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.
A 66-year-old Anderson County widow would have wound up with just $1,621.16 in exchange for an annuity valued at $65,400 under a proposed transfer of a structured settlement agreement. The payout would have been $3,821.16, but the firm handling the matter was proposing to hold out $2,200 in fees. The transfer was denied in a scathing order issued by Anderson County Circuit Court Judge Don Elledge. "The Court has never seen a proposal submitted as outrageous and shocking as this one is," Elledge wrote in his June 29 order. The judge ruled it wouldn't be in the client’s best interest for the transfer to be approved. The News Sentinel has the story
States that decline to participate in the coming vast expansion of Medicaid have a Vanderbilt Law School professor to thank for that option. An amicus brief filed by James F. Blumstein, professor of constitutional law and health law and policy, provided the legal argument cited by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in his decision that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid mandate on states was unenforceable. As a result of that decision, states may opt into the ACA’s expanded Medicaid program but also may opt out without placing their existing Medicaid programs and funding in jeopardy. Read more about Blumstein’s role
The Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) on Tuesday released results of its biennial judicial poll, which asks members to rate area judges in five categories — objective and unbiased, legal ability, good moral character, diligence and judicial temperament. Attorneys had four responses to choose from for each category — superior, satisfactory, unsatisfactory or no opinion. Read about the results in the Times Free Press
The Supreme Court of Tennessee temporarily suspended the law license of Hamilton County lawyer Jeffrey Andrew Stinnett on June 29 for his failure to respond to a complaint of ethical misconduct. Effective June 29, Stinnett is precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by July 29. Download the BPR notice
The Tennessee Supreme Court last week issued two new orders suspending Tennessee-licensed attorneys who did not pay their 2012 registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility and/or did not file a mandatory compliance statement that eligible client funds are held in accounts participating in the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. The lists reflect lawyers not in compliance as of their May birthdates. Those who have been reinstated are noted as such. Previous orders covered lawyers with birthdates in January through April. See the updated lists and download the orders
The Tennessee Supreme Court today, in Davey Mann et al v. Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity et al, clarified when plaintiffs may add back to a lawsuit involving comparative fault defendants previously named, but dismissed by a non-final order after the statute of limitations has run. In a unanimous opinion, the court held that a defendant dismissed by a non-final order is “not a party to the suit” for purposes of section 20-1-119 and may be added back to the lawsuit pursuant to section 20-1-119 if a timely-sued defendant files an answer alleging fault against the dismissed defendant. The Supreme Court remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. Learn more from the Administrative Office of the Courts
June 29 marked the 40th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Furman vs. Georgia, which struck down the nation’s death penalty. It was reinstated four years later with new sentencing procedures to make the system fairer and less arbitrary. But in 2012, the Rev. Stacy Rector writes in an opinion piece, that the death penalty system is still flawed. "Random factors such as the race of the victim, the quality of defense counsel, and the jurisdiction in which the crime is committed continue to have a significant influence on whether a defendant will receive the death penalty," she writes, saying that 40 percent of the inmates on Tennessee’s death row come from Shelby county, while half of the state’s counties have never sentenced anyone to death.
Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge David W. Norton says that despite a health issue that has kept him away from several recent candidate events, he remains committed to his campaign. He was appointed by the Hamilton County Commission following the sudden death of Judge Bob Moon earlier this year. The appointment extends until the Hamilton County General Election this August. Read more in the Chattanoogan
Chancellor Robert Corlew refused Monday to suspend an order that blocks the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro from getting a certificate of occupancy, The Daily Herald reports. Corlew turned down county attorneys who wanted him to put his injunction on hold and allow the mosque to be used while they appeal the order to a higher court. The fix, Corlew says, would be to have another planning commission meeting to approve the project. Corlew issued the injunction in mid-June after ruling that county officials did not provide sufficient public notice for a May 2010 meeting where the mosque’s construction plans were approved. The county has argued that it treated that meeting like any other and has appealed Corlew’s ruling to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. WPLN has more
A proposed resolution being considered by the Sevier County Bar Association would honor Sevierville attorney Jerry Kerley, who now faces prison for his role in a $6 million mortgage fraud scheme. On the same day Kerley was suspended from the practice of law, an associate of his presented Sevier County Bar Association members a resolution to declare Kerley "an upstanding member of the bar." The resolution was deferred at the bar's June meeting to be taken up at its July meeting, according to the association's secretary-treasurer Alex Johnson. The News Sentinel has the story
The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended the law license of James F. Taylor pursuant to Section 4.3 of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9 on June 29. The Board of Professional Responsibility petitioned the court to temporarily suspend his law license for misappropriation of funds for Taylor’s own use and posing a threat of substantial harm to the public. Download the BPR release
Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations. CBS's Face the Nation looks into the process and possibilities of why Roberts changed course.
The Court of the Judiciary, now Board of Judicial Conduct, has issued a public reprimand against Judicial District 19 Circuit Court Judge John Gasaway, in response to a complaint filed against the judge. The reprimand came about after Gasaway published an order in response to a motion to recuse in cases involving attorneys who had recently left the law practice where his wife worked. "A significant dispute" had arisen between his wife and the attorney, the reprimand says, and that conclusions drawn by the judge were not obtained through any hearing. The publication of the order without a hearing was in violation of Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Download the reprimand
The Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed a lower court’s decision and reinstated a Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility hearing panel’s ruling suspending a Knoxville attorney for misconduct. While working at the Knoxville law firm of Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley, William S. Lockett Jr. received payments for legal services and failed to remit those payments to the firm as required by his employment agreement. Lockett pleaded guilty to theft and to willful failure to file income tax returns. The Chancery Court of Knox County had reduced the original four-year suspension to two years. In a unanimous opinion, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed that decision, holding that the chancery court failed to base its discipline modification on any of the criteria set forth in Supreme Court Rule 9, section 1.3. The court conducted its own review of the hearing panel’s decision and agreed that the four-year suspension was consistent with sanctions imposed on other attorneys for similar criminal conduct. Read more from the Supreme Court
Hickman County lawyer Douglas P. Nanney was reinstated to the practice of law by order of the Tennessee Supreme Court June 29. He had been suspended Feb. 3, 2005. He must still subject himself to monitoring by the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program and complete additional ethics and professionalism requirements with the Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. Download the BPR release
To help readers decide who would be the best candidate in an area judicial race, the Jackson Sun talks to a judge and two law professors about what qualities makes a good judge. They discuss intelligence, courtroom experience, a patient temperament and independent thinking. There are six candidates for Circuit Court judge in Division III of Tennessee’s 26th District. The paper asked guidance from Judge Roy Morgan, Division I Circuit Court; Brian Fitzpatrick, an associate law professor at Vanderbilt University; and Daniel Schaffzin, assistant professor of law and director of clinical programs and externships at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.
Tennessee will receive at least $13.5 million as part of one of the largest health care fraud agreements in U.S. history, Attorney General Bob Cooper announced today. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to pay $3 billion to the federal government and participating states nationally to resolve allegations that GSK engaged in various illegal schemes related to the marketing and pricing of drugs it manufactures. GlaxoSmithKline agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and to pay $1 billion in criminal fines and forfeitures for the illegal marketing and promotion of the drugs Paxil and Wellbutrin. DOJ officials said the company will pay an additional $2 billion to resolve civil allegations under the False Claims Act. The Blog of Legal Times has details
A measure to require drug testing as a condition for receiving welfare and the reduction of the sales tax on groceries are among new laws taking effect in Tennessee. The welfare legislation requires new welfare applicants to undergo a special screening process. If suspicion is raised after the screening, then the applicant will be tested for drugs. The proposal differs from an original version that would have required blanket testing. The Tennessean has more [subscription required]
With last week's health care ruling, the National Law Journal points out that both wings took steps toward each other, which "kept the court from becoming a major political issue from now until the November election." "It was a moment in which the court was potentially in jeopardy, and that was completely sidestepped," said Barry Friedman of New York University School of Law. Another professor called the health care decision a "defining point avoided" because of the ramifications for the court if the health care decision had gone against President Obama, while another said the opinion was up there with Marbury v. Madison. But whether it's a ground-shifting is doubtful. "Roberts and several of the liberals have forged a working coalition here," Duke Law professor Neil Siegel said. "It's not likely you can say that's going to happen when they get to affirmative action or the Defense of Marriage Act. Roberts is a real conservative."
Twitter must give a court about three months' worth of an Occupy Wall Street protester's tweets, a judge said in a ruling released today after the company fought prosecutors' demand for the messages. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. rebuffed one of Twitter Inc.'s central arguments, the Associated Press reports, which concerned who has rights to contest law enforcement demands for content posted on its site.
