Attorney volunteers are needed on March 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST to help score the District 7 high school mock trial competition. The competition will take place at the Rutherford County Judicial Center, 116 W. Lytle St., Murfreesboro 37130. Contact Morgan Hanna for more information and to volunteer. Attorney volunteers are also needed on Feb.19-20 and Feb. 24-25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. EST in Chattanooga to help score Tennessee's largest mock trial district competition. Click here to volunteer for the District 5 competition. Shelby County needs volunteer lawyers and 2L and 3L law students for their competition on Feb. 20-22 at the Shelby County Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave., Memphis  38103. Click here to volunteer for District 14.  Davidson County is seeking volunteers on the evening of Feb. 21 and the morning of Feb. 22. No mock trial experience is necessary. Click here to select specific times to volunteer for District 9. Those who would like to volunteer at another district competition may find a list of all events on the TBA website.

HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Petitioner-Appellant Louis Chandler, a Michigan prisoner, is serving concurrent terms of twenty-five to seventy-five years in prison for two convictions of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.520b(2)(b). After exhausting his state-court appeals, Chandler filed a petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, claiming that the trial court infringed his right to present a complete defense. The district court denied the petition, and Chandler appeals. We REVERSE, conditionally GRANT Chandler’s habeas corpus petition, and REMAND to the district court.

The Plaintiff, who was injured by tripping on a sidewalk, filed suit against the private property owners and city but failed to properly serve the city. In their original answer, the private property owners asserted the city’s comparative fault but not in express terms. The Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the city as a defendant. In an amended answer, the private property owners expressly asserted comparative fault against the city. The Plaintiff promptly amended her complaint to add the city as a defendant under Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-1-119, which provides a plaintiff 90 days after the filing of an answer asserting comparative fault against a non-party to add that non-party as a defendant, even if doing so would otherwise be barred by a statute of limitations. The city asserted this was not in accordance with the statute because the private property owners asserted comparative fault against the city in the original answer. The trial court determined that, although the original answer did raise comparative fault of the city, this did not trigger the 90-day window under the statute because the city was a party at the time. The trial court concluded that the amended answer was timely filed within 90 days of the filing of the first answer alleging comparative fault against a non-party, which was the amended answer. The city appeals. We affirm.

In this estate case, appellant, decedent’s son, and appellee, decedent’s partner of twenty- seven years, are the beneficiaries of decedent’s will. The will appointed the parties co- executors, and they served in this capacity for several months until disputes arose between them and this litigation ensued. In its final order, the trial court found in favor of appellee on every disputed issue. On appeal, appellant raises issues concerning the trial court’s: (1) rulings during trial; (2) final order; and (3) award of attorney’s fees to appellee. Both parties ask for an award of appellate attorney’s fees. Because the evidence does not support the attorney’s fee amount awarded to appellee, and because the trial court failed to consider the relevant reasonableness factors, we vacate this award and remand for a new determination of reasonable attorney’s fees owed to appellee. The trial court’s orders are otherwise affirmed. We grant appellee’s request for appellate attorney’s fees, and we deny appellant’s request for same. Appellee’s request for frivolous appeal damages is denied.

The probate court declared a will executed on September 5, 2021, to be the decedent’s last will and testament and admitted it to probate. The beneficiary under an earlier will contested the validity of the 2021 will. In moving for summary judgment, the beneficiary argued that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity to make the will. Based on the undisputed facts, the trial court agreed. We affirm.

This week's installment of TBA's Indigent Representation Primer is now available. Guardians ad litem (GALs) and legal counsel for children play an essential role in the judicial system, particularly in family law cases involving minors. These attorneys, appointed to represent the best interests of children, frequently navigate emotionally charged cases, including custody disputes, child abuse and neglect proceedings and adoption cases. The dedicated legal professionals working in these areas, as well as those representing juveniles facing incarceration, benefit from specialized training and resources. Today's primer post has an overview of national organizations focused on providing support for legal professionals that represent and work with children, including guardians ad litem, attorneys representing children, judges, legal volunteers and other professionals. These organizations provide education and training, research, best practices, advocacy and other resources to help these professionals effectively advocate for children. Learn more about the national resources available and read all past primer posts.

In this boundary dispute, the plaintiff brought an action seeking a declaratory judgment to establish the boundary line between the plaintiff's improved real property and the defendants' improved real property. Following a bench trial, during which the court heard expert testimony from two competing surveyors, the trial court declared the property boundary to be established according to the survey prepared by the plaintiff's expert witness. The defendants have appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. The plaintiff's request for attorney's fees on appeal is denied.

In this interlocutory appeal, the employee contends the trial court erred by denying her request for benefits for an alleged work-related mental injury. The employee asserts that a verbal altercation with a coworker is the primary cause of her mental injury and need for medical treatment. Following an expedited hearing, the trial court determined the employee was unlikely to prevail at trial and denied the requested temporary disability and medical benefits. The employee has appealed. Upon careful consideration of the record, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has rescinded job offers to law students set to join the agency this year. The cuts, made this week, affect third-year law students who had been accepted into the Justice Department’s highly competitive Attorney General's Honors Program, which places new law graduates in entry-level jobs throughout the agency’s divisions, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to Reuters, President Donald Trump announced a temporary hiring freeze on federal jobs in a speech following his inauguration and followed up with an executive order calling for the development of a federal hiring plan to "restore merit to government service" within 120 days. It is unclear whether the job revocations extend beyond the DOJ. Students whose offers were rescinded this week received a brief email from the DOJ’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management, attributing the decision to the "hiring freeze announced Jan. 20."

Following Wednesday’s shooting at a Nashville high school, a local organization has begun raising money for the victims. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has activated its Nashville School Violence Support and Healing Fund. Funds raised will go to the victims’ families, those who were injured, and students and staff who experienced emotional trauma. The organization says it is following a playbook established after the Covenant School shooting in 2023. Donations can be made on their website.