The KBA LRIS wants to thank WBIR, who has published a resource guide as "part of More Than A Number, an initiative to give victims and families more control over the steps that follow tragedy. As part of the initiative, WBIR wants to make sure families have immediate contact information for the organizations in East Tennessee striving to help people recover."
For more information about this, visit Resource guide for victims of crimes in East Tennessee | wbir.com
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October is Celebrate Pro Bono Month in Tennessee! Pro bono work is a professional responsibility and an individual ethical commitment of each lawyer. The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service launched Pro Bono week in 2009 to highlight the increasing need for pro bono services during harsh economic times and recognize those in the legal community who volunteer their time and expertise to help meet the endless need for free legal help. Tennessee celebrates Pro Bono for the entire month of October each year. The Knoxville Bar Association and the KBA Lawyer Referral & Information Service (LRIS) are proud to partner with Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) in its many efforts to serve our community.
Clinic events this month are highlighted below. Some events are income-based and some not, so if you have any questions about your eligibility, visit www.laet.org for more information.
Legal Advice Clinic for Veterans – Wednesday October 11th Noon – 2:00 PM
The Veteran’s Clinic provides an opportunity for us to give back to those who have given so much to us and our country! Veterans and their family members are welcome at this clinic with a wide range of legal issues. The clinic is held on the second Wednesday of each month at the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office from Noon to 2:00pm. No preregistration is required for this clinic.
Estate Planning Clinic Workday – Wednesday October 25th 3:00 PM
Legal Aid of East Tennessee is excited to partner with Eastman, Habitat for Humanity, and LMU Duncan School of Law to help draft and execute documents for Habitat home recipients in the Tri-Cities Area. On Wednesday October 25th, LMU Duncan School of Law Students will be drafting estate planning documents for these clients. The workday will be held from 3:00 to 4:30pm at LMU Duncan School of Law on Summit Avenue. For more information or to sign up, please visit www.laet.org or call (865)637-0484.
Blount County General Advice Clinic – Saturday November 18th 9:00 AM
This clinic is for our neighbors in Blount and the surrounding counties to take the first step in addressing their legal concerns. This clinic is open to any and all walk-in clients to address a diverse range of legal issues. The clinic begins at 9:00 AM on Saturday November 18th at the Blount County Public Library in Maryville and will run until 11:00 AM.
In addition to clinics, Legal Aid of East Tennessee works hard to place cases with volunteer attorneys for representation throughout the year. To those in need, legal issues can feel overwhelming and isolating. KBA LRIS is proud to highlight the efforts of our member attorneys and our agency-partner LAET to serve the many people in need in our community. Together, We Can.
The materials contained in this blog are intended to, and do, provide only a broad overview of various legal topics. The general information contained in this material is not designed nor intended to be a substitute for legal advice on a specific legal issue or question. In addition, the information provided in this material is only general advice and may not be applicable to apparent similar individual problems, since only slight changes in facts change the applicable advice. If you have a legal problem or question, please consult an attorney.
Any publication, distribution, or other use of these materials without the express written consent of the Knoxville Bar Association is prohibited.
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"Violence done to us by someone we love is frightening and degrading. It is also against the law."
So begins the introduction to the Domestic Violence Handbook, published yearly by the Access to Justice Committee of the Knoxville Bar Association.
In 1997, the KBA Board of Governors determined that a handbook of local resources would be valuable to victims of domestic violence. The KBA Women in the Law Committee volunteered to develop and distribute copies to the local shelters and agencies who assisted victims of family violence. The challenge was to create a document reasonable in length while at the same time providing basic, no-nonsense information. Eight months of work resulted in a 62-page document titled "Domestic Violence: We Can Live Without It. Rights and Options Available Under the Law."
Twenty-six years have now passed and the handbook has undergone many reviews and updates. The 77 pages of content in the 2023 edition include an overview of potential indicators of abuse, how to seek medical treatment, when violence affects children, and options under the law ("How to Use the Law - Both Criminal and Civil"). It includes information about issues that typically affect victims who have sought help including housing issues, dealing with creditors, lawsuits, bankruptcy, employment and medical benefits questions.
The link provided to view and download the Domestic Violence Handbook is not monitored for visits nor IP addresses tracked. It is a safe website to visit, view and download a PDF copy of the Handbook. It's our hope that the link to this resource is shared among the professional domestic violence support community, former victims, and their friends and family so that it can reach those in need, when they need it.
If you’re looking for a lawyer and just don’t know where to start, the Knoxville Bar Association’s LRIS is a great place to begin. We match you with a lawyer that suits your needs. Our trusted attorneys provide you with a free consultation so that you can decide if it’s the right fit. Want to learn more? Call us at (865) 522-7501 or visit knoxbar.org/findalawyer.
On Saturday, July 1, legislation passed by the 113th General Assembly became law. This blog will attempt to compile summaries from several sources covering updates to the law. Here are some of the changes you may wish to know:
The Tennessee Works Tax Reform Act, House Bill 323, was intended to cut taxes for families and small businesses, the most visible of which to most of us will be a 3-month break from sales taxes on food and food ingredients sold between August 1 to October 31 of this year. For small business owners, HB323 increases the filing threshold for business tax from $10,000 to $100,000 in gross receipts. While business owners/taxpayers with more than $3000 in gross receipts must still obtain a business license, they will no longer owe taxes unless their gross receipts are more than $100,000. (Consult a tax professional for questions related to the new laws and how they affect your business.)
House Bill 322 amends TCA §10-7-504; Title 49, Chapter 6 and Title 62, Chapter 35 relative to school safety. This requires every public and private school to keep doors locked at all times while students are present as well as to develop annual safety plans with specific features and hardware security requirements for remodeled and newly built schools. In addition, House Bill 340 implements a zero tolerance policy for school mass violence threats. In addition, the Teacher Paycheck Protection Act will increase salary for teachers each year until base salary has reached $50,000 in the 2026-27 school year.
Several new laws passed which affect DWI laws and penalties, including making it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly giving someone under the influence access to a motor vehicle, decreasing the wait time served before eligibility for substance treatment, and transdermal alcohol monitoring for 3-times-convicted DUI offenders until 90 days continuous sobriety. Other criminal law changes include prohibiting use of an electronic tracking device without consent (anti-stalking laws), increasing penalties for rape and incest of a minor, aggravated kidnapping and rape, and stricter penalties for boating under the influence.
Sources used for this article included WGNSRadio.com, WPLN.org, WBIR.com and Legiscan.com.
This article is not written by an attorney, and is intended for information only. It is not to be considered legal advice. If you’re looking for a lawyer and just don’t know where to start, the Knoxville Bar Association’s LRIS is a great place to begin. We match you with a lawyer that suits your needs. Our trusted attorneys provide you with a free consultation so that you can decide if it’s the right fit. Want to learn more? Call us at (865) 522-7501 or visit knoxbar.org/findalawyer.
The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) is a lawyer's professional association whose members actively seek to give back to the community. One of the longstanding public projects of the KBA is the Legal Resources Guide, a document created to assist Knoxville-area residents to find legal-related assistance. Each year, KBA staff contact government agencies, nonprofits, pro bono organizations, and others to verify accuracy of the information presented in the guide.
The most recent revised version of the Legal Resources Guide (LRG) is now available for online viewing or PDF download from the KBA website at www.knoxbar.org/LRG. The guide is organized into six sections: Knoxville Bar Association Resources, Knox County Government Resources, Free or Reduced Fee Services, Special Services, Legal Research Options, and Additional Resources. Mission, scope of service, hours, contact information, and other important facts about each organization are listed.
When downloading the guide, the user is asked to provide a name and email address and is subscribed to the monthly newsletter of the Lawyer Referral and Information Service. We do not use these emails for other purposes or sell them, and it is easy to unsubscribe. Our goal is to provide timely legal updates and resource information since we believe that the light of knowledge is powerful.
The full complement of information and services provided to the public by the KBA is available at www.knoxbar.org/legalhelp.
We know that members of the public rely on quality access to appropriate legal services. The Knoxville Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) can connect members of the public with a qualified attorney who is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association and can meet their legal needs with skill and care. The Knoxville Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service may be reached online at www.knoxbar.org/lawyerfinder or by telephone at (865) 522-7501.
Ah, summertime in Tennessee! Warm temperatures, sunny skies, and the lure of the outdoors. We’re having a great time, and then, OUCH! Someone got hurt. (Hey, whose fault was that? Can I sue for my injuries?)
This type of injury law is called premises liability. This area of injury law deals with harm caused by unsafe or defective property conditions. Owners of property have a legal duty to use reasonable care to prevent injuries to those visiting. However, this is not ironclad: the liability is dependent on whether or not they were negligent in maintaining the property.
Our referral counselors frequently speak to those who have sustained injuries at amusement parks, tourists visiting the area, slip-and-fall type accidents, dog bites, and the like. It’s important for residents and visitors to understand that injured persons have one year from the date of the accident to file suit. It’s important to speak to an attorney well before that date should the injuries be severe or life altering enough to consider filing a suit. Elements that must be proven to show that the property owner was negligent include:
A real-life example of how complicated this can be is a case of a woman who slipped in a Publix grocery store on some clear liquid. This injured lady filed suit. The store’s video footage showed that a toddler dropped their sippy cup into the shopping cart just 2 minutes before the injured plaintiff arrived at that spot. The case was dismissed after the court ruled there was no evidence that Publix knew (or should have known) about the dangerous condition because the liquid on the floor was only present for 2 minutes and was difficult to see. Other defenses that can be brought include plaintiff’s assumption of risk. Examples of this can include visitors to an attraction such as a mountain slide or zipline which requires visitors to sign a waiver expressly assuming the risk; a visitor seeing an “open and obvious” dangerous condition and not avoiding it; and plaintiff having more than 50% of the fault of an accident (e.g. running through a store and tripping over something in the way.) The takeaway for anyone injured should be to consider the severity and permanence of their injury, the type of property on which they were injured, and whether or not they were more than half at fault, and contact an attorney for evaluation of these factors for an opinion on their potential case.
Sources:
Despite what Yelp salespeople tell you, it is not a search engine for legal services. Google has a rock-solid monopoly on that.
However, while almost all law-related search begins in Google, the majority of Yelp’s traffic comes from Google. This means that after a legal consumer performs a search in Google, they sometimes skip the Google ads and Maps listings, and then choose Yelp from among Google’s organic results.
For example, the search in Google for “Knoxville TN divorce lawyers” shows Yelp ranking high in the organic results, as highlighted in the following figure.
Figure 1. Yelp's first-page placement in Google's search results.
Typically, when someone is searching in Google to hire a lawyer, the top of the organic results are legal directories and Yelp. Yelp is more familiar to the Google user than Justia, FindLaw and other directories in top spots and it’s expected that many users choose to click on the Yelp link.
The result, as shown in the following figure, is Yelp’s output on the Google search “Knoxville TN divorce lawyers.” Notice the prominent ads under the heading “Best divorce lawyers near me in Knoxville, Tennessee.”,
Figure 2. Placement and appearance of Yelp ads.
To consumers who trust Yelp’s rating system, it means something to consumers to be prominently featured under the heading “Best divorce lawyers.”
Like Google, Yelp buries its organic listings deep under multiple ads. In competitive practice areas, a Yelp user needs to do a considerable amount of scrolling to find any organic result. Furthermore, Yelp repeats the ads on every page so if the Yelp user navigates to the next page of results, again they need to slog through all of the ads.
Consequently, as with Google, if you want Yelp visibility, you need Yelp advertising.
Yelp advertising is akin to other pay-per-click advertising models like Google. Someone clicks on your ad and you owe Yelp some small sum of money. Hopefully the user makes contact with you by email or phone but regardless, Yelp charges for the click, not the inquiry.
When someone makes an inquiry to the advertiser, by default that inquiry goes to a number of other law firms advertising in your community as well.
Then the race is on. Can you be the first attorney with whom they have a meaningful conversation?
Yelp advertising is easy to set up and there isn’t much management to do. You decide on a monthly budget and Yelp keeps you within it. At first, you need to monitor your spend and cost-per-click closely.
In addition to your click budget, there are important add-ons that cost more than just your budget for clicks. A logo on your ads will cost an additional dollar per day. A call-to-action on your ad costs two dollars per day. If you would like to remove competitor ads from your listing, that’s another two dollars a day.
The most important add-ons increase your monthly investment by $120 and all add-ons would add over $300 monthly.
Is it a good use of marketing dollars?
It depends. For some law firms, yes. For many others, no.
Variables include the strength of the law firm’s Yelp profile, competitiveness of the region, and adoption of Yelp as a useful website by the local community. You won’t really know if it’s worthwhile until you’ve taken it for a test drive.
I’m managing about 12 Yelp campaigns for law firms and results are mixed. In some locations, the inquiries and ROI are good. In other locations, the ROI was bad and we ended it, the biggest issues being the unresponsiveness of Yelp users and the high-cost of clicks.
When someone asks me whether they should run ads in Yelp, I normally advise them to budget a small amount for a few months then to pay attention to the number of emails and phone calls that come through.
Early on in your advertising, you’ll know what your cost-per-click is. If you’re a personal injury lawyer and it’s over $30 per click, that money would be better spent in Google advertising and you may want to discontinue it immediately.
If your clicks are coming in at less that $15 a piece, you should wait it out to measure first the quality and quantity of inquiries.
Finally, it’s worth noting that if you have a low overall star-rating, you DO NOT want to make your Yelp profile more visible. Unless you have a 4.5-star rating or better, Yelp advertising is not a good idea even with a free coupon.
Ken Matejka (JD, LL.M) is a California attorney and former member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Services. He is president of Matejka Legal Marketing and the best-selling author of The Lawyer’s Ultimate Guide to Online Leads.
If you have questions about this article or about law firm marketing, please contact him at info@matejkamarketing.com.
If you’re looking for a lawyer and just don’t know where to start, the Knoxville Bar Association’s LRIS is a great place to begin. We match you with a lawyer that suits your needs. Our trusted attorneys provide you with a free consultation so that you can decide if it’s the right fit. Want to learn more? Call us at (865) 522-7501 or visit knoxbar.org/lawyerfinder.
Operating expenses (“OpEx”), which are expenses outside of base rent, and common area maintenance (“CAM”) fees are important considerations in commercial leases that are often overlooked outside of how to apportion them. What this means is that a landlord will typically use standard lease language for OpEx structure and CAM that does not change. Stopping the analysis here causes problems as parties second guess payment responsibilities when expenses arise.
OpEx may be structured as gross, modified gross, and triple net. In a gross lease, base rent is all the tenant will pay. Base rent will be the highest here because the landlord is paying for all additional rent itself and has (hopefully accurately) calculated costs into one rate that will allow the landlord to cover costs and realize a profit. A modified gross lease is similar in that base rent reflects some anticipated costs of additional rent, but other costs will be paid directly by the tenant. Base rent will be less than under a gross lease and more than under a triple net lease. A triple net lease will have the lowest base rent because it anticipates that the tenant will be pay all costs.
CAM encompasses fees associated with areas that a tenant has the right to use in common with other tenants. These can vary depending on the type of property, but typically include parking lots, shared hallways, public restrooms, and costs associated with maintaining the common areas. “Costs,” “additional rent,” “common area,” and “operating expenses” are broad terms that could encompass many different items. The last thing either party wants is for an expense to come as a surprise, so it is important to ask:
Clarity is key when it comes to OpEx and CAM provisions in commercial leases. While it can seem tedious to specifically include or exclude certain items rather than just adding a note that the lease is, for example, a triple net lease and that tenant’s share of CAM is 20%, taking the time to fully understand who pays for what will help avoid future disputes.
Our thanks to attorney Grant Thomas Williamson, Associate Attorney with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP for the content of this article. Mr. Williamson practices in the Real Estate, Finance & Banking Practice Group. He is a 2019 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Many people need legal help and publicly funded legal aid societies, though working to their full capacity, cannot fully meet these needs. It’s at this intersection that attorneys volunteer their time and talents. The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) assists its members in providing such service to the community through the opportunity to volunteer at legal clinics. We partner with organizations such as Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Tennessee Access to Justice Initiative, local law schools, and others to bring those in need together with attorneys.
February 2023 is a busy month with an unprecedented FOUR clinics happening in the Knoxville area this month targeted for various people who may need legal questions answered. The first one occurs on February 4 at City Church on Sevier Avenue. This is a clinic in partnership with the Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance, and is a general legal advice clinic with volunteers prepared to advise on a wide variety of legal issues. It is open to anyone regardless of faith background, income or legal issue.
The second clinic is the regularly-scheduled Veterans Legal Advice Clinic on February 8. This clinic is open to any active service members, veterans and their family members and is a general legal advice clinic that occurs monthly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month (except January) in partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee and the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office. The third clinic is the Debt Relief Legal Advice Clinic on February 11, which differs from the other clinics in that preregistration is required and participants must be income-eligible. This clinic aims to assist income-eligible debtors to decide what option is best for them, since depending on their circumstances, options other than bankruptcy might be preferable. The Debt Relief clinic is a partnership between KBA’s Bankruptcy Section, Legal Aid of East Tennessee and support of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight. Preregistration is required for this clinic and can be done by calling Legal Aid of East Tennessee at (865) 637-0484.
The last clinic of the month is a clinic especially for Black business owners, and will be held on February 16 at Knoxville Urban League. The goal of this clinic is to provide opportunities for local Black business owners to receive general guidance followed by one-on-one sessions with attorneys to discuss specific issues. It’s hoped that this issue-spotting can help address potential legal problems before they happen. This clinic is a partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Black-Owned Business Directory (#BuyBlackKnox) and others. Preregistration is encouraged, but not required.
If you would like more information on any of these clinics, please visit www.knoxbar.org/Clinics4Public for more information about times and locations for each clinic, partnerships, and details of the organizations involved with each. The KBA staff and leadership is grateful for the participation of volunteer attorneys and their efforts to fill the gap and meet legal needs of those who may not know where else to turn.
Business professionals can put their knowledge and skills to work and greatly impact their communities through service on a nonprofit board. While board service comes with great responsibility, these unpaid positions can be fulfilling for one’s soul. Let’s explore some keys to successful board service, beginning with preparation in advance of accepting a board position.
Organizations are often seeking board members to fulfill a particular role or serve in a specific capacity. Some organizations expect minimum annual donations from all board members. Expectations about time commitments vary widely. When asked to serve on a board, a prospective board member should ask questions about the skills or capacities the board seeks, duration of a director’s term, committee assignments, expectations for annual giving, meeting schedules, and the likely time commitment involved.
A prospect considering serving on an organization’s board should request and review the organization’s charter (or article of incorporation), bylaws, written policies, recent financial statements and Form 990 (annual filing with IRS), and information regarding directors and officers liability coverage (also called “D&O insurance”). These documents will familiarize the prospect with the organization’s mission, board meeting procedures, financial position and overall operation. While board service carries important responsibilities, the weight of those responsibilities is significantly lighter when the board member is highly engaged and passionate about the organization’s mission.
Under Tennessee law, all directors serving on the board of a nonprofit organization must be honest and fair in all dealings with the organization. This duty includes complying with the organization’s governing documents, evaluating the organization’s activities and their alignment with its mission, and stewarding the organization’s resources for use in pursuit of the organization’s mission.
The law similarly imposes a duty of loyalty on each board member, which requires board members be informed about circumstances relevant to the proposed action, and independently vote according to what he or she reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the organization. This duty of loyalty includes a duty to disclose any and all relevant information that might impact a decision to the rest of the board, especially any conflict of interest between the member’s interests and the organization’s.
The legal duty of care each board member owes to the organization can be summarized as “Always do your best.” It requires regularly attending board and committee meetings, reviewing all materials provided, asking questions to develop an understanding of all relevant circumstances, considering all likely results of an action, being familiar with the organization’s activities and financial condition, and ensuring the board’s decisions and the organization’s activities remain aligned with its charitable mission.
Using these five keys when serving on a nonprofit board will fulfill the director’s legal duties and ensure the organization is well-governed to continue fulfilling its mission. And, if an organization can recruit board members who are passionate about the organization’s mission, then everyone wins!
Our thanks to attorney Sherri Alley for the content of this article. Ms. Alley is a trust officer with Pinnacle Financial Partners. She has advised many nonprofit organizations in various capacities over the last twenty years: as legal counsel, development staff, board member, and a financial advisor.