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.
Dickson County General Sessions court closed Friday after Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe said his department received word of a potential threat to Judge Durwood Moore. Although court personnel secured the judge, courtroom and offices appropriately, Judge Moore chose to close the court. Deputies talked to the suspect accused of making the threatening statements and determined he likely posed no threat, according to the Tennessean.
Shuttleworth William PLLC recently announced it has moved to a new office in Knoxville. The firm is now located in the First Tennessee Plaza at 800 South Gay St., Suite 2031. The new space puts it closer to the Knox County Courthouse, state Supreme Court Building and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Read more from the firm
Universal Health Services of Pennsylvania won a $6.89 million jury verdict against Franklin-based Acadia Healthcare Co. and five former Universal employees for violating non-compete clauses and misappropriating confidential information, according to the Nashville Business Journal. Universal Health Services purchased Psychiatric Solutions Inc., also based in Franklin, in November 2010. Many of Pyschiatric Solutions' management team then went to work at Acadia.
Compliance with an agreement reached between the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) and Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court last week is "well worth" the estimated cost the county government, the Memphis Flyer argues in an editorial today. However, the paper warns that the price tag of $4.5 to $6.5 million will strain the already financially strapped county government, and that Shelby County Mayor Mark Lutrell's bid for emergency funding from the state will exacerbate the existing shaky relationship he has with the county commission.
Bass Berry & Sims PLC has won the mergers and acquisitions “deal of the year” award in the $50 million to $100 million category from M&A Advisors for the deal in which Luminex Corp, a health care and life sciences research company, acquired privately held GenturaDX, a molecular diagnostics company focused on making nucleic acid testing affordable and practical. Bass Berry served as outside counsel to Luminex. The deal also was a finalist for the distinction of “sector deal of the year” in the category of health care/life sciences between $10 million and $100 million. The firm also was recognized for a deal it handled for Fidelity National Financial Inc., which purchased the Nashville-based restaurant chain O’Charley’s Inc. The Memphis Daily News has the story. Other businesses with Tennessee connections that were honored include Miller & Martin PLLC and International Paper Corporation. See the full list of companies recognized.
A federal judge dismissed an 18-month old class action lawsuit against Erwin-based Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) and other defendants, the Johnson City Press reports. Filed in June 2011, the suit alleged injuries, property damage and emotional distress suffered by 19 plaintiffs caused by “repeated releases of hazardous and radioactive substances” by NFS.
Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to pay $1.1 billon to settle a class-action lawsuit over claims that millions of its vehicles from 1998 to 2010 accelerate unintentionally. The settlement will compensate Toyota customers for any financial losses related to possible safety defects in their vehicles. Toyota admitted no fault in the proposed settlement. The Nashville Business Journal has more.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has announced that incoming Senior Judge Paul Summers will be sworn in on Monday in Nashville. Supreme Court Justice Cornelia A. Clark will administer the oath at 9:30 a.m. at the Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave North. His appointment was announced earlier this month.
In a story reported in the Dec. 21 TBA Today, one of the applicants for the 8th Judicial District chancellor, Andrew R. Tillman, was identified with his work address, which is in Knoxville. His residence is in Huntsville in Scott County. The position is for residents of Campbell, Claiborne, Fentress, Scott and Union counties.
Fifteen Tennessee-licensed lawyers have been reinstated to the practice of law after being administratively suspended for failure to file the last two years of the state professional tax, or the 2011 and 2012 annual fee and IOLTA report. See the updated lists at the links above.
Only five days are left to complete your yearly CLE requirement! Join us for our annual Year End CLE Blast on Dec. 27, 28 and 31 to get live credit, or take one of our many online programs at any time. The Blast, offered at the bar center in downtown Nashville, features three tracks of dual and general credit programs as well as educational games. Programs will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. For questions about the Blast, call the TBA at (615) 383-7421.
The uncertainty of the ongoing “fiscal cliff” negotiations has resulted in a flood of work for attorneys as their clients try to plan for the future, the National Law Journal reports. Due to the potential for changes in tax rates, Medicare taxes and capital gains taxes, businesses are looking to accelerate income before the year ends to avoid uncertainty in 2013. Attorneys are presenting their clients with different year-end scenarios to prepare them better for the future.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed five more district court judges, for a total of 13 confirmations so far this month, the Legal Times reports, and more votes are possible when lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. That makes December the second most active month for filling the federal bench during this session of Congress, behind the 15 confirmations made in October 2011.
An all-male high court in Iowa ruled in favor of a dentist who fired his female assistant because he found her attractive, and he and his wife viewed the woman as a threat to their marriage. The woman filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination, but the court ruled unanimously that an employer can legally fire a worker seen as an “irresistible attraction” since they were motivated by feelings and emotions, not gender. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story.
Lawmakers in Moscow effectively banned Americans from adopting Russian children by passing a bill that imposes a series of sanctions on U.S. interests, WCYB News reports. The move is widely seen as retaliation against the Magnitsky Act, which President Obama signed on Dec. 14. That law imposes U.S. travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia. Russia is one of the top countries of origin for international adoptions in the United States, behind only China, with more than 60,000 Russian children joining American families in the past 20 years.
The portraits of Bradley County’s first two judges -- Judge Charles Fleming Keith and Judge Daniel Coffee Trewhitt -- were recently placed on display in the courtroom of Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Puckett in downtown Cleveland. Puckett said he believes it is important to remember the two men who helped lay the foundation for Bradley County's beginnings. “These two portraits will hang on permanent display in this courtroom,” he told the Cleveland Banner.
According to the Tennessean, several environmental advocacy groups are preparing a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for planning to replace an endangered fish nursery at the Gallatin Fossil Plant with a pollution control facility. The TVA last month announced its plan to remove the Cumberland River Aquatic Center from the Gallatin site to make room for a 15-story coal-ash dump as part of a $1 billion plan to overhaul the plant’s pollution equipment. The Sierra Club, Tennessee Environmental Council and other groups allege the move will harm endangered fish and mussels, violating the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted 15 former employees of FedEx's worldwide hub facility in Memphis for allegedly stealing items from the U.S. Mail ranging from marijuana to gift cards, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The cases are being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of FedEx Security, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Bailey, Leetra Harris and Deb Ireland on behalf of the government.
The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed a Court of Appeals decision and unanimously ruled to reinstate the trial court’s judgment awarding tenured Memphis City Schools teacher Saundra Thomas back pay and damages after the board of education improperly terminated her. Thompson’s suit alleged violation of the Tenure Act and right to due process guaranteed by the 14th Amendment after the board did not provide written charges or an opportunity for a hearing prior to the termination.
The Tennessee Bar Association will be closed on Monday, Dec. 24, and Tuesday, Dec. 25, in observance of the Christmas holiday. The office will reopen on Wednesday at 8 a.m. As always, the TBA website has plenty of information and access to hundreds of continuing legal education programs available 24/7. Still need live CLE credit? The TBA will offer its annual Year End CLE Blast on Dec. 26, 27, 28 and 31. Programs will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
