Feel the Love

The 127th Tennessee Bar Association Annual Convention in Memphis was a resounding success. The TBA, Tennessee Association for Justice, Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women, Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers and the Tennessee Judicial Conference met simultaneously for a week-long extravaganza of world-class CLE, well-deserved celebrations of great work, participation in energized planning and governance meetings and, importantly, to generally enjoy camaraderie (a/k/a fun) with

Panel recruitment underway

Gov. Signs Judicial Election Plan

On June 25, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed into law the new judicial election plan for merit selection of all judges, and performance evaluation and retention election of appellate judges.

The first step in implementing the plan is the appointment of the new Judicial Nominating Commission, the 17-member body that will nominate candidates to the governor for appointment to fill judicial vacancies. The new statute provides for an open process in

Memphis Event Draws Rave Reviews

Big name speakers, big time programs and big crowds made the 2009 Tennessee Bar Association Annual Convention in Memphis, June 18-20, a big success. Kicking off activities was a joint education session with the Tennessee Judicial Conference, followed by an address from former University of Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer. In his speech, Fulmer reflected on outgoing TBA President Buck Lewis’ theme for the year — Leaving a Proud and Enduring Legacy — with his own

Lawyers and staff with the Nashville office of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis recently donated some “sweat equity” to the KIPP Academy, a free public charter school in East Nashville. In conjunction with the nonprofit group Hands On Nashville, the team which included: Bethany Kolenic, Scott Rayson, Jennifer McGugin, Charlie Robbins, Eileen Burkhalter Smith, Lesli Love, Shane Morris, Matt Burnstein, Kathleen Pearson, Kelly Caissie, Elin Henningsson, David Green, Josh RosenBlatt, Kieran Piller,...
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Reinstated

How to Beat the New Mortality Table

Sooner or later, all of our estate planning clients will die. If we could accurately predict their dates of death, we could help them save a lot of gift and estate taxes. This is because there are planning techniques that work best precisely when the IRS mortality table is wrong, i.e., when you can reasonably bet that a particular person will live much longer or else die much sooner than the table suggests.1

Internal Revenue Code §7520 requires that the U. S. D

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

By Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo | St. Martin’s Press | $25.95 | 298 pages | 2009

Jennifer Thompson picked Ronald Cotton from a photo display and a lineup after being raped in 1984 while a student at Elon College in Burlington, N.C. Cotton was convicted. He served almost 11 years until freed by DNA and a confession from the rapist, Bobby Poole. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Jennifer and Ron and th

Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It)

The unrest among the American citizenry concerning the operation of our national government has become inescapably obvious over the last few years. A frequently divided government finds itself often
caught in gridlock that the unpopularity of a president or Congress sometimes aggravates. For many on the left and the right, that unelected federal judges with life-tenure continue to make controve

Busting Myths about Veteran’s Benefits and Medicaid

As our Greatest Generation ages we are seeing more veterans, spouses, and bewildered adult children searching for answers about accessing and financing long-term care. In 2000, there were about 10 million veterans over the age of 65. About half of those were WWII veterans and more than 3 million were veterans of the Korean War.[1]
We have many folks who want to know if they are entitled to help from the government in paying for long-term care.

Two Long-Arm Statutes

We have more than two. They begin at Tenn. Code Ann. §20-2-201 (dating back to 1887) and include the 1932 nonresident motorist statute (§20-2-203). But herein we’ll compare the two laws most frequently referred to as “long-arm” statutes.

In 1965 the General Assembly enacted the initial version of Tenn. Code Ann. §§20-2-214 through 219. An important amendment in 1972 is codified as §20-2-214(a)(6), subjecting defendants outside Tennessee to lawsuits filed here on �

The Right to Bear Arms … Bare Butts and Big Bellies

Mark Twain once said he would rather have termites infest his house than have the Missouri Legislature go into session. Some cynical folks feel the same way about the Tennessee Legislature. But not me. Some of my best friends are members of the Tennessee Legislature, and I have the cancelled checks to prove it.

Each year you and I can count on Tennessee lawmakers to come up with creative new approaches to protect our rights. Take the most recen