The retrial of former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg began this morning in Nashville. The Tennessean reports that Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman today indicated that the state will use Vandenburg's statement to police for the first time. It includes Vandenburg admitting to having sex with the woman the next day and attempting to conceal evidence.

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., who is stepping down from his post this month, recalls five years of legal “high drama” in The New York Times. Verrilli’s tenure of 37 Supreme Court arguments includes the 2012 case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law. Despite a "stunning" win in the case, Verrilli reflects on the scathing reviews of his work. “It’s not a good or healthy thing to have your sense of self-worth determined by what other people are saying,” he said. 

The TBA is starting the Legal Assistance Volunteers for Patent Applicants (LAVPA), a pro bono program that will match individual inventors and small businesses with patent attorneys to assist inventors in obtaining a patent for their inventions. There are several ways attorneys and law firms can assist with the program. Those interested in supporting the program may contact LAVPA Coordinator J. Scott “Skip” Rudsenske at (615) 277-3207. Read more about LAVPA on the TBA website. 

The Tennessean reports that Rep. Andy Holt said he is standing behind his decision to give away a semi-automatic rifle, similar to the one used in the Orlando shooting, at his upcoming fundraiser. "It has nothing to do with the style of weapon. It has everything to do with who’s behind the weapon," said Holt, R-Dresden. The Nashville Post later reported that Holt is doubling the prize, giving away two of the AR-15 assault rifles.

Gabe Roberts, who currently serves as general counsel for the Division of Health Care Finance and Administration, will serve as the new HCFA Deputy Director, effective July 1. Roberts has served as the HCFA general counsel since April 2013.      

Pajan Cox-Wilhoit was honored Friday for her retirement after more than 28 years as a child support magistrate for the 3rd Judicial District. “She always treated litigants with respect and dignity,” Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins said. Cox-Wilhoit practiced law until March 1988, when she was appointed to the position by the late Circuit Court Judge Ben K. Wexler, The Greeneville Sun reports. 

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are quietly working to remove parts of the state's transgender bathroom law, but Time reports the minor changes are not likely to “quiet the outrage” that brought a federal lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. The latest version of the bill will increase penalties for those who commit crimes against people in public bathrooms, but the measure will still keep in place a requirement that individuals using restrooms in public must use a facility that matches their gender at birth.  

Women lawyers work longer hours but bill fewer hours than male lawyers and earn less money than men, according to a white paper by four Stanford Law School students. The paper also shows little improvement to women attaining leadership roles at firms, reporting that only 5 percent of managing partners at large law firms are women. The research will be discussed at the upcoming “Women in Law Hackathon,” the ABA Journal reports. 

U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp ordered on Friday a halt to the recount of the 2014 abortion ballot measure at the request of state election officials who are appealing the recount decision. Sharp cited the potential $1 million price tag of the recount in his decision, The Tennessean reports. 

Campbell County General Sessions Judge Amanda Sammons today changed her testimony regarding her part in the issuance of a show-cause order against an area attorney, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Sammons originally testified that a Knoxville attorney asked her for a criminal contempt action against a fellow attorney in a divorce case, but then changed course and said, “I did it on my own volition.” Sammons is currently under criminal probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and faces several ethics complaints.