Paula Deen Dumps Legal Ream After Admitting Slurs

Paula Deen is replacing her lead legal team weeks after admitting she had used racial slurs in the past, a revelation that prompted several of her lucrative business deals to collapse.

A spokeswoman for the Morgan, Lewis & Bockius law firm said Thursday that Washington-based attorney Grace Speights has been retained as lead counsel for Paula Deen Enterprises Inc. and other defendants in an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by Lisa Jackson. Jackson once worked as a manager at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, which Deen co-owns with her brother, Bubba Hiers.

Deen was questioned under oath as part of the lawsuit and admitted to using the N-word in the past, though she insisted she had not used it for a long time.

[Associated Press]