Today's Judicial Nominating Commission meeting scheduled to interview candidates for the Chancery Court vacancy in the 8th Judicial District has been cancelled due to inclement weather. It will be rescheduled at a later date.

Legendary deputy clerk of the Supreme Court Francis Lorson was buried this morning at the Catholic Church for the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. He died on Friday at 69. Five justices, dozens of court staff members and practitioners attended the service. Lorson retired in 2002 after more than three decades of service.

In response to President Barack Obama’s 23 executive orders regarding gun violence prevention, Congressional hopeful and State Rep. Joe Carr is introducing a bill that would ensure any new gun restrictions handed down from Washington, D.C would not be enforceable in Tennessee, the Nashville City Paper reports. Carr’s proposal, House Bill 42, would slap federal officials with a Class A misdemeanor for enforcing the new federal gun laws, executive orders, rules or regulations. Under the bill, state troopers would have the authority to arrest federal officers.

Chattanooga attorney Pamela O’Dwyer knew since the age of five that she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a lawyer. She attended the University of Tennessee College of Law and was sworn in to the Supreme Court of Tennessee at the age of 21. In a bid to find an area of law on which her mother hadn’t already made her mark, O’Dwyer turned to railroad work when a case fell into her lap regarding a family who wanted lights and gates put up at a crossing in order to save lives. The owner of the private crossing refused, so O’Dwyer argued the case to the Supreme Court. Read more of the story in the Hamilton County Herald.

Fabian Farrall Story, executive director of Conservatives on the Move, was indicted by a Washington County grand jury on one count of theft over $10,000 for raising approximately $30,000 for a 2011 Republican presidential campaign forum that never occurred, the Johnson City Press reports. According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Story withdrew the money from the a Washington County bank but never held the event or refunded the donors.

Wayne Medical Center, a hospital under the Maury Regional Medical Center umbrella, has agreed to pay $883,451 to the U.S. government to settle False Claims Act allegations self-reported by the hospital regarding the billing for ambulance transport as part of its emergency medical services. By reporting the allegations, Wayne Medical Center potentially saved itself thousands of dollars in fines, in addition to a costly investigation. The Nashville Business Journal has the story.

Minnesotta prosecutor Todd B. Jones will be nominated by President Barack Obama as the next director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), WKRN News Channel 2 reports. Jones has been serving as the agency’s acting head for more than a year. Obama said yesterday that Congress should approve Jones for the job since they haven’t confirmed a director in six years. Jones has not issued a response, as he was instructed not to speak with reporters until he is formally confirmed.

The Nashville Business Journal ranked Nashville’s law firms by their number of local attorneys, including the number of partners, associates, and non-lawyer employees. Waller again this year edges out Bass, Berry & Sims for the top spot. Information about the number of attorneys of counsel, paralegals and each firm’s top three areas of practice can be found in this week’s print edition of the Journal.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will dedicate most of its time this spring to comprehensive immigration reform including changes for technology companies and agricultural businesses, committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, said Wednesday. The Blog of the Legal Times reports that the committee will begin public hearings next month. Leahy also stated the committee will continue oversight of the nation's counterterrism efforts and protecting civil liberties, including the administration’s use of drones abroad as well as in the U.S.

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that where contracting parties have agreed to allow assignment of a contract with the consent of the non-assigning party, and the agreement is silent regarding the anticipated standard of conduct in withholding consent, an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing requires the non-assigning party to act with good faith and in a commercially reasonable manner in deciding whether to consent to the assignment. In the case of Dick Broadcasting Company, Inc. v. Oak Ridge FM, Inc., the Court overturned the trial court’s opinion and ruled in favor of DBC that the duty of good faith and fair dealing applied to the right of first refusal agreement. A separate concurring opinion was filed by Justice William Koch.