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With tornadoes, TBA launches pro bono volunteer drive
With news that last night's tornadoes killed 30, injured more than 150, and caused widespread property damage in Tennessee, the TBA today began recruiting lawyers to handle cases from storm victims. Volunteer attorneys will be paired with local pro bono programs, which will coordinate the assignment of clients. To register as a volunteer, please visit the TBA's website. For those providing legal services, the TBA offers a disaster resources manual. A publication of the Young Lawyers Division, the manual provides a Tennessee-specific guide to legal and social services available to victims of natural disasters. Download a copy here:
http://www.tba.org/YLD/disaster_manual.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 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
03 - TN Court of Appeals
00 - 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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R.D.S. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
With Dissenting Opinion
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Joseph D. Baugh (on appeal) and Matthew T. Colvard (at trial), Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, R.D.S.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General (on appeal); and Chris Vernon, Assistant District Attorney (at trial), for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: BARKER
This appeal arises out of a finding of delinquency following a denial of a motion to suppress incriminating statements and seized evidence. The trial court found that the juvenile defendant was not in custody at the time he made his incriminating statements, thus not triggering Miranda
requirements; the Court of Appeals agreed. We affirm that part of the Court of Appeals' holding. However, due to a lack of evidence in the record regarding the law enforcement officer's role as a school resource officer, we remand the case to the trial court for a new trial to determine whether the law enforcement officer was required to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search the juvenile defendant's truck.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2008/rds_020608.pdf
HOLDER dissenting
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2008/rds_Diss_020608.pdf
LYNDA SMITH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE CONSERVATOR FOR TERRY CROUCH V. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
David Randolph Smith, Edmund J. Schmidt III, and Joseph H. Johnston; Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Lynda Smith.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Bradley W. Flippin, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: LEE
In this personal injury case, plaintiff, the mother of a prison inmate, sued the State for damages her son is alleged to have sustained because of negligent medical care provided by the State resulting in the delayed diagnosis of his brain tumor. Plaintiff also sued the State for her son's injuries
sustained as the result of falls he experienced while in the State's care and custody after surgery to remove his brain tumor. The plaintiff's case was tried before the Tennessee Claims Commission which ruled that the plaintiff failed to prove that an earlier diagnosis of her son's tumor would have produced a different outcome, but that her son did sustain injuries as a result of the State's negligent care after surgery and awarded damages in the amount of $15,000. Plaintiff appealed. Upon our finding that the evidence does not preponderate to the contrary, we affirm the judgment of the Commission.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/smithl_020608.pdf
REBECCA LYNN SPARKS v. MICHAEL C. MENA, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
G. Brent Burks, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Rebecca Lynn Sparks.
Douglas M. Campbell, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
Judge: LEE
The plaintiff brought this action alleging that a surgical device manufactured by the defendant was in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition, which resulted in the accidental laceration of her aorta during abdominal surgery. Upon our determination that the trial court
erred in excluding evidence of other similar incidents involving actual or potential surgical injuries with the same model of device, and that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of plaintiff's expert witness, we vacate the judgment of the trial court and remand the case for a
new trial.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/sparksr_020608.pdf
ALENA WHARTON v. ROBERT WHARTON
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Gregory W. Minton, Medina, Tennessee, for the appellant, Alena Wharton.
Sam J. Watridge, Humboldt, Tennessee, for the appellee, Robert Wharton.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter and Lauren S. Lamberth, Assistant
Attorney General, for the Intervenor.
Judge: FARMER
This interlocutory appeal arises from a petition for contempt to enforce a child support order. Although it is undisputed that neither the parents nor the child who is the subject of the support order in this case resided in Crockett County for at least six months prior to the filing of the current petition, the trial court denied Mother's request under Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-5- 3003 to transfer the matter to Dyer County, where the child resides with Father. We reverse, remand, and order the matter transferred.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/whartona_020608.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Disciplinary Actions
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Judicial race focuses on finances |
| In Blount County, the only contested race is for circuit court judge, and the candidates have taken opposing positions on the issue of financing their campaigns. Incumbent Judge Mike Meares has vowed not to accept donations from attorneys, while his opponent, General Sessions Judge David Duggan, says taking such donations does not affect what a judge does in the courtroom. Read what the chair of Tennessee's Judicial Ethics Committee says about the issue in comments made to the
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Maryville Daily Times
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| Calls for criminal probe follow waterboarding revelation |
| U.S. Senate Democrats are demanding a criminal investigation into waterboarding by government interrogators after CIA Director Michael Hayden acknowledged the tactic was used on three terror suspects. In congressional testimony yesterday, Hayden became the first administration official to publicly acknowledge use of the technique.
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WMC-TV carried this AP story
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| Sheriff Long resigns effective immediately |
| Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long today resigned his post effective immediately. Long, who is facing a variety of federal charges, said he was sorry for his actions. He will be in federal court on Friday on charges of bribery, money laundering, providing a gun to a felon, and possession of cocaine for resale.
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The Chattanoogan.com has more
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| Pardon attorney accused of mismanagement and racism |
| The U.S. Justice Department official responsible for recommending presidential pardons has been removed from his office following accusations of mismanagement, retaliation and racism. Roger Adams served in the role for more than a decade but has been reassigned to the general counsel's office of the department's management division.
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The Commercial Appeal reported the news
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| McMinn-Meigs bar elects officers |
| The McMinn-Meigs Bar Association has elected new officers for 2008. They are: President
Donald Winder III and Secretary-Treasurer Derek T. Green. Both are with the Reid Law Firm in Athens. |
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| Disciplinary Actions |
| Nashville lawyer reinstated |
| Kevin Shalom Terry was reinstated to the practice of law on Dec. 4, 2007, after complying with conditions imposed by the Supreme Court. The court suspended Terry on Aug. 1, 2006, and conditioned his reinstatement on compliance with a number of requirements. Terry completed all requirements earlier this month and petitioned the court for reinstatement.
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Read the BPR release
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| Knoxville lawyer reinstated |
| Harvey Louis Goodman has been reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee after complying with requirements for continuing legal education.
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View all attorneys suspended and reinstated for 2006 CLE violations
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| TBA Member Services |
| CompuPay offers deals for TBA members |
| CompuPay is proud to serve as the official payroll services provider for the Tennessee Bar Association. To serve Tennessee attorneys the company is offering two months of free payroll processing for all TBA members and waiving set up fees for members with up to 99 employees. |
Learn more about CompuPay's benefits
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