Jury selection in the federal case against former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner was to begin today, Knox News reports. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Lewen and Zachary Bolitho filed various motions indicating how they intend to prove Baumgartner is guilty on seven counts of misprision of a felony for allegedly lying to cover up a drug conspiracy involving Baumgartner's pill-supplier and mistress. U.S District Judge Ronnie Greer has summoned 100 potential jurors from East Tennessee counties.

Davidson County lawyer Robin Jeffrey Gordon was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court for employing an attorney with an inactive Illinois law licensed and no Tennessee law license  to work as a paralegal in his office. The employee held himself out to clients as an attorney by signing two letters with detailed legal advice, providing three receipts that listed him as an “attorney” with a billable rate of $250, and providing a business card identifying himself as an “attorney at law.” Gordon billed for the time of the non-licensed attorney at an unreasonable rate and failed to ensure that the employee’s conduct was not the unauthorized practice of law. Download the BPR notice.

Overton County lawyer Lynda W. Simmons was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court for violating Rules of Professional Conduct relating to conflict of interest and confidential information. Download the BPR notice for more information.

Hamilton County lawyer John M. Wolfe, Jr. was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court for violating the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct related to scope of representation, communication and misconduct.  Download the BPR notice to learn more.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a case brought by the city of Chattanooga against the group repsonsible for The Passage, the city’s crumbling portion of the 21st Century Waterfront, the Times Free Press reports. An appeals court previously dismissed the city’s 2009 lawsuit because Chattanooga officials waited too long to file after Hargreaves Associates, the architects who designed The Passage, informed them of defects and necessary repairs in 2005. The legal statute of limitations is three years.

The Nashville Pro Bono Program and Catholic Charities will host a free legal clinic Wednesday at Catholic Charities, 3112 Nolensville Pike, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. to provide advice/counsel/referral to members of the Hispanic community. Interpreters available as necessary. For more information. contact Lucinda Smith of the Legal Aid Society.

Baker Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC will host a free legal clinic called H.E.L.P to provide advice/counsel and representation specifically to homeless women and men. The Nashville clinic will be held Wednesday at Room in the Inn, 705 Drexel St. Lawyers need to arrive at 8:30 a.m., clients at 9 a.m. To volunteer, contact Jill Suwanski. Click here to view a full list of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

Eleven attorneys have applied to fill the vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Appeals Eastern Section created by the retirement of Judge Herschel P. Franks. The Judicial Nominating commission will hold a public meeting to interview the following applicants: Brian K. Addington of Kingsport; Esther L. Bell of Knoxville, Jerri S. Bryant of Athens, Jesse Dewayne Bunch of Cleveland, Michael A. Faulk of Church Hill, Thomas Radcliffe Frierson of Morristown, David Edward Long of Knoxville, Jimmie Alice Carpenter Miller of Kingsport, Hugh J. Moore Jr. of Chattanooga, Sarah Yarber Sheppeard of Knoxville and Daniel P. Street of Blountville. Read more at TNCourts.gov.

Vanderbilt University has filed a civil lawsuit against the two men convicted of defrauding the school of more than $560,000, the City Paper reports. On Oct. 9, Jason Hunt, former administrative manager at Vanderbilt Law School, and his partner Samuel Wakefield pled guilty to fraud, theft and statutory rape. The lawsuit asks for compensatory damages, interest, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

Attorneys representing two Memphis residents whose votes were not counted because they lacked proper photo identification, on Thursday asked a three-judge Appeals Court panel to throw out the state’s voter ID law, claiming it is unconstitutional. A decision is expected in the coming weeks, but meanwhile, early voting is underway with the ID requirement still in place, the Tennessean reports.