If Hamilton County Councilman Chris Anderson’s ordinance passes, Chattanooga city employees would no longer be required to take a leave of absence after starting to campaign or qualifying to run for one of the 31 partisan races up for grabs this year. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the proposal would reverse the city's code in order to allow city employees to continue to work while running for office. The ordinance would also expand the current rules that allow employees to keep their jobs if they win, as long as the new responsibilities don't conflict with their city duties.

Nashville declined an invitation to bid on hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention, the Tennessean reports. In an emailed statement, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. President Butch Spyridon told the newspaper that the dates under consideration were already booked.

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference presented six items it plans to lobby for in the upcoming legislative session. Topping the list will be a push to consolidate serial child sex abuse suspects’ cases, as opposed to trying multiple cases when there are victims in different jurisdictions. The Tennessean reports on the full list.

Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, officially resigned from the state House of Representatives on Jan. 1, ending a 19-year career. The 66-year-old pro-business Democrat and religious conservative announced in October that he would not seek re-election to House District 43, which includes Grundy, Warren and White counties, after a rough 2012 campaign. Curtiss has been hired as executive director of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association, which lobbies on behalf of counties’ interests at the Capitol, and had to give up his seat to take the job, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

Offered January through April in partnership with the Nashville Community Education Commission, the People’s Law School is a free program taught by Legal Aid Society attorneys and volunteer attorneys. It provides an overview of common civil legal issues at weekly, one-hour classes. The sessions will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursdays at Wright Middle School, 180 McCall St. and at Cohn Learning Center, 4805 Park Ave. beginning Jan. 23. To register, call the Nashville Community Education Commission at (615) 298-8085 or visit the commission's website.

In response to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s injunction relieving the Little Sisters of the Poor of the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate, the Department of Justice (DOJ) responded today that the religious organization does not need an injunction because it is already eligible for an exemption. According to the Nashville Business Journal, the DOJ stated the organization can self-certify that it is a religious organization and objects to providing contraceptive coverage on religious grounds. If it does so, the agency says, the third party administrator of the group's self-insured health plan is under no obligation to provide the coverage. The agency also took the opportunity to draw a distinction between religious groups and businesses like Hobby Lobby that also are seeking to avoid the mandate, noting that for-profit corporations should not qualify for religious exemptions. Sotomayor will now review the government's argument and decide whether to lift the injunction.

As of Jan. 1, most government building projects no longer have to pay workers the prevailing wage rate. Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, sponsored the repeal of Tennessee's prevailing wage law last year, saying the law stifled competition and made building projects too expensive. The prevailing wage still has to be paid on highway projects in order for the state to receive federal highway funds. The Memphis Daily News has more.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee is hiring an experienced Chief Financial Officer to be based in its Knoxville office. Interested candidates may submit a letter of interest and resume to Executive Director David R. Yoder or call (865) 637-0484 for more information. Download a job description.

Retired Knoxville lawyer Louis Eysenbach Hofferbert Jr. died yesterday (Jan. 2) at the age of 86. After serving in the Navy, Hofferbert began studying at the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1953. Following graduation, he entered private practice and worked as a lawyer until he retired in 2013. Hofferbert also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve for 38 years, retiring in 1984 as a captain. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. to noon tomorrow (Jan. 4) at West Hills Presbyterian Church. A funeral service will follow. Interment will be at Lynnhurst Cemetery with military honors by the U.S. Navy. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to West Hills Presbyterian Church, 7600 Bennington Dr., Knoxville, TN  37909; or the American Heart Association. Knox News has more on this life.

A lawyer with the London firm Russell Solicitors has been fined more than $1,600 for breaching client confidentiality rules and disclosing confidential information about a client to a third party when he revealed to his wife’s friend that “Harry Potter” author J.K Rowling was the secret author of “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Rowling sued Russell Solicitors, which issued the attorney a written rebuke and paid damages to the author for the leak. WRCB reports from the Associated Press.