COVID-19 numbers rising in the community and in Davidson County jails, the sheriff’s office has announced that until further notice, individuals required to serve “weekend time” should not report. Instead, they should call 615-862-8367 to reschedule. Currently, 66 inmates are testing positive and the number of inmates on restriction is 481, Mainstreet Nashville reports.