In a Wednesday TBA Today item, the name of Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich was misspelled. She was announcing the opening of her re-election campaign.

Regions Bank’s $2.7 million award from defendant DeVille Corp. tops the list of the Nashville Business Journal’s five largest litigation judgments awarded in Nashville during the past year. View a slideshow of the other judgments on the Business Journal website.

Nashville attorney John E. Clemmons today was sentenced to 18 years in prison after entering his guilty plea to three counts of theft, perjury and TennCare fraud. Clemmons admitted to stealing more than $1 million from clients for whom he had been appointed conservator. Under the plea agreement he could be eligible for parole after serving about five years and four months. Absent the plea deal, Clemmons could have faced jail terms of up to 30 years on the theft counts alone, the Tennessean reports.

A plaintiff’s attorney is crying foul after Pilot Flying J reimbursed his client for an apparent rebate discrepancy, and added only 4 percent interest to the total, Knoxnews reports. Under a proposed settlement deal with several plaintiffs who sued in federal court over an alleged diesel fuel rebate fraud, the Knoxville-based truck stop chain agreed to pay 100 percent of losses plus six percent interest and attorney’s fees. Pilot, though, said today the procedure is the same one it has used for all customers who have received reimbursements.

M. Josiah Hoover III was suspended on Nov. 15 for one year to run concurrently with his disbarment on Nov. 16, 2012. Hoover charged a client excessive fees and practiced law while his license was suspended for failing to pay the Professional Privilege Tax. The full BPR notice has more.

Pamela Williams Kelly of the Law Offices of Pamela Kelly received the Celebrate Pro Bono Award from the Memphis Bar Association's Access to Justice Committee and the Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) Pro Bono Project. Kelly was honored for her work on extended cases on behalf of indigent clients through the clinics offered by MALS. She also works with the Community Legal Center, Online Tennessee Justice and the Nashville-based Volunteer Lawyers for Professionals and the Arts. As an accredited attorney for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, she also provides pro bono representation for veterans, the Memphis Daily News reports.

Attorney Judy Smith, former press aide to President George H. W. Bush and the inspiration behind the hit ABC television show “Scandal,” will visit Chattanooga on Feb. 4 to deliver the keynote at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center’s Anniversary Luncheon. Tables are now available for purchase, along with a limited number of tickets for general seating, the Chattanoogan reports.

The parents of murder victims Channon Christian and Chris Newsom are advocating for changes in the law regarding drug screening for judges, WATE New 6 reports. The people convicted in the killings were granted new trials after it was revealed that the judge in the original case, Richard Baumgartner, was addicted to painkillers and pleaded guilty to official misconduct. "For somebody that is in charge and controls something as important as our justice system, I think they should be susceptible to a drug screening," said Gary Christian.

Barry Keith Maxwell was publicly censured and ordered to pay restitution to his client after the Board of Professional responsibility found he did not promptly refund an advance payment of fees when it became clear that the work for which he had been retained was unnecessary. The BPR notice has more.

A federal appeals court based in Chicago has blocked the so-called contraceptive mandate that requires companies to provide contraceptive coverage in group health-care plans for employees, the ABA Journal reports. In a 2-1 decision, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today on behalf of two closely held companies and their Catholic owners, who claimed the mandate under the Affordable Care Act violated their rights provided by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.