A jury late Friday found former Vanderbilt football player Cory Batey guilty as charged of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Defense attorney Courtney Teasley said she believes there is grounds to appeal the verdict, The Tennessean reports. Batey, along with Brandon Vandenburg, were both found guilty of charges against them after a trial in 2015; a mistrial led to a second trial. The jury in the mistrial found Batey and Vandenburg guilty of more severe charges. Vandenburg’s trial is scheduled for June. 

The TBA’s Section and Committee Leaders Conference kicked off today at the the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville. TBA President-elect Jason Long gave opening remarks to launch the programming, followed by a Spotlight on Success panel from experienced leaders. Programming continues Saturday at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that customers of the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority may file a lawsuit to challenge their rates without first going through administrative proceedings. The authority notified customers they would be assessed an $8 per month charge for 20 years for a program to inspect and repair sewer pipes for all 26,000 of its customers. The plaintiff, American Heritage Apartments Inc., said the fee was unlawful and filed a lawsuit. The trial court dismissed the suit and held that the company must first go through administrative proceedings. The Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal, and the Supreme Court agreed that a water and wastewater treatment authority is not considered to be a “utility district” for the purpose of a rate challenge. The unanimous opinion in American Heritage Apartments, Inc. v. The Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority was authored by Justice Holly Kirby.

A representative of the Department of Justice yesterday said “there has been little movement in addressing overrepresentation of black youth” in the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County. Speaking at a community meeting, Special Litigation Counsel Winsome Gayle said, "The court has done a good job of collecting data, but there hasn't been enough movement in figuring out how to address the problems that are showing up in the data.” Gayle did note an improvement in the court’s respect for due process rights of children, The Commercial Appeal reports.

The Raybin-Perky Hotlist reviews and offers predictions in four new cases for which the Tennessee Supreme Court has recently granted review. Cases include: child custody, election disputes and return of seized property in criminal cases. The Hotlist offers a prediction as to how each case may be decided. 

Deputy Assistant District Attorney General Kyle Hixson asked Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword to initiate the legal process of obtaining an interview with double-slaying suspect Norman Eugene Clark conducted by “Dateline NBC.” Hixson is asking Sword to force the show’s employers and producers to both testify and produce "the entire, unedited, video-recorded interview.” Sword declared a mistrial in Clark’s trial last year for the killings of his girlfriend and their unborn son. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports if Sword issues the certificate, prosecutors would still have to convince the New York court, where NBC is based, to issue subpoenas.

The Secretary of State's Office has a full listing of those who met yesterday's deadline for filing petitions to run for state or national legislative positions.  The Tennessean provides more details on races in the Nashville area, as well as the District 1 Metro Council race, and The Times Free Press offers similar information for several Southeast Tennessee counties. The Commercial Appeal also looks at the 22 candidates who filed to fill the Eighth Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Frog Jump).

A panel tasked with updating and improving the legislature’s sexual harassment policy yesterday sent its final recommendations to House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville. Suggestions in the report include that the legislature maintain annual statistics on the number of sexual harassment complaints the legislature receives and issue a report if a violation of the policy has occurred, The Tennessean reports. The report comes on the heels of an investigation by Attorney General Herbert Slatery that revealed Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, had “been involved in a pattern of inappropriate behavior."

Online lawyer directory website Avvo announced yesterday it is now offering free legal forms online. Avvo Legal Forms currently offers 20 legal documents, including employee termination notice and purchase agreement, but the company expects its selection to grow to 200 forms by the end of year. Read more from the ABA Journal. 

A Missouri lawyer was suspended from the practice of law this week for using information obtained by his divorce client by guessing his wife’s email password, the ABA Journal reports. The client obtained his wife’s payroll documents and a list of direct examination questions prepared by the wife’s lawyer for an upcoming divorce trial. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled the attorney, 70-year-old Joel B. Eisenstein, can apply for reinstatement in six months.