Current Legal News

In an opinion piece for the Tennessean, political journalist Jeff Wilson explains how a 1978 vote often cited as rejecting the Tennessee Plan was not really about the state's current method for picking appellate judges. According to Wilson, the 1978 constitutional amendment would have dramatically reshaped every aspect of the state judiciary, with merit selection as a side issue. The Modified Missouri Plan used during the late1970s was the model for merit selection in the constitutional amendment. The current Tennessee Plan wasn’t created until the 1990’s and improved the merit portion of merit selection, Wilson writes.

The Humane Society of the United States is pressuring Gov. Bill Haslam to veto legislation that would require people catching animal abuse on camera to hand over those images to law enforcement within 48 hours, the Nashville City paper reports. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters are also opposed to the bill, arguing that it has implications for journalists and penalizes whistleblowers.

At-large Metro Nashville Councilwoman Megan Barry began preparing for her 2015 mayoral run by appointing attorney Leigh Walton as treasurer. Walton, a member of Bass, Berry & Sims, served as Mayor Karl Dean’s treasurer during both of his campaigns. Although she has not formally announced her candidacy, Barry confirmed she has also hired one campaign staff member, calling it the “necessary legal steps to start raising money and building an organization … This is a complex and expensive undertaking,” she said. “There’s a lot involved in ramping up a mayoral campaign and the time is right for me to get started.” The Tennessean has the story.

The Justice Department formally filed suit against cyclist Lance Armstrong and his company, Tailwind Sports, for approximately $40 million that the U.S. Postal Service spent to sponsor the cycling team from 1998 to 2004. In the wake of Armstrong’s doping confession, the government charges that the use of prohibited drugs constitutes a break of contract with the Postal Service. CNN Justice reports that the government could recover triple the amount of the sponsorship under the False Claims Act, which could bring a total of more than $100 million in damages.

According to a study released by Greentarget, Zeughauser Group, social media use by in-house counsel is at an all time high, the National Law Journal reports. The study confirmed findings suggested by surveys conducted since 2010. LinkedIn remains the top social media site used, with more than 67 percent of in-house counsel reporting having used it either during the past 24 hours or past week. Wikipedia also ranked highly, with 69 percent using it during the past day or week for personal reasons and 49 percent for professional reasons.

Henderson County lawyer Bradley Glenn Kirk received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility on April 18 after the board found he abandoned a client’s case and failed to return a client’s file. In 2010, a client retained Kirk to represent him in a personal injury case. After several months, the client contacted the court clerk’s office and learned that apart from filing the complaint, Kirk had taken no additional action in the case. The client attempted to contact Kirk, but his calls went unreturned. The board determined that these actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.16 and 8.4. Download the BPR notice.

Wyatt Sassman, a third-year student at Vanderbilt University Law School, has won first place in the TBA Environmental Law Section’s 2013 Jon E. Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition. His article “Administrative Compliance Orders and Due Process after Sackett” looks at the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which allowed an Idaho couple to challenge an EPA order requiring restoration of a wetland before the agency enforced the order with penalties. Sassman argues three points: that the court disregarded precedent and legislative history in finding for the Sacketts, that administrative orders do not violate due process rights, and that federal agencies should be free to use such orders without judicial interference. He will collect a cash award and his article will be published in an upcoming section newsletter.

A petition proposing several rules changes restricting lawyer advertising was denied today in a per curiam order issued by the Tennessee Supreme Court. In taking the action, the court said, "We have determined that the continued enforcement of the existing rules is preferable to any of the changes sought by the petitioners."

The petition, which was filed last spring, would have required that lawyers have a "bona fide" office in Tennessee, prohibited actors from portraying clients, banned commenting on results and imposed requirements for pre-submission of ads to the Board of Professional Responsibility.

The petition drew comments from a wide array of organizations and individuals including the Tennessee Bar Association, Knoxville Bar Association, two law school professors from the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, the Federal Trade Commission and others. TBA Ethics and Professionalism Committee Chair Brian Faughnan authored the TBA comment.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday declined to review a decision approving cost-of-living increases (COLAs) for six federal judges who sued for back pay. The move lets stand an order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that Congress pay the COLA for the six years when it had been denied. While the case does not automatically raise salaries for all judges, another group is trying to get a class-action lawsuit approved so more than 1,000 current and former federal judges can sue for lost pay. WRCB TV3 has an Associated Press story on the issue.