Robert “Mitch” Manuel has announced his candidacy for Unicoi County General Sessions judge, the Erwin Record reports. The seat is currently held by Judge David R. Shults, who will retire on Aug. 31, 2022. Manuel earned his law degree from Texas Southern University in 2006 and began practicing in Unicoi County. His wife, Stana Donnelly, also practices with him, and his father, William Robert “Bob” Manuel, was part of the practice until his death in 2011. Manuel also has served as the delinquent tax attorney for the county and town of Erwin. He is current treasurer of the Unicoi County Bar Association.

The Legal Aid Society will hold two in-person legal advice clinics next week for those with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, and SNAP and unemployment benefits. The clinics will take place in Nashville on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., and on Saturday from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. CDT at the Belmont Ministry Center, 2005 12th Ave. S. To volunteer, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

Twitter is all the rage, both in lawyers’ personal and professional lives. But according to the “CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher, whenever lawyers choose to tweet they enter an ethical danger zone. Join Teicher next Tuesday at 10 a.m. CDT to learn more about the tricky Twitter traps that can cause ethical headaches. He also will discuss ethics issues with popular platforms TikTok and Zoom. Register here.

Shelby County lawyer Flordia M. Henderson today received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court. A client Henderson was representing in a small estate matter made untrue statements in court about the decedent’s marital status. Henderson failed to take proper remedial action prior to the conclusion of the proceeding and did not subsequently address the issue directly with her client. Instead, she filed a subsequent petition on behalf of the decedent’s estate alleging that the client had made knowingly false statements in her testimony. A public censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it does not affect the attorney’s ability to practice law.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts yesterday voiced its support for the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act to help protect judges’ personal information in federal databases, the ABA Journal reports. The legislation is named after the son of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was killed last summer by a disgruntled lawyer who found Salas’ address on the internet. Federal judges and other court personnel have reported a drastic increase in threats and inappropriate communications, from 926 incidents in 2015 to 4,261 in 2020. Additionally, after federal judges requested increased security, Congress approved funding for the U.S. Marshals Service to modernize home security systems at judges’ homes and to improve its ability to identify online threats against judges and court facilities. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act would also restrict data aggregators from reselling judges’ personal information.

Shelby County General Sessions Civil Court yesterday announced that all six divisions will resume at full capacity on Aug. 2. For information regarding court dates, check the General Sessions Court Clerk’s Office website or call the office’s general information line at 901-222-3400.

The investiture ceremony for U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee Katherine Crytzer will take place on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. EDT in the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 800 Market St., Knoxville. Crytzer was nominated for the role by former President Donald Trump and was confirmed to the bench by the U.S. Senate late last year. She was previously the principal deputy assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy.

Former Nashville Mayor and Bone McAllester Norton attorney David Briley has announced he will run for Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Division I, the Tennessean reports. That judgeship is currently held by Judge Hamilton "Kip" Gayden, who some expect will not seek reelection, though he has not yet made a formal announcement. Briley was a longtime at-large Metro council member before being elected vice mayor in 2015. In 2018, he became acting mayor after the resignation of former Mayor Megan Barry. Briley won the election to complete the balance of Barry’s term, but lost his 2019 reelection race to current Mayor John Cooper. Briley practices in civil, commercial and class-action litigation at Bone McAllester. 

Pop star Britney Spears has been granted the right to hire her own attorney amid the legal battle over her conservatorship, the ABA Journal reports. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge yesterday approved Spears’ request to hire Greenberg Traurig shareholder Mathew Rosengart, who immediately called on the star’s father, Jamie Spears, to resign as his daughter’s conservator. Spears accused her father of “conservatorship abuse” in yesterday’s hearing. She has previously claimed that the conservatorship has prevented her from getting married and having more children by forcing her to have an IUD. An attorney for Spears’ father told the court yesterday that her client had his daughter’s best interests in mind and would not be stepping aside. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 29.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the law license of Johnny Leon Woodruff be transferred to disability inactive status. Woodruff cannot practice law while on disability inactive status. Woodruff’s license may be reinstated by the high court if he is able to show that his disability has been removed.