Prayers in Knoxville's Neyland Stadium were never more needed, especially after last Saturday's Auburn game, and Bill Haltom is ready. In this month's humor column, Haltom gives a testimonial about football-game prayers and the First Church of Neyland, where its 100,000 members "pass the orange offering plate seven times a year." Read "Meet me at the 50 … and bring your lawyer" in this month's Journal.

In the November issue, Tennessee Bar Journal columnist Donald F. Paine explains lay opinion, using as his example the trial of current death row inmate Jerry Ray Davidson. Paine also reviews the book The 16th Rail: The Evidence, the Scientist and the Lindbergh Kidnapping, by Adam J. Schrager, which Paine heartily recommends.

Nashville lawyer Tim Warnock writes about the best ways to set an appropriate award of statutory damages in a copyright infringement case in the latest issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal. In his regular column, Knoxville lawyer Wade Davies discusses policy changes on mandatory minimum sentences in federal court, rate increases for appointed counsel and more. The Tennessee Supreme Court has raised the caps on payment for counsel representing indigent defendnats in non-capital first-degree murder and Class A and B felonies, Davies writes.  "If anyone thinks people are getting wealthy from representing poor people at state expense, take a look at the rule. The rates have not changed since 1994. The state pays $40 per hour for out-of-court work and $50 for in-court, which does not include the time spent in court waiting."

In the November issue, out today, the Tennessee Bar Journal looks at the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act five years after two important statutes were enacted. Clinton L. Kelly writes about how the appellate courts have interpreted the notice statue and the certificate of good faith law. Also, don't miss words of wisdom from the students of the Law Launch Project, such as: "A group of people thrown into a pit of hell together will either kill each other or band together to fight the evil forces. I think in law school it happens both ways."

In her recent "Senior Moments" column, Knoxville lawyer Monica Franklin details the differences in the Medicare world between the terms "observation" and "admission." The use of one or other of the words can make a huge difference in whether your client will incur extra costs for the hospitalization and whether your client will receive the Medicare benefit to pay for skilled care in a rehabilitation facility. In the column, Franklin references Bagnall v. Sebelius, which at the Journal's press time was pending. Late last month, Judge Michael P. Shea ruled against the plaintiffs and granted the government's motion to dismiss the action.

The plaintiffs' main substantive claim was that observation status violates the Medicare statute because it deprives them of coverage they are entitled to by law. The judge dismissed this claim by relying on a federal appeals court case that held that it is permissible for Medicare to consider someone an inpatient only if she has been formally admitted by a hospital. Franklin notes that the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013 (H.R. 1179), currently in the Subcommittee on Health, provides that a three-day stay in the hospital, regardless of observation or admission status, would allow a Medicare beneficiary to receive benefits to pay for skilled care in a rehabilitation facility.

In this issue of the Journal, Edward Phillips and Brandon Morrow write about retaliation claims and how standards are more difficult under "Nassar" and "Ferguson." Don Paine tells you what the law is when a neighbor's tree's limbs and roots cause problems across the property line. Paine also reviews Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery.

October is Pro Bono Month, a good time to learn about one of Tennessee's "fathers of pro bono," Pleasant Miller. Read about him and his 19th century colleagues in this Tennessee Bar Journal article by Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Russell Fowler. Don't miss TBA President Cindy Wyrick's column, in which she dreams big about her hope for the profession.

The new issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal kicks off with help for advising your clients about the sinkholes their houses may be built over. Lawyers Bruce A. McMullen and Joshua A. Mullen give you the details of the Sinkhole Statute. Read this and more, including a quick update on The Law Launch Project in its first month of following 15 Tennessee law students in their last year of school.

John Paul Nefflen writes about comparative fault in audit malpractice cases in this issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.  Also, Don Paine explains "cemetery law" -- and a surprising situation involving the body of a former Tennessee Supreme Court justice.

"In my previous life, I was a used car salesman," law student Mike Sandler writes. "Now, I’m going to be a lawyer. Depending on whom you ask, I’m either improving my lot in life or taking a step backwards. Either way, I am embarking on a new chapter. Life is messy and law school is no exception." See this and other posts about what the Class of 2014 is up to this week at The Law Launch Project. Read about the venture involving 3Ls from all six of the state's law schools in the Tennessee Bar Journal.