Hamilton County Chancery Court Clerk and Master Lee Akers says he will be retiring in early September. Akers has served in the position since 1996. Potential appointees can submit resumes to him beginning in April, with interviews to follow in May. The Chattanoogan has more.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has rescheduled the execution of convicted murderer Billy Ray Irick from Jan. 15 to Oct. 7 because of new legal challenges to the way Tennessee plans to put the condemned to death. According to the Tennessean, all executions had been put on hold for at least two years because a key lethal injection drug, sodium thiopental, became unavailable. The court said on Tuesday that legal challenges questioning the use of the new drug, pentobarbital, must be answered before it can be used in an execution.

Michael Scott Collins of Sumner County was suspended from the practice of law on Dec. 10 for receiving a $27,500 retainer fee to represent a client in a post-divorce criminal contempt proceeding and failing to deposit the retainer into his trust account. Collins also failed to provide agreed upon legal services to his clients, failed to communicate timely with his clients regarding the status of their respective cases and misled his clients regarding the status and progress of their respective cases. The Board of Professional Responsibility found the retainer fees were unreasonable. In addition, the board specifically found Collins charged the client $10,000 to become a member of his “professional family” and that said charge was unrelated to any legal services and constituted an improper and unreasonable fee. View or download the BPR notice.

Judge Mike Faulk will seek the Republican nomination for Circuit Court Judge in the third judicial district consisting of Hamblen, Hancocke, Hawkins and Greene counties. “I’m humbled by the governor’s appointment to replace Judge Lawson, and I look forward to serving a full term in this job,” Faulk told the Citizen Tribune. “From the day I started this job, I’ve prayed for the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job and the heart of David. If I’m elected to continue as judge, that will be my ongoing prayer.”

Tennessee Bar Association President Cindy Wyrick will address graduates of the University of Tennessee College of Law at its fall hooding ceremony tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the UT Law Rotunda. Wyrick, a 1994 graduate of the law school, is a member of Ogle, Gass & Richardson PC and practices in the areas of wrongful death, personal injury, medical malpractice, family law, business formation and litigation, wills and estates, and general civil litigation.

Knoxville lawyer Jonathan Kenneth Borsodi was suspended for three years retroactive to a temporary suspension order entered in July 2012 for accepting a non-refundable fee in the amount of $7,500 and thereafter, misrepresenting to his client that the appeal was progressing, although the client later discovered the appeal had never been filed. Borsodi failed to respond to his client’s requests for information, abandoned his legal practice without notice to his client and failed to respond to the petition for discipline. Download the BPR notice.

Christopher Wayne Barber, formerly of Clarksville, was suspended for three years on Dec. 9 and is required to pay restitution in the amount of $2,500 for practicing law while suspended and failing to notify his clients of the suspension. Barber also failed repeatedly to respond to his client regarding the status of the case and failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility’s petition of discipline. View or download the BPR notice.

Vanessa Gale Keeler, formerly of Memphis, was suspended from the practice of law for three years and six months, retroactive to her current three-year suspension entered August 2012 for failing to communicate adequately with her client and failing to perform the legal work for which she had been paid. Despite demands from each client, Keeler failed to refund the unearned fee in a timely manner. View or download the BPR notice.

A formal ethics opinion released today by the Board of Professional Responsibility addresses the question of whether it is a conflict of interest for a lawyer who was appointed guardian ad litem to subsequently represent another interest in a matter regarding the child for whom the lawyer was appointed guardian ad litem. The opinion states in part that an attorney who was appointed guardian ad litem for a child may represent another party’s interest as long as it is consistent with the interests of the child and does not violate professional conduct rules. To insure that the subsequent representation of another interest is not inconsistent with the interest of the child, it would be advisable to secure consent or permission from the judge who had appointed the lawyer as GAL to represent the other party.

Retired trademark attorney Raymond E. Scott of Tellico Village has offered his services pro bono to officials of Lake City in the brewing legal war over the town’s effort to change its name to Rocky Top. The City Council voted last month to rename the town in order to tie in with a proposed theme park. A lawyer for House of Bryant LLC, which holds the copyright to the state song “Rocky Top,” threatened legal action in response. Scott called House of Bryant’s claim “ridiculous,” and noted in a letter to House of Bryant’s attorneys that the name can be found all over East Tennessee on everything from bottled water to the name of a chain of convenience stores. He said he and city officials plan to make an announcement Thursday to counter the company’s claim, Knoxnews reports.