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 day after University of Memphis President Shirley Raines announced her plan to retire June 30, the Tennessee Board of Regents named R. Brad Martin as interim president. Martin is a 1976 graduate of the university and a member of its board of visitors. He will begin working with Raines later this month to prepare for his role, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The university said it will begin a search for a permanent president this summer, and plans to have one in place by July 2014. Martin has been an active alumnus of the school, including donating funds for the creation of the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence and funding a scholarship for students going into the teaching profession. He currently chairs RBM Venture Co., a private investment firm and is the retired chairman and CEO of Saks Inc.
Curtis “Wayne” Conner, administrator for the Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk, died April 11. He was 73 years old. A native of Oklahoma, Conner's funeral services and burial were held this past Saturday in Shawnee. The family requests that any memorials be made to the American Cancer Society. Condolences may be made at www.memphisfuneralhome.net. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported the death and has more on his life.
Tennessee Finance and Administration Commissioner Mark Emkes will be leaving office at the end of May to enjoy retirement, Chattanoogan.com reports. Gov. Bill Haslam praised Emkes’ service, saying he helped the administration present “three responsible, thoughtful and strategic budgets.” Before joining the Haslam team, Emkes spent his entire professional career at Bridgestone Americas, working his way up from a trainee to chairman, chief executive officer and president. He retired from the company in February 2010 after 33 years. The governor reports that he has begun a search for his replacement.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) yesterday unveiled the results of an internal shakeup following months of criticism about its ability to track the death of children in its custody. Under the reorganization, three top deputies have been reassigned or relieved of duties, while a fourth announced his retirement. Two new deputy commissioners — one for child health and one for child safety — will fill new positions that will focus on training Child Protective Services workers and strengthening internal investigations. Finally, the plan calls for collaborating with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to train caseworkers on how to evaluate drug use and other potential criminal behavior. The Tennessean has details on the plan.
Elizabethton attorney Stacy Street was appointed to the First Judicial District Criminal Court today by Gov. Bill Haslam. Street takes the seat held by Judge Lynn W. Brown, who retired March 31. Most recently, Street worked as a solo practitioner focusing on criminal law. He previously was a partner with Hampton & Street and an associate with Hampton & Hampton, the AOC reports. He is a 1992 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law. The AOC reported the appointment.
The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has issued a public reprimand to Rhea County General Sessions Judge James McKenzie based on two incidents in late 2012. One incident concerned comments made about an attorney appearing in McKenzie’s courtroom, while another involved comments made in the presence of a courtroom employee’s spouse and others outside the courtroom. The board determined that this conduct violated Rule 1.2 of Canon 1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The state Senate has passed a proposal to redraw Tennessee’s judicial districts for the first time since 1984. The plan from Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey was approved 27-4 today, Chattanoogan.com reports. The measure would affect 22 counties in eight districts by (1) reducing the number of districts from 31 to 29; (2) creating separate districts for Rutherford and Williamson counties; (3) merging two districts (27 and 29) in northwestern Tennessee; and (4) creating a new district comprised of Coffee, Cannon, Warren and Van Buren counties.
Staying out of the national debate over guns, the Supreme Court today declined to weigh in on whether gun owners have a constitutional right to carry handguns outside the home. The decision to pass on the issue came in a challenge to a New York state law that requires those who want to carry a concealed handgun to show they have a special reason for a license. Opponents of the law argue that the right to bear arms is not limited to the right to keep a gun at home. On SCOTUSblog, legal commentators suggested the case would have been a good one for the court to consider since there is a clear split among federal appeals courts on whether constitutional gun rights extend beyond the home.
Tennessee’s newest judge will take office Tuesday when Andrew Tillman is sworn in to the Eighth Judicial District Chancery Court. Tillman, who has worked since 2009 as a senior law clerk to Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Charles D. Susano, is a 1989 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law. He also has worked in private practice and clerked for Federal Appeals Court Judge H. Ted Milburn. Tillman replaces Chancellor Billy Joe White, who died in November after 35 years on the bench. Judge Susano will officiate at tomorrow’s ceremony. Read more on the AOC website.
FBI agents today blocked entrance to the Knoxville headquarters of Pilot Flying J, the truck stop business owned by the family of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and his brother, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. The Associated Press, Knoxnews and WBIR-TV also reported that FBI agents refused to allow traffic to enter the headquarters grounds, would not answer questions and told reporters to leave. The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for details but a Pilot spokeswoman said she might release information later. Gov. Haslam has no position with the company but still has an unspecified holding in it, according to his financial disclosures.
Memphis attorney Richard B. Fields was killed Saturday after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street in the city's Midtown area, The Commercial Appeal reports. A native of Modesto, Calif., Fields came to Memphis in 1969 with the “Teacher Corps,” a War on Poverty initiative that trained educators to teach in inner-city schools. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee and went on to serve in several high-profile civil rights cases in Memphis involving school desegregation and racial employment discrimination. In one profile, The Memphis Flyer calls Fields a “Socratic gadfly,” who angered fellow Democrats when he supported efforts to keep state Sen. Ophelia Ford from being seated amidst allegations of fraud in her election, and had a public falling out with former Mayor Willie Herenton, whose rise to power he had been instrumental in orchestrating. Funeral arrangements were not available at press time.
Knox County officials broke ground Friday on a building project to consolidate all juvenile court and child support services in the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center. The addition of four new courtrooms as well as space for county clerks and clerical documents will streamline the process for many families, according to the Knoxnews. Moving juvenile and child support offices from the downtown courthouse also will free up space that that had become so cluttered it was a safety hazard according to Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin. The cost of the project is estimated at $3 million. Construction should be completed in a year.
Leland Price, a Knox County assistant attorney general who’s helped prosecute defendants in the slayings of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, indicated over the weekend that he is planning to run next year to succeed Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz, who is retiring. Knoxnews columnist Georgia Vines writes in today’s paper that Price once considered running for Knox County district attorney general but apparently has changed his mind. Another prosecutor in the office, Republican Charme Knight, has indicated an intention to run for the DA position.
Georgiana Vines’ column in Saturday’s Knoxnews reports that Knoxville lawyer and former TBA President Pam Reeves is being vetted by a committee of the American Bar Association as a possible replacement for U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Phillips, who is retiring Aug. 1. Vines writes that several members of Knoxville’s legal community are in receipt of a letter from the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary asking them to evaluate Reeves’ professional qualifications in terms of integrity, competence and temperament.
Shirley C. Raines, president of the University of Memphis, announced today that she will retire effective June 30. Raines became the university’s 11th president and the first woman to hold the position in 2001. The author of 14 books and numerous journal articles, she is widely regarded as an expert in teacher education and early childhood education. Raines earned her doctorate and masters degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The university reports that John Morgan, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, is expected to name an interim president later this week.
A medical-legal partnership between Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) and Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga recently marked its one-year anniversary. LAET reports that the program has served 100 low-income patients and provided $660,855 worth of legal services since its inception. Lawyers have helped clients with conservatorships, foreclosures, landlord/tenant issues and insurance benefits. Medical-legal partnerships focus on improving the health and wellbeing of vulnerable patients by addressing their unmet legal needs and removing legal barriers that impede health. For more information on the program, contact LAET’s Chattanooga office at (423) 756-4013.
Nashville's Cane Ridge High School is launching a youth court this week under the auspices of its Academy of Law. The installation ceremony for student court members is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the school auditorium. The first hearing date will be Friday. The new Cane Ridge Restorative Court is collaboration between the TBA, Metropolitan Nashville Juvenile Court, Metro-Student Attendance Center and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Student Services Department. The court has been in the planning stages for a year and is made possible through a grant from the Memorial Foundation. It will focus on truancy and disorderly conduct cases. For more information contact TBA Youth Court Coordinator Denise Bentley at (615) 277-3207 or dbentley@tnbar.org. Learn more about youth courts on the TBA website.
Student Court Will Hear Peers’ Truancy and Disorderly Conduct Cases
NASHVILLE, April 15, 2013 -- The Academy of Law at Cane Ridge High School is launching a youth court program, the Cane Ridge Restorative Court, in collaboration with the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), Metropolitan Nashville Juvenile Court, Metro-Student Attendance Center (M-SAC), and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Student Services department. The installation ceremony for student court members will be Tuesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cane Ridge High School auditorium.
The Judicial Nominating Commission today recommended three nominees to Gov. Bill Haslam to fill a vacancy on the Third Judicial District Chancery Court. Those under consideration are Beth Boniface, an attorney in Morristown; Douglas T. Jenkins, a solo practioner in Rogersville; and William Erwin Phillips, a partner with Phillips and Hale in Rogersville. The district serves Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties. Read more about each of the nominees on the AOC website.
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee met with Gov. Bill Haslam and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Leo Thorsness at the state capitol this week. The event highlighted work of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, which will be implementing curriculum in schools across the country to educate students about the Medal of Honor. The foundation also will hold its 2014 convention in Knoxville. Read more and see a photo on the AOC website.
