| |
Chief Justice Barker to swear in Windle and Rowe
Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice William M. Barker will swear in Reps. John Mark Windle, D- Livingston, and Gary Rowe, D-Memphis, at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the House chamber. Rep. Windle was not previously sworn in because he was serving in Iraq, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports.
|
TODAY'S OPINIONS
Click on the category of your choice to view summaries of today’s opinions from that court, or other body. A link at the end of each case summary will let you download the full opinion in PDF format. To search all opinions in the TBALink database, go to our OpinionSearch page. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password, you can look it up on TBALink at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi.
00 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
05 - TN Court of Appeals
04 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
00 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
TBA members can get the full-text versions of these opinions three ways detailed below.
All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password,
you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi
Here's how you can obtain full-text version. We recommend you download the Opinions to your computer and then
open them from there. Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This should give you the option to
download the original document. If not, you may need to right-click on the URL to get the option to save the file
to your computer. Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view
and save a plain-text version of the opinion. Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink.
This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion.
Howard H. Vogel
Knoxville, Tennessee
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUZANNE KAY BURLEW v. BRAD STEVEN BURLEW
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Darrell D. Blanton, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Suzanne Kay Burlew.
William W. Dunlap and Melanie R. Dunlap, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Brad Steven Burlew
Judge: DAVID R. FARMER
The trial court modified the parties’ decree of divorce, changing custody of parties’ minor child from joint custody to Father, and transferred control of a custodial account from Mother to Father. The trial court also denied Mother’s petition to set visitation and ordered Mother to have no contact with child. Mother appeals. We vacate the trial court’s order regarding visitation and the award of attorney’s fees and remand on these issues. The remainder of the trial court’s judgment is affirmed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/burlews010506.pdf
ANTHONY CHATMAN v. CITY OF CHATTANOOGA
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Anthony Chatman, Pro Se.
Ann. E. Shaffer, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for appellee, City of Chattanooga.
Judge: WILLIAM H. INMAN, SR.
Mr. Chatman was a policeman in Chattanooga. He was fired on September 15, 2003 for untruthfulness during an investigation, and for conduct unbecoming a police officer. He appealed to the Chattanooga City Council which upheld his dismissal. His petition for certiorari was denied and he appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/chatmana010506.pdf
JAMES KILLINGSWORTH, ET AL. v. TED RUSSELL FORD, INC.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
J. Myers Morton and George W. Morton, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellants James and Kathy Killingsworth.
J. Douglas Overbey and Dan R. Pilkington, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellee Ted Russell Ford, Inc.
Judge: D. MICHAEL SWINEY
This appeal centers around the Trial Court’s award of attorney fees to Plaintiffs in this Tennessee Consumer Protection Act case. Following remand after the first appeal, the Trial Court awarded attorney fees of $2,000 for work performed in preparation for and the jury trial of this case, and an additional $4,500 in attorney fees incurred on the first appeal. Plaintiffs appeal claiming the Trial Court’s award of $2,000 in fees incurred at the trial court level was unreasonably low. Defendant appeals claiming the Trial Court erred in awarding any fees incurred on the appeal. We reverse the award of fees incurred on the appeal, and modify the Trial Court’s judgment to award $6,500 in fees for work performed at the Trial Court level.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/killingsworthj010506.pdf
CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., concurring in part and dissenting in part.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/killingsworthjCON010506.pdf
MICHAEL EDWARD ORT v. LORA JEANETTE ORT
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
David E. Caywood and C. Timothy Crocker, Milan, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Edward Ort.
Mary Jo Middlebrooks and Betty Stafford Scott, for the appellee, Lora Jeanette Ort.
Judge: DAVID R. FARMER
This is a divorce case. Husband appeals the trial court’s division of marital property, award alimony in futuro to Wife, naming of Wife as primary residential parent, and child support order. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/ortm010506.pdf
UT MEDICAL GROUP, INC. v. VAL Y. VOGT, M.D.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Stephen H. Biller, Walter E. Schuler, Memphis, TN, for Appellant
Kenneth P. Jones, Memphis, TN, for Appellee
Judge: ALAN E. HIGHERS
This appeal stems from a contract dispute between an employee doctor and her employer where the employer alleged that the doctor anticipatorily breached a covenant not to compete provision in the employment agreement between the parties. In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether (1) the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the doctor was proper; (2) the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to the employer was proper; (3) the trial court’s grant of the doctor’s motion to stay discovery was proper; (4) the doctor’s voluntary nonsuit of her counter claims while the employer’s motion for summary judgment was still pending was proper; (5) the chancery court erred when it returned interpled funds back to the doctor; and (6) the chancery court abused its discretion when it denied the employer’s motion to amend its complaint. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/utmed010506.pdf
JUBAL CARSON v. DAVID MILLS, WARDEN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jubal Carson, Appellant, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; and Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR.
The petitioner, Jubal Carson, appeals the Lauderdale County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his petition for habeas corpus relief. Because the petitioner failed to timely file a notice of appeal and the interests of justice do not require the waiving of a timely notice, we dismiss the appeal.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/carsonj010506.pdf
KENNY CARSON COCKRELL, JR., v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Benjamin C. Mayo, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kenny Carson Cockrell, Jr.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General; James G. Woodall, District Attorney General; Alfred L. Earls, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: NORMA MCGEE OGLE
The petitioner, Kenny Carson Cockrell, Jr., pled guilty in the Madison County Circuit Court to six counts of aggravated robbery and one count of attempted aggravated robbery, and he received a total effective sentence of twenty-five years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner now appeals. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/cockrellk010506.pdf
WILSON NEELY v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
C. Anne Tipton, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Wilson Neely.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Andre Thomas, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee.
Judge: THOMAS T. WOODALL
Petitioner appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief arguing that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the preparation of his case. Specifically, Petitioner contends that trial counsel’s failure to interview and call Andre Jackson as a witness at trial was deficient conduct. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that Petitioner has failed to show that he was prejudiced by any deficiencies in his trial counsel’s performance, and we thus affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/neelyw010506.pdf
KENNETH B. WHITE v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Kenneth B. White, Clifton, Tennessee, pro se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Alexia M. Fulgham, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee.
Judge: THOMAS T. WOODALL
Petitioner, Kenneth B. White, filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief alleging that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to pursue an appeal following Petitioner’s conviction of vehicular homicide. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing because it was untimely filed. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/whitek010506.pdf
|
|
 |
|
| TODAY'S NEWS |
|
Legal News
Online CLE
|
| Legal News |
| Grey to speak to emerging leaders this evening |
| The opening retreat of this year's Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law class begins today at Montgomery Bell State Park, featuring American Bar Association Immediate Past President Robert Grey Jr. of Richmond, Va. |
|
| Read the January Journal |
| The recent issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal features lawyers who have voluteered their time in Asia and Kenya, as well as stories about the winners of TBA's Access to Justice Awards. Articles about voluntary corporate dissolutions, bad faith, and a proposed "50-50 plan" for pro bono are also included. The magazine should be in your mailbox by now, but you can also download a pdf by going to |
Journal_Current/tbj-2006_01.html
|
| Judgeship drawing most interest in Sullivan election |
| BLOUNTVILLE -- So far, more people are interested in becoming nominees for the District I general sessions judgeship than for any other local office on the August ballot, the Kingsport Times-News reports today.
|
article.dna?_StoryID=3586857
|
| Vienna court rejects copyright lawsuit against Elvis enthusiast |
| VIENNA, Austria -- Elvis enthusiast Wolfgang Hahn was all shook up when Presley's former bass player sued him last year for alleged copyright infringement.
But on Wednesday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports, a Vienna court threw out the case, ruling that Hahn did not break any laws by recording and performing an instrumental version of one of the last songs Presley worked on. |
kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_4362599,00.html
|
| Court clerkship changes in Humboldt |
| Wanda Brown, who served as clerk and master in Humboldt for 22 years, retired in December. She is succeeded by Amy Brown, who was appointed by Chancellor George Ellis. |
archives_page/2006/january/news1_01-04-06.html
|
| Online CLE |
| Disaster Recovery: Your Ethical Duty |
| Tornados, fires and hurricanes happen. This new TennBarU online course will help you prepare for and respond to a disaster with the purpose of improving your chance to successfully recover from it.
|
index.htm
|
| |
|
