Longtime attorney and Rutherford County Commissioner Matthias Brickell “Matt” Murfree III died Nov. 5 in Washington, D.C., at the age of 70. Murfree, a 1969 graduate of the Vanderbilt University Law School, spent more than 40 years as an attorney in Rutherford County working in real estate and business law. He founded the Murfree & Murfree law firm, which he operated with his son Matthias Brickell “Bricke” Murfree IV. Murfree also served on the Rutherford County Commission for 12 years and was the acting Rutherford County executive in 1982. His roots in the city run deep. His family provided the name for the city of Murfreesboro after it was founded in 1811. The Daily News Journal has more on his life.

Newly-elected Circuit Court Judge Mike Faulk has died, the Greeneville Sun is reporting. Faulk announced an esophageal and liver cancer diagnosis in May, when he began receiving chemotherapy treatments at Vanderbilt University Hospital. At the time, he had just passed an unopposed primary race for the 3rd Judicial District Circuit Judge Part III seat, a position to which Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Faulk in 2013. Prior to his appointment, Faulk had served as a Tennessee state senator representing Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson and Union counties in the 106th and 107th Tennessee General Assemblies. Visitation will start at 3 p.m. Friday, with services at 7 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist, 311 Cypress Street, Mt. Carmel, TN 37645. Donations in memory of Faulk can be made to the Tennessee Judicial Conference Foundation, 1903 Division St., Nashville, TN 38203.

Former Tennessee state Rep. Emmitt Ford died last night at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Action News 5 reports. Ford, who was 70 years old, was elected to the state House in 1974 as a representative of District 86, which includes Memphis and parts of Shelby County. He resigned in 1981 after being convicted of insurance fraud and tax evasion. Funeral arrangements were not available at press time.

John Doar, a top Justice Department civil rights lawyer in the 1960s, died today at age 92, the Associated Press reports. Doar served in the final months of the Eisenhower administration and during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, rising to the position of assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. Later in his career, he served as special counsel to the House of Representatives as it investigated the Watergate scandal. Doar received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. In presenting the award, President Barack Obama said Doar “was the face of the Justice Department in the South” and helped lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. WRCB-TV has the story.

Ralph Woodson Farmer died Monday at the age of 81. Farmer earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Tennessee, then served his country in the Air National Guard in San Antonio, Texas. He practiced law in Memphis with Nelson, Norvell, Wilson, McRae, Ivy and Farmer for a decade. During this period, Farmer served in the Tennessee legislature, first in the House of Representatives and then later in the Senate. The family will receive friends tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center in Dyersburg. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, also at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, 220 W Masonic St., Dyersburg, TN 38024.

Retired Dyersburg judge Lyman Ingram died Oct. 28 at the age of 97. Ingram was a fixture in the Dyersburg legal community for more than 60 years through his service as an attorney, assistant district attorney, public defender, Dyersburg city judge and Dyer County general sessions judge. A memorial service will be held Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. at Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2280 Parr Ave., Dyersburg, TN 38024. The Dyersburg City Gazette has tributes to Ingram from local officials and dignitaries.

Knoxville attorney Bruce Poston died Tuesday afternoon when his car ran off the road and struck a tree. He was 66. According to the Poston Law Firm website, Poston has done over 150 jury trials, with more than 35 being first degree murder cases. Many of these cases were high profile covered extensively by both local and national news outlets. Services pending. WBIR has more.

Knoxville lawyer David Torbett died Oct. 15 at the age of 80. He graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law and began his legal career in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps, where he attained the rank of captain. He practiced law in Kingsport and Johnson City and was active in politics there, serving in the State House of Representatives from 1961 to 1964. During his career, Torbett served as a Criminal Court judge, during which time the public defender system was instituted under his direction. He was also with the US Department of the Interior as an administrative law judge and mentored UT Law students in his retirement. Services were today;  on Tuesday (Oct. 21) at 1:30 p.m., the family will meet friends at Morris Baker Funeral Home in Johnson City, with a graveside service at 2 p.m. at  Monte Vista Cemetery.

University of Tennessee College of Law graduate A D Petrey died Oct. 11 at the age of 84. Petrey served in the Army during the Korean War and then worked with Aetna Life and Casualty for 34 years in Connecticut, Oklahoma and East Tennessee. The family will receive friends on Wednesday from 3 to 4 p.m. at Monte Vista Baptist Church, 1735 Old Niles Ferry Rd., Maryville 37803. A celebration of life service will be held at 4 p.m. that day. Memorial gifts may be given to a charity of the donor’s choice. The Daily Times reports.

Lyle H. Moe, 60, of Maryville died Oct. 11. Moe attended the University of North Dakota School of Law and first set up a practice in Larimore, North Dakota. He later returned to Grand Forks, where he worked at Central Legal Research at the law school. In 1990, he moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to attend JAG school and earn a master of law. In 1999, he moved his family to Maryville to continue practicing law and enjoying a slower pace of life. A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 319 S. 5th St., Grand Forks, ND 58201. Visitation will take place that morning at 9 a.m. at the church, and from 5 to 7 p.m. the night before at the Historic Norman Funeral Home, 2950 S. Washington St. A collective “sharing of memories” will follow the visitation on Tuesday. The Daily Times has more on Moe’s life.