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Vote on Tuesday!
With a U.S. Senate seat and the governorship on the line -- along with constitutional amendments and lots of local races -- the 2006 campaign has been a hot one. It all comes to an end tomorrow, so remember to get to the polls and cast your ballot.
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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.
03 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
03 - TN Court of Appeals
01 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
00 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
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Here's how you can obtain full-text version. We recommend you download the Opinions to your computer and then
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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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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/certlist_110606.pdf
CATHY L. CHAPMAN, ET AL. V. RICK J. BEARFIELD
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Jason W. Blackburn, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellant, Rick J. Bearfield
John J. Bandeian, Bristol, Tennessee, for the appellees, Cathy L. Chapman, Brandon M. Chapman,
Kaylan L. Chapman, and Dana L. Chapman
Judge: CLARK
We accepted this appeal to clarify whether experts testifying in legal malpractice cases must be
familiar with a single, statewide professional standard of care or a standard of care for a particular
locality within the state. Because we hold that a single, statewide professional standard of care exists
for attorneys practicing in Tennessee, expert witnesses testifying in legal malpractice cases must be
familiar with the statewide professional standard. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
We remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/chapmanc_110606.pdf
PHILLIP GOODMAN, SR. v. HBD INDUSTRIES, INC., ET AL.
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
David M. Sanders, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, HBD Industries, Inc.
David H. Dunaway, LaFollette, Tennessee, for the appellee, Phillip Goodman, Sr.
Judge: BARKER
The sole issue in this workers’ compensation action is whether weeks spent absent from work due
to a strike are included when calculating an employee’s average weekly wage. The employee was
on strike for twenty-eight weeks and had been back at work for less than a month before becoming
injured. The trial court awarded permanent partial disability. When calculating the weekly benefit,
the court excluded from its calculation of the employee’s average weekly wage those weeks during
which the employee was on strike. On appeal, the employer argues that the trial court erred in this
calculation. We accepted review before the case was heard or considered by the Special Workers’
Compensation Appeals Panel. We hold that the trial court erred in excluding the weeks spent on
strike in determining the employee’s average weekly wage. Because the employer does not appeal
the compensability of the injury or the extent of disability, we affirm the trial court’s decision award
of benefits, with the amount of benefits moaverage weekly wage.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/goodmanp_110606.pdf
HARVEY M. ABOUELATA and KRISTIN G. ABOUELATA, v. SCOTT W. DAVIS and HOPE DAVIS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Raymond E. Lacy, Knoxville, Tennessee, for appellants
Lewis S. Howard, Jr., and Heather G. Anderson, Knoxville, Tennessee, for appellees
Judge: FRANKS
In this action for damages before a jury, based on claims for fraud, breach of contract and violations of the Tennessee Residential Property Disclosure Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, the Trial Court directed a verdict for defendants at the conclusion of plaintiffs’ proof. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/abouelata_110606.pdf
NATHANIEL ANTON FLOWERS and wife, CARMEN FLOWERS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Thomas C. Jessee, Johnson City, Tennessee, for appellants
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General, Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General, and Sarah F. Henry, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for appellee
The Commissioner granted defendants summary judgment on a medical malpractice claim. On appeal, we dismiss the case on the failure of plaintiffs to timely file notice of appeal.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/flowersn_110606.pdf
BRUCE E. SHELL, Executor of the Estate of JEFFREY MICHAEL MURPHY, v. GINGER DILLS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Dan D. Rhea, Knoxville, Tennessee, for appellant
David H. Stanifer, and Lindsey Cole, Tazewell, Tennessee, for appellee
Judge: FRANKS
In a dispute over death benefits from employer, the Trial Court held designated beneficiary who later divorced decedent, was entitled to benefits rather than the Estate. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/shellb_110606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. THOMAS MATTHEW LOVETT
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
J. Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal), and Stacey Nordquist, Assistant Public Defender, Maryville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Thomas Matthew Lovett
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Cameron L. Hyder, Assistant Attorney General; Michael L. Flynn, District Attorney General; and Rocky H. Young, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee
Judge: GLENN
The defendant, Thomas Matthew Lovett, pled guilty to vandalism over $10,000, a Class C felony, and was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to three years, with six months to be served in the county jail and the balance on probation. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred by denying full probation. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court and remand for entry of a corrected judgment to reflect that the defendant’s sentence is to be served in the county jail rather than the Department of Correction.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/lovettt_110606.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Election 2006
BPR Actions
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Purveyor of 'cures' for cancer, HIV, sued by attorney general |
| Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter Robert E. Cooper Jr. filed suit today to stop an individual who claims to offer the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS, and all "terrible diseases" from promoting his "services" on the Internet from Nashville. Acting on behalf of the Department of Health and the Division of Consumer Affairs, Cooper sued Oludare Samuel Olomoshua. The suit also names Wisdomite Spiripathology Healing and Music Mission Inc., which is registered in Tennessee as a not-for-profit corporation. |
Read the attorney general's press release
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| Supreme Court to examine abortion cases |
| Later this week the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices will file into their courtroom for two of the biggest cases of the young term.
The court will be discussing whether to uphold the first nationwide restrictions on an abortion procedure since the justices' landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973. |
Read the AP story in the Times News
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| Should suspected terrorists have legal counsel? |
| The battle rages on between the Bush administration and human rights groups -- at issue is whether to allow a suspected terrorist who spent years in a secret CIA prison to speak to a civilian attorney.
The administration argues that because Majid Khan, 26, could reveal the agency's closely guarded interrogation techniques, he should not be given access to an attorney. Under a law passed last month, prisoners designated as "terrorist leaders" are to be tried before special military commissions and may not have access to civilian courts.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is among several advocacy groups challenging that law. They say the Constitution guarantees prisoners a right to challenge their detention. |
Read the AP story at TriCities.com
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| Former judge Roy Moore addresses congregation on religion, government |
| Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore offered his own interpretation of the First Amendment to a packed church Sunday in Alabama,
telling the crowd of more than 230 people at Barnard's Grove Baptist Church that some judges are creating laws rather than interpreting them. Moore was ousted in 2003 after defying a federal court order to remove a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument that he installed in the state courthouse. |
Read more in the News Sentinel
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| Election 2006 |
| Elections 58 years ago marked by violence |
| This political season in Tennessee may seem particularly nasty, but it's no match for the terror that struck rural Polk County in 1948, the Associated Press writes.
"It wasn't mudslinging then; it was actual bullets," Polk County Executive Mike Stinnett said of a
conflict started because a political group that evolved from an organization of former soldiers. The group was trying to stop what it considered a corrupt Democratic political machine. |
Read about this battle in the News Sentinel
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| BPR Actions |
| Crossville attorney censured |
| Anthony W. Turner, a Crossville attorney, received a public censure from the Board of
Professional Responsibility today for failure in two matters, which resulted in violations of DR 7-101(A)(2)(3) and Rules of
Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3 and 1.4.
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Read the BPR release
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| TBA Member Services |
| Make the most of your TBA membership |
| Contact Membership Director Sarah Stair for more information on our money saving member benefits. Call 800.899.6993 or email sstair@tnbar.org |
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