The Trial Court Vacancy Commission today forwarded the names of three attorneys to Gov. Bill Lee to be considered for the 24th Judicial District Circuit Court vacancy, which covers Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin and Henry counties. J. Brent Bradberry, Vance Walker Dennis and Charles L. Trotter were selected for further consideration after a public hearing and interviews. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on each candidate.

Jasper attorney John Harvey “Cam” Cameron Jr. has announced he will run for 12th Judicial District Circuit Court judge. According to a press release from his campaign, Cameron currently serves as the municipal judge for the City of South Pittsburg and sits as a special judge for the Marion County General Sessions Court. He was appointed to Legal Aid of East Tennessee’s board of governors in 2012 and currently serves as the board’s president-elect. Cameron also practices at Cameron & Cameron PC where he handles both civil and criminal matters.

Brentwood attorney Kent Halkett will lead the virtual program The Mental Health Crisis in the Legal Profession – A Message of Hope on Aug. 10 from noon until 1 p.m. CDT. Halkett will discuss an article he penned for the Tennessee Bar Journal’s January/February 2021 issue titled, Mental Health in the Legal Profession: A Crisis, a Case Study and a Call to Action. During the program, he’ll discuss his mental health journey, offer personal insights into mental health problems and give a message of hope for others in the legal profession who are facing their own mental health challenges. If you are not a TBA Member, you can join now to receive CLE discount prices and three prepaid credits.

The LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee over a measure that restricts school bathroom use by transgender people, the Associated Press reports. Tennessee's law allows lawsuits to be brought “for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered” if school officials allow a transgender person into the bathroom or locker room when others are in there. HRC filed on behalf of two students, alleging the law violates Title IX, which protects against sex discrimination in education. Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state over its “bathroom sign” law, which required businesses and government facilities to post signs if they let transgender people use their public restrooms. A federal judge later temporarily blocked that bill as it makes its way through court.

Boyd Patterson of the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office said today he plans to run for the county’s open criminal court post, seeking to replace Judge Don W. Poole who has announced his retirement. Patterson worked as a prosecutor for 15 years and as a Gang Task Force coordinator before moving to the public defender’s office. His campaign says that his undergraduate and master’s degrees in psychology, plus two years counseling delinquent youth, make him the best candidate for the court, which also supervises the county’s Mental Health Court. Patterson, who helped establish the mental health court, says if elected he would create a new separate component to serve military veterans, Chattanoogan.com reports.

White House economic adviser Brian Deese on Sunday called on landlords to seek rental assistance before beginning to evict tenants behind on their rent, The Hill reports. The federal eviction moratorium ended on Saturday at midnight, leaving millions of Americans at risk. "That money is there. The states have the tools, the localities have the tools and there's no excuse. They need to move that money to those renters and those landlords immediately," Deese said. "The key message here is that no landlord should evict without seeking that rental assistance ...” he concluded.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday would add 203 federal trial court positions in 47 judicial districts around the country, a measure to alleviate what sponsors of the legislation called a "crisis" of growing caseloads. The “District Court Judgeships Act of 2021” would provide more than double the 77 judgeships the Judicial Conference of the United States requested in 26 districts for the next fiscal year, Reuters reports. The bill uses a calculation of 400 case filings per judgeship to determine the number of new judges the federal judiciary needs. Under the proposed legislation, one additional district judge would be added in the Middle and Eastern districts of Tennessee.

In a unanimous opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the economic loss doctrine applies in fraud actions where the parties are sophisticated commercial entities and the claim is based solely on alleged misrepresentations or nondisclosures about the quality of the goods purchased through a contract. The economic loss doctrine states parties cannot recover under civil tort law for purely economic damages suffered under a contract and instead must look to the contract itself for remedies. In addition, the ruling addressed the application of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act to commercial transactions. Read more about the case or access the opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order making a “minor housekeeping amendment” to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10, RJCs 2.6 and 3.9. In October 2018, the court adopted a comprehensive revision of Rule 31 and a new Rule 31A, which set out rules governing alternative dispute resolution. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission has reported that comments for Rule 10, RJCs 2.6 and 3.9 continue to reference the prior version of Rule 31. The court adopted this order to correct those cross-references.

A total of seven kids in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) spent the night in office space at the Davy Crockett Tower in downtown Nashville on July 16, Tennessee Lookout reports. One child had no pillow, sheets, blanket or mattress according to a video obtained by the paper. Also visible: trash and at least one dirty diaper on the floor near the children. A caseworker said DCS has failed to provide enough back-up options as the pandemic has impacted the willingness of foster parents to take in children. “Being unable to find a placement was an ongoing problem before the pandemic,” the caseworker said. “It’s gotten much worse. The number of kids sleeping in offices has never been this bad.” DCS responded, saying it is “not a violation of policy for children to stay in DCS offices during the nighttime hours until an appropriate placement is found.”