Monday, June 27, 2011
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Tennessee no exception in nation's 'lawyer surplus'

Tennessee is producing about twice as many lawyers as it has legal jobs each year, putting it at number 19 in annual lawyer surplus, according to a new study by EMSI, a consulting company that focuses on employment data and economic analysis. The job climate for new lawyers is rough partly because of the weak economy, but also partly because the nation's law schools are churning out many more lawyers than the economy needs even in the long run.

In 2009, Tennessee had 735 pass the bar exam, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau estimated there were 389 jobs available, for a surplus of 346. Across the country, there were also twice as many people who passed the bar in 2009 (53,508) as there were openings (26,239). There are, however, three places with lawyer shortages: Nebraska, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

The New York Times' blog, Economix, explains
TODAY'S OPINIONS
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SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List

Court: TSC

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/certlist_062711.pdf
AMY LYNN PHELPS v. EMERSON JOHN PHELPS

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Stacy D. Attkisson, Columbia, Tennessee, for the appellant, Emerson John Phelps.

Wesley Mack Bryant, Columbia, Tennessee, for the appellee, Amy Lynn Phelps.

Judge: COTTRELL

The trial court granted the wife a divorce after a marriage of nineteen years, awarded her most of the marital property including the marital home, and made her wholly responsible for the mortgage debt on the residence. The court awarded the wife the husband's share of the equity in the home in the form of alimony in solido. The husband argues on appeal that the property division was inequitable. He also contends that the trial court should have awarded alimony to him rather than to the wife. We affirm the trial court's division of marital property and its determination not to award alimony to the husband, but we modify its judgment to include husband's share of the equity in the marital home in the property division, rather than as a separate award of alimony in solido.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/phelpsa_062711.pdf
WILLIS AYERS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Robert Todd Mosley, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Willis Ayers.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel West Harmon, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Bryan Anthony Davis, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: THOMAS

The Petitioner, Willis Ayers, appeals as of right from the Shelby County Criminal Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner was convicted of second degree murder and facilitation of especially aggravated robbery and received an effective sentence of 36 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. He challenges the performance of trial counsel. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/ayersw_062711.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMAR McFIELD

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Hilary Hodgkins, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Jamar McField.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General; William H. Cox, III, District Attorney General; and Leslie Longshore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: MCMULLEN

The Defendant-Appellant, Jamar McField, was convicted by a Hamilton County jury of first degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole for felony murder and a concurrent sentence of twenty years for aggravated child abuse. On appeal, McField claims: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress; (2) the insufficiency of the evidence; (3) the trial court improperly ruled that an autopsy photograph was admissible; and (4) the trial court misapplied an enhancement factor during sentencing. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/mcfieldj_062711.pdf
IN RE: WARNER HODGES III, BPR 004780

Court: TSC-Disciplinary_Order

Judge: CLARK

Suspension

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/hodgesw_062711.pdf
IN RE: DAMON JARED LEE, BPR 020846

Court: TSC-Disciplinary_Order

Judge: CLARK

Disbarment

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/leed_062711.pdf
IN RE: LARRY BEA NOLEN, BPR 000521

Court: TSC-Disciplinary_Order

Judge: CLARK

Public Censure

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/nolenl_062711.pdf
IN RE: KEVIN SHALOM TERRY, BPR 015267

Court: TSC-Disciplinary_Order

Judge: CLARK

Disbarment

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/terryk_062711.pdf
TODAY'S NEWS
U.S. Supreme Court
Legal News
Politics
Upcoming
Disciplinary Actions
TBA Member Services
U.S. Supreme Court
Ruling: Video-game sales to minors cannot be restricted
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that states cannot restrict the sale or rental of video games to minors, a decision that reinforces First Amendment protection for interactive games and the free-expression rights of children. In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the court struck down a California law preventing the sale to minors of games involving "killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being."
The First Amendment Center has this analysis
Court wraps up for summer
The U.S. Supreme Court adjourned today for its summer recess until October Term 2011 begins when it returns to public sessions on Monday, Oct. 3. This session, the two cases putting new limits on class-action lawsuits were among more than a dozen in which the justices divided 5-4 along ideological lines, with the winning side determined by the vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Before leaving, the justices were expected to decide whether to hear several cases next term. Read Chief Justice John Roberts' closing remarks.
The News Sentinel has more
Legal News
Cooper asked to consider constitutionality of 'cyberbullying' law
Tennessee's new "cyberbullying" law is taking a beating out in cyberworld by bloggers, constitutional scholars and commentators. The law extends harassment to cover images and messages posted on blogs and social media sites. UCLA constitutional law professor Eugene Volokh says the terms in the state's harassment laws are vague enough that they could be applied to practically any offensive post. Even movie critic Roger Ebert has piled on, mocking the law. Although the main backer in the state House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Charles Curtiss, is confident of the law's safeguards, he has asked state Attorney General Robert Cooper to rule whether the law violates the U.S. Constitution.
The Tennessean reports
Sloan will oversee prosecutor's misconduct case
Fourth Judicial District Circuit Judge Dwayne Sloan has been appointed to preside over the criminal case of former Hawkins County prosecutor Doug Godbee. Godbee was indicted on April 25 on one count of official misconduct in connection to sex-for-leniency allegations.
Read more from the Times-News
Editorial: Shelby juvenile crime-fighting effort praised
Memphis City Schools reported last week that fighting and other behaviors that end in simple assault charges are down 25 percent in Memphis' most violent middle and high schools. The decrease represents a three-year investment, including stepped-up officer presence and nonviolence counseling, involving both school systems, the police and sheriff's departments, Juvenile Court, Memphis and Shelby County governments, and the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. In an editorial, the Commercial Appeal praises the effort that includes programs to keep children out of the criminal justice system when they commit minor crimes. "But progress on the crime-fighting front will remain tenuous," the paper says, "unless we find a way to keep new generations of children from becoming criminals."
Read the editorial
Shelby Chancery employees out after email review
A manager in Shelby County Chancery Court, Veronica L. Nelson, resigned last week after a review of her emails indicated that accounting clerk Brandon Gunn had provided her, his supervisor in 2009 and 2010, with gifts and money. Gunn, who has not been charged, is the focus of an FBI investigation into the misappropriation of as much as $865,000 in surplus tax-sale funds.
The Commercial Appeal has more
Opinion: Criminal Justice Commission needed
In an opinion piece, Tennessean columnist Dwight Lewis says "a top-to-bottom review of the nation's criminal justice system is needed urgently." He praises Virginia Sen. Jim Webb for not giving up on legislation that would create a commission to conduct a thorough evaluation of the system. Webb's landmark National Criminal Justice Commission Act also calls for concrete recommendations for reform.
Read the opinion piece
Politics
Republicans consider redistricting, first time since Reconstruction
As Tennessee Republican legislators draw congressional and legislative district lines for the first time since the late 1860s, they face challenges and constraints that their predecessors in those historic Reconstruction days did not, News Sentinel columnist Tom Humphreys points out.
Learn the history
Biden cancels trip to Nashville, stays in D.C.
Vice President Joe Biden postponed fundraisers in Nashville and Atlanta scheduled for today to meet with Senate leaders about efforts to increase the government's borrowing limit, aides said.
Read more in the Tennessean
Upcoming
Karate classes will benefit Memphis Area Legal Services
The Memphis Bar Association Wellness Committee invites attorneys, support staff, families and friends to join Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder for a low-key karate class during the months of June and July. The cost is $5 per person, per class, and all proceeds will benefit Memphis Area Legal Services. Justice Holder, known in class as "Sensei Holder" earned a third-degree black belt in 2005. She has been an instructor for nine years.
Learn more about the karate classes
Disciplinary Actions
Georgia attorney suspended
Cummings, Ga., attorney Warner Hodges III was suspended from the practice of law on June 20 for 60 days pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 4.2. He is to pay to the Board of Professional Responsibility $945 for the expenses and costs of this matter.
Download the court's order
Bradley County lawyer disbarred
On June 24, Damon Jarrid Lee of Bradley County was disbarred from the practice of law pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 4.1, retroactively applied to Sept. 26, 2007. Lee was involved in a serious crime for which he was suspended in November 2007, as well as for noncompliance with continuing legal education requirements in 2008, and for failing to pay the professional privilege tax in 2010.
Download the court's order
Nashville lawyer disbarred
Nashville lawyer Kevin Shalom Terry has consented to disbarment because he cannot successfully defend himself on the charges alleged in a docket petition and a supplemental petition for discipline by the Board of Professional Responsibility. It is conceded that Terry has violated Rules 5.5 and 8.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Download the court's order
McMinn County lawyer censured
McMinn County lawyer Larry Bea Nolen was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court on June 24 pursuant to Rule 9, 54.4 of the Rules of the Supreme Court.
Download the court's order
TBA Member Services
Let JobLink help you with your next career move
A career service for Tennessee attorneys and law students, TBA JobLink is a job seeking and recruitment tool available at no charge. Whether you have a position to fill or are seeking employment, this site will guide you through a simple process to post your information.
Visit the site

 
 
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About this publication: Today's News is a compilation of digests of news reports of interest to Tennessee lawyers compiled by TBA staff, links to digested press releases, and occasional stories about the TBA and other activities written by the TBA staff or members. Statements or opinions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Tennessee Bar Association, its officers, board or staff.
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