Knoxville Center of the Deaf (KCD) is looking for a lawyer willing to serve as the pro bono attorney on its nonprofit board. The center provides interpreting services throughout the Greater Knoxville and Knox County area, including at hospitals, doctors’ offices, dentists and meetings. The pro bono attorney would commit to (1) become familiar with the by-laws and corporate status of the center, (2) attend quarterly board meetings; and (3) advise the board as to legalities related to issues that arise. Contact Wayne Kline at wkline@hdclaw.com or (865) 292-2321 to learn more.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold two clinics this week. On Wednesday, a clinic for veterans will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT in Nashville at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., 37203. Then on Saturday, the Belmont Clinic will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 2005 12th Ave. South, Nashville 37204. All times are central. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. See all August clinics.

This year's Creditors Practice Annual Forum will be held in person Sept. 14 at 1212 Germantown, located at 1212 6th Ave N, Nashville 37208. Practitioners in the creditors practice field can earn three general and one dual CLE credits. The program will cover topics including Regulation F, navigating ethical issues in a remote work world, an update on landlord tenant law, as well as a session covering developments in bankruptcy law. After the program, stay and mingle with fellow attendees, speakers and section executive council members at a casual reception.

Two former Pennsylvania judges convicted of orchestrating a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks have been ordered to pay more than $200 million to the hundreds of victims impacted by the scandal, the Associated Press reports. Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan were convicted in what came to be known as the “kids-for-cash” scandal. The judges shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Ciavarella ordered children as young as eight to detention for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered. The two must pay $106 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages to nearly 300 people in the long-running civil suit.

Roy Octavius Parker, a Mississippi attorney and TBA senior counselor, died on July 25. He was 91. Parker earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi’s School of Law in 1959. During his career as a trial lawyer, Parker was a lifetime member and past president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Parker was licensed in Tennessee in 1997. Graveside services with military honors for Parker were held on July 28 in Mississippi. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 1725, Tupelo, MS 38802.

According to the ABA Journal, Lex Machina’s 2022 Employment Litigation Report shows a total of $1.17 billion in damages were awarded in 1,016 employment cases in 2021—the highest amount of damages in nearly a decade. The report focuses on the three-year period from 2019 to 2021, examining cases that were filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additional data shows that 73% of employment cases in district courts settled between 2019 and 2021, while only 10% of claim defendants and 3% of claimants won. In the appellate courts, appellees won in 51% of employment cases during the three-year period. Appellants won in 13% of cases, while 15% of cases settled. Read highlights from the report.

The Tennessee Department of Health this week appointed two Nashville attorneys to serve as its chief of staff and general counsel, the Nashville Post reports. Elizabeth Foy will serve as the department’s chief of staff. Foy served as legislative liaison for the department since 2021 and was appointed assistant commissioner earlier this year. She also served as an assistant district attorney in Nashville for more than 10 years. The department also appointed Mary Katherine Bratton as general counsel. Bratton originally started with TDH as assistant general counsel in 2012, and most recently served in the office of general counsel at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The American Bar Association has appointed Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) Executive Director Buddy Stockwell to its Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP). CoLAP is instrumental in supporting all state LAPs in the development and delivery of top-tier clinical support and monitoring services to judges, lawyers, and law students who are confronting alcoholism, substance use disorders, or any other type of mental health issue such as depression. The Tennessee Supreme Court appointed Stockwell as TLAP executive director in July 2020. Now into his 40th year of recovery from alcoholism, Stockwell has been personally involved in lawyer assistance for 30 years.

A retirement celebration for Davidson County Seventh Circuit Probate Court Judge Randy Kennedy will be held on Aug. 23 from 2- 4 p.m. CDT, on the Sixth floor of the Historic Davidson County Courthouse. Notes and well wishes for Kennedy can be left here. RSVPs are not required, but questions can be directed to Adam Hill.   

Outgoing state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, will resign his seat early to take a job as senior advisor for legislative affairs and policy with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Tennessean reports. Bell announced earlier this year he’d be leaving his position after nearly 16 years in the legislature. He was elected to the state House in 2006 and then the state Senate in 2010. Bell’s District 9 seat was redrawn as part of redistricting this year and is now considered District 1. He previously chaired the Senate Government Operations Committee, which oversees all the state government agencies and departments, including the TWRA.