Longtime Memphis lawyer and businessman Leo Joseph Buchignani died Friday (Nov.1). He was 90. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1948, Buchignani returned to his hometown of Memphis and became a leader in law, business and politics. He was a founder of the modern Republican Party in Shelby County, was elected to the Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee and served as Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association president. With two of his partners, he founded Catherine’s and built it into a 74-store national chain that pioneered the plus-sized women’s clothing business. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at Canale Funeral Directors. The funeral mass will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery.

State Rep. Mike Turner says he plans to step down as House Democratic Caucus chairman after five years due to sharp differences with the direction of Tennessee Democratic Party leaders, the Tennessean reports. Turner, who made his intentions known at a state party executive committee meeting Saturday, called the party’s chairman, Roy Herron, “a friend for a long time” but suggested the two have vastly different visions. “This is not anything personal against him, but my approach to what the party needs and where it needs to go is way different than his,” Turner said today. “I want a more progressive and aggressive party that more reflects probably the national trend and where Democrats are having some success in other areas.”

Greenbrier Mayor Billy Wilson was arrested today by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations on charges of theft over $60,00 and official misconduct following an investigation into allegations he used charity funds for personal gain. Wilson, who also serves as the Greenbrier fire chief, managed the GreenRidge Toys for Tots program, which provided toys to children on Christmas and helped needy families pay utility bills. The Tennessean has more.

Tennessee will receive more than $12 million as part of a multistate and federal settlement agreement resolving allegations that pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson used deceptive marking tactics to promote the sale of two of its drugs, Risperdal and Invega. According to a news release by the State Attorney General’s office, Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, will pay in excess of $1.2 billion. In addition, Janssen will plead guilty in federal court to a criminal misdemeanor charge of misbranding Risperdal in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Former Knox County Republican Party Chair Ray Jenkins announced Thursday he plans to run for Circuit Court judge, Knoxnews reports. Jenkins sought last year to be appointed to the Circuit Court seat vacated by Wheeler Rosenbalm, but the appointment went to Deborah C. Stevens.

John Minor Richardson was publicly censured on Nov. 1 for failing to adequately supervise a non-lawyer employee. The employee did not follow internal accounting procedures, resulting in a monetary loss to his client. When Richardson discovered the problem, he terminated the employee and conducted an extensive internal audit of his accounts. He also repaid the client for the loss. Download the BPR notice.

Attorney General Robert Cooper issued an opinion maintaining the authority of the City of Jellico to sell surplus real property by private sale if the city determines that a private sale is the most advantageous manner available. Cooper also ruled that a county that has adopted the 1981 Act is only authorized to sell surplus land by public sale unless the property is historically or architecturally significant and qualifies for private sale.

Early voting opened today in Memphis in the citywide referendum on a half-percent sales tax hike and the Tennessee House District 91 general elections. The citywide sales tax hike ballot question includes in its wording a provision for $30 million of the estimated $47 million in revenue the increase would generate to be used for an expansion of pre-kindergarten services in the city of Memphis. The general election for state House District 91 is a contest between Democratic nominee Raumesh Akbari, who won the October primary special election, and Libertarian candidate Jim Tomasik. The Memphis Daily News has more.

For the fourth straight year, the number of people who took the LSAT has decreased, the National Law Journal reports. LSAT numbers for the October test — traditionally the biggest cohort annually — dropped by 11 percent since last year, while numbers for the June test decreased 5 percent. "This is a big deal," said Dan Filler, a professor at the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law. "I think there was a kind of optimism bias among a lot of people in the academy, and maybe a little sense of disbelief that the number of applicants could and would continue to decline."

Senate Republicans yesterday blocked President Barack Obama’s picks of Patricia Millett to become a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Rep. Melvin Watt, D-North Carolina, to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, prompting Democrats to threaten curtailing the GOP's ability to derail nominations. The defeats immediately subjected Democratic leaders to pressure from liberal groups and newer Democratic senators to change Senate rules that let the minority — currently Republicans — force the majority to muster 60 votes on controversial nominations, instead of a simple majority. WKRN News 2 has more from the Associated Press. A Republican-sponsored bill would also eliminate three seats on the D.C. Circuit Court, reducing the total number of authorized judgeships from 11 to eight. Learn more from Gavel Grab.