Attorney volunteers are needed to help with several upcoming high school mock trial district competitions. On Feb. 7, lawyers are needed to help score the District 7 competition, which will take place at the Rutherford County Courthouse, S. Public Square, Murfreesboro 37130. Contact Alyssa Fox for more information and to volunteer. Volunteers also are needed Feb. 17-25 in Chattanooga to help score the state's largest district competition in District 5. Contact Mary Frances DeVoe to volunteer for that one. From Feb. 19-22, Shelby County needs lawyers and 2L and 3L law students for its District 14 competition at the Shelby County Courthouse, 140 Adams Avenue, Memphis 38103. Contact Ameshia Forrest or Shante Oliver to volunteer.  Finally, Davidson County is seeking volunteers on the evening of Feb. 20-21 for the District 9 competition at the Historic Metro Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville 37201. Contact Pooja Bery to volunteer.  For any of these opportunities, no mock trial experience is necessary. Those interested in volunteering at another district competition may find a list of all events on the TBA website. Teams advancing from district competitions will meet in Nashville on March 20-21 for the state competition hosted by the TBA Young Lawyers Division. Learn more about this year's competition.

Nashville will honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with a series of events surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 19, celebrating King's impact on civil rights, justice and equality. Organized in part by the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, activities running Jan. 11-19 include worship services, panel discussions, youth programming, a march along historic Jefferson Street, the annual MLK Convocation at Tennessee State University, and the black-tie MLK Gala. Vanderbilt University also will host special programming, including a lecture by author and civil engineer Cheryl McKissack Daniel and a roundtable discussion on King’s writings and legacy. A schedule of events and additional details are available online.

The TBA YLD will present “The Rookie Series: Family Law Trends and Challenges,” a one-hour webcast scheduled for March 5 from noon to 1 p.m. CST, offering an overview of family law fundamentals, including marriage, divorce, child custody, support and property division. The program will explore the legal principles governing family relationships, the role of courts in resolving disputes, and current trends and challenges in family law practice, with practical examples for participants. Speakers include Julie Chapman of The Bowders Law Firm in Memphis, Elizabeth Connor of Germantown, Elizabeth "Libba" W. Fyke of Butler Sevier Hinsley & Reid in Memphis, and William Ross of Butler Sevier Hinsley & Reid in Memphis. More information is available on the TBA website.

There are more people than ever working in the U.S. legal sector according to preliminary data released by the U.S. Labor Department and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reuters reports that legal sector employment totaled a record-breaking 1,208,100 jobs last month. The count includes a range of legal workers at companies, law firms, government agencies and nonprofits, including paralegals and assistants. Overall U.S. employment growth slowed more than expected in December amid job losses in the construction, retail and manufacturing sectors, but the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4%.

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Kelly Richards of trafficking minors, sexually exploiting children, and possessing a firearm as a felon. Richards now appeals his conviction and sentence. Finding no errors, we affirm.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Over 30 years ago, Donald Herb Johnson pleaded guilty to a brutal murder. He now claims that a Kentucky trial court failed to ensure he entered a knowing plea because it did not ask him if he knew that he was waiving his privilege against self- incrimination and right to a jury. He also claims that the trial court refused to consider all his mitigating evidence when sentencing him to death. But the Kentucky Supreme Court rejected both claims on the merits. To obtain habeas relief in federal court, then, Johnson must meet the demanding standards in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). He has not done so. The Kentucky Supreme Court reasonably found that the record showed Johnson knew his rights. And the Kentucky trial court considered all of Johnson’s mitigating evidence; it just did not find that evidence persuasive. So the district court rightly denied Johnson’s habeas petition. We affirm.

Billy Jack Reprogal, Defendant, admitted to violating the terms of his community-based alternative to incarceration (“community corrections”) sentence. Following a hearing, the court ordered Defendant to serve the balance of his sentence in confinement. Defendant claims the trial court erred because it failed to properly consider the ends of justice and the best interest of the public and Defendant when it sentenced him. Discerning no error, we affirm.

Defendant, Keion Lamonte Jemison, appeals from his convictions for reckless homicide, aggravated assault resulting in death, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony crime of violence, for which he is serving an effective twenty-three-year sentence. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred by sentencing him for Class B felony possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence, arguing that aggravated assault by recklessness is not included in the statutory definition of a “crime of violence. ” We affirm.

Because the Shelby County Probate Court had no subject-matter jurisdiction over this breach of contract case, we vacate the probate court’s order and remand with instruction to transfer the matter to the Shelby County Chancery Court.

This appeal concerns third-party claims for breach of contract filed by a real estate developer against several real estate investment companies. The trial court entered an agreed order extending the time for the third-party defendants to file a “responsive pleading. ” Then, prior to the deadline for filing their responsive pleadings, the third-party defendants filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. But the developer argued that the third-party defendants waived their right to file a Rule 12 motion because the agreed order only extended the deadline for “responsive pleadings. ” During the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the third-party defendants asked for an award of their attorney’s fees and costs under Tennessee Code Annotated § 20-12- 119(c)(1), which requires courts to “award the party or parties against whom the dismissed claims were pending at the time the successful motion to dismiss was granted the costs and reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees incurred in the proceedings as a consequence of the dismissed claims by that party or parties. ” The trial court granted the motion to dismiss but held that the third-party defendants could not recover their attorney’s fees and costs under § 20-12-119(c)(1) because “the written motion to dismiss did not include a request for an award of fees or cite to the statute.” This appeal followed. We conclude that the agreed order did not constitute a waiver of the third-party defendants’ right to file a motion to dismiss and affirm the dismissal of the claims at issue. However, we conclude that the third-party defendants are entitled to an award of their costs and attorney’s fees under § 20- 12-119(c)(1). Thus, we reverse and remand with instructions to award the third-party defendants their reasonable and necessary attorney fees and costs.