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.
The U.S. Judicial Conference has asked the White House for emergency funding, the Blog of the Legal Times reports. Court officials said the judiciary does not have the budget flexibility to absorb the large mandatory budget cuts that have caused furloughs in the nation's federal public defender and court offices. In a letter sent yesterday to the White House Office of Management and Budget, federal court officials said the courts need an emergency appropriation of $73 million — $41 million for federal public defenders and $32 million for court operations. The money would save 550 jobs in public defender and clerk offices, and prevent 24,000 furlough days for 5,000 employees, the letter says.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is now requiring electronic submissions of all interpreter invoices as well as compensation claims for attorneys representing indigent clients. Effective July 1, the order requires that “all claims for attorney compensation and expenses shall be submitted utilizing the system established by the AOC for electronic submission.” The Administrative Office of the Courts began development of the electronic filing system in 2010. Users have been phased in over several years and the system has been used on a routine basis since early 2012.
As reported in TBAToday on Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court last week turned back a proposal to broaden the application of the prohibition on manifestations of individual bias and prejudice in the rules of professional conduct. Commenting on the action, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey today said, “Rules already in place prevent lawyers from engaging in discrimination. The proposed rule was merely an attempt to write political correctness into professional codes of conduct. I congratulate the Bar Association for fighting against this unnecessary rule.” Read the story from TBAToday including the TBA comment.
The Williamson County Bar Association, in conjunction with the National Law Day, recognized the Franklin High School Mock Trial team as local champions. Five students were recognized and awarded scholarships. Local attorneys and citizens received awards, as well as the General Sessions and Circuit Court deputy clerks. The association also voted in the 2013-2014 slate of officers including Craig Brent, president; Neil Campbell, vice president; Christina Ferrell Daugherty, secretary; Shauna Billingsley, treasurer; and Elaine Beeler, immediate past president. Read more about the award winners.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey joined with Gov. Bill Haslam Thursday to encourage congressional Republicans to support the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect sales tax on Internet purchases. Ramsey said traditional retailers are disadvantaged by having to collect state and local sales taxes while many online retailers don’t. The bill passed the U.S. Senate yesterday, but faces an uncertain future in the U.S. House. U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., supported the bill, however U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told the Chattanooga Times Free Press last week, “There’s nothing fair about the Marketplace Fairness Act.”
The City of Brentwood will ask the Tennessee Supreme Court to hear its appeal in a lawsuit with the Williamson County Election Commission, the Brentwood Homepage reports. Last year, the Brentwood library refused an election commission request to hold early voting during the Republican primary in 2012, citing interference with previously scheduled community group events. The Williamson County Election Commission sued the city of Brentwood to clarify the issue. After the state Appeals Court overturned the decision by Chancery Court Judge Tim Easter that the local Election Commission cannot demand use of a public building, city commissioners voted to continue the lawsuit.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told several hundred University of Chicago School of Law students of her continuing disenchantment with the legacy of Roe v. Wade as the featured guest for a program on “Roe v Wade at 40.” In the discussion moderated by constitutional scholar Geoffrey Stone, Ginsburg said the court could have, and should have, avoided a broad-based decision. The 80-year-old justice said the sheer sweep of the controversial 1972 decision short-circuited the development of a political groundswell that was building at the state and local level—not only on the issue of abortion—but on all phases of women’s rights. The ABA Journal has the story.
Coffee County officials are looking to repair and update the 141-year old courthouse, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Rebuilt after a fire in 1870, the courthouse now houses Coffee County Circuit Court, a Tennessee Highway Patrol Criminal Investigation Division office, the Coffee County Historical Society and a University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension law enforcement office. "This is a treasure," Circuit Court Judge Vanessa Jackson said. "It could be magnificent. There's a lot of community interest in trying to raise some funds for it."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenged the 122 graduates of the University of Memphis’ Cecil B. Humphreys School of Law to use their law degrees to fight corporate corruption and protect the environment, the Commercial Appeal reports. Law is “a sacred profession,” Kennedy told the law school graduates Sunday afternoon at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. “More than ever, it’s attorneys who are raising their hand or manning the barricades ... to make sure we retain the value of our nation. I hope some of you students will spend at least some of your time if not all of it taking up this battle, recognizing that democracy and the environment are intertwined.”
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has renewed and expanded its lease at the First Tennessee Building in downtown Memphis. According to the Memphis Business Journal, it is the largest law firm in the city and is now taking 27 percent of the 415,658-square-foot office tower.
A fifth trucking company has filed suit against Pilot Flying J in the wake of a federal investigation into charges that the travel center chain cheated truckers out of promised rebates. Filing in U.S. District Court in Alabama, Osborn Transportation of Gasden accused Knoxville company of breach of contract, unjust enrichment fraud and violations of consumer protection statues. Pilot CEO James Haslam has begun to reimburse trucking firms for rebates that were improperly reduced. The Tennessean has more.
Authorities recently seized 19 Tennessee Walking Horses that may have been subjected to cruelty, the Tennessean reports. Trainer Larry Wheelon has not entered a plea on his one count of aggravated cruelty to livestock on suspicion of soring, but vigorously disputed the charges in a statement to a trade magazine. Wheelon’s case echoes last year’s soring scandal involving famed trainer Jackie McConnell whose arrest spurred the Department of Agriculture to release new rules over horse industry groups that handle show inspections.
In a new book titled “The Lawyer Bubble,” author Steven Harper argues that Big Law is taking a huge toll on young lawyers. Harper discusses the reasons why young corporate associates are unhappy with their jobs using findings from a 2007 ABA survey and American Bar Foundation longitudinal study called “After the JD.” The author theorizes that that the intense pressure to log “billable hours” attributes to junior attorneys’ dissatisfaction. Business Insider has the story.
The Tennessee Supreme Court on May 13 transferred the law licenses of Knox County lawyer Beverly Ann Buster Clemmer and Shelby County lawyer Jay L. Grytdahl to disability inactive status. The lawyers may not practice law while on inactive status. They may return to the practice of law after showing by clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and they are fit to do so.
Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy said at a hearing Friday that after seeing case files of children who died as a result of abuse and neglect, it was clear that Department of Children's Services (DCS) social workers should have done more to protect the children. "There have been balls dropped by several individuals," she said in releasing 42 records of cases of children who died or nearly died after being under the supervision of DCS. McCoy also gave the state until May 31 to release records on 50 additional cases. Knoxnews has the story.
Attorneys from across the counry learned about Tennessee's access to justice initiatives and how to implement them during a series of sessions at the national Equal Justice Conference, sponsored last week in St. Louis by the American Bar Association and the National Legal Aid & Defender’s Association. Justice Janice Holder and Access to Justice Commission Chair Buck Lewis led an in-depth meeting for representatives from 10 organizations interested in implementing versions of OnlineTNJustice.org in their communities. Joining them in the presentation were TBA Access to Justice Coordinator Liz Todaro and representatives from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS). TBA Vice President Jonathan Steen was also part of the delegation of more than 20 Tennessee attorneys attending the conference. In all, Tennessee’s access to justice initiatives were featured in four panel presentations and workshops, reaching an audience of more than 100. See photos from the conference.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Friday upheld a lower court finding that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ controversial student assignment plan did not represent deliberate racial resegregation, and passed constitutional muster even though it led to more racially divided schools. However, the court made clear that its opinion “should not be understood as a judicial endorsement of [the plan’s] success,” The Tennessean reports.
As many as four prosecutors in the Knox County District Attorney General’s office may run for the top DA post or a criminal court seat that will be open when Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz departs next year. Charme Knight, who specializes in child abuse and child death cases in the office, is running to succeed her boss, DA Randy Nichols. She likely will face attorney Michael Graves in a Republican primary, Knoxnews reports. Meanwhile prosecutors Kevin Teeters (a Republican) and Leland Price (a Democrat) are telling their parties they will seek Leibowitz’s position. Their colleague Jason Honeycutt, a Republican, also said he is seriously considering a run for the seat.
More juveniles charged with crimes are being given a chance to turn their lives around, instead of being transferred to adult court. Since 2009, the number of juveniles charged as adults has declined each year, with 29 transfers so far this year compared to 99 last year. The Commercial Appeal reports that the decrease corresponds to the U.S. Department of Justice’s three-year probe into allegations of civil rights and due process violations at Shelby County Juvenile Court.
The 2013 Equal Justice Conference attracted more than 700 people to its annual gathering in St. Louis, presented May 9-11 by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.
