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Former Sen. John Edwards is looking to open up a new law firm in Raleigh in September, CNN is reporting.

Quoting an unnamed source, CNN said Edwards wants to resume practicing a practice specializing in plaintiff's attorney. Edwards was a highly successful trial lawyer before he began his political career, winning a Senate seat in 1998.

The former Democratic vice presidential nominee has begun to show signs of becoming more active since he was acquitted a year ago on a charge of illegally using $1 million in campaign contributions to cover up his affair and child with Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer.

He has recently re-activated his law license and he is scheduled to speak at a retreat Thursday in Orlando for the legal marketing firm PMP.

EDWARDS REGROUPS: Former presidential contender John Edwards has reactivated his license to practice law and is setting out on the speaking circuit, the Associated Press reports. The former U.S. senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee is scheduled to appear June 6 at a private retreat in Orlando, Fla., for lawyer clients of the marketing firm PMP.

Edwards has remained largely out of public view since his acquittal in May 2012 on one charge of campaign finance fraud. A judge declared a mistrial on five other criminal counts after jurors couldn’t agree whether Edwards had illegally used campaign money to hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for president in 2008. An itinerary says Edwards will speak for about 45 minutes as part of a program titled “Historic Trials of the Century.” Edwards earned millions as a personal injury lawyer before entering politics.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. If you're here, you survived crossover. Get a wrap up below. Now hold your hats for the final weeks of the legislative session. Send news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com.***

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The sausage machine is churning fast these days. A House regulatory reform committee will consider a number of measures to streamline government oversight, a major Republican agenda item, and the House Elections Committee will hear bills to repeal the state's antiquated literacy test and make judicial elections partisan contests. A Senate education committee will vote on a bill to regulate student prayers at school and athletic events and a Senate health care care committee takes up another abortion-related bill. The full House will take votes on a bill to impose term limits on House and Senate leaders and a proposal to repeal the estate tax. The full Senate will hear a measure to ban e-cigarette sales to minors. Gov. Pat McCrory will make an economic development announcement at 3 p.m. in Raleigh.

***More political intelligence below in the Dome Morning Memo including analysis of the Senate's tax plan and a roundup of the fast and furious legislative action. Send news and tips to dome @newsobserver.com. Thanks.***

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AT LEGISLATURE: Clergy and students will participate in an act of civil disobedience Monday at the Legislative Building "in response to the collective acts of the legislature," said the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP. The action, from 5 p.m.- 6 p.m., will be a "form of a pray-in," Barber said. The House convenes at 4 p.m., the Senate at 7 p.m. The NAACP has opposed the legislative actions reducing unemployment benefits, state House approval of photo voter ID, and other legislative measures.

FOXX TO TAKE OBAMA POST: President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Mayor Anthony Foxx to be secretary of transportation, a White House official said Sunday on the condition of anonymity. The nomination of Foxx, whose city hosted last year’s Democratic National Convention, would make him the only African-American selected for a Cabinet opening in Obama’s second term. (More below.)

***Good morning. Welcome to the Dome Morning Memo -- a full roundup of North Carolina political news and analysis below. ***

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: In a metaphor for this legislative session, the Senate is moving fast to raise the speed limit to 75 mph on some highways. The full Senate is scheduled to hear the bill Thursday, a day after it passed a committee and a week after it was filed, AP reports. The Carolina Panthers incentives bill also won approval in committee Wednesday and heads to the floor. Senate convenes at 10 a.m. The House is expecting a longer-than-normal day with a busy calendar, including a measure to limit the N.C. Lottery's ability to advertise and sell games. It starts at 1 p.m. Earlier in the day, House committees will consider a wind energy bill and IT changes requested by the McCrory adminsitration.

Gov. Pat McCrory will attend the UNC system Board of Governors meeting in Pembroke -- where he will surely face questions about the budget cuts he proposed -- before making an economic development announcement in the area.

HOW WILL GOP REACT? As AP reports, an American-Islamic group wants national Republican leaders to repudiate comments by a North Carolina legislator who compared Muslim prayer to terrorism. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that bigoted comments must be rejected if the GOP wants to reach minorities. State Rep. Michele Presnell of Yancey County did not respond to messages seeking comment.

***The Dome Morning Memo sets the stage for the day in North Carolina politics. Get more news and analysis below.***

Cate Edwards, the daughter of former Sen. John Edwards, said she was devastated when she learned of her father's extramarital affair.

In an interview to be aired on Friday on NBC's "Today" show and “Rock Center with Brian Williams," Edwards talks for the first time about the scandal that rocked her parents' marriage and ruined her father's political career.

Cate Edwards, a 31-year old attorney, said she learned of the affair from her father.

In case you missed it, an interesting anecdote from Anne Blythe's story about Wake County Superior Court Judge Abe Jones' retirement: "A broad smile stretches across his face as he talks about the role he played in the lawsuit filed by Rielle Hunter, the mother of former presidential candidate John Edwards’ youngest child, against Andrew Young, his former aide.

The infamous sex tape was part of that case. Jones said he refused to watch the tape to make sure it was the real thing. Instead he asked two female lawyers to watch it for him — one from each side — and index the important parts.

“I just didn’t want to do it,” Jones said. “I sometimes see him socially. I would feel like I was in his bedroom.”

John Edwards isn't tied up on the campaing trail seeking a second term in the White House, but he does have a few pages dedicated to his political downfall in a new book called "Lyin', Cheatin' Bastards."

The book highlights 77 political scandals of the 2000's, from Rod Blagojevich's troubles with the FBI to Anthony Weiner's "Weinergate" to plenty of lesser-known but equally-troubling faux pas.

Edwards ranked No. 70 on the list, and Vicki Zwart, a co-author of the book, said his lack of prison time made him fare relatively better than his peers.

If misery really loves company, Edwards can take solace knowing he wasn't the only person to represent the Tar Heel State on the list. Former Gov. Mike Easley's felony conviction landed on the list at No. 77.

This could have been John Edwards’ convention. Don’t laugh. The switch of 135,000 votes in Ohio in 2004, and the country would be coming to the end of the second term of the Kerry-Edwards administration.

Vice President Edwards – too busy attending funerals of foreign leaders to be fooling around with a New York party girl – would have stepped from President John Kerry’s shadow and accept his party’s nomination. But now Edwards is the name that must not be mentioned at the Democratic convention in Charlotte. Rob Christensen's column here.

More political stories:

--Gov. Bev Perdue finds a new candidate to campaign for this election year.

-- DNC wrap: First Lady Michelle Obama's speech. N.C. reaction. The Latino outreach effort at convention. A photo gallery from the first day. Up next: Bill Clinton. N.C.'s oldest delegate. Jon Stewart rips Uptown. Alternate speakers platform is lonely. Harvey Gantt's legacy influences Obama. Find much more coverage here.