Nashville attorney Vince Wyatt announced he will run for General Sessions Court Division IV in the Democratic primary in May. He spent four years working as a prosecutor, nine years as a defense attorney and seved a four-year stint as a judge advocate general in the Navy. The son of long-time Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Randall Wyatt, the younger Wyatt also told the Tennessean, “It’s probably always been in my blood, so to speak.”

After the global uproar over the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, Congress is beginning to make some legal changes, CNN reports. The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday approved a bill 11-4 to make some limited changes to the law that governs the NSA's surveillance activities. The proposed changes include requiring the NSA to publicize annually the number of telephone metadata inquiries from the NSA database and the number of times such queries led to an FBI investigation; a limit on the number of people who may authorize such queries; a requirement for a "reasonable articulable suspicion" that someone is associated with international terrorism; and a five-year limit on the retention of the records.

State Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, will receive no jail time after a jury found him guilty of reckless endangerment stemming from a domestic dispute with his ex-wife. Judge Paul Summers decided to grant Hawk judicial diversion and sentenced him to two years' probation and 150 hours of community service. The judge also ordered Hawk to pay $1,500 in restitution to his former wife and pay all court costs. Hawk told WJHL News Channel 11 he was glad to put the situation behind him and plans to run for re-election in 2014.

The law license of Nashville lawyer Jean Norris Crowe was transferred to disability inactive status on Oct. 28 by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Crowe cannot practice law while on disability inactive status and may return to the practice of law after reinstatement by the court upon showing of clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and she is fit to resume. Download the BPR notice.

The family of music legend Marvin Gaye has filed a lawsuit against singer Robin Thicke and music publisher EMI for copyright infringement, the Tennessean reports. The family, represented by Nashville entertainment attorney Richard Busch, claimed in a federal lawsuit filed in California yesterday that Thicke has a pattern of unlawfully borrowing from Gaye, who died in 1984. The family accuses Thicke of stealing from Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” and “After the Dance” for his chart–topping songs “Blurred Lines” and “Love After War.” Thicke denies the allegations and had filed a preemptive suit in August stating, “Being reminiscent of a sound is not copyright infringement … The intent in producing ‘Blurred Lines’ was to evoke an era. In reality, the Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre.”?

Eleven candidates have submitted their applications for appellate court openings in Tennessee. Christopher Bright Craft, William Lewis Jenkins Jr., Holly M. Kirby, John Brook Lathram and Steven J. Mulroy have applied for an opening on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Kenny W. Armstrong, Frank S. Cantrell, Brandon O. Gipson, Rhynette Northcross Hurd, Edward L. Martindale Jr. and Dorothy J. Pounders have applied for the Court of Appeals Western Section. The newly created Governor’s Commission on Judicial Appointments will meet Nov. 12 in Jackson and Nov. 13 in Nashville to interview and hear public comments regarding the applicants.

If someone suffers a heart attack or other health problem while visiting a haunted house, is the company liable for their medical bills? According to the Law Blog of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), this area of law is still unclear. America Haunts reports that there are more than 1,500 haunted attractions and amusement facilities that have Halloween-specific attractions and none of them has ever been embroiled in any sort of major litigation. “They all come of their own free will,” Stephen Hummel of America Haunts told the Law Blog. “And they want to be scared, so complaining wouldn’t make sense.”

Anonymous sources have told the Wall Street Journal that American Airlines and US Airways will propose giving up some takeoff and landing rights at Washington's Reagan National Airport in hopes of settling a government lawsuit blocking their merger. The offer could be rejected, however, and the airlines are still planning on the case going to trial Nov. 25. WDEF News 12 has more.

More than 60 freshmen students from the Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Academy at West Creek High School in Clarksville are learning the laws, the justice system and the various fields they offer, the Leaf Chronicle reports. The academy supports and prepares students for post secondary endeavors in the fields of criminal justice and homeland security. Many say they aspire to become lawyers, police officers, forensic investigators or judges.

Tausha Carmack Alexander has been named the new executive director for Tennessee Railroads, the lobbying group for the state’s top railroad companies. She previously was a civil defense lawyer in Kingsport, the vice president and deputy general counsel for the Tennessee Bankers Association and the owner of her own government relations practice in Jackson. The Nashville Business Journal has the story.