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.
Students from area high schools, colleges and youth organizations will get an opportunity to learn about the legal profession April 24 at “Legal Careers Forum: The ABCs – Advocates, Barristers and Counselors.” The event, part of The Memphis Challenge Inc.’s expanding series of career exploration events, will be held at 4 p.m. in the University of Memphis School of Law’s Wade Auditorium. The event will include a tour of the law school, a panel discussion and a Q&A session. Confirmed speakers include Charles Blatteis, managing attorney of Blatteis Law Firm; Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins; Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director Richard Moore; and law school Dean Kevin Smith. The event is free, but online registration is required.
The Tennessee Supreme Court on April 18 suspended Nashville lawyer Matthew Fort Mayo for one year, retroactive to January 31, 2011. However, Mayo remains suspended for noncompliance with CLE requirements and for failure to file certification that funds are held in an IOLTA account. The court found that Mayo failed to respond to a complaint of misconduct, failed to timely file documents, failed to timely file or properly serve a brief, and failed to appear for a client’s sentencing hearings. Download the BPR notice
The Tennessee Department of Treasury has two paid summer intern positions available in its legal division in Nashville. Candidates must be high school graduates or hold a GED. Current enrollment in law school or an accredited paralegal studies program is preferred. Interested applicants should email their resumes to Treasury.Resumes@tn.gov by April 27. Download the job description
A small Nashville law firm is seeking a full time associate attorney for a litigation position. Experience in family law, workers compensation or personal injury is required. Please send resume to P.O. Box 128498, Nashville, TN 37212. Compensation is salary plus bonus and benefits. Learn more on JobLink
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this morning (Thursday) approved by voice vote the nomination of Memphis Criminal Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. for the vacant federal judgeship in the Western District of Tennessee. The next step is a floor vote on the confirmation. The Senate leadership is working through a compromise plan that allows floor votes on several federal judges previously approved by the committee, but Fowlkes is not on that list. The Commercial Appeal has the story
Registration is now open for the TBA’s 131st Annual Convention, scheduled for June 6-9 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Along with being the largest annual gathering of the Tennessee legal community, this year’s event is packed with interesting programming and fun activities. Highlights include a visit to the famed Stax Records Museum of American Soul Music, a Bench/Bar luncheon featuring Bill Courtney, the dynamic coach at the center of the Academy Award winning documentary “Undefeated,” and high-quality CLE programming on the new Code of Judicial Conduct, tips for growing your practice and more.
The Tennessee State Library and Archives has taken on the monumental task of preserving 10,000 boxes of Supreme Court cases from the state’s birth to the 1950s. More than 20 employees are devoting half a day each day to the project. The case files largely were neglected in the attic of the Capitol until the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society began funding the effort in 2006. Read more about the project and some of the documents uncovered in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Shelby County lawyer Wendy Nicole Villafana was censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 18 for failing to file a client's application for cancellation of deportation, failing to diligently prepare for a hearing, failing to promptly inform the client about alleged weaknesses in the case and failing to respond to the client's requests for information. The court found she violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 and 1.4. Read the BPR release
Knoxville government and property rights attorney David Buuck will serve as chief deputy in the Knox County Law Director's Office, helping to run the office and ensure a smooth transition when Bud Armstrong takes over. Outgoing Law Director Joe Jarret said he hired Buuck at Armstrong's request. Buuck, a University of Tennessee College of Law graduate, has practiced more than 30 years, including several decades as attorney for the town of Louisville. Read more in the News Sentinel
The Montgomery County Disproportionate Minority Contact Task Force will host the 2nd Annual Joint Conference on Juvenile Justice this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The purpose of the conference is to prevent juvenile delinquency by increasing awareness of issues, programs and available resources. The task force operates under the umbrella of the Tennessee Commission on Children & Youth and the APSU Juvenile Justice Grant. This year the guest speaker will be Lowell Perry Jr., executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. The event is free and open to the public. Learn more in the Leaf Chronicle
Todd Rolapp has been elected managing partner at Bass Berry & Sims, Nashville's largest law firm. Rolapp will take the helm Jan. 1, 2013, succeeding Keith Simmons. Simmons announced last year that he’d relinquish his position of managing partner at the end of 2012, after 17 years of service. He will remain a member of the firm. Rolapp, 45, currently chairs the firm’s corporate and securities practice and heads the firm's executive compensation group. Read more from the firm
The Tennessee Supreme Court disbarred Georgia lawyer Stephen V. Fitzgerald Jr. on April 17, after the Supreme Court of Georgia accepted his decision to voluntarily surrender his license. Pursuant to the Rules of Discipline of the State Bar of Georgia, a voluntary surrender of license is tantamount to disbarment. With regard to his Tennessee license, Fitzgerald must pay the Board of Professional Responsibility’s costs and wait five years before seeking reinstatement. Download the BPR release
A proposal that may increase the penalty for drunken driving when a child under 18 is a passenger in the vehicle is headed to the governor. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, was unanimously approved in the state House on Tuesday. The companion bill unanimously passed the Senate last month. Under current law, a person arrested for DUI with a minor in the vehicle is sentenced to a mandatory minimum incarceration of 30 days and a fine of $1,000. The new proposal requires the incarceration be served consecutively with any sentence for DUI, vehicular assault, vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide. The Memphis Daily News has more
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, a law firm based in South Carolina with 400-plus attorneys, is expanding into Nashville. The firm will occupy space on the 18th floor of the Regions Center in downtown Nashville. Former Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz attorney Larry Papel will lead the new office, according to the firm’s website. The general services firm also has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte and Washington D.C. The Nashville Business Journal reported the news today.
The Nashville law firm of Kinnard Clayton & Beveridge recently announced the results of its annual RESPECT Contest, which asks area fifth-graders to answer two questions through original artwork: "What is respect"? and "Why is it important"? Law firm partner Randy Kinnard recognized contest winners at ceremonies at the Historic Williamson County Courthouse and Montgomery County Courthouse last week. Winners received a U.S. Savings Bond and were able to designate funding for their favorite charity. Read more about the contest and see the winning art entries
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis has elected partners Robert Harris and Brent Hill to its board of directors for two two-year terms. NashvillePost.com has more [registration required].
The Senate confirmation process for federal judicial nominees has descended to a new level of contentiousness, Sen. Al Franken and a group of panelists said Tuesday in an event at the liberal Center for American Progress, the Blog of Legal Times reports. Even nominees with bi-partisan support in their home states are going through days of filibusters, he said. Jeremy Paris, chief counsel for nominations and oversight for the Senate Judiciary Committee majority staff, said there were only 28 judicial vacancies at this point in President George W. Bush’s presidency, compared with 82 vacancies for Obama right now. That is about one in 10 judgeships that remain open, including four judicial emergencies in the overwhelmed Ninth Circuit, he said.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission has proposed several new amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines. The proposed changes cover securities fraud, mortgage fraud, human rights offenses, drug offenses, contraband cellphones in prison, cigarette offenses, trafficking in fake Indian goods and animal crush videos. The commission must submit its proposed guideline amendments to Congress by May 1. Congress will have 180 days to act on the proposals, which will take effect Nov. 1 unless Congress votes to modify or disapprove them. ABAJournal.com has more
News from the General-Solo-Small Firm Section
Client relationships need to start from a solid foundation to be successful. In the latest TBA All Access Network video, Memphis attorney and ethics expert Brian Faughnan offers six key steps to consider when beginning these relationships. Watch Faughnan’s program now or review any of the other video programming. All programs are five to 10 minutes long and can be watched at no cost.
Concern over possible abuses in the conservatorship process is prompting some elderly advocates to call for reforms and model laws across the country that grant more rights to the individual and offer more protection. The Tennessean reports on one recent case where an 82-year-old Nashville woman lost all of her possessions in a conservatorship case. State Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, has filed a bill that would provide additional protection to people facing conservatorship, the newspaper reports. “We’ve got to make sure that people aren’t put into conservatorship without due process,” Odom says. His bill would set new notice requirements before a conservatorship could be imposed. It also would require additional medical proof, including sworn statements from three physicians, that an emergency conservatorship was justified.
