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Judge Tacha compelling at KBA's Supreme Court dinner
More than 350 Knoxville-area lawyers attended last night's annual Knoxville Bar Association Supreme Court Dinner, hearing a lively, inspiring, funny and meaningful address by Judge Deanell Reece Tacha. Tacha is chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Tennessee's Chief Justice Mickey Barker gave the opening remarks, emphasizing pro bono service by lawyers. The dinner, held as the court opens its fall term in East Tennessee, is a highlight of the Knoxville legal calendar. Representing the TBA at the event were President Marcy Eason, President-Elect Buck Lewis and his wife Malinda, and Executive Director Allan Ramsaur.
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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 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.
01 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
01 - TN Court of Appeals
02 - 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.
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LENORE H. GOODEN ET AL. v. COORS TECHNICAL CERAMIC COMPANY
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Mary Katherine Longworth and Peggy J. S. Monger, Loudon, Tennessee, for the appellant, Lenore H. Gooden, and for the plaintiffs, Canyon Gooden and Dezert Gooden.
Beverly D. Nelms and Robert L. Kahn, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Coors Technical Ceramic Company.
Judge: HOLDER
We accepted review in this workers' compensation case to determine whether an employee who was injured while voluntarily participating in a recreational activity during a work break on the employer's premises was injured within the course of employment. The employer argues that recovery for such an injury is barred by Young v. Taylor-White, LLC, 181 S.W.3d 324, 330 (Tenn. 2005), which held that the employee's voluntary recreational activities were not within the course of employment. We take this opportunity to clarify that the voluntary nature of an activity, while important, is but one factor to consider in determining whether an injury occurs in the course of employment. We further conclude that the employee's participation in the recreational activity in this case was a regular incident of employment because the employer knowingly permitted the activity to occur several times a week. We therefore hold that the injury occurred in the course of employment. Accordingly, we reverse the ruling of the trial court and remand for a determination of benefits.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2007/goodenl_090607.pdf
STEVEN WATERS, ET AL. v. LOREN L. CHUMLEY, COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE FOR THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Robert E. Cooper, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; and Brad H. Buchanan, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Loren L. Chumley, Commissioner of Revenue for the State of Tennessee.
A. Phillip Lomonaco, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Steven Waters.
Judge: LEE
The issue we address in this appeal is whether Tennessee's Drug Tax is constitutionally valid. Plaintiff was arrested for possession of cocaine, and shortly thereafter, the Tennessee Department of Revenue assessed taxes, penalty, and interest against him pursuant to a state excise tax statute that levies a tax on persons in possession of designated amounts of unauthorized substances, T.C.A. Section 67-4-2801, et seq. Subsequently, the Department of Revenue filed a tax lien against plaintiff's real property and executed a levy against his bank account. Plaintiff filed suit against the Commissioner of Revenue, charging that the tax statute violates both the state and federal constitutions. The trial court entered judgment in favor of plaintiff, decreeing that the tax constitutes a violation of constitutional rights of due process and protections against self incrimination. We affirm the trial court's conclusion upon the alternate ground that the statute is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable and, therefore, invalid under the Tennessee Constitution, in that it seeks to tax as a privilege, activity that prior legislation has designated as criminal activity.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/waterss_090607.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT S. BARNES
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Ryan B. Feeney, Selmer, Tennessee, for the appellant, Robert S. Barnes.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General; Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General; and Tracey Brewer-Walker, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCLIN
Following a jury trial, the petitioner, Robert S. Barnes, was convicted of reckless endangerment, attempted rape, robbery, aggravated burglary, and assault. For his convictions, the petitioner was sentenced as a career offender to an effective sentence of forty-five years for the felony convictions, plus consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days for each of the two misdemeanor convictions. On direct appeal, this court affirmed the judgments of the trial court. State v. Robert Sanford Barnes, No. W2003-02967-CCA-R3-CD, 2005 WL 331376 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Feb. 11, 2005). The petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief which the post-conviction court subsequently denied after an evidentiary hearing. The petitioner now appeals. In this appeal, the petitioner contends that his trial counsel was ineffective. Following a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/barnesr_090607.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RHONDA WILKINS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert Wilson Jones (on appeal) and Donna J. Armstard (at trial and on appeal), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Rhonda Wilkins.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Steve Jones, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The appellant, Rhonda Wilkins, pled guilty in the Shelby County Criminal Court to one count of aggravated assault and received a sentence of three years. The appellant requested that the trial court grant her judicial diversion, and the trial court denied the request. However, the appellant's sentence was suspended, and she was placed on probation. On appeal, the appellant challenges the denial of judicial diversion. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/wilkinsr_090607.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
Next president sure
to be a lawyer |
| With yesterday's news that Fred Thompson is definitely in the presidential race, it's looking more like our next president will be a lawyer, USA Today observes. The six prospective lawyer-presidents who top the polls are Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, and Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. |
Read the story in USA Today
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| Court says capital gains still should be counted as income |
| Parents who profit off the sale of real estate, stocks, bonds or some other one-time capital gain must have it calculated as income for child support payments, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. "It affirms the law that's already in place: that capital gains are still included in the calculation of child support," Nashville attorney Cynthia J. Bohn said. |
The Tennessean has the story
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| Editorial on 'lawyer racket' disputed |
| Last week's editorial in The Wall Street Journal terming judicial selection in Missouri a "lawyer racket" has sparked outrage in legal circles and provoked responses in and outside the state. The editorial asserted that the judicial selection process was beholden to special interests and that it lacked transparency. |
Follow the debate in the Kansas City Star
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| Irvine first applicant for job he's already in |
| Kenneth F. Irvine Jr. is the first applicant for the seat he is now filling temporarily as a special judge on the Knox County Criminal Court. Irvine was appointed in August by Gov. Bredesen to serve during the the absence of 6th Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Ray Jenkins, who was ill at the time and later died.
The Judicial Selection Commission will meet Oct. 15 in Knoxville to begin the process of filling the vacancy. Applications are being taken through Sept. 19 through the |
Administrative Office of the Courts.
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| VU's Hurder to chair commission |
| Alex Hurder, a clinical professor with the Vanderbilt University School of
Law, has been named to chair
the Commission of Mental and Physical
Disability Law, NashvillePost.com reports.
The group advises the American Bar Association regarding improving diversity
within the legal profession, and grapples with government policies related
to disability rights. |
Read the story [subscription required]
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| Relationship between partner and ex-firm can be rough |
| When Douglas Rosenthal was a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, he brought in more than $37 million but now claims in a law suit that he was not compensated enough. Law.com explores the question "what is the proper relationship between a partner and his ex-firm?" |
Read the story
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| Hobbs Act does not apply in Brock case, court says |
| The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out convictions against bondsmen Jerry and Mike Brock for bribing a court clerk.
The panel said the federal Hobbs Act extortion law did not apply to the facts of the case in which the Brocks were charged along with nightclub operator Darrin Webb. |
The Chattanoogan.com reports
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| TBA Member Services |
| Have you activated your FedEx shipping discounts? |
TBA members are entitled to discounts on FedEx shipping. Did you know that TBA members are saving an average of $83 per quarter by utilizing their FedEx Association Advantage program discounts? Here's what some members have to say about their FedEx savings:
"Our firm took advantage of the Tennessee Bar Association FedEx discounts and saved over $200 on FedEx Express shipments last quarter alone. It's the best $200 we've ever saved," says member Bill Cameron of Cameron & Young in Cookeville. Start saving on your shipments today! For more information on how to enroll, call 1-800-923-7089 or |
visit the TBA Web site
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