State officials are encouraging Tennesseans to learn more about their legal options this month, NewsChannel 9 reports. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance's Division of Consumer Affairs reminds everyone that National Celebrate Pro Bono Week is being observed Oct. 25-31 across the nation. The department says that the week is a good time for people to "educate themselves when it comes to their legal options, which could be a title search, estate planning or a legal defense." In Tennessee more than 50 events are happening across the state during October. Now in its seventh year, the Tennessee initiative brings together bar associations, law schools, law firms, legal services providers and individual lawyers to offer free services to those unable to afford a lawyer. Learn more about the 2015 Celebrate Pro Bono Initiative.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee will hold a clinic on Oct. 31 in Maryville from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m. at the Blount County Library, 508 North Cusick St. The clinic is open to the public and no appointments are necessary. For more information or to volunteer, contact Terry Woods. See the full list of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

OnlineTn.justice.org, a website that allows low-income Tennesseans to seek free help with their civil legal problems, is celebrating 10,000 questions posted to the website and the more than 475 Tennessee volunteer lawyers registered to answer those questions. The innovative service, a joint project of the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and the Tennessee Bar Association, is designed to make it easier for people in need to access legal help. It also provides lawyers a flexible option for doing pro bono work anywhere there is internet service. Based on the success of OnlineTnjustice.org, the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Public Service Committee recently voted to establish a national online legal advice platform using the Tennessee model.

Celebrate the pro bono accomplishments of Memphis attorneys and law firms at a Pro Bono Reception Oct. 29 at Martin Tate Morrow & Marston. Special honorees are the law firms, governmental agencies and corporate legal departments who have sponsored the Saturday Legal Clinics. The event is sponsored by BankTennessee and The Marston Group. The law firm is located on the 10th floor of International Place, Tower II.  For more information, contact Cindy Ettingoff at Memphis Area Legal Services.

Celebrate Pro Bono Month events continue with Memphis Area Legal Services’ (MALS) Attorney of the Day advice and counsel clinic set for Thursday afternoon. Co-sponsored by the Memphis Bar Association's Access to Justice Committee, the weekly clinic runs from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the D’Army Bailey Civil Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave. For more information or to volunteer, contact Cindy Ettingoff or visit the MALS website.

Tennessee law schools are showing their support for Celebrate Pro Bono Month with a number of events planned over the next week. Three schools are holding virtual clinics using OnlineTNJustice (OTJ), a web-based resource for individuals seeking legal help. The Nashville School of Law goes first with a clinic this Wednesday. The University of Memphis School of Law follows with an event next Monday. Vanderbilt Law School will host the clinic next Tuesday. To volunteer, attorneys must register with OTJ and be licensed in Tennessee. At the end of the month, a two-day law student pro bono summit will take place at the Nashville School of Law. Sponsored by the TBA Access to Justice Committee, the Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission and law schools across the state, the Pro Bono & Public Interest Law School Summit will give law students an opportunity to gather with pro bono leaders to hear about recent developments in access to justice efforts. Get details on these and other events.

Legal aid groups will hold two clinics on Oct. 27. The first, sponsored by Legal Aid of East Tennessee, will take place in Jonesborough from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Jonesborough Senior Center. The focus will be on estate planning. Contact Christy Harris for more information. The second is a general legal advice clinic in Jackson. That event will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Regional Inter-Faith Association. Contact Kathryn Tucker for details. See the full list of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

Celebrate Pro Bono Month events continue next week with a general legal advice clinic set for Saturday, Oct. 24, in Nashville. The clinic, sponsored by the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, will begin at 9 a.m. at the group’s downtown Nashville office. No appointments are needed. To volunteer, contact Lucinda Smith. See the full list of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

Events planned across the state for next week include two legal clinics. In Nashville, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands partners with Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum to hold a legal advice clinic at Casa Azafran on Thursday. Also that day, the Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division partners with the Shelby County public defender to train lawyers on how to handle expungement and restoration of citizenship rights cases. Finally, on Friday, Legal Aid of East Tennessee will hold a pro se clinic in Kingsport. Get details on these and other Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

Volunteers are needed for Lipscomb’s legal clinic in Nashville on Oct. 20, 5:30 – 8 p.m. at St. James Missionary Baptist Church, 600 28th Ave. N. Attorneys will meet at 5:15 p.m. For more information, contact Randy Spivey at 615-966-2503.