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TBA SearchLink now more powerful than ever
Our new Google search engine allows TBA members to search our database of Tennessee appellate court decisions from 1995, attorney general opinions from 2001, Tennessee Bar Journal articles from 1996 and more. In addition, you can open a text version of all opinions, whether they were created in Word Perfect or PDF format.
http://www.tba.org/tba_searchlink.html
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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 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.
04 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
01 - TN Court of Appeals
00 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
03 - 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
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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/certlist041706.pdf
HENRY DENNIS v. ERIN TRUCKWAYS, LTD., ET AL.
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Nicholas S. Akins and Bree A. Taylor, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Erin Truckways, Ltd., a/k/a Erin Truckways, Ltd., Inc., a/k/a Digby Truck Lines, and Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool.
Russell D. Hedges, Tullahoma, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Henry Dennis.
Judge: E. RILEY ANDERSON
We accepted review of this workers’ compensation case to determine whether the trial court erred in setting aside the parties’ mediated settlement agreement. We hold that it did not. We also hold that the trial court did not err in determining that the employee is totally and permanently disabled and that it did not err in calculating the employee’s permanent total disability benefits. Finally, we hold that the Workers’ Compensation Law does require the employer to modify existing housing to make it wheelchair-accessible for the employee if medically necessary. We remand for a determination of that amount.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/dennish041706.pdf
USHA HALEY v. UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE-KNOXVILLE, ET AL.
Corrected: The correction is as follows: At page 7, strike the sentence, "Moreover, a voluntary dismissal under the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure does not strictly leave the situatuion as if the claim had never been brought; dismissal activa
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Irwin Venick, Nashville, Tennessee, and Carol S. Nickle, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Petitioner, Usha Haley.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Kimberly J. Dean, Deputy Attorney General; and Devon L. Gosnell, Associate General Counsel, University of Tennessee, for the Respondents, University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Jan Williams.
Judge: E. RILEY ANDERSON
We accepted a question of law certified by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to determine whether a voluntary non-suit before the Tennessee Claims Commission activates the waiver provision of Tennessee Code Annotated section 9-8-307(b) (2005), barring a federal or state cause of action arising from the same act or omission as the claim before the Claims Commission. We hold that it does. We also hold that Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 23 authorizing the certified question procedure is not an impermissible extension of this Court’s jurisdiction under the Tennessee Constitution.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/haleyu041706.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES D. NICHOLSON
With Dissent
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Elizabeth B. Marney, Senior Counsel; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Michael Rohling, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.
James O. Martin, III, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, James D. Nicholson.
Judge: CORNELIA A. CLARK
We granted review to address the following certified question that was reserved by Defendant, James D. Nicholson, following his guilty plea to possession of cocaine for resale: “whether the evidence seized from the defendant in this case should have been suppressed because it was seized pursuant to the warrantless arrest of the defendant for which the police had no probable cause in violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article One, Section Seven of the Tennessee Constitution as well as the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision in State of Tennessee v. Perry Thomas Randolph, 74 S.W.3d 330 (Tenn. 2002).” After being instructed to “hold up” by a detective, Defendant turned and ran. A majority of the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that Defendant was seized when he was thereafter pursued and apprehended by officers. The intermediate court concluded that, because the detectives lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to effectuate such a seizure, the evidence flowing therefrom must be suppressed. After careful review of the record and applicable authority, we concur with the judgment rendered by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals, reverse and vacate Defendant’s conviction and dismiss the charges. We also emphasize the importance of creating an adequate record for review in cases such as this one.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/nicholsonj041706.pdf
Janice M. Holder, dissenting
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/nicholsonj041706DIS.pdf
THOMAS FAIN DALTON v. LYNDA FAYE DALTON
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Linda Faye Dalton, pro se Appellant.
Donald B. Reid, Athens, Tennessee, for the Appellee Thomas Fain Dalton.
Judge: D. MICHAEL SWINEY
Thomas Fain Dalton (“Father”) and Lynda Faye Dalton (“Mother”) were divorced in 1995. The parties have returned to court numerous times since the divorce, and continue to do so even though the youngest of their three children is now nineteen years old. The present appeal involves the Trial Court’s resolution of the most recent set of issues. In summary, the Trial Court denied Mother’s request for an increase in rehabilitative alimony, found Mother to be voluntarily underemployed, denied Mother’s motion for recusal, increased Mother’s child support payment, credited against Father’s child support arrearage medical bills which Father paid but which should have been paid by Mother, and declined to award attorney fees to Mother incurred on a previous appeal in this case. Mother appeals everything. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/daltont041706.pdf
Constitutionality of House Bill 2763 and Senate Bill 2763
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-04-12
Opinion Number: 06-067
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-067.pdf
Application of minimum time price differential
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-04-12
Opinion Number: 06-068
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-068.pdf
Records Custodian’s Duties Under Public Records Act
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-04-12
Opinion Number: 06-068
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-069.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
BPR Actions
Election 2006
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Adams & Reese to open Memphis office, 15 from Armstrong Allen join |
| New Orleans based Adams & Reese LLP announced late today that 15 attorneys formerly of Armstrong Allen PLLC will join the firm, opening a Memphis office effective May 1. For more information, including a list of attorneys making the change, read the |
press release.
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| Four Tennesseans among nation's 500 leading judges |
| Four Tennesseans were listed among "The 500 Leading Judges in America," based on a months-long survey of lawyers and judges conducted by Lawdragon.com. Those listed are Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge William C. Koch Jr., 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judges Martha Craig (Cissy) Daughtrey and Gil Merritt, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (Middle District) Keith Lundin. The judges selected for the listing included state and federal judges at every level chosen from more than 30,000 members of the judiciary nationwide. See the entire list at
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Lawdragon.com
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| State gets settlement in overbilling case |
| The state of Tennessee has entered into a $250,000 agreement with TRC Ltd. following allegations of over-billing practices involving overhead road sign inspection work. The company agreed to pay the state after it was alleged that TRC Ltd. used inaccurate billing records. Read the attorney general's
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news release.
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| Teacher plea deal built on sex bias |
| The district attorney who reached a plea settlement with Warren County ex-teacher Pamela Rogers for having sex with a 13-year-old student says one reason he didn't want to try the case was that some men on a jury would not convict an attractive woman for having sex with a teenage boy. "The fact that I could not get a jury of all women did play a heavy factor in my decision not to go to trial," District Attorney General Dale Potter said. Read about it in the |
Tennessean.
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| Rooting for the lawyer to win |
| This Kentucky Derby contender sports a scales of justice as a team logo and is named for his owner's lawyer, an honor probably not given to many. Read about thoroughbred "Lawyer Ron" in the |
Commercial Appeal.
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| BPR Actions |
| Mount Carmel lawyer censured |
| Mount Carmel lawyer James F. Taylor was censured April 3 by the Board of Professional Responsibility for violating RPC 1.4, 1.5, and 8.4(d) of the Rules of
Professional Conduct, which governs attorney ethics. Read the press release from the BPR |
here.
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| Election 2006 |
| Incumbents and the vote |
| Political scientists no doubt can explain the reasons for the phenomenon, but it is increasingly obvious that incumbents have a significant advantage when it comes to seeking elected office. Judicial races in the May 2 balloting in Chattanooga are an interesting case in point. Read the analysis in the |
Chattanooga Times Free Press.
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| Veil covers judicial races |
| Wading through the 57 names and 39 open seats on the ballot for the May 2 Davidson County judicial election can be an overwhelming chore. Voters complain that making an educated choice is difficult, but it’s a two-way street. The candidates are limited in what they can say about their own legal philosophies. Read the analysis in |
The City Paper.
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| Judicial candidates take in nearly $150,000 in East Tennessee |
| Judicial and Circuit Court clerk candidates took in nearly $150,000 to fund their campaign finances, possibly the most money that's ever flowed into judicial election campaigns in East Tennessee. Read the story in the |
Kingsport Times-News.
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| TBA Member Services |
| Student loans at low rates through SunTrust |
| The TBA and SunTrust Bank now have a Partnership Program to help alleviate the burden of student loans. Members and their families can consolidate their federal student loans at a special low fixed rate - right now as low as 5.375%. In addition, those with consolidation loans greater than $10,000 are eligible to reduce their interest rate by another 1.5% for on-time payments and automatic debit payments.
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Learn more
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