Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.
In the race for State House District 45, Rep. Debra Maggart included opponent Lt. Col. Courtney Rogers' unlisted home number in campaign materials -- and that has Rogers calling for an apology after receiving a call claiming the devil is going to get her and her family. Maggart defends publicizing the number, saying it was used on campaign documents that were filed with the state and therefore public record. Maggart sent out an email titled, "Why is Courtney Rogers lying to you," defending her stance on gun rights and ending with a phone number for Rogers. WSMV has the story
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett formally asked State Comptroller Justin Wilson on Friday to audit the administration of the Shelby County Election Commission and investigate election procedures and returns, where it is estimated that about 1,000 voters got the wrong ballot. State Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris of Collierville and Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Chip Forrester of Nashville called separately Thursday for a state review of election results in the county, the Memphis Daily Journal reports. “This is not a witch hunt. This is not finger pointing,” Norris said. “We need to know the process works.” Forrester called for the review because he said Republican political leaders “have failed over and over again to protect our voting rights.”
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP will be among those honored by the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project for its commitment to prisoners on death row, with the Exceptional Service Award. The firm, with offices in Nashville and six other Southeastern cities, has provided pro bono legal assistance for inmates on death row since 1988. In total, Bradley Arant lawyers have helped provide representation for 22 prisoners, nearly all of them from the extremely active death penalty jurisdiction of Alabama. The awards will be presented at the Project’s 2012 Volunteer Recognition & Awards Event this Friday during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The spotlight has been on Chief Justice John Roberts this summer, but in this month's Tennessee Bar Journal you will see that the 17 occupants of his position have had a history of making history. Also, Taylor J. Phillips looks at how to respond to government procedures. TBA President Jackie Dixon urges you in her column to remember someone who helped you when you first started practicing law, and to do the same for a new lawyer now. Columnist Kathryn Reed Edge explains the different worries that bankers and bank lawyers have, Don Paine explains writ of error coram nobis, while Bill Haltom exposes the gaffes of news reporters who rushed to judgment when the Supreme Court went public with its recent Affordable Care Act decision. He also gives readers his secret on how to read an opinion quickly and correctly. Also in this issue, Dan W. Holbrook wraps up nearly 12 years as a TBJ columnist with information on how to manage gift tax. Holbrook passes the torch to his colleague, Knoxville lawyer Eddy R. Smith, who will begin writing the estate column this fall. Look for the August Journal in your mailbox, or read it online
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed a special Supreme Court to hear a case from which all five Tennessee Supreme Court justices have recused themselves. William M. Barker, Andree Sophia Blumstein, George H. Brown Jr., Robert L. Echols and W. Morris Kizer will hear the case, which is an appeal of Hooker et al. vs. Haslam et al., a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Court of Criminal Appeals appointment by the governor.
Tennessee will receive approximately $2 million as part of a national agreement with one of the largest American drug distributors, McKesson Corp., for allegedly causing the government to overpay for prescription drugs, Attorney General Bob Cooper announced today. McKesson is alleged to have violated the Federal False Claims Act and various state false claims acts by reporting inflated pricing data for a large number of prescription drugs. As a result, state Medicaid programs such as TennCare had to overpay for a variety of drugs.
Sumner County lawyer Randy Paul Lucas received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court today. He represented to his clients on several occasions that he had secured a trial date, but he had not. He made material misrepresentations of fact to his clients and neglected his clients’ case. By these acts, Lucas violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence); 1.4 (communication); 3.2 (expediting litigation); and 8.4 (misconduct). Download the BPR release
Memphis lawyer John Robert Hershberger was publicly censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court today. In 2011, Hershberger presented the court with a Petition for Scire Facias and Citation for Contempt. The judge presiding over the case refused to sign the FIAT because Hershberger was represented by counsel. Hershberger researched the issue, decided that the judge’s conclusion was incorrect, and then presented the FIAT to a different judge. He did not inform the new judge that the previous judge had refused to sign the FIAT. Therefore he violated Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 8, Rules of Professional Conduct 3.3(a)(1)(candor toward tribunal). Download the BPR release
A confirmation vote scheduled for Monday could be a pivotal moment for how many appellate court bench spots the Senate will fill during the rest of this year, the Blog of Legal Times reports. Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is forcing a vote Monday afternoon on Robert Bacharach of Oklahoma for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, a nominee considered to be highly qualified and noncontroversial. The move is a direct challenge to Republicans who have leaked plans that they will block all circuit court judges for the rest of the presidential election year.
If Reid succeeds in getting enough Republican votes to overcome the filibuster, it could pave the way for other noncontroversial circuit court nominees awaiting confirmation this year, including William Kayatta Jr., of Maine for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and Richard Taranto, nominated to the Federal Circuit. If Reid does not succeed, it would suggest Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has party members in line to solidify a freeze on any circuit court confirmations until next Congress, nomination watchers say.
A single mother at age 15, Amanda Ray Jelks, has had a few roadblocks in her life. Now a Chattanooga attorney at 26, Jelks talks about the journey and those who encouraged her. “Growing up, going to college was never discussed,” she said. “I did not know any college graduates personally as a youth. My mom told me growing up I should be a lawyer because she said I could argue with a stop sign and convince it that it says go.” She graduated from the University of Memphis with her law degree at 24. During the summers she interned at Chambliss, Bahner and Stophel PC, where she now works full-time. Read her story in the Times Free Press
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America has filed a lawsuit against Nashville's Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee, Henry "Hank" Hildebrand, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The move marks an effort on behalf of the bank to put an end to a common defense tactic used by debtors and foreclosure judges in the aftermath of the mortgage meltdown. Known as "show me the note," the tactic forces a lender to offer up physical documentation that they actually own the mortgage. It's a method that has been successful in Nashville, where Hildebrand has become well-known for his efforts to force mortgage companies to produce the original note when filing a claim in bankruptcy proceedings.
An at-risk 17-year-old girl who faced charges just months ago was congratulated last week by Judge Christy Little for working hard to better herself by participating in a youth employment program created by Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist’s Gang Prevention Task Force. She was one of 42 who came through the program created "to take young people off the streets, to give them jobs, to teach them a work ethic and to show them that a sense of accomplishment comes with earning your own living." Little has seen a decrease in detention hearings this summer, which she said she attributes not only to the youths involved in the program, but also to the influence those young people carry with them when they interact with their peers. The Jackson Sun has more
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is downplaying reports of discord among the justices following last month's decision to uphold President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Scalia said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that he and his colleagues disagree over cases all the time "without taking it personally." While he would not address Chief Justice Roberts' reported switch, Scalia acknowledged that he himself had once been assigned to write a majority opinion for the court in a case years ago and then changed his mind. A majority "eventually went along with that revised view," he said.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp agreed Thursday to give the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro more time to complete construction and occupy its new building. Sharp extended a temporary restraining order until Aug. 15 after another federal judge last week ordered Rutherford County to restart the inspection process on the mosque. Nashville-based U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin said his office and Rutherford County asked the federal judge to provide more time to allow the ICM to complete the new mosque and obtain a certificate of occupancy after passing final inspections from the local government.
In an interview with the Times Free Press, Hamilton County Sessions Court Judge David Norton explains a neurological condition that has kept him off the bench at least one-third of the time since his March appointment. Norton says the "inherited, nonlife-threatening neurological illness that affects his motor skills but not his mental capacity" has prevented him from serving and campaigning for much of the past four weeks. He is awaiting further treatment that could resolve the condition allowing him to serve, he told the paper. If he is elected and the condition persists and interferes with his judicial duties, Norton said he would step down.
U.S. District Judge Harry S. "Sandy" Mattice heard arguments Thursday on whether to grant a preliminary injunction ending prayer at Hamilton County Commission meetings, but said he wants more information before making a ruling. Mattice instructed Stephen S. Duggins, arguing on behalf of the county, and attorney Robin Flores, representing the plaintiffs, to submit all evidence by Aug. 2. Final briefs are to be turned in by Aug. 8. Chattanoogan.com has more
More than 220,000 Tennesseans have voted early or absentee by mail for the Aug. 2 election, but the Tennessee Democratic Party called for an investigation into early voting statewide amid evidence that more than 1,000 people in Shelby County were given the wrong ballots. A Memphis blogger and candidate for the Shelby County Election Commission turned up evidence this week that hundreds of voters in Shelby County were erroneously given ballots for a neighboring district.
Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division leadership are meeting this weekend in Nashville to plan public and member service programs for the new bar year. On Saturday morning, TBA President Jackie Dixon will speak to the group about her vision for the year and discuss how the YLD can support those efforts. YLD President David Veile has committed to helping Dixon implement public education efforts designed to help civic and community leaders understand the importance of an independent judiciary. That initiative as well as others are on the agenda for the session. Learn more about the YLD's programs
The TBA Public Education Committee, under the leadership of chair Tasha Blakney, has met to develop a long-range plan for implementation and coordination of civics and public education programs offered by the TBA. The group will assess the effectiveness of current programs, review proposals for the addition of new programs and make plans to implement civics education programming. For more information about the committee or the programs offered by the TBA contact staff member Sarah Hayman or visit the committee's web page.
The American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the National LGBT Bar Association are seeking contributors for an upcoming anthology, OUT and ABOUT: The LGBT Experience in the Profession. The purpose of the publication is to share the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) attorneys, academics and jurists in an effort to educate the legal profession and the general public about this diverse group, its contributions and its struggles. The book will be published through ABA Publishing with a fall target publication date. Interested individuals should contact Robin Rone, director of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at robin.rone@americanbar.org. The email should include the individual’s contact information and a brief biography.
