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.
Law Week activities kick off tomorrow with the 6th Annual Law Week Launch Party in Memphis' Court Square, from 5 p.m. to 7p.m. Attendees will enjoy free drinks, food by Central BBQ, Lickity Split Ice Cream and music by WALRUS. Attendees are also encouraged to bring a canned good item for the Mid-South Food Bank.
A story in Tuesday's issue of TBA Today reported on the Tennessee Supreme Court's order denying a petition to make changes to rules governing lawyer advertising. The story included a link to comments on the petition, but the listing did not contain all comments. A complete compilation of comments is now available and may be downloaded here.
The new Lincoln Memorial University Center for Leadership and Community Advocacy will focus on conflict resolution and mediation, and was modeled after a similar facility at Pepperdine University in California, LMU president B. James Dawson said Tuesday. The center will offer an educational doctorate in executive leadership, a master’s in education in community agency counseling, a master’s of business administration and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. According to Knoxnews, officials hope the new center will bolster its John J. Duncan Law School by offering the joint MBA-law program, attracting more students and boosting job placement for graduates. The law school also is making a second effort to win accreditation from the American Bar Association after being denied approval in 2011.
Attorney Ken Paulson has been hired to be the new dean for the College of Mass Communications at Middle Tennessee State University, the Daily News Journal reports. Paulson served as USA Today’s top editor from 2004 to 2009, as well as having served as president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “We were impressed by the breadth of Ken’s experience,” MTSU president Sidney McPhee said. “He has led a national news organization, traveled the country with a rock ’n’ roll band to tout the First Amendment and hosted a national television program. His career has touched all of our college’s disciplines.”
Matthew P. Stephens has been appointed as an assistant district attorney general for the 23rd Judicial District, the Tennessean reports. He was sworn in Monday by Judge Robert E. Burch and will take on the prosecution of Drug Task Force cases in Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart counties in his new role. A graduate of the University of Tennessee and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Stephens has prior experience in private practice and with the Davidson County District Attorney’s office.
Circuit Judge John McAfee has dismissed a $750,00 libel lawsuit against Republican Sen. Stacey Campfield for publishing false information online about state House Democratic candidate Roger Byrge in 2008. Campfield wrote that Byrge, who later lost the race to Republican Chad Faulkner by fewer than 400 votes, had multiple drug arrests. Although McAfee acknowledged that Campfield had gotten information wrong on his blog, he agreed with defense attorneys that the lawmaker did not know the information was false when he posted it. "Sometimes you just get beat, and that's just the plain simple truth of the matter," McAfee said. He added: "Politics are politics, and it's a big boys and big girls game. That's just the way it is." Knoxnews has the story.
Elections in Davidson County in 2012 were “marred by a series of avoidable errors and violations of law” that undermined the credibility of the voting process, according to a draft of a state review obtained by the Tennessean. The mistakes ranged from failing to open up early voting on a Saturday -- a mistake that cost two county election chiefs their jobs in 2010 -- to recruiting a partisan poll watcher from Maury County to operate voting machines at an understaffed polling place on election day. A recent Metro audit of the Davidson County Election Commission’s operations was more positive than the state review, generally giving the commission and its administrator Albert Tieche good marks for both election procedures and financial management.
The cutoff date to reserve your room at the TBA Convention host hotel Sheraton Nashville Downtown is May 19. Booking a room within the TBA block ensures you will receive the special discounted Tennessee Bar Association rate of $155 when making your room reservations. Booking now also is an important way to support the event and keep overall meeting costs as low as possible.
The Tennessee Supreme Court this week issued two orders suspending nine Tennessee-licensed attorneys who did not pay their registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility and/or did not file a mandatory compliance statement that eligible client funds are held in accounts participating in the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Lawyers who since have complied with the requirements are noted as reinstated.
In an opinion piece for the Tennessean, political journalist Jeff Wilson explains how a 1978 vote often cited as rejecting the Tennessee Plan was not really about the state's current method for picking appellate judges. According to Wilson, the 1978 constitutional amendment would have dramatically reshaped every aspect of the state judiciary, with merit selection as a side issue. The Modified Missouri Plan used during the late1970s was the model for merit selection in the constitutional amendment. The current Tennessee Plan wasn’t created until the 1990’s and improved the merit portion of merit selection, Wilson writes.
Charges were dropped Tuesday against Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis over suspected ricin-laced letters reportedly sent to President Barack Obama, a U.S senator from Mississippi and a state-court judge, the ABA Journal reports. Cutis’ lawyer Christi McCoy said he may have been framed. "The searches are concluded, not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate Kevin could have done this," she told reporters. In an interview with CNN, Curtis expressed his happiness over being vindicated and topped off the interview by serenading his attorney with a Randy Travis song.
The Humane Society of the United States is pressuring Gov. Bill Haslam to veto legislation that would require people catching animal abuse on camera to hand over those images to law enforcement within 48 hours, the Nashville City paper reports. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters are also opposed to the bill, arguing that it has implications for journalists and penalizes whistleblowers.
Have you met the better you? Want to meet the better you? The you that is energetic, engaged, creative, funny and smarter ... the sunny side of you? This summer’s TBA Annual Convention provides an introduction to that better you. You will experience a series of short rotating presentations, exhibits and demonstrations, all designed to help you become “Better Next Year.” It all takes place during the 2013 TBA Annual Convention in Nashville, June 12-15.
At-large Metro Nashville Councilwoman Megan Barry began preparing for her 2015 mayoral run by appointing attorney Leigh Walton as treasurer. Walton, a member of Bass, Berry & Sims, served as Mayor Karl Dean’s treasurer during both of his campaigns. Although she has not formally announced her candidacy, Barry confirmed she has also hired one campaign staff member, calling it the “necessary legal steps to start raising money and building an organization … This is a complex and expensive undertaking,” she said. “There’s a lot involved in ramping up a mayoral campaign and the time is right for me to get started.” The Tennessean has the story.
The Guide to Expert Witness Forum 2013 will provide practical, applicable insight from both attorneys and experts regarding how to maximize the effectiveness of expert testimony in your cases. Procedural issues including Rule 26 disclosures, relevant Rules of Evidence, discovery, scope of testimony, and raising and defending challenges to qualifications will be addressed in this Nashville CLE program, along with the practical questions of how to identify and ultimately choose potential experts. The May 1 program will also feature experts of various fields with an opportunity for participants to ask questions during expert panel sessions.
The Justice Department formally filed suit against cyclist Lance Armstrong and his company, Tailwind Sports, for approximately $40 million that the U.S. Postal Service spent to sponsor the cycling team from 1998 to 2004. In the wake of Armstrong’s doping confession, the government charges that the use of prohibited drugs constitutes a break of contract with the Postal Service. CNN Justice reports that the government could recover triple the amount of the sponsorship under the False Claims Act, which could bring a total of more than $100 million in damages.
Andrew Tillman became Tennessee’s newest judge after he was sworn in last week to fill the Chancery Court opening in the 8th Judicial District, which serves Campbell, Claiborne, Fentress, Scott and Union Counties. The opening was created by the death of Chancellor Billy Joe White. Tillman, who graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1989, worked as a senior law clerk to Judge Charles D. Susano Jr. since 2009. Tillman also worked in private practice, clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge H. Ted Milburn, and taught at the UT College of Law as an adjunct professor. The Claibrorne Progress has the story.
According to a study released by Greentarget, Zeughauser Group, social media use by in-house counsel is at an all time high, the National Law Journal reports. The study confirmed findings suggested by surveys conducted since 2010. LinkedIn remains the top social media site used, with more than 67 percent of in-house counsel reporting having used it either during the past 24 hours or past week. Wikipedia also ranked highly, with 69 percent using it during the past day or week for personal reasons and 49 percent for professional reasons.
Wyatt Sassman, a third-year student at Vanderbilt University Law School, has won first place in the TBA Environmental Law Section’s 2013 Jon E. Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition. His article “Administrative Compliance Orders and Due Process after Sackett” looks at the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which allowed an Idaho couple to challenge an EPA order requiring restoration of a wetland before the agency enforced the order with penalties. Sassman argues three points: that the court disregarded precedent and legislative history in finding for the Sacketts, that administrative orders do not violate due process rights, and that federal agencies should be free to use such orders without judicial interference. He will collect a cash award and his article will be published in an upcoming section newsletter.
