Learn how to avoid legal malpractice claims Legal malpractice claims are growing more common and insurance coverage is becoming more expensive and difficult to obtain. This 3-hour seminar will discuss current legal developments in the area of legal malpractice, common (but often avoidable) mistakes by lawyers and ethical issues implicated by legal malpractice claims. https://www.tba.org/onsiteinfo/legalmal_2005.html    TODAY'S OPINIONS: Thursday, October 27, 2005 Following this index are summaries of each case, including its name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion. 01 - TN Supreme Court 00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals 00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules 03 - TN Court of Appeals 00 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals 03 - TN Attorney General Opinions 00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions 00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR TBA members can get the full-text versions of these opinions three ways detailed below. All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password, you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi Here's how you can obtain full-text version. We recommend you download the Opinions to your computer and then open them from there. Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This should give you the option to download the original document. If not, you may need to right-click on the URL to get the option to save the file to your computer. Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view and save a plain-text version of the opinion. Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink. This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion. Howard H. Vogel Knoxville, Tennessee Editor-in-Chief, TBALink CHARLES BROWN, ET AL. v. CROWN EQUIPMENT CORPORATION,A/K/A CROWN EQUIPMENT CORP. Court: TSC Attorneys: Gerson H. Smoger, Dallas, Texas, J. Brent Austin, Lexington, Kentucky, Lisa June Cox,Jackson, Tennessee, and Robert David Strickland, Martin, Tennessee, for the appellants, Charles Brown, Barbara Sue Reynolds, and Howard Reynolds. Adam T. Sampson and Thomas J. Cullen, Jr., Baltimore, Maryland, and Shannon EdwardHolbrook and William W. Dunlap, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Crown Equipment Corporation a/k/a Crown Equipment. Andrew Lawrence Berke and Megan C. England, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the amicus curiae,Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. Judge: HOLDER We granted appeal in this products liability action to determine whether the trial court erred inexcluding as unreliable the testimony of the plaintiffsâ two expert witnesses, a mechanical engineer and a biomechanical engineer, and thereafter granting a directed verdict in favor of thedefendant. We hold that the trial court erred in applying the nonexclusive list of reliability factors set out in McDaniel v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 955 S.W.2d 257 (Tenn. 1997). Thesefactors are not mandated in every case in which expert evidence is offered and should not be applied unless the factor or factors provide a reasonable measure of the expertâs methodology.We further conclude that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict in favor of the defendant. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, which affirmed thetrial courtâs judgment. We remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/2005/brownc102705.pdf FEDERAL EXPRESS CREDIT UNION v. BARRY LANIER Court: TCA Attorneys: William G. Hatton, Bolivar, TN, for Appellant David A. Kirkscey, Memphis, TN, for Appellee Judge: HIGHERS In this appeal, we are called upon to evaluate the propriety of the trial courtâs decision to award acreditor a deficiency judgment against the debtor following the sale of the collateral after the debtor defaulted on the loan. The debtor filed an appeal to this Court arguing that the creditorfailed to provide him with reasonable notice of the sale of the collateral and that the creditor did not conduct the sale in a commercially reasonable manner. We hold that the creditor did notprovide the debtor with reasonable notice. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the trial court and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/federalexpress112705.pdf SYLVIA DARLENE JACK v. MARK HARLAN DILLEHAY, ET AL. Court: TCA Attorneys: Allston Vander Horst, Centerville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Sylvia Darlene Jack. Richard E. Norman, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Mark Harlan Dillehay and Catherine Ruth Dillehay. Benjamin C. Regen, Dickson, Tennessee, for the appellees, Ann Shepard Bonadio and Michael Bonadio. Scott C. Williams, and Stephanie S. Maxwell, Columbia, Tennessee, for the appellees, First National Bank and J. B. Walker, Trustee. Michael E. Sptizer, Hohenwald, Tennessee, for the appellees, Alvin G. Hess and Anita E. Hess. Daniel L. Wischhof, Brentwood, Tennessee, for the appellees, Ronnie Bentley and Barbara Bentley. Timothy V. Potter, Dickson, Tennessee, for the appellee, Norma Jean Rochelle Lovlace. Judge: FARMER This case arises from a boundary dispute involving thirty-two (32) acres of land in Hickman County, Tennessee. Plaintiff Sylvia Darlene Jack filed suit against Mark and Catherine Dillehay seeking a declaration of ownership of the disputed tract. In response, the Dillehays denied Ms. Jackâs claim of ownership and asserted the statutory defenses of estoppel and bar under Tenn. Code Ann. ¤¤ 28-2109 and 28-2-110. The Dillehays also argued that Ms. Jack could not claim ownership in the disputed property because her predecessor in title had entered into an oral agreement with the Dillehaysâ predecessor in title establishing a boundary line which gave the Dillehays ownership in the disputed acreage. At trial, the court ruled for the Dillehays for three reasons. First, the court held that Ms. Jack failed to carry her burden of proof in showing entitlement to the disputed tract. Second, the trial court found that Ms. Jack was estopped from claiming ownership of the disputed property due to an oral boundary agreement entered into by her predecessor and the predecessor of the Dillehays. Finally, the trial court ruled that Ms. Jackâs claim was barred under ¤¤ 28-2-109 and 28-2-110. Ms. Jack appeals. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/jacks102705.pdf WANDA KATE SAUCEMAN JOINER v. CHARLES RICHARD JOINER Court: TCA Attorneys: David C. Lee, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Charles Richard Joiner. Patti Jane Lay, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Wanda Kate Sauceman Joiner. Judge: SUSANO The trial judge, the Honorable Bill Swann, ruled that David C. Lee, Esquire ö because of Mr. Leeâs announced intention to run against the judge in the August, 2006, general election ö could not represent the defendant Charles Richard Joiner (ãHusbandä) in the above-styled divorce case now pending in the Fourth Circuit Court for Knox County. Husband appeals. We reverse. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/joinerw102705.pdf Legislative Discipline TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-26 Opinion Number: 05-163 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op163.pdf Construction of Enactment Providing for Grant to the City of Spencer to Relocate CurrentlyPermitted Wastewater Discharge Point TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-26 Opinion Number: 05-164 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op164.pdf Requirements for Utility Rates TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-26 Opinion Number: 05-165 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op165.pdf   PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! Feel free to forward this Opinion Flash on to anyone you know of with an e-mail address. GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! See the instructions at the beginning of this edition of Opinion Flash. JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION! 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