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.
Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) will host its Annual Pro Bono Night on June 27 in Chattanooga. Judge Marie Williams will serve as master of ceremonies at the event, which honors local attorneys who provided pro bono legal assistance over the past year. Awards will be presented to outstanding volunteers and supporters of access to justice work, including U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Max Bahner of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. The law firm of Miller & Martin and the Hamilton County Herald also will be honored at the event, which will be held at the Bessie Smith Hall, 200 East M.L. King Blvd. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Matt Smith at (423) 756-4013 x1105, msmith@laet.org or visit the event website.
Former Memphis lawyer Frank Tamble Stegbauer died April 30 in Naples, Fla. He was 88. Stegbauer graduated from the University of Memphis School of Law. After serving in World War II, he returned to Memphis to begin a career in the maritime industry. He served as chair and board member of the Memphis Port Commission, chairman of the board of the American Waterways Operators and first chairman of the Coast Guard Towing Safety Advisory Committee. He worked at Warner and Tamble, a family maritime business, and then became co-owner of Southern Towing Company. In 1986, he became the majority owner of the company. He retired in 2008 and relocated to Florida. Funeral services were held this past weekend in Memphis. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Avow Hospice, Office of Development, 1095 Whippoorwill Ln., Naples, FL 34105 or the charity of one’s choice. The Commercial Appeal has more on his life.
Chattanooga lawyer Carl E. Hartley has stepped down as head of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz’s Tax Department after serving in the position for 10 years, the firm announced today. He has been succeeded by Alton E. Bayard III, a shareholder in the firm’s Baton Rouge office. Hartley, also a shareholder, will continue to focus on federal, state and local taxation, as well as corporate law and non-profit organization matters. A 1973 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Hartley also previously served as chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Tax Section.
Brentwood lawyer Jerald Christian Bangerter Jr., 47, died May 3 after a long battle with cancer. A 1995 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and Army veteran (with service in Desert Storm), Bangerter worked at Wagner, Watson & Pettit in Hawaii; and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, HCA and Vanderbilt University in Nashville. For the last nine years, he has worked as chief compliance officer at LifePoint Hospitals in Brentwood. Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1100 Gray Fox Ln., Franklin. The funeral will take place Thursday at 10 a.m. at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens, 9090 Hwy. 100, Nashville. A graveside service will immediately follow the funeral and a celebration of Bangerter’s life will follow the graveside service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Kidney Cancer Association, Wounded Warrior Project, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Missionary Fund or charity of the donor’s choice.
Nashville federal district court judges today responded to a request for a comment on a story digested in TBAToday that questioned the need for a new Nashville federal courthouse. The statement by Chief Judge William Haynes makes the case for the new facility. It cites security concerns that the current buildings "lack separate hallways and elevators for prisoner transport," that the number of courtrooms is inadequate to meet the present and future needs and that land acquisition and planning have already cost $26 million. The TBA has repeatedly and publicly voiced its strong support for the project.
Pilot J has hired former top U.S. Justice Department official Reid Weingarten and newly appointed University of Memphis interim president Brad Martin to oversee an internal investigation into allegations of fraudulent business practices. The company announced Weingarten will “lead, oversee and validate an internal investigation of recent federal allegations that Pilot Flying J underpaid rebates on diesel fuel purchases.” Martin will head a special committee of Pilot’s board to work with Weingarten and eventually receive his report, the Tennessean reports. The Memphis Daily News notes that Martin hired Gov. Bill Haslam as an executive at Saks Inc. while Haslam was president of Pilot in 1999.
The parents of murder victims Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome filed two legal petitions seeking to unseal the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation file of its probe of disgraced former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, Knoxnews reports. One petition seeks to have a law exempting TBI files from the Tennessee Open Records Act declared unconstitutional. The second is asking that the parents be allowed to intervene in the case of torture-slaying defendants Letalvis Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson, George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman in Knox County for the purpose of getting the entire TBI file unsealed.
U.S. Attorney for East Tennessee Bill Killian addressed the Bradley County Bar Association’s Law Day celebration Wednesday, speaking on the topic “Federal Laws Under the United States Constitution.” Killian discussed the importance of equality and justice. “We could not secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity because we would have nothing to secure nor pass down to our descendants,” he told a crowd of about 60. “So the next time that you say the pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, don't just repeat the words but know that when we say, ‘One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ — we mean it.” The Cleveland Banner has more.
The state Department of Children’ Services has disciplined three high-ranking employees on the Child Fatality Review Team for deleting child death records and leaving out “significant portions” of the team’s meeting minutes in records provided to media, the Memphis Daily News Reports. The Tennessean and other news organizations sued for the child fatality records to be released but found that the redacted records also had information removed which should have been made public.
A free training seminar for criminal justice practitioners, victim advocates, mental health therapists and other allied professionals on “Civil Justice for Victims of Crime in Tennessee” will be held in Memphis on Tuesday. The seminar will explore how victims of crimes such as sexual assault, domestic, child, or elder abuse, and identity theft can use civil lawsuits to obtain justice, hold responsible parties accountable, prevent future crimes, and obtain the financial resources victims need to rebuild their lives.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that police officers need a search warrant to obtain blood tests for a DUI arrest will have an impact on DUI enforcement in Tennessee, WATE reports. During times such as “No Refusal Weekends,” in which suspected drunk drivers cannot refuse sobriety tests, blood alcohol tests are a major tool for Tennessee Highway Patrol. "So that adds an extra step for them. They'll have to articulate fully the circumstances which made it necessary for them to get a blood draw," said Knox County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Keith. “It can be lengthy to get these search warrants."
A new law school ranking by Above the Law ranks schools on the quality of jobs graduates attain, alumni satisfaction and education costs. The ABA Journal notes that the ATL ranking does not differ significantly from the traditional U.S. News ranking. On both lists, Vanderbilt ranks highest among Tennessee schools at number 15.
Clergy for Justice Tennessee, a new statewide organization of religious leaders, delivered to Gov. Bill Haslam’s office a letter signed by 370 people urging him to veto Senate Bill 1248. Dubbed the “Ag Gag” bill, by the Humane Society of the United States, opponents say it is designed to prevent exposure of animal abuse by making it a crime to withhold from law enforcement any “photograph, digital image, video or similar medium” documenting cruelty to livestock within 48 hours. Haslam has 10 days to act on the bill or it becomes law without his signature. The Commercial Appeal has the story.
Funeral services have been set for attorney Susan McEwen Clark who died April 30 in Memphis. Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday with the memorial service following at 3:30 p.m., both at St. John's United Methodist Church, on the corner of Peabody and Bellevue. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to St. John's United Methodist Church.
Nashville’s oldest and largest law firm, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, has added 17 new attorneys to its corporate, finance and restructuring, healthcare, real estate, and trial and appellate practice groups. The Wall Street Journal Market Watch profiles each new member.
Judge Tim Dwyer started the Shelby County Drug Court in 1997 to offer intensive treatment for nonviolent drug offenders with criminal cases. After his teenage cousin had been killed by a drunk driver, Dwyer said he learned the lesson that people with substance abuse issues need justice tempered with mercy. “I’m a judge. I’m sworn to uphold the law,” Dwyer said. “But all of us in the system have a responsibility to try to help people who want and need it. We’re not just trying to lock people up. We’re trying to save lives” he told the Commercial Appeal.
As part of his Law Day address, New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced the implementation of mandatory reporting of pro bono service for all attorneys practicing in the state. The new reporting requirement took effect yesterday and includes both the number of hours of voluntary legal service performed as well as the amount of voluntary financial contributions made in support of poor and underserved clients.
Also becoming effective yesterday was an amendment to New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which increased the number of pro bono service hours that lawyers are “strongly encouraged to provide each year” from 20 hours to 50 hours. The Court specified, “pro bono service and financial contributions remain completely voluntary in New York.” View the full press release.
The Shelby County Public Defender's office has been chosen to receive a 2013 Training & Technical Assistance Grant supported by the Department of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance. The office's website reports that Shelby was one of six public defender offices chosen to receive eight months of training in client-centered advocacy techniques from the Bronx Defenders in partnership with the Center for Court Innovation.
Probate Judge David Randy Kennedy assigned Nashville resident Shannon Hill a new conservator and increased her monthly allowance, the Tennessean reports. Despite Hill’s battle to win release dating back to 2009, Kennedy declined to dissolve the conservatorship due to concerns expressed by one of her doctors. Kennedy replaced Hill’s cousin as conservator with the nonprofit Guardianship and Trust Co., which regularly handles conservatorships in his court.
District Court Judge John T. Nixon granted three former Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) bus drivers a summary judgment, agreeing with the drivers’ assertion that MNPS breached their contracts. According to the Nashville City Paper, the drivers claim their year-to-year contracts were not renewed but no reason was given for their job termination, which violated their due process rights. The court case is proceeding to determine the damages that will be awarded.
