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Justice Ginsburg to receive Benjamin L. Hooks Award
The Memphis Bar Association will welcome U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Memphis on Monday for the joint annual meeting of the MBA and the Memphis Bar Foundation. Justice Ginsburg will speak at the Sept. 11 event on "Women's Progress at the Bar and on the Bench." During the meeting, she will be presented with the Memphis Bar Foundation's Benjamin L. Hooks Award, which honors a lawyer or judge whose work promotes public awareness of the legal profession, legal education and social justice. Area attorneys who also will receive awards are Courtney Felts, David M. Cook, Caren B. Nichol and Jef Feibelman. Download a press release about dinner and the awards here:
http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2006/ginsburg_9-6-06.pdf
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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
01 - TN Court of Appeals
01 - 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
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DAWN NEPP, ET AL. v. MARGARET HART, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
John Cobb Rochford, Jeff T. Goodson, and John Palmer Webb of Nashville, Tennessee for
Appellants, Dawn Nepp and Doug Merrick.
William Caldwell Hancock of Nashville, Tennessee for Appellees, Margaret Hart and Thomas Hart.
Judge: CRAWFORD
This is an appeal of a judgment on a jury verdict. Plaintiffs-homeowners contracted with
a construction company, a corporation wholly owned by a single stockholder, to construct their
residence. Because of alleged breach of contract and negligent construction, the homeowners filed
suit against the corporation and also the sole stockholder and his wife, a director, alleging that they
were in fact the alter egos of the corporation. Prior to trial, the corporation was voluntarily dismissed
by the homeowners, and the case was tried against the individual defendants on the alter ego theory.
The jury found that owner-defendants were liable under the alter ego theory for negligent
construction and breach of contract. Judgment was entered on the jury verdict. Plaintiffs-homeowners appealed stating that the trial court erred in dismissing some of the other causes of
action, but a review of the record reveals that no motion for a new trial was filed by plaintiffs-homeowners as required by Tenn. R. App. P. 3 (e), and thus those issues are waived. The individual
defendants asserted affirmative issues for review as cross appellants. Although the individual
defendants filed a motion for a new trial, many of the issues raised were not specifically stated
therein and are consequently considered waived on appeal by virtue of Tenn. R. App. P. 3 (e).
Finding that there is material evidence to support the jury verdict, we affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/neppd_090806.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILLIAM LARRY LITTLES
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
J. Thomas Caldwell, Ripley, Tennessee, for the appellant, William Larry Littles.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brian Clay Johnson, Assistant Attorney General;
and Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General; and James Walter Freeland, Jr., Assistant District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WELLES
This is a direct appeal from a conviction on a jury verdict of driving under the influence of an
intoxicant (DUI), fourth or subsequent offense. The Defendant, William Larry Littles, filed a motion
to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a warrantless seizure, alleging the police did not have
reasonable suspicion to conduct the investigatory stop that led to the seizure. The Defendant's
motion to suppress was denied. Following his conviction he was sentenced to eighteen months in
the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC). This sentence was suspended, and
he was ordered to serve 180 days in jail followed by supervised probation. On appeal, the Defendant
raises a single issue: that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We affirm the
judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/littlesw_090806.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Bailey unphased by Bredesen's Supreme Court comments |
| On the bench for 16 years, Circuit Court Judge D'Army Bailey is on the short list to fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court. Bailey has yet to interview with Gov. Phil Bredesen, who has the final say, and who reportedly is not pleased with the nominees. "I think the governor ought to be given the benefit of having the time to objectively and carefully evaluate all three of us," Bailey said. "I have no doubt we will get a fair and open hearing." |
See more on WMC-TV
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| Judge delays sentencing of ex-senator |
| Sentencing for former state Sen. Roscoe Dixon, convicted of taking bribes as part of the Tennessee Waltz investigation, has been delayed until Oct. 13. Dixon's defense attorney said hearing preparations had been interrupted due to a relative's serious illness. |
The News Sentinel has the story
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| Judicial surveys vex the bench |
| Questionnaires for judicial candidates have been an "issue" since at least 2000, because they raise concerns about sitting judges and judicial candidates campaigning and making promises. But this year such questionnaires are proliferating, are more sophisticated and seemingly are coordinated across states, Law.com reports. Concerns about the questionnaires have reached the National Center for State Courts, which has recommendations on how to handle them, including never using a judicial canon of ethics to justify not responding. Experts say that's inviting a lawsuit. |
Find out why at Law.com
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| Save the date for Nashville diversity summit |
| The Tennessee Bar Association announced today that it is partnering with the Nashville Bar Association, Nashville Bar Foundation, Tennessee Lawyer's Association for Women, Lawyer's Association for Women Marion Griffin Chapter, and Napier-Looby Bar Association to present "Diversity Summit II: Recruitment and Retention Solutions" Oct. 27 at the Bar Center. Registration materials will be available on the TBA website soon. For more information contact TBA's Programs Coordinator Lynn Pointer at Lpointer@tnbar.org.
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| End of Geier suit signals new beginning |
| State officials and plaintiffs will gather in Nashville Monday to mark the end of the landmark Geier vs. Tennessee lawsuit that changed the face of public higher education in the state. On Monday, Gov. Phil Bredesen and plaintiffs in the case will announce their intention to ask the courts to dismiss the case after 38 years because the state has achieved a unitary system of public higher education. The ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the State Capitol. |
Find out more about the case in the Daily News Journal
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| DA removes himself from prosecuting fatal crash |
| The new district attorney general in Johnson City has removed himself and his office from prosecuting a drag-racing crash that killed one high school senior and severely burned another. First Judicial District prosecutor Tony Clark cited several reasons for withdrawing from the case, including knowing the family of one of the accused for 30 years. |
WMC-TV has more
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| New Millington city judge begins work |
| Millington's new municipal judge, A. Wilson Wages, has not practiced criminal law regularly in 10 years, but he took office last week with a good attitude. |
Read more in the Millington Star
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| TBA Member Services |
| Renew TBA membership today or lose benefits |
| The last chance to renew your TBA membership without interrupting your subscription to the Tennessee Bar Journal, access to TBALink and eligibility for all our great member benefits has come. Membership must be renewed by today to avoid losing access to the products and services you rely on. For more information about membership and benefits, contact Membership Director Sarah Stair at sstair@tnbar.org or renew today by calling 800-899-6993 or
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