Tennessee Bar Journal

Jun 2013

Cover Story

By: Russell Fowler

With the monumental changes to workers’ compensation in Tennessee, it is time we pause and look back on how we got to where we are today, not only in Tennessee but more broadly. As Justice Holmes said, “The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.”[1] But first, what is workers’ compensation? In brief, it is the oldest form of social...

Feature Story

Guns in Trunks

By: Edward Phillips

Brandon Morrow

Note: After this article went to print, and immediately before publication, the Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion on what limitations, if any, 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts, Chapter 16 (“Chapter 16”) places on employers’ rights to terminate an employee who brings a firearm or firearm ammunition onto the...

President's Perspective

A Year of Changes

By: Jacqueline Dixon

It is hard to believe that I am writing my final President’s Perspective. The “bar” year has passed quickly. While my term is ending, the TBA is like that line from a Robert Earl Keen song, “The road goes on forever and the party never ends.” The association will continue on in the good hands of incoming president Cindy Wyrick. I have been amazed at the...

Letters of the Law

By: Letters of the Law

We All Lose When Legislature Declares War on Judiciary

I cannot express my disappointment in the actions of the legislature on its final day of the session just concluded. By defeating the Senate’s bill to redistrict judicial lines the House has insured that the issue will not be reexamined until just before the judicial elections in 2030. The...

Paine on Procedure

Qui Tam Actions

By: Donald Paine

Black’s Ninth defines “qui tam” as “an action brought under a statute that allows a private person to sue for a penalty, part of which the government … shall receive.” The words are Latin for “who as well.”

The best Tennessee example is our False Claims Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§4-18-101–108. Categories of false claims covered...

Senior Moments

Punch Up Your Power of Attorney

By: Monica Franklin

A durable financial power of attorney (DPOA) is one of the most important lifetime documents our clients will sign. Unfortunately, by the time clients reach an elder law attorney, they usually have a “plain jane” DPOA that merely gives the agent the powers listed in Tenn. Code Ann. §34-6-109.

People

Donald Eugene “Gene” Hayes Jr. has joined the Memphis office of Jackson Lewis as of counsel. He will serve in the Disability, Leave and Health Management Practice Group. Hayes previously worked for the UT Medical Group Inc., where he served as counsel and human resources manager. He earned his law degree from Emory University School of...

News

Tennessee General Assembly

The Tennessee General Assembly wrapped up its 2013 session early, but not without acrimony, sending senators and representatives home without passing a number of key pieces of legislation.

Licensure & Discipline

Censured

Knoxville assistant district attorney Ta Kisha Fitzgerald received a public censure on April 16 for failing to timely disclose to opposing counsel the existence of letters and phone calls from a defendant. Fitzgerald submitted a conditional guilty plea acknowledging violations of Rules 3.4(d), 3.8(d) and 8.4(a) and (d)...

Bank on It

Bank Robbers, Bandits, Hollywood and Fraudsters

By: Kathryn Edge

My law office sports framed photographs of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, Willie Sutton and Cousin Jesse James (at least my mother always liked to tell people we were related to the infamous James Boys). Perhaps subconsciously I have felt the need to try and protect banks from the bad guys — more so those who use their positions to steal from the inside...

But Seriously, Folks

Show Me the Seersucker: In Defense of the State Legislature

By: William Haltom

My fellow Tennesseans, I wish to speak in defense of the Tennessee Legislature. During the past session, the Tennessee General Assembly was subjected to a great deal of scorn and ridicule, which, by the way, should not be confused with the law firm by the same name (Scorn & Ridicule LLC). Late-night comedians including Jay Leno, David Letterman,...