| Tennessee Bar Association

December, 2011

Cover Story

Defending white-collar criminal cases is not for the faint of heart. It involves unique challenges that require patience, diligence, judgment, experience and subject-matter expertise. When one or more of these is lacking to some degree, the quality of counsel’s representation is impaired and mistakes are made.

Feature Story

A New Way of Doing Business

What’s new at the BPR? A major reorganization of its staff, ‘Birth-Month’ registration, and a reduction in time between complaint and discipline

Feature Story

The Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act

You are a Tennessee lawyer and your Tennessee client, Ms. Gooddaughter, is sitting in your office along with her 85-year-old father, Mr. Oldman. She has just returned from visiting him at his home in Alabama, where he has been living by himself since his wife died five years ago. She has brought him back with her because his doctor has told her that he...

President's Perspective

’Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

It wasn’t until my kids were probably two or three that I fully understood on some sort of base level that it truly is better to give than to receive. These days with a 12-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter, Christmas is really mostly for me (outside of church) about the joy of seeing them and my wife have a great Christmas. As we all get ready to...

People

Nashville lawyers Steve Anderson and Sara Reynolds have left Walker, Tipps & Malone PLC to form the new law firm of Anderson & Reynolds PLC. The firm, which is located at 3100 West End Ave., Suite 225, Nashville 37203, can be reached at (615) 942-1700 or online at...

But Seriously, Folks

Dear Santa: I’ve Been a Very Good Lawyer This Year

To: Santa T. Claus, The North Pole

Dear Santa: I’ve been a good 59-year-old lawyer this year. I haven’t always been nice, but I don’t think I’ve ever been what you would call “naughty.” I’ve tried to be a good family man this year. I’ve driven my daughter to school each morning and then headed to the office in an effort to earn enough money...

Bank on It

10 Things Non-Bank Lawyers Need to Know about Banks

There are a handful of lawyers in Tennessee who call themselves “bank lawyers.” For everyone else, here are 10 things that you need to know about banks.

Where There's a Will

Powers of Attorney: What Accountability?

When an agent acts on behalf of a principal, to whom is the agent accountable? This is no small matter in the estate planning context. More than 40 million Americans are age 65 or older — 13 percent of our population — and those numbers are growing rapidly,[1] with an estimated 10,000 reaching age 65 each day. Since greater longevity correlates with...

News

Diversity Job Fair Connects Students and Employers

Law firms from across Tennessee interviewed more than 60 law students in October during the Tennessee Bar Association’s Diversity Job Fair at the Tennessee Bar Center. Just in its first year, the Job Fair drew students from 21 law schools, ranging from those in Tennessee to historically black institutions as far away as Texas, Louisiana and Michigan.

Disciplinary Actions

Reinstated

The following attorneys have been reinstated to the practice of law after complying with Supreme Court Rule 21, which requires mandatory continuing legal education:

Paine on Procedure

Can the General Assembly Overrule Supreme Court Rules?

Let’s start with the 1965 rule making statutes codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§16-3-402 through 407. They were enacted in anticipation of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, which were then being drafted and became effective Jan. 1, 1971. Section 406 states: “After the [Supreme Court] rules have become effective, all laws in conflict with the...