Three free legal help clinics are available in Middle Tennessee this week through Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. To volunteer contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131.

• July 11 at the Gallatin Civic Center from 4:30-5:30 p.m. CDT, 210 Albert Gallatin Ave., Gallatin 37066
• July 12 at Operation Stand Down (veterans only) from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CDT, 1125 12th South, Nashville 37203
• July 13 at Greenhouse Ministries from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. CDT, 309 South Academy St., Murfreesboro 37130

A veterans-only legal help clinic will be held in Knoxville on July 12 at the Knox County Public Defender's Office from noon-2 p.m. EDT, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919.

If you missed "Accounting 101: An Attorney’s Crash Course in Understanding Financial Documents" this past spring, join us this Friday for a replay of the webcast. The program, airing at noon CDT, will cover the essential principles of accounting that attorneys should know, including how accounting can be crucial to certain cases, how to read and understand key financial documents, how to know which financial questions you should be asking your clients, and which documents you need from your clients or opposing counsel.

Salah Ayesh, a former board member of the Islamic Center of Tennessee (ICT), is being sued by the mosque and has been barred from entering the facility by a restraining order. The ICT board ousted Ayesh after he entered the business office without permission, sought to hire a consulting firm to complete a forensic audit and made an attempt to fire an imam. The Tennessean reports that Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles granted ICT's request for a restraining order on Monday, saying “employees and parishioners may face further damage, harassment, threats and interference with its legitimate business.”

The Mid-South Commercial Law Institute has elected five new directors to serve five-year terms: Justin Campbell of Thompson Burton PLLC, Michael W. Ewell of Frantz, McConnell & Seymour LLP, Laura F. Ketcham of Miller & Martin PLLC, Elizabeth Parrott of McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC and Gray Waldron of Dunham Hildebrand PLLC. Officers are President James E. Bailey III of Butler Snow LLP, Vice President/President-elect Paul G. Jennings of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, Secretary Cynthia N. Podis of Podis & Podis, Treasurer Stephen D. Barham of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel PC and Immediate Past President Shanna Fuller Veach, Career Law Clerk to Hon. Suzanne H. Bauknight.

The Department of Children’s Services (DCS) says that it is struggling to find a solution to avoid having abused and neglected children sleep in state offices overnight. Some of the temporary faith-based shelters and community groups that volunteered to provide short-term housing have closed or pulled back on their availability leaving caseworkers with few options for overnight housing. The Tennessee Lookout reports that there are currently 27 shelters across Tennessee's 95 counties, down from 29 in April, to temporarily house kids coming into DCS custody.

In a special called meeting Thursday, Nashville real estate developer Jimmy Granbery was elected chair of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. The Nashville Business Journal reports that after the meeting, Airport Authority CEO Doug Kreulen issued a public letter justifying why a new board was installed; Metro Law Director Wally Dietz also circulated a letter stating that Granbery and board member Bobby Joslin (elected as vice chair) now have "an irreconcilable conflict of interest" because they also had seats on the pre-exisiting airport board. The Federal Aviation Administration has stated it will not recognize a new board until the lawsuit surrounding the airport authority takeover is resolved.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the Biden administration over the use of in-house judges to handle cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bloomberg News reports that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Congress violated the Seventh Amendment, which protects the right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits, by allowing the SEC to ask an administrative law judge to impose penalties rather than going to federal court. The 5th Circuit also said Congress gave the commission too much leeway to decide which cases will go before its in-house judges. The appeal from the Biden administration asserts that the ruling will have “massive practical consequences” across the government if it is not overturned.

Thomson Reuters will purchase the San Francisco-based Casetext for $650 million as part of its long-term investment in generative artificial intelligence. The ABA Journal reports that the legal tech startup was founded in 2013 and has about 100 employees. Casetext launched the legal AI assistant CoCounsel in March. The product, developed in a partnership with OpenAI and trained on the latest version of its GPT large language model, uses a chatbot interface to aid in legal research, document review and contract analysis.

Memphis Law School has released two new "Show Cause" podcasts. Act Like an Adult — A Drag Show Dilemma takes a look at Tennessee's Adult Entertainment Act and the recent federal district court ruling that found it unconstitutional. Memphis Law professor Regina Hillman joins the show to discuss a wide array of LGBTQ related topics. In the Legislative Weeds with Cannabis features Stephen Galoob, a professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law, on how states are regulating the marijuana market and how the landscape is changing across the country, at both the state and federal levels.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday that his office would seek the death penalty in the criminal case against Cleotha Abston-Henderson, the man charged with the abduction and killing of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher, who was kidnapped while running near the University of Memphis in early September. According to the Commercial Appeal, Mulroy's office also requested investigative findings from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which include a ballistics report, a firearm investigation, serology and DNA testing.