Legal Services Corporation (LSC) recently released its 2024 By the Numbers report which shows that for the fourth consecutive year, housing cases dominated legal aid caseloads, accounting for 288,000 closed cases or 37.2% of all matters handled. The number of clients aged 60 and over reached 171,572 in 2024, with the report highlighting the growing legal need among older Americans, especially older women. Veteran households also saw increased representation, with 34,205 families receiving legal assistance.

Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated Cocke County, Mayor Rob Mathis has helped lead recovery efforts, securing funding for roads, community projects and a balanced budget without raising taxes. But Knox News reports that the county’s biggest unresolved challenge is its flood-damaged jail, which has been closed since last September, forcing taxpayers to spend $2 million annually to house inmates in other counties. FEMA initially indicated the county qualified for a new 216-bed jail but later reduced its support to repairs for the old 88-bed facility, frustrating local leaders. Officials have said they will appeal the decision.

The TBA Construction Law Section will host the inaugural Joint Georgia/Tennessee Construction Conference Oct. 9-10 in Chattanooga. The two-day event will kick off with a welcome networking reception followed by a day of high quality CLE sessions for both Georgia and Tennessee lawyers. Topics include regional differences in construction law, a view from the bench session featuring judges and arbitrators, insurance 101, AI and ethics, construction defect trends and a case study session. The program will offer 6.75 total CLE hours, including one dual hour. CLE credit will be submitted to both Georgia and Tennessee. Get more information and register.

You’ve probably used a live chat window on a website; maybe with a business like Amazon, FedEx or an airline. Often times it’s handier than being on hold, even if you like hold music. Add the same capability to your website for client and prospect engagement. This chart compares major live chat vendors. Find this and more in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Firm in a Box.

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the president's birthright citizenship executive order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The appeal, shared with the Associated Press on Saturday, sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling on whether the citizenship restrictions are constitutional. The administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship. In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the rulings wrongly confer “the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people,” while opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the policy violates the Constitution. The case could set up a Supreme Court ruling by early summer.

Federal trial courts across the United States are issuing new orders restricting access to sealed documents following a directive from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOC) in response to recent cyberattacks on the judiciary’s case system. More than 20 courts have posted standing orders stating that while sealed documents may be filed through the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, they cannot be viewed electronically. The move comes after the judiciary reported “sophisticated and persistent” cyberattacks that targeted sealed filings in espionage and other sensitive cases, with Bloomberg News reporting that Russian government hackers had infiltrated the system for years. The AOC said it is implementing a sealed document security system to address vulnerabilities and strengthen protections. The changes follow earlier restrictions this summer, including a July order from the Eastern District of Virginia requiring sealed documents be filed only in hard copy. A Senate classified briefing on Sept. 9 addressed the breach, which lawmakers said raised concerns about national security and the judiciary’s ability to safeguard sensitive records.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said significantly fewer individuals being held on state charges are being housed in the downtown Memphis jail, a move officials said could help free up taxpayer dollars. Local Memphis reports that it costs the county roughly $100 per day to hold one person at the jail and the state reimburses just $39 of that amount, leaving the county to cover the rest. According to the sheriff’s office, 113 incarcerated individuals have already been transferred to the Tennessee Department of Corrections and another 92 are scheduled to be moved this week. Officials said the process has been in the works for more than a month.

Crime reduction efforts under the Memphis Safe Task Force will begin this week and provide a “generational opportunity” to improve safety in the city, Gov. Bill Lee told reporters during a press conference in Memphis on Friday. The effort includes the deployment of the National Guard and an infusion of state money, the Daily Memphian reports. The federally led crime reduction effort coordinates 13 federal agencies with a range of state and local law enforcement. Lee said that all 13 agencies will have personnel on the ground in Memphis and the task force will expand in the city in phases over the next weeks and months. The Tennessee National Guard personnel, who will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, will not make arrests or be armed unless requested by local officials. Tennessee has committed an additional $100 million in state funds explicitly for the task force, which will be coupled with federally funded resources. President Trump announced the Memphis Safe Task Force initiative during a Sept. 15 press conference in the Oval Office.

A Tennessee woman whose parents were killed in floodwaters after Hurricane Helene is suing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in a wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday. Maureen Obrist alleges her parents would still be alive if the federal utility had given more warning to residents downstream of Nolichucky Dam near Greeneville, which it owns and operates, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Obrist is suing TVA on three counts of negligence, one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress and one count of negligent undertaking related to the utility’s responsibility to coordinate warnings with local and state agencies during emergencies. The lawsuit seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

TBA's Young Lawyers Division District Representative Jack Wagster held an Essential Documents for Essential Workers (EDEW) clinic in Dickson County last week. Three attorneys and two paralegals from Eden Firm PLLC and Ramsey Thornton Barrett Osborn PLC provided wills, living wills and powers of attorney to multiple members of the Dickson Fire Department and their families. See a photo from the event.