Equal Justice University 2026: Full Schedule

10:00am PDT

Unruly and Truancy Implications and Processes in Court

Wednesday August 26, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT

This presentation examines the legal implications and court processes related to unruly and truancy petitions, equipping attorneys to advocate more effectively for youth clients. Participants will develop a foundational understanding of how chronic absenteeism is defined, tracked, and referred to court, as well as the underlying factors that contribute to it, including mental health challenges, disability, bullying, and family socioeconomic status. Participants will also gain practical strategies to identify and address the root causes of truancy, navigate court processes, and support youth through effective collaboration with schools, families, and service providers.

Speakers

Beth Cruz

Beth Cruz serves as Assistant Dean and Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Director of Public Interest at Vanderbilt Law School. She provides leadership, institutional support, and specialized advising for students as they develop high-impact careers in public interest law. Her office... Read More →

Bri Crawford

Bri Crawford is the 2025 Equal Justice Works Text-to-Give Fellow at the Youth Law Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Her fellowship project addresses the unmet legal needs of racially marginalized children and youth with disabilities in Tennessee who are involved in the child welfare... Read More →

10 1130 Crawford Unruly and Truancy Implications and Processes in Court BC 1 pdf

Wednesday August 26, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

1:15pm PDT

Degrees of Debt: Navigating Student Debt After the OBBB

Wednesday August 26, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

Student loan debt continues to shape the financial stability of low-income clients, affecting everything from housing to employment and long-term economic mobility. This session will equip legal services advocates with practical tools to help borrowers access relief through discharges, defend against collections, and navigate income-driven repayment options. We will also break down the major student loan changes taking effect July 1, 2026, including impacts on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, graduate lending, and repayment structures, so advocates can confidently advise clients in a rapidly shifting landscape.

Speakers

Patrick Hodges

Patrick Hodges - Consumer Attorney at Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands

115 215 Hodges Handouts TPD Discharge Handout pdf

115 215 Hodges Handout PSLF Borrower Handout pdf

115 215 Hodges Degrees of Debt Navigating Student Loans After the OBBB pptx

Wednesday August 26, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

2:30pm PDT

Public Record as a Tool for Justice

Wednesday August 26, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

Public records laws are powerful tools available to advocates serving vulnerable Tennesseans. From uncovering systemic failures to exposing barriers to housing, education, healthcare, and other services, access to government records can directly support impactful legal advocacy. This session provides a practical, Tennessee-focused guide to using the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) as a broader strategy for advancing civil legal services. Participants will learn how to draft effective records requests, respond to common agency resistance tactics, and strategically integrate public records into advocacy efforts. The session will also explore recent and active litigation shaping access to public records—including disputes involving delays, redactions, and asserted exemptions. The presentation will also explore emerging legislative developments that may affect transparency and access rights across the state, including examples of potential reforms from other states. Designed for both new and experienced advocates, this session will equip attendees with concrete tools to strengthen their advocacy, enhance fact development, and promote government accountability on behalf of their clients. The session will create interactive opportunities to engage in questions and discuss the application of these strategies. The session will also address ethical considerations that arise in public records advocacy, including client counseling, privacy and confidentiality concerns, responsible use of obtained records, and strategic decision making under the rules of professional responsibility.

Speakers

Jennifer Safstrom

Jennifer Safstrom teaches the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School. Before joining Vanderbilt's law faculty, Professor Safstrom worked as counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and as supervising attorney and clinical teaching... Read More →

Ryan Riedmuller

Ryan Riedmueller is a Clinical Legal Fellow with the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School. Before his current role, he clerked for District Judge Anne R. Traum in the United States District Court, District of Nevada. Prior to his clerkship, he graduated... Read More →

Wednesday August 26, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

3:45pm PDT

Common Pitfalls for Elderly or Disabled Clients in SNAP

Wednesday August 26, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

Older adults and people with disabilities face heightened risk of SNAP benefit loss due to complex rules, reporting requirements, and recent statutory changes. This session will examine common SNAP pitfalls affecting these populations and review the practical effects of recent statutory changes under H.R. 1—including the expansion of the ABAWD three-month time limit to individuals ages 18–64—and their implications for elderly and disabled households. This session will also provide practical guidance on identifying and accurately calculating the SNAP medical expense deduction, addressing frequent agency errors, and effectively advocating to maximize benefits for eligible clients.

Speakers

Josiah Mezera

Josiah joined the Tennessee Justice Center as a Health Law Fellow sponsored by the Speer Foundation. He hopes to put his Health Law background to use by providing individual legal services and policy solutions, as well as representing clients during administrative appeals. Josiah’s... Read More →

345 445 Mezera Common Pitfalls for Elderly and Disabled SNAP Clients. EJU 2026 pptx

Wednesday August 26, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

8:30am PDT

Tennessee Tenants Take the Lead: A Public Interest Affirmative Housing Litigation Tool

Thursday August 27, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

Overwhelmingly with housing cases, tenants and their attorneys are caught playing defense, and the options are limited. We hope to keep people housed as much as possible and if not, negotiate a move that doesn't impact their future housing health. It can be a bleak business of small wins and minimizing damage, but the task of investing in sustained affirmative litigation poses significant cost and capacity challenges. The PI Affirmative Housing Litigation Toolkit offers a solution on both fronts. The online resource will be accessible to all public interest attorneys and provides start to finish guide to litigation in five areas of housing related law: 1983, Habitability, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, the False Claims Act, and the Fair Housing Act. Each area of law includes six individual sections focusing on law, investigation, strategy, filing, settlement, and trial. There are practical references like outlines and citation banks and templates for complaints and discovery forms, as well tools for understanding the FOIA request processes, partnering with media outlets, supporting plaintiffs through the long process of civil litigation, and preparing for trial. In a sense, the Toolkit is a crash course in potentially unfamiliar areas of law, and a plug and play handbook for further housing advocacy. Our hope is that helping to expand the ways in which public interest housing attorneys can represent our clients will ultimately advance housing justice in Tennessee.

Speakers

Maggie Behringer

A Chattanooga native, Maggie Behringer went to law school to study housing law and work with the unhoused. Maggie graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College and earned a master's in fine arts from West Virginia University. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School in... Read More →

830 10 Behringer Affirmative Litigation Toolkit EJU Presentation pdf

Thursday August 27, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

10:15am PDT

Defending Criminal Activity and Drug-Related Evictions

Thursday August 27, 2026 10:15am - 11:45am PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

This session will discuss the applicable law, strategy, and ethical concerns surrounding defense of tenants being evicted for alleged criminal activity and drug-related lease violations. We will discuss: (1) Negotiation and trial strategy, including evidentiary issues to be aware of, (2) Rights available to and limitations for tenants facing these allegations in HUD-subsidized properties, including specific case law, (3) Practical concerns of aiding individuals in recovery with criminal activity or drug-related allegations in Tennessee, (4) How to handle ethical concerns related to MPC Rule 1.6, confidentiality, when Tennessee mandates reporting to DCS or APS, and (5) Considerations related to MPC Rule 1.16, when a lawyer's representation of a client is in furtherance of a crime.

Speakers

Emily Cala

Emily Cala is a Staff Attorney at Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Knoxville Office, where she works with the Eviction Prevention Program. Emily is from Cleveland, Ohio, where she attended Case Western Reserve University School of Law and graduated in 2021 before moving to Knoxville... Read More →

Michael Davis

Michael Davis, a 2015 graduate of UT College of Law, has been practicing predominantly in landlord-tenant law with Legal Aid of East Tennessee since 2020. In his time there, he has handled numerous detainer warrant defense and fair housing complaint cases as a Staff Attorney... Read More →

Kimberly Riddett

Kimberly Riddett is a Staff Attorney in Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Knoxville Office, where she works on the Recovery Legal Project, which allows her to assist individuals with a history of substance abuse with various legal issues. Kim is from Louisville, Kentucky, but moved... Read More →

1015 1145 Cala Handout Defending Criminal Activity and Drug Related Evictions pdf

1015 1145 Cala Defending Criminal Activity and Drug Related Evictions pptx

Thursday August 27, 2026 10:15am - 11:45am PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

1:15pm PDT

Competence and Capacity: Differences in Legal and Psychological Understandings

Thursday August 27, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

This lecture bridges the often-misaligned vocabularies of law and forensic psychology as they apply to one of the most consequential determinations in legal practice: whether an individual possesses the mental ability to make decisions, execute legal documents, or participate meaningfully in legal proceedings. The presentation explores how psychologists assess cognitive and volitional functioning across multiple domains, including memory, reasoning, insight, and susceptibility to undue influence, and how those assessments map (or fail to map) onto legal standards for testamentary capacity, contractual capacity, guardianship, and informed consent. Attendees will gain insight into how forensic evaluators approach these questions, what a psychological report can and cannot tell a court, and how to effectively retain, prepare, and cross-examine expert witnesses in capacity disputes. The lecture concludes with practical applications for elder law practitioners, addressing the rising prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in aging clients, the timing of capacity evaluations, red flags at the time of document execution, and strategies for building a durable record that can withstand future legal challenge.

Speakers

Dr. Charles Ihrig

Dr. Charles Ihrig is a Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Professional Counselor with more than three decades of experience in mental health care. He is the Founder and President of Athena Care, established in 2001, which has grown under his leadership into one of Tennessee’s... Read More →

Dr. Jorge Boero

Dr. Boero is a native of Argentina and is fully bilingual in Spanish and English.  He is a licensed psychologist who received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of South Dakota and completed his postdoctoral training at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s... Read More →

115 215 Ihrig Competence and Capacity CLE v6 Repaired pptx

Thursday August 27, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

2:30pm PDT

How to Run the Best Free Legal Clinic in Tennessee

Thursday August 27, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

Gallatin's free monthly legal clinic generally has more than 30 people that we help in approximately four hours, including ghost-writing divorce forms. How do we do it from pre-clinic prep to boots on the ground to wrapping up when the clinic ends. Best practices, ethical considerations, how to handle the chaos that is often a free legal clinic.

Speakers

Tomi Robb

Krista Scruggs

Ms. Scruggs is currently the advocate in the Gallatin Legal Aid Office. Krista has worn many hats at legal aid in the 19 years she has been with LAS. In this role, Krista is the person who meets all domestic violence victims. Krista makes safety plans and helps with housing for... Read More →

Dean Hinton

Since October 6, 2016, Dean has been a Legal Aid domestic relations attorney representing survivors of domestic violence in Sumner County and the 15th Judicial District. Dean graduated from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law in May 2010. He... Read More →

230 330 HintonTALS Clinic PP Final pptx

230 330 Hinton Clinic Handouts zip

Thursday August 27, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

3:45pm PDT

Get Ready to Redact: Understanding the New Tennessee, R. App. P. 20B

Thursday August 27, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT

Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

This is a session on appellate practice that is applicable to all substantive areas of the law. I will explain the new Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 20B, which requires redaction of certain information in all Tennessee appellate court filings. We will discuss what needs to be redacted and how such redaction can be accomplished. We will also provide some tips and tricks that will help lawyers to comply with the rule. This is essential information for any attorney who will ever file anything in a Tennessee appellate court.

Speakers

Jacob Vanzin

Jacob A. Vanzin is a Partner at Dodson, Parker, Behm & Capparella. He practices almost exclusively in the appellate courts of Tennessee and has authored or co-authored dozens of appellate briefs.

345 445 Vanzin Get Ready to Redact Rule 20B Redaction Presentation pptx

Thursday August 27, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
Embassy Suites- Cambridge B

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