Journal columnists Edward G. Phillips and Brandon L. Morrow tell you about recent amendments to employment law, which you need to know whether you represent employees, employers or both. In the same issue, columnist Monica Franklin explains and gives valuable resources for talking with senior adults about driving and help in determining when Momma needs to get off the road.

To commemorate "Celebrate Pro Bono Month" in the October Tennessee Bar Journal, Russell Fowler details Alexander Hamilton's upbringing and career. Hamilton is the first known American lawyer who performed pro bono on a wide and systematic scale -- he was a pro bono rock star! Also in this issue, Nashville lawyer James G. Thomas reviews Joel Cohen's book Blindfolds Off: Judges on How They Decide.

A recent Tennessee Supreme Court opinion holds that an order granting or denying a motion for summary judgment must contain a statement of the legal grounds on which the decision is based and that the statement contained in the order must be the product of the trial court’s own, independent analysis and judgment. The case, Mary C. Smith v. UHS of Lakeside Inc., also provides some significant standards for compliance with this Rule 56.04 “statement-of-legal-grounds” requirement. In the new October Tennessee Bar Journal, Andrée Sophia Blumstein explains.

October is “Celebrate Pro Bono Month.” So let us take a brief look at Alexander Hamilton, who was the first American lawyer we know of who performed pro bono work on a wide and systematic scale. This free legal work was not limited to what we refer to today as “impact cases” or “cause lawyering” or “high profile litigation.” His pro bono cases included help for the poor with their individual, everyday problems.[1] Considering that Hamilton was not wealthy like many of the other Founding Fathers, his volunteer legal activities were a real sacrifice.

“The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man” is reviewed by Gary Shockley in this month's Tennessee Bar Journal. Humor columnist Bill Haltom, in discussing the downside of all social media, writes (although not Tweeting or posting on Facebook) that he "would like to invent my own form of social media called 'Who Cares Book.'" Read this and more in the September issue.

TBA President Jonathan Steen explains medical-legal partnerships in his September Tennessee Bar Journal column and his hopes for fostering more MLPs in the state. Technology versus the Copyright Act is covered by Nashville lawyer Tim Warnock, while columnists Marlene Eskind Moses and Benjamin Russ write about forced marriage.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder retired Aug. 31, but she isn't stopping or even slowing down. Read about her life as a lawyer, judge and justice, and what she plans to do now. Spoiler alert: It involves scuba, traveling, golfing, skeet shooting, welding, driving her 1964 red Corvair -- and staying involved in access-to-justice issues. Read the story in the September Tennessee Bar Journal. See the Corvair online, with more pictures in the print edition.

Bill Haltom remembers in his monthly Journal column, how the late Sen. Howard Baker advanced the conversation on civility in the law. The column is an excerpt from Haltom's newly released book, The Other Fellow May Be Right: The Civility of Howard Baker.

In the August Journal, get some pointers on how to "take charge of your own economy" that will help you and your law practice. Also, our columnists cover banking and estate planning: Kathryn Reed Edge gives you the history of money and Eddy Smith explains some new trust options for married clients.

In the new August issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal, TBA President Jonathan Steen stresses the importance of civics education for kids, and Chattanooga lawyer Russell Fowler takes a detailed look at the Tennesseans who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court.