News - Friday, May 31, 2024

The Chattanooga Bar Association hosted Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti during its annual Law Day Luncheon, held May 21 at the Hunter Museum of American Art. The event focused on the “Voices of Democracy,” the American Bar Association’s theme for Law Day 2024. Observed annually May 1, Law Day is a national day set aside for celebrating the rule of law. Pictured are State Senator Todd Gardenhire, Liberty Bell recipient Brigadier General Carl Levi, Skrmetti, Smith and CBA Executive Director Lynda Minks Hood. More photos on page 9.

The Chattanooga Bar Foundation introduced six new fellows during its 2024 Law Day luncheon May 21 at the Hunter Museum for American Art.

The new additions to the Bar Foundation include attorneys Cathy Dorvil, Ellie Hill and Laura Ketcham, bankruptcy court trustee Kara West, career law clerk Carrie Stefaniak, and Judge Robert Philyaw.

Attorney Brent Howard is a new member of the Trusts, Estates and Wealth Management Practice Group at Miller & Martin in Chattanooga.

Howard focuses on complex estate planning and administration, which includes developing plans with challenging family structures, business succession needs, international aspects and transfer tax considerations.

Miller & Martin welcomed its 2024 class of summer associates May 13. The group includes nine first- and second-year law school students from across the southeast.

Seated from left: Emma Stauber (Vanderbilt University Law School), Elisabeth Jefferson (Emory University School of Law) and Bailey Lowe (Emory University School of Law). Standing from left: Joey Hargadon (Mercer University–Walter F. George School of Law), Will Sikes (University of Tennessee College of Law), Ezra Steinshouer (Emory University School of Law), Jacob Vayle (Georgia State University College of Law), Park Summerour (Georgia State University College of Law) and Sushanth Sunil (Emory University School of Law).

Juror Appreciation Week is observed during the month of May. Jury service is among the nation’s most important civic duties, and the people who serve on juries certainly deserve appreciation for their service to our country.

The founders feared governmental tyranny, so they built juries into our legal system. They believed certain functions were simply too important to be left to government officials acting alone. For this reason, prosecutors do not have the power to bring indictments requiring those under investigation to stand trial for felony criminal offenses; rather, only ordinary citizens called together into grand juries can bring indictments. Likewise, it is not judges, but ordinary citizens called together into trial juries, who decide guilt or innocence in criminal trials or liability and damages in civil trials where there are disputes about the facts.

When Marie King became a Realtor after surviving parenthood long enough to see her second child off to kindergarten, she had no idea what she was getting into.

King correctly believed a career in home sales would give her the flexibility and the income she needed to care for and financially support her two children as a single mother, she says.

Our primary goals as Realtors are to ensure you’re well-informed and that your homebuying experience goes smoothly. Navigating the real estate market can be complex, and having a professional by your side can make all the difference.

This week, I’m focusing on the buyer’s side of the real estate transaction by offering a few key points from the National Association of Realtors’ “179 Ways Agents Who are Realtors Are Worth Every Penny of Their Compensation.”

La Paz Chattanooga has promoted Vivian Lozano from director of social impact to chief operating officer.

Lozano joined La Paz in 2012 as a client services coordinator and has held numerous roles within the organization since that time. The COO role is new to the organization.

Tennessee is the sixth state in the U.S. to enhance coverage of prostate cancer screenings for high-risk men. The state’s “PSA Screening For HIM” bill eliminates costs for certain patients to receive the lifesaving screenings, reducing barriers and increasing access to care for men over 40 with certain risk factors.

If you own a business and you offer a 401(k) or similar retirement plan to your employees, you’ll want to stay current on the various changes affecting these types of accounts. And in 2024, you may find some interesting new developments to consider.

You’d think it would be pretty hard to steal a house. Especially one as prominent and distinctive as Elvis’s former Memphis digs, Graceland.

For the record, I am not alleging any criminal intent in the recent goings-on involving Graceland. That might be considered libel, in a financially costly sort of way, and I certainly wouldn’t want that. I’m just, you know, raising questions.

SEC regular-season champions. SEC Tournament champions. NCAA champions? The Tennessee baseball team is hoping to pull off the trifecta this season.

The Vols (50-11) earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Baseball Championships for the second time in three years. They will host a regional this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Tennessee opens play against Northern Kentucky Friday at 6 p.m. CDT (SEC Network). Indiana and Southern Miss are the other two teams in the double-elimination regional.

Memorial Day weekend is often considered to be the kick-start to summer and, for car shoppers looking for the best finance and lease deals, a great opportunity to take advantage of a marketplace finally returning to normalcy.

“It’s time for car shoppers to dust off their old, pre-pandemic playbooks because automakers are falling back into familiar traps of aging inventory and prevalent discounting,” said Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights.