A new whitepaper offering 10 tips for cleaning up your Outlook inbox — Outlook Top 10 Tips and Tricks — is now available in TBA’s Practice Management Center. This and many other best practices are located in the Managing a Firm section that looks at cybersecurity, document automation and management, money and practice management, and a large section on technology with recent updates to our whitepaper on getting the best deals on technology.

TBA’s Practice Management Center offers comparison charts on many legal tech tools. This month, updates have been made to PDF programs and web meeting services. A new comparison chart on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 is also now available. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Google and Microsoft.

The Chattanooga City Council is set to suspend City Court Division II court operations following the retirement of current Division II Judge Russell Bean. Sherry Paty, who presides over Division I, would pick up Division II cases, Chattanoogan.com reports. The council says the move is necessary given budget limitations.

Hamilton County lawyer Coty Wamp officially announced her campaign for Hamilton County district attorney general today. She will seek the Republican Party nomination in the May 2022 election. Wamp currently serves as general counsel in the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. She previously spent three years as an assistant public defender in Hamilton County and an assistant district attorney in the 10th Judicial District. Wamp said her primary focus in seeking the job is to tackle violent crime. She also pledged to create a Gang and Violent Crime Unit.

A number of lawyers have been reinstated after being suspended for failure to complete required CLE hours. Of the group, 16 were suspended in 2021 for 2020 violations while one was suspended in 2007 for 2006 violations. The TBA also has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

The TBA Adoption Law Section will offer a free virtual webinar tomorrow, Oct. 12 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT on new "best interest" factors for termination of parental rights cases. The section’s executive counsel developed the factors, which became law on April 22. The live webinar will review each factor and provide a summary for how practitioners can effectively incorporate them into their practices. One hour of CLE credit is available on request for TBA members for a fee of $45.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division is joining forces with Vanderbilt University Law School and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services to host a virtual TN Free Legal Answers clinic on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. CDT. Law students will be paired with volunteer lawyers in Zoom breakout rooms to answer questions submitted on the TN Free Legal Answers website. Volunteers may select the questions they want to answer. Email YLD Access to Justice Coordinator Alix Rogers with Legal Aid of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands to sign up.

The U.S. Supreme Court opened the first day of its new term with oral arguments in a 15-year dispute between the states of Tennessee and Mississippi. According to Reuters, the “justices expressed skepticism about Mississippi's claim that Tennessee is effectively stealing its water from an underground aquifer that runs beneath both states.” The Commercial Appeal provides historical context for the case. With the justices back together in the courthouse for the first time since the pandemic, several remote protocols remained in effect. A live audio feed of the arguments was available, justices took turns politely asking questions, and Justice Clarence Thomas (who almost never spoke during oral arguments in the past but participated in teleconferences) “quickly asked the first question of the new term.”

In August 2020, Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, Mayor John Cooper and Police Chief John Drake asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct at the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). Many of the allegations were brought by an organization called Silent No Longer TN, which was founded by a former MNPD detective and survivor of sexual assault. One victim spoke with the TBI about an incident in 2016, but the district attorney’s office said it could not file charges because the statute of limitations had expired, Mainstreet Nashville reports. Silent No Longer says the inability to bring charges illustrates why the state needs to eliminate the statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes.

Housing advocates warn that a surge in eviction cases is imminent and while emergency rental assistance programs may help some who are struggling to keep up with rent and other bills, many individuals need legal support. The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands (LAS) is offering training for attorneys interested in volunteering to help tenants facing eviction in both urban and rural areas. The one-hour live webcast will take place Oct. 5 at noon CDT and will cover the application process for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and how to access funds through the Tennessee Housing and Development Agency (THDA). Presenters include LAS attorneys Amelia Miller Luna, Katie Ovalle and Linda Blackwelder. Learn more about the CLE and register here. Contact Trent Craig at LAS with questions.