Law firm Bass Berry & Sims and six other Tennessee businesses lead the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s ranking on its 2020 Corporate Equality Index, the Tennessean reports. The seven received a top score of 100 percent. The rankings measure what companies are doing to protect LGBTQ employees and customers from discrimination and to make them feel valued and included. See the full list.

The Nashville Metro Council yesterday passed a resolution condemning state legislation that allows child placement agencies to deny adoptions to gay families based on religious beliefs and asking the governor to veto it, the Nashville Public Radio reports. The council said the legislation send the wrong signal and could have a negative impact on businesses in the state. Supporters argue the measure is needed to protect religious liberty. The governor has previously indicated he would sign the bill.

The Local Legal Initiative, a project of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, provides local news organizations with the direct legal services they need to gather and report the news, gain access to public records and court proceedings, and hold state and local government agencies and officials accountable. Starting this year, attorneys with the program will be based in Tennessee along with Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The locations were selected based on proposals submitted last year, the group said. In Tennessee, the group found that reporters experience excessive delays in accessing public records, challenges in accessing body camera video and challenges overcoming overly broad applications of law enforcement exemptions. The Reporters Committee also announced that it is accepting applications for attorneys to work in these states.

Gov. Bill Lee today appointed five new members to the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments, which manages the application process, interviews candidates, and makes recommendations to the governor for vacancies in the Tennessee appellate courts, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and Tennessee Claims Commission. The new members are: Jessalyn (Jessie) Zeigler, Nashville; Fred Decosimo, Chattanooga; Jimmie Carpenter Miller, Kingsport; Donald Aho, Chattanooga; and Betsy Beck, Knoxville. The terms are effective immediately and run through Nov. 5, 2021. The new members replace George Brown, David Golden, Rosemarie Hill, Michelle Long and Cheryl Rice, whose terms expired.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee today temporarily suspended Sullivan County lawyer Kyle Douglas Vaughan from the practice of law upon finding that he misappropriated funds for his own use and poses a threat of substantial harm to the public. Section 12.3 of Supreme Court Rule 9 provides for the immediate summary suspension of an attorney’s license to practice law in cases where an attorney misappropriated funds or poses a threat of substantial harm to the public. Vaughan is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases, and he must cease representing existing clients by Feb. 21. This suspension remains in effect until dissolution or modification by the Supreme Court.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee will host two client intake interview sessions this week in Jasper and Pikeville. These clinics are available to low income and senior Tennesseans with civil legal problems in the areas of consumer, housing and veteran’s and government benefit issues with food stamps, unemployment and TennCare. The Jasper clinic will take place Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Marion County Justice Center. The Pikeville clinic will take place on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bledsoe County Courthouse. For more information on either clinic, call 423-756-4013.

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The University of Tennessee College of Law will hold a special ceremony later this month to commemorate student Joseph Aaron Moore, who passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 1. Moore, 38, began law school at UT in the fall of 2016 and was employed as a law clerk at Shepherd & Associates in Maryville. He also worked in the College of Law Legal Clinic. Moore earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as a lecturer prior to entering law school. The service will be held at 3 p.m. on Jan. 31 in the College of Law Rotunda. Read more on the College of Law’s website.

Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, have introduced legislation that would allow Tennessee college athletes to financially benefit from the use of their names, images and likenesses, the Commercial Appeal reports. If the bill passes, athletes would be able to sign contracts to advertise for local businesses or other companies. It would also prohibit schools from “discriminating against players based on donations by coaches to universities." Kelsey sponsored a resolution in May calling on public universities to oppose the NCAA prohibition on compensation for college athletes and added the provision about donations by coaches after the NCAA suspended University of Memphis basketball player James Wiseman over questions about his eligibility.

A new law has secured long-term funding for the state’s historically black colleges and universities, the Commercial Appeal reports. Through a bill championed by Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Future Act was signed into effect last month and provides $255 million in annual federal funding to minority institutions. The Republican senator called the effort a bipartisan effort of legislators "working together to get results for Americans, and for Tennesseans.” It also simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by eliminating up to 22 questions from the application.