Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has established a Procurement Fraud Practice Group to address complex and growing regulatory challenges to contractors and companies that provide goods and services to governmental entities. The practice is a cross-disciplinary team, involving attorneys who work in government contracts, investigations, compliance and white collar criminal defense.

Senators Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Robert Menendez D-New Jersey, yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation to help eliminate modern slavery around the globe. The End Modern Slavery Initiative Act of 2015 would establish a private, non-profit grant-making institution to reduce forced labor and sexual servitude around the world. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on the bill tomorrow. The Chattanoogan has more.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today said the state's gay marriage ban has been "needlessly cast in doubt" after a judge gave a lesbian Austin couple permission to tie the knot. Paxton asked the Supreme Court of Texas to declare the marriage license issued to Suzanne Bryant and Sarah Goodfriend invalid. Paxton warned of "legal chaos" if the court doesn't make clear that a judge wrongly allowed the couple to wed. News Channel 5 has more from the Associated Press.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, called on the Department of Justice to investigate auto repairs being done nationwide, because of the use of recycled, remanufactured, re-used, or after market parts, which he says could lead to unsafe vehicles. A CNN investigation, which aired on Anderson Cooper 360, examined allegations by hundreds of auto body shops across the country that accuse major insurance companies of pushing them to use cheap parts and sometimes dangerous practices to repair vehicles after they were in accidents. WCYB has more.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel honored the 2014-2015 John C. Stophel Distinguished Students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at the firm’s annual Stophel Scholars reception last week. The reception offered the 10 award recipients, including eight undergraduate and two graduate students, the opportunity to meet and engage with members of Chattanooga’s business community. Now in its seventh year, the program aims to foster local talent and encourage promising students to build long-lasting mentor relationships with Chattanooga professionals. Chambliss established the endowment at UTC to honor the legacy of Stophel, a founding member of the firm. The Hamilton County Herald has more.

The University of Tennessee recently garnered significant national accolades, including the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Trailblazer Award for retention and graduation rate gains, and the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for outreach. TNToday spotlights College of Law faculty members Wendy Bach and Carol Parker for helping UT achieve such success through their innovation and trailblazing, both in and out of the classroom.

The Department of Justice will ask to stay a Texas judge's ruling that put on hold plans to defer deportation of about 4 million immigrants. The government had hoped to begin enacting President Barack Obama's executive order on Wednesday, NBC News reports.

The Shelby County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program Task Force was awarded the 2014 national award for Outstanding Prescription Drug Investigative Effort, Bartlett-Express reports. White House Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli presented the award at last week’s ceremony in Washington, D.C. Memphis and Shelby County law enforcement officials were recognized for their joint work in a multi-state prescription drug investigation that led to the arrest of 56 individuals in Memphis, Los Angeles and Little Rock.

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TDAGC) has told Williamson County schools that officials there did not conduct any political activity that would rise to the level of a prosecutable criminal violation, Franklin Homepage reports.The TDAGC letter comes in response to a complaint from school board member Susan Curlee, who submitted more than 100 pages of records concerning the conduct of Superintendent Mike Looney and the school district administration's use of resources. Because some employees in the Williamson County DA's office have children enrolled in the county school system, 21^st Judicial District Attorney Kim Helper referred Curlee's complaint to the TDAGC to avoid questions of a conflict of interest.

A lawyer chosen to represent a Washington Post correspondent detained in Iran has not been allowed to complete formalities required to defend him, the reporter’s brother said Wednesday as he appealed to the judiciary and the country’s top leader to examine the case. Iranian American Jason Rezaian was detained in Tehran on July 22 with his Iranian wife, reporter Yeganeh Salehi and two photojournalists. Charges against him have not been made public, and his family says he has never had access to a lawyer. The Washington Post has the story.