State Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, is recovering, but “ready to go,” after suffering what is believed to have been a mini-stroke over the weekend, WBIR reports. Johnson, who turns 60 this week, collapsed on Saturday evening and was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center's emergency room. She was not admitted to the hospital. Doctors think she likely suffered what is referred to as a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, she said. Johnson has been representing District 13 in the state House, but after this year’s redistricting, has been prompted to move to District 90.

Gail Curley, a former Army colonel and military lawyer and current Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court, has been asked to lead the investigation into the leak of a draft opinion that suggests the high court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Experts say leaking the draft opinion likely wasn’t a crime, and Curley’s investigative tools are limited. She could theoretically hire an outside law firm to assist or, as in some other judicial records cases, call in the FBI. But it isn’t clear if she or others have the power to issue subpoenas to get material from journalists or the fewer than 100 people in the court — including justices — with access to a draft opinion. The Associated Press has more on Curley’s career.

Stephanie Gatewood, a nominee for Shelby County juvenile court clerk, is challenging her loss earlier this month in the Democratic primary, the Commercial Appeal reports. Gatewood, who came in third, is challenging the win of Janeen Gordon with the state primary board, claiming Gordon misled the public by using her mother's well-known name — Fullilove — on campaign materials and on the ballot. Gordon listed “Janeen Gordon” on early signage and with the County Election Commission, but on later signage and on the actual ballot she was listed as "Janeen Fullilove Gordon." She is the daughter of current Juvenile Court Clerk Janis Fullilove, but is not the daughter of Fullilove’s former husband, Fred Fullilove, and has never legally changed her name to Fullilove. Two other Democratic primary candidates, Althea Greene and Eric Winston, are also contesting their narrow losses for County Commission in Districts 7 and 11, respectively.

The TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) Class of 2022 stopped in Memphis this week for its third session of the year, “Issues in Community Leadership,” held at Burch, Porter & Johnson. Day one speakers included Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Butler Snow attorney Ed Stanton, Paul Young with the Downtown Memphis Commission, Dorcas Young-Griffin with the county’s Division of Community Service, and attorneys Bruce McMullen and Van Turner, who gave a presentation on the legal work behind the takedown of several confederate statues in the city. Programming concluded on Tuesday with a presentation from W.J. Michael Cody, who helped represent Martin Luther King Jr. during the Memphis sanitation strike, and a tour of the National Civil Rights Museum. The next session will take place in conjunction with the TBA’s Annual Convention in Nashville next month.

You’ve met our CLE crew, now it’s time to meet our Membership Team! Linda Murphy, our Receptionist and Membership Coordinator, is the friendly voice you hear when you call the TBA. A longtime member of TBA team, Linda is skilled in the ways of troubleshooting and getting our members where they need to go. In the movie about her life, Linda says her younger self would be played by Kristen Bell, while her older self would be played by Candace Bergen. The #TeamTBA series offers members a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the TBA and how each staff members makes the association run. Check back every Wednesday for a new staff profile in TBA Today and on the TBA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The TBA’s annual Court Square Series, designed to provide attorneys with the latest developments in multiple areas of the law, is underway and will be making a stop in Chattanooga on June 3. The three-hour event will begin at noon EDT with a networking lunch with TBA President Sherie Edwards, followed by a session on preventing attorney burnout with Dr. Kristen Black, an ethics update from Board of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Counsel Jim Milam, and a discussion on the latest in labor and employment law with Kathleen Siciliano. The program will be held at the law firm of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. The Court Square Series also will be making stops in Cookeville on May 19, Kingsport on May 26 and Jackson on June 7. Read more about these programs on the TBA CLE website.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw has denied Robbie Starbuck’s request for an injunction that would stop his official removal from the Republican primary ballot for the 5th Congressional District, Tennessee Journal reports. The Tennessee Republican Party removed Starbucks and fellow candidates Morgan Ortagus and Baxter Lee after finding the three did not meet Republican “bona fides.” In his order, Crenshaw wrote that the “Court may never know” why exactly Starbuck was removed from the ballot, but that he was not entitled to a preliminary injunction.

Baker Donelson has promoted Meagan Nebel as its first director of lateral recruiting and integration, the Nashville Post reports. Based in the Nashville office, Nebel will look outside of the firm to recruit new employees, working directly with external recruiting firms and others. She joins a team that includes the firm’s first chief growth officer, Mark Carlson, who works with firm leaders to identify potential law firm mergers and small groups of partners from other firms to bring on. "Growth is imperative to our strategy and the continued success of Baker Donelson," Carlson said in the release.

The Tennessee Supreme Court in December amended Rule 8, RPC 7.6 and deleted Rule 44 regarding intermediary organizations. In April, the Knoxville Bar Association requested the court clarify that neither the amendment nor the deletion alters Rule 8, RPC 5.4(a)(6), which allows an attorney to pay a non-profit intermediary organization “a referral fee calculated by reference to a reasonable percentage of the fee paid to the lawyer by the client referred to the lawyer by the intermediary organization.” The court granted the KBA’s request and today issued another amendment to the rules. Read the order.

Nashville firefighter Joshua Lipscomb has been suspended from his job without pay one month after he sued the department for violating his freedom of speech, WPLN reports.  Lipscomb, a comedian, is better known for his stage name and Twitter handle Josh Black. He was suspended last month for tweeting that Metro’s use of new license plate readers would lead to over-policing of Black and brown communities and referring to members of Metro Council as “white supremacists.” Lipscomb’s lawsuit says the department’s internal policies are “vague and overbroad” and that the three-person disciplinary panel receives no training or supervision. He was again suspended last week for taking sick leave without a doctor’s note and filed an amended complaint calling the latest suspension retaliation for his lawsuit. He is seeking compensation for nearly a month of lost pay and a declaration that these policies are unconstitutional.