Rutherford County Circuit Court Judge Royce Taylor has drafted a letter telling female attorneys to dress professionally at court. Judge Taylor said he received a number of complaints from lawyers concerning other lawyers’ apparel choices, and that judges weren’t holding female attorneys to the same standard as male lawyers. The Tennessean has the story.

John Jay Hooker is again filing suit challenging the current judicial selection method and the plan to appoint three candidates to succeed the three appeals court judges who will retire August 21, 2014, Gavel Grab reports. Hooker claims that their planned appointment robs voters of the chance to elect the judges in the election next year. He argued the “state Constitution requires that there be an election… They are unconstitutionally calling off an election.”

Law firms in the U.S. saw only incremental growth in 2012, the JD Journal reports from the National Law Journal's annual survey that analyzes data from the nation’s 350 largest firms. Last year saw an overall growth in headcount of 1.1 percent in law firms tracked by the NLJ 350. While any growth is better than shrinkage, last year’s growth was lower than 2011, which saw law firms increase their hiring by 1.7 percent. Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada was one bright spot, showing 35 percent growth.

Three judges, one magistrate and 21 attorneys have applied to fill the 2014 vacancies on the Court of Appeals Middle Tennessee Division and Court of Criminal Appeals Eastern Tennessee Division, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced today. The openings are the result of announcements by Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Cottrell and Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joseph Tipton that they will not seek re-election in August 2014, creating vacancies effective Sept. 1, 2014. Because statutory provisions for the Judicial Nominating Commission expire June 30, 2013, the commission will meet June 27 in Chattanooga and June 28 in Nashville to select a slate of candidates from which Gov. Bill Haslam will choose.

The Tennessee Justice Center has announced that managing attorney Michele Johnson will succeed Gordon Bonnyman as executive director at the end of 2013. Bonnyman and Johnson co-founded the organization 17 years ago to advocate for Tennessee’s vulnerable populations, particularly those struggling to find access to healthcare. “I am excited that Michele will assume full leadership of the organization that she has already helped make an effective voice for Tennesseans in need,” said Bonnyman, who will continue to serve clients as a TJC staff attorney. The TJC will host a reception Friday at Waller Law at 5 p.m. to welcome Johnson, and to celebrate the courage of TJC’s clients and generosity of law firms throughout Tennessee.

The pronunciation of the word “lawyer” is part of a trending story on regional differences in vernacular and pronunciation, the ABA Journal reports. According to a map by PhD student Joshua Katz of North Carolina State University, most people pronounce the word “loy-er”, although those in Southern states say “law-yer.” A survey of the pronunciation of “voir dire” was less scientific; Lawyer Lyn Robbins polled 114 of his attorney friends from 29 states. Texas Lawyers’ Tex Parte Blog reported the various pronunciations.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in New York federal court against the U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies, challenging the constitutionality of the government's review of millions of phone call records on Verizon subscribers. "The practice is akin to snatching every American's address book — with annotations detailing whom we spoke to, when we talked, for how long, and from where," ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said in the complaint, which alleges First Amendment violations. "It gives the government a comprehensive record of our associations and public movements, revealing a wealth of detail about our familial, political, professional, religious, and intimate associations." he says. The National Law Journal has the story.

Sevier County leaders are showing their pride in having the new president of the Tennessee Bar Association call the county home. The Mountain Press daily newspaper this week features an editorial chronicling Cynthia Richardson Wyrick’s educational and career trajectory to becoming the TBA’s 134th president. When she is sworn in during ceremonies Friday in Nashville, she will join John B. Waters Jr. (1983-1984) as the only Sevier County residents to have led the state association.

Under proposed legislation, child prostitutes would be considered victims of abuse rather than juvenile offenders and be referred to child welfare, WRCB-TV reports. The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would require state law enforcement, foster care and child welfare programs to identify children lured into sex trafficking as victims of abuse and neglect eligible for the appropriate protections and services. Tennessee recently developed one of the nation’s most comprehensive anti-trafficking programs with 12 new laws approved by lawmakers.

In an abrupt reversal, lawyers for local victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak have dropped suits filed in Nashville against the local clinic where the patients were treated and plan to refile the claims against multiple parties in a pending federal court case in Massachusetts. Attorney Bill Leader said the switch from local courts to federal court was necessary so that the victims could make claims against all possible responsible parties, including the Massachusetts drug compounding firm that produced the spinal steroid blamed for the outbreak. The Tennessean has the story.