| |
Kingsport lawyer named to Judicial Selection Commission
Kingsport attorney Steve Rose was appointed to the Judicial Selection Commission on Thursday by Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. The 17-member commission nominates candidates for all vacancies on the state's appellate courts, including the state Supreme Court. Rose is a native of Kingsport, a University of Tennessee Law School graduate and a past president of the Kingsport Bar Association. He is a partner with the West and Rose law firm, Tricities.com reports.
|
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 or to obtain a text version of each opinion, 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 the TBA's Membership Central.
00 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
02 - TN Court of Appeals
01 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
00 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
You can obtain full-text versions of the opinions two ways. We recommend that you download the Opinions to your computer and then
open them from there. 1) 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. 2) 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
LAURA L. AUDIFFRED v. JEFFREY S. WERTZ
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Jon S. Jablonski, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jeffrey S. Wertz.
Virginia Lee Story, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellee, Laura W. Audiffred.
Judge: CLEMENT
The husband appeals every aspect of the trial court's ruling in a divorce and custody action. The trial court designated the wife as the primary residential parent and gave the husband limited visitation time with the children. The court awarded the wife alimony and attorneys' fees and meticulously divided the parties' marital property. The husband contends he should be the primary residential
parent, or in the alternative should be allowed greater visitation time with the children. He further contends that the awards of alimony and attorneys' fees were excessive and that the distribution of the marital estate was inequitable. We find no error with the numerous decisions of the trial courtwith the exception of one aspect of the parenting plan, that being that the husband is deprived of
visitation for eleven straight days every two week visitation cycle. Thus, we modify the permanent parenting plan to afford him a more customary visitation every week and affirm the trial court in all other respects.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/audiffredl_072007.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE, DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES v. T.P.H.R.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
D. Marty Lasley, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellant, T.P.H.R.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, and Amy T. McConnell, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services.
Judge: SWINEY
The Juvenile Court terminated the parental rights of T.P.H.R. ("Mother") to her three children, K.R.R., A.O.R., and C.T.R., (the "children") who are ages 7, 5 and 4, respectively. The Juvenile Court held that: (1) there was clear and convincing evidence that grounds existed to terminate Mother's parental rights pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. Section 36-1-113(g)(1), (g)(2) and (g)(3); (2) there
was clear and convincing evidence that termination of Mother's parental rights was in the children's best interest; and (3) that the Department of Children's Services ("DCS") had made reasonable efforts to assist Mother to reunite with her children. Mother appeals challenging each of these
rulings. After a careful review of the record, we affirm the Juvenile Court's judgment as modified.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/tphr_072007.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DAVID WAYNE WATKINS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Leslie S. Hale, Assistant Public Defender, Blountville, Tennessee, for the appellant, David Wayne Watkins.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel West Harmon, Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and Teresa Smith, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCLIN
The defendant, David Wayne Watkins, pled guilty to the offenses of theft over $1000, felony reckless endangerment, and felony failure to appear. As a result, he received a total effective sentence of eight years to be served consecutively to a prior sentence of six years he was already serving. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying alternative sentencing and ordering confinement. Finding no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/watkinsd_072007.pdf
|
|
 |
|
| TODAY'S NEWS |
|
Legal News
BPR Actions
TBA Member Services
|
| Legal News |
| Top court declines hearing Person appeal |
| The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied a request to reach down and hear Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person's appeal in his lawsuit against the County Commission, which voted to create a second judgeship at Juvenile Court. |
The Commercial Appeal has more
|
| Justice Department settles Nashville age-bias case |
| The U.S. Department of Justice has opted to pay up rather than take its chances fighting an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by former federal prosecutor Larry Moon in Nashville. |
Read about it in the Nashville Scene
|
| Panel proposes plan for line of succession |
| A panel studying the line of succession when a governor temporarily surrenders his powers will recommend that the speakers of the state Senate and House and the state's constitutional officers be included in the line of succession. The governor has asked the panel to make recommendations by October so the state can begin the process of amending the constitution. |
Read more in the Memphis Daily News
|
| White House outlines broad executive privileges |
| Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege. |
Learn more in the Washington Post
|
| DoJ turmoil hampers investigations |
| Turmoil in the Department of Justice over the firing of U.S. attorneys has slowed some investigations, the Financial Times reports. The San Francisco office has seen delays in its investigation of stock options backdating and in Washington, six top posts at the Department of Justice are empty or filled with temporary appointees. And 23 of the 93 U.S. Attorney's offices around the country lack permanent political leadership. |
Read more in the Financial Times
|
| UT law students face new fee this fall |
| The University of Tennessee's College of Law will begin collecting a $500 per semester Law Enhancement Fee from students beginning this fall. Short term, the money will allow the college to retain and expand the number of adjunct faculty, increase recruitment and provide more money for student organizations. In the long term, the money will also allow the college to increase the size of its faculty. |
|
| BPR Actions |
| Signal Mountain lawyer reinstated |
| John Edward Nanney has been reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee after paying the annual BPR fee.
|
View all attorneys suspended and reinstated for 2006 fee violations
|
| Chattanooga attorney receives public censure |
| Chattanooga attorney Charles Patrick Dupree received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility on July 16. The board found Dupree had failed to protect his client's interest by ensuring that an order reducing child support payments had been properly filed.
|
Read the full BPR release
|
| TBA Member Services |
| First Tennessee is TBA's preferred provider |
| First Tennessee has crafted a package of discounts to meet the specific needs of Tennessee Bar Association members. Find savings on merchant credit services, checking and savings, financial planning and more |
on the TBA Web site
|
| |
|
