Davin Clemons, Memphis Police Department's LGBTQ liaison, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the department and the city government. He argues that he faced discrimination based on his same-sex orientation, a medical condition that keeps him from achieving a clean shave and his religion. The Commercial Appeal reports Clemons is seeking an injunction against any other discrimination, back pay, attorney's fees and compensatory damages of at least $300,000.

The Tennessean reports the total cost of a court-ordered recount of a 2014 abortion ballot measure could be $1 million. But election officials and attorneys for the state have asked U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp, who ordered the recount, to delay the recount process as election officials prepare for elections in August and November. State attorneys appealed Sharp’s ruling; no court date for the appeal has yet been set. 

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey says that the Attorney General's plans to “wholeheartedly” defend local school districts sued for violating the federal government’s recent bathroom directive means that there is no need for a special legislative session on the issue. Read more from the Times Free Press. 

A teenager being sentenced in Knoxville today to six years imprisonment gained additional charges when he reportedly cursed the judge, threatened to kill him and lunged towards the jurist. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports 19-year-old Deshawn Thomas Whited was before Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated assault. Authorities charged Whited with retaliation for past action and assault. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Rutherford County lawyer Carla Ann Kent Ford from the practice of law. Ford was summarily suspended based upon her felony conviction for theft of property valued in excess of $1,000 but less than $10,000. Read the BPR release. 

CNN reports Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin today vetoed a bill that would criminalize abortion procedures in the state. "The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,'" Fallin, a Republican, said.  

A Hamilton County grand jury today indicted Gatlinburg Detective Floyd Rodney Burns on two counts of aggravated perjury, following his testimony in the rape case of an Ooltewah basketball player. According to court documents, Burns is accused of making false statements as to whether the victim in the case cried out in pain and when Burns alerted children's services about the assault. Read more from WRCB. 

A mistrial was declared today in a first-degree murder case in Memphis following the death of a sequestered juror overnight, The Commercial Appeal reports. "In my 30 years as an attorney and judge, I have never even heard of it, let alone experienced it," Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan said of the juror's death. Only 11 jurors remained due to issues with two other jurors who were previously released. The trial was reset to Feb. 27, 2017.

“The legal system was broken, and too many people were frozen out of it,” said John Suh, LegalZoom’s CEO, in a Legal Rebels Podcast. Suh said the company's main goal continues to be providing legal access to those who cannot afford representation, and added, “Over the last five years, we’ve embraced lawyers and become quite adept with working with them."

Winston & Strawn LLP, an international law firm based in Chicago, announced earlier this week that the firm is creating a gender-neutral parental leave policy. The Huffington Post reports the policy includes 20 weeks of paid parental leave for associates and of counsel attorneys. But Vivia Chen, a senior columnist at The American Lawyer, says the changes “fall somewhere short of the policies offered in other professions.”