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Gordon, Lewis ask for expedited appeal in court vacancy case
Late today, Houston Gordon and Buck Lewis appealed Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle's decision setting procedures for the submission of new Supreme Court candidates to Governor Phil Bredesen. The two, whose names were included on previous lists submitted to the governor, also petitioned the state Supreme Court to exercise its statutory "reach down" jurisdiction and take the appeal directly.
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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.
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Howard H. Vogel
Knoxville, Tennessee
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink
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ROBERT W. FINK, ET AL. v. FRED M. CREAN, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Christina Ferrell, Franklin, TN, for Appellants.
Gregory L. Cashion, Samuel J. Welborn, Nashville, TN, for Appellees.
Judge: HIGHERS
In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the chancery court properly awarded the plaintiffs a judgment of $90,000. The defendants made improvements to their real property, placing a paved driveway over a previously existing logging trail. The plaintiffs noticed an increased water runoff from storms onto their own real property, which abutted the defendants' property, and they attributed this increase to the improvements made by the defendants. The plaintiffs filed a complaint, and the action was referred to a judicial settlement conference. The
result was the parties' entering into an agreed order to have engineers confer on a solution, however, a compromise was never reached. After a bench trial, the chancery court issued a memorandum opinion in which it found the defendants' actions to be an actionable temporary
nuisance for which they were ordered to pay $14,144.50 in damages. The court also ordered the defendants to hire an engineer and workers to perform construction under one of two possible options, or to comply with a third option of payment for the cost of building a retaining wall, within 180 days from final judgment to prevent further damage to the plaintiffs' property. The court further ordered that its memorandum opinion be reduced to writing in an order and final judgment to be drafted by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs drafted an order, which the trial court and counsel for all parties signed, however this order substituted part of the court's language regarding the costs of a retaining wall with the specific dollar amount of $90,000. After 180 days had expired, and the defendants had begun but not completed construction per their chosen option, the plaintiffs filed for an execution of judgment in the amount of $90,000. The chancery court stayed the execution of judgment for thirty days, during which the parties’ experts were to confer as to the sufficiency of the defendants' actions in addressing the nuisance. When this time period expired with no agreement between the experts or the parties, the chancery court entered an order for judgment in favor of the plaintiffs for $90,000. The defendants filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court. We affirm.
https://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/finkr_122206.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Politics
BPR Actions
Online CLE
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| Legal News |
| Ford asks for trial delay |
| A day after John Ford was accused of accepting a $40,000 watch as a pay-off for official actions, his lawyers were in court asking for postponement of a separate bribery trial, saying that the sudden adverse publicity hurt his chances for a fair proceeding. Ford's trial stemming from the Tennessee Waltz investigation is scheduled to begin on Feb. 5. |
The Commercial Appeal reports on the story
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| DCS to issue holiday passes |
| The Tennessee Department of Children's Services will allow an unspecified number of juveniles in its custody to go home for the holidays starting as early as today. The move comes at a time when the department is under attack for failing to get tough on juveniles who have escaped from state custody. DCS promised to closely scrutinize children released this weekend, reports WSMV-TV News Channel 4. |
Learn more about the plan
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| Councilman argues police chief should be outside leader |
| Chattanooga City Council Chairman Leamon Pierce said this week that a strong outside leader should have been chosen as chief of the city's police department. He argued that the large number of lawsuits brought against city police indicate that independent leadership is needed. He also questioned the hiring process for the new chief and suggested the choice was politically motivated.
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Chattanoogan.com has the story
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| Hamilton County rethinks role of tax attorney |
| The Hamilton County Commission is considering shifting responsibility for collection of back taxes from the county back tax attorney to the county attorney. Those supporting the move said it could save as much as $100,000.
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Read more at Chattanoogan.com
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| Mayor doubts new officers improve court security |
| The McMinn County Commission recently approved the hiring of two additional court officers, but the county mayor said the move would not ease overcrowding or improve security at local courts. Meanwhile, Chancellor Jerri Bryant called for a monitoring system that would allow security personnel to keep an eye on individual courtrooms.
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The Times Free Press has more
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| Mayor says county not liable for magistrate's actions |
| Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham said it doesn't appear the county has any liability in a federal lawsuit filed by the mother of a girl allegedly photographed inappropriately by magistrate Dustin Hatcher. |
Blount Today has the story
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| UT Advocacy Center publishes first newsletter |
| The Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at the UT College of Law has published its first newsletter. The inaugural issue of The Advocate profiles new faculty and student activities.
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Download the fall/winter issue
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| Politics |
| Court OKs special interest ads during elections |
| A federal appeals court yesterday relaxed restrictions on corporations, unions and other special interest groups that advertise during elections. By a 2-1 margin, the court said the groups may mention candidates by name so long as they are trying to influence public policy, not sway elections. The case automatically heads to the Supreme Court for review.
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Bristol Herald Courier carried this AP report
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| BPR Actions |
| CLE suspension lifted for Memphis lawyer |
| Ronald Thomas Solberg has been reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee after complying with state requirements for continuing legal education.
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View all attorneys suspended in 2006 for CLE violations
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| Online CLE |
| Here's help meeting 2006 CLE requirements |
| Need an hour or two of CLE to complete your 2006 requirements? The TBA's TennBarU online university is ready to help. With more than 25 text-based and 150-plus video courses -- many carrying ethics credit -- you'll find the programs you want and need. |
Register or find out more now
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