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UT law dean named president of Colby-Sawyer College
Thomas Galligan, dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law, has been named president of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. He will assume his new post on Aug. 1. Colby-Sawyer is a private college with 1,000 undergraduate students. It opened in 1837 as a private academy and became a college in 1928. Galligan announced his decision in The Informant, the law school's weekly electronic newsletter. Read his message here:
http://www.law.utk.edu/news/inf2-28.htm
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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
03 - TN Court of Appeals
03 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
03 - TN Attorney General Opinions
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00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
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All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password,
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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
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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
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JOHN ALLEN CONSTRUCTION, LLC v. JEROME HANCOCK, SANDRA HANCOCK, and CARROLL BANK AND TRUST
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Carthel L. Smith, Jr., Lexington, Tennessee, for appellants Jerome Hancock and Sandra Hancock.
John W. Whitworth, Camden, Tennessee, for appellee John Allen Construction, LLC.
Judge: KIRBY
This is a construction case. The defendant homeowners entered into an oral contract with the
plaintiff contractor to construct a house for the defendants. After the contractor had substantially
completed construction of the house, the homeowners discharged the contractor. The contractor then
filed suit for unpaid costs and fees. The defendant homeowners counter-sued, alleging breach of the
original contract. After a trial, the trial court entered a final order granting a monetary award to the
contractor for his unpaid fees, minus several credits awarded to the defendant homeowners. The
record does not include any factual findings or legal conclusions detailing the basis for the award.
The defendant homeowners appeal, asserting that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of
an expert witness and in its calculation of the award to the contractor. We affirm the trial court's
admission of the expert testimony, but vacate the judgment and remand to the trial court for factual
findings and legal conclusions in order to resolve the remaining issues on appeal.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/allenj030106.pdf
SHARON M. LAMB v. CLYDE B. LAMB, JR.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Barbara G. Medley, Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Clyde B. Lamb, Jr.
Roger E. Brandon, Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the appellee, Sharon M. Lamb.
Judge: COTTRELL
The trial court granted a divorce to both parties and divided the marital property equally. The
husband argues on appeal that the trial court erred by classifying as the wife's separate property a
life estate in a house and a farm which she had inherited from her grandmother. In the alternative,
he argues that the trial court should at least have classified the increase in the value of the farm as
marital property, and awarded half of that increase to him. We affirm the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/lambs030106.pdf
ROBERT CLARENCE PAYNE v. JANET PELMORE, M.D., ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Robert C. Payne, Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Jerry O. Potter and Stephen G. Smith, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellees, Correctional Medical
Services, Janet Pelmore, M.D., Don Webb and Joy Fowler.
George A. Dean, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Robert Coble, M.D.
James I. Pentecost and Brandon O. Gibson, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellee, John Crunk.
Judge: CAIN
Inmate filed a medical malpractice, negligence, and deliberate indifference claim against health care
providers and administrative personnel at the Middle Tennessee Correctional Complex, the South
Central Correctional Facility, and the Tennessee Department of Correction regarding the treatment
of his Hepatitis C condition. The trial court granted Defendants' motions for summary judgment,
dismissing all of inmate's claims. Inmate appealed the decision of trial court. The Court affirms the
judgment of the trial court in all respects.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/payner030106.pdf
JERRY L. COWAN v. DAVID MILLS, WARDEN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jerry L. Cowan, Henning, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General;
and Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The petitioner, Jerry L. Cowan, pled guilty in the Blount County Circuit Court to second degree
murder, and he received a sentence of thirty-five years as a Range II offender. Subsequently, he filed
in the Lauderdale County Circuit Court a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that his
sentence was void. The habeas corpus court dismissed the petition without the appointment of
counsel or an evidentiary hearing. The petitioner appeals that dismissal. Upon our review of the
record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/cowanj030106.pdf
RODERICK HARRIS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
James E. Thomas, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Roderick Harris.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General;
William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Patience Branham, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WELLES
The Petitioner, Roderick Harris, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court's dismissal of his
petition for post-conviction relief. In 2004, he pled guilty to aggravated robbery and received a
sentence of ten years. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing
to seek a pretrial mental evaluation. After a review of the record, we affirm the post-conviction
court's dismissal of the petition.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/harrisr030106.pdf
ROBERT L. MOORE v. GLENN TURNER, WARDEN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert L. Moore, Whiteville, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Rachel E. Willis, Assistant Attorney General, and
Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The petitioner, Robert L. Moore, filed in the Hardeman County Circuit Court a petition for a writ
of habeas corpus, alleging that his 1994 conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to sell, his
three 1991 convictions for sale of cocaine, and his three 1991 convictions for concealing stolen
property are void. The habeas corpus court dismissed the petition without the appointment of
counsel or an evidentiary hearing, and the petitioner appeals that dismissal. Upon our review of the
record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/moorerl030106.pdf
Constitutionality of House Bill 1282
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-24
Opinion Number: 06-040
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-40.pdf
Meetings of Joint Legislative Committees
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-27
Opinion Number: 06-041
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-41.pdf
Municipal Ordinance Prohibiting Political Campaign Signs in Public Right-of-Way
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-27
Opinion Number: 06-042
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-42.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Legislative News
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Chancellor Lantrip seeks re-election |
| Chancellor Bill Lantrip has announced that he will seek re-election to his position as chancellor of the 7th Judicial District in the May 2 Democratic Primary. He has served Anderson County as judge of the Chancery Court since 1989. Read about Lantrip's career in the |
Oak Ridger
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| Minority law recruitment events scheduled |
March is National Minority Law Recruitment month and two Tennessee law schools are doing their part to bring greater attention to the issue of diversity in the profession.
Tomorrow, March 2, the University of Memphis School of Law, the Tennessee Institute for Pre-Law and the Black Student Association present a National Minority Law School Recruitment workshop from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call (901) 678-2528.
Next week, the UT College of Law hosts a minority student admissions workshop on March 11. The free event will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the law school. College students, high school seniors, pre-law and minority affairs advisers, guidance counselors, teachers and principals are invited to learn more about law school and the admissions process. |
Get more information about the UT event
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| Vanderbilt announces new faculty and new doctorate in law and economics |
| W. Kip Viscusi and Joni Hersch, law and economics scholars at Harvard Law School, will join the Vanderbilt faculty later this year as the law school launches the first program of its kind - a Ph.D. in law and economics. Read more about Viscusi and Hersch in this |
press release from the law school
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| Vanderbilt moot court team receives awards |
| Vanderbilt's Jessup International Law moot court team advanced to the semi-final round in regional competition Feb. 17-19, placing it among the top four teams in the region. In addition, the team's brief was ranked first in the region, and will be sent to the International Rounds to be considered for additional awards. TBA law student members Laura Ford and Amanda Schlager served on the team and Schlager was personally honored as third best oralist in the region. The team was coached by TBA member and Vanderbilt adjunct professor Paul Ambrosius with the Nashville firm of Trauger & Tuke. |
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| E-voting underway in TBA election |
| TBA members today started online voting in the 2006 TBA elections. There are two contested races this year, one statewide and one for members living in the Board of Governor’s Third District. In the statewide race, two former TBA presidents -- Al Harvey of Memphis and John Tarpley of Nashville -- are competing for one of the TBA’s seats in the ABA House of Delegates. In the race for the Board of Governors Third District seat, incumbent Sam Elliott of Chattanooga is facing Bruce Bailey of Chattanooga. E-voting will continue until March 15. Paper ballots will be mailed by April 1 to members who did not participate in electronic voting.
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| Legislative News |
| Proposed law keeps felons out of office |
| A Senate committee voted yesterday to permanently ban public officials convicted of a felony from seeking elective office, even if their rights are restored. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville). |
The Knoxville News Sentinel has the story
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| Three more possible illegal votes in Dist. 29 |
| State officials said Tuesday they found three more instances of felons voting illegally in the Senate District 29 election last September, pushing the total number of improper votes to 12. Sen. Ophelia Ford won the election by 13 votes. The Senate committee investigating the election meets today to consider this new information. |
Read more in the Commercial Appeal
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| Track legislation of interest to Tennessee attorneys |
| The TBA Action List tracks bills in the General Assembly that the TBA has a direct interest in. This means it has either initiated the legislation, taken a position on the bill or has a policy on the issue. The TBA Watch List is a broader list of bills of interest to the Tennessee legal community. |
TBA Bill Tracking Service
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| TBA Member Services |
| Have you activated your FedEx® shipping discounts? |
| TBA members are entitled to savings from 5%-21% off select FedEx Express® services and 4% to 12% off select FedEx Ground® services. It’s easy to sign up or convert your existing FedEx account. Call 800-923-7089 to enroll today.
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