Federal prosecutors on Jan. 23 charged two American citizens connected to a Hardin Valley construction site after an immigration raid, alleging they harbored undocumented workers for financial gain and interfered with federal agents, Knox News reports. Tyler Shane Wells of Morristown and Alexander Bonilla-Servin of Smyrna were indicted on charges including harboring undocumented immigrants for commercial advantage and forcibly impeding federal officers. Prosecutors allege the pair conducted counter-surveillance and that Bonilla-Servin used his truck to strike an agent’s vehicle as it entered the site, a claim disputed by witnesses who say an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent struck his vehicle and agents then drew weapons and removed him. Bonilla-Servin also faces a separate obstruction charge filed Jan. 13, according to the news outlet. U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra Poplin ordered him released pending trial, finding he was not a danger.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, following the appointment of Judge Kyle A. Hixson to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 30 years of age, have been residents of the state for five years, and must reside in the Eastern Grand Division of Tennessee. Applicants must complete the application and submit it to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) by noon CST on Feb. 17. Questions about the application process should be submitted to AOC Assistant General Counsel Laura Blount at (615) 741-2687 or laura.blount@tncourts.gov.

The TBA will host the Federal Practice Forum 2026 on July 14 as a live virtual event, with programming scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT. Additional details about the forum and its agenda will be coming soon on the TBA website.

As part of its ongoing effort to gather feedback from Tennessee attorneys on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order seeking public comment on seven areas of potential regulatory changes to the legal profession, the TBA’s Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force will host a series of virtual town halls this month. Each town hall will focus on specific issues outlined in the order, starting with a discussion about Alternative Education and Licensure Pathways on Feb. 10 at noon CST. Additional sessions will address Nonlawyer Ownership and Fee Sharing on Feb. 13 at 11 a.m., Paraprofessionals on Feb. 19 at noon,  ABA Accreditation on Feb. 23 at noon, and Interstate Mobility and Reciprocity on Feb. 26 at noon. All times are central time zone. There is no cost to attend but registration is required to receive the meeting link. Attorneys also are encouraged to review the TBA’s Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page before attending.

Next week’s TBA Estate Planning Forum features a session on hot topics in probate litigation. Experienced litigators Rebecca Blair, Lisa Helton and Andrea Sinclair will cover current trends and procedural nuances every probate lawyer should know. Topics include fiduciary fees, whether to file a petition or motion, giving notice to interested persons, use of summonses, appeals from rulings, when to involve the attorney general in a case and much more. Other topics at the forum will include AI in estate planning, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a probate panel, public receivership, legislative updates and ethics. Learn more and register here.

The TBA Pro Bono Portal provides a centralized source for lawyers and law students to find pro bono opportunities across Tennessee, like the following case through West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS). A client in McNairy County needs assistance with bankruptcy advice. The work can be performed remotely or in person. Get more information about the requirements associated with this opportunity and browse other pro bono needs. A free half hour CLE is available on the TBA’s website to introduce attorneys to this innovative platform. The webcast includes a live demonstration of the portal and shows attorneys how to search and sign up for pro bono opportunities in their practice areas.

Memphis attorney Robert Miles Mason Sr. died Feb. 1 at age 61 after a long battle with cancer. He received his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1994. A Memphis native, Mason founded Miles Mason Law Group PLC and was a certified public accountant. Mason served on the Tennessee Bar Journal's Editorial Board from 2003-2006 and as chair of the TBA's Family Law Section. He received the Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing in 2024 for his article “You Are the Father!: Untangling Custody Rights in Tennessee Between Unmarried Parents,” which appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of the Journal. Mason’s father-in-law, the late Judge Joe B. Jones, was the first recipient of the award in 1981. A funeral Mass will be held Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church, 190 Adams Ave., Memphis 38103, preceded by the rosary at 11:30 a.m. and visitation at noon. Burial will take place at 2:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38119. All times CST. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mason's name to Christian Brothers High School or the Orpheum Theatre Group.

Thousands of legal immigrants will lose access to TennCare beginning in October under a new Trump administration policy, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Tennessee officials also separately are considering barring pregnant women without legal immigration status from publicly funded prenatal care, the paper reports. The director of TennCare told lawmakers last month that about 8,500 refugees and asylum-seekers would be removed from the state’s Medicaid program beginning Oct. 1. The changes stem from federal policy provisions included in a federal bill signed into law last year. State officials also are reviewing whether Tennessee’s Child Health Insurance Program could exclude pregnant women without legal status from receiving prenatal care.

A landslide led neighboring property owners to jointly file suit against Metro Water Services. Further investigation complicated their understanding of what may have caused the landslide, resulting in withdrawal of their shared counsel and in one property owner bringing suit against the other while still maintaining the action against Metro Water Services. While all three parties engaged in a variety of settlement-related actions, the suit filed by one property owner against the other sat largely dormant. This sparked a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute. The trial court held the motion in abeyance. While the settlement-related matters became ever more mired, the case did not move forward. Fifteen months later, the trial court granted the motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute and awarded attorney’s fees. Because we are unable to determine the trial court’s basis for the award of attorney’s fees from its order, we vacate that portion of the judgment and remand for further findings. Otherwise, we affirm.

Husband and Wife divorced. In ruling upon contested matters, the trial court adopted a parenting plan submitted by Husband with minor modifications, named Husband primary residential parent of the parties’ minor children, and granted Husband primary custody of his stepson. The trial court ordered Wife to pay child support and declined to grant her alimony. The court also categorized and distributed the parties’ marital property. The court denied Wife’s request to hold Husband in contempt for purportedly interfering with her parenting time. Because the parties agree there was error as to Wife’s income for purposes of the child support calculation and agree as to the number that should have been used for her income, we modify the trial court’s award of child support accordingly. We also conclude that the trial court erred in failing to value the marital property and to apply the statutory factors and make relevant findings in connection with dividing the marital estate. We conclude that the issue of primary custody over Husband’s stepson, who was nearly 18 at the time of argument in this case, is moot. We affirm as to the other issues presented in this appeal.