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| Monday, August 08, 2011 |
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TBA YLD receives national recognition at ABA meeting
The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) received five awards at the ABA YLD meeting in Toronto this past weekend. The group's Judicial Internship Program, which matched judges with law students for clerkships this summer, took first place in the Service to the Bar category. The program, an initiative of immediate past president Tasha Blakney, was implemented by Jackson lawyer Nathan Shelby and Knoxville lawyer Joe Fanduzz. In addition, the YLD's project providing coloring books that explain the role of CASA volunteers to children across state took first place in the Service to the Public category. That project was spearheaded by Knoxville lawyer Katrina Atchley. The division's new Diversity Leadership Institute, a six-month leadership program for law students, won first place in the best Minority/Diversity Project category. Also an initiative of Blakney's, the institute was chaired by Memphis lawyer Ahsaki Baptist and Chattanooga lawyer Blair Bennington Cannon. The group's quarterly publication Tennessee Young Lawyer -- edited by Lewisburg lawyer Lee Bussart Bowles -- won second place in the newsletter category. In addition to winning these four awards in its division, the YLD took home the National Public Service Award for the coloring book project -- beating out all bar association programs in the country. Knoxville lawyer Howard Vogel presented that award to the group. Stacey Shrader is the TBA YLD's director.
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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
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
00 - TN Supreme Court - Disciplinary Orders
You can obtain full-text versions of the opinions two ways. We recommend that you download the Opinions to your computer and then
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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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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/certlist_080811.pdf
THE BANK OF NASHVILLE v. CHARLES CHIPMAN, SR., ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Stephen C. Knight and Nader Baydoun, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Charles Chipman, Sr., and Margie K. Chipman.
Joseph Robert Prochaska and Todd Hancock, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, The Bank of Nashville.
Judge: BENNETT
Defendant defaulted on a $300,000 loan from plaintiff bank. He subsequently renewed the loan but not before transferring certain assets to his wife. He never repaid the loan. The
bank filed suit against the husband for breach of contract and fraud and against both defendants for fraudulent conveyance, conversion, civil conspiracy to defraud, and unjust enrichment. The bank also sought a lien lis pendens, a constructive trust, and a judicial sale and foreclosure. The trial court found against the husband with respect to the bank's claims for breach of contract and fraud (in renewing the loan), against the wife for unjust enrichment, and against both defendants for fraudulent conveyance. The court denied the bank's request for a constructive trust and a judicial sale and foreclosure. The parties appeal the trial court's disposition of claims for fraud, civil conspiracy to defraud, and unjust enrichment, as well as its decision not to impose a constructive trust. We find for the bank on its fraud (against the husband) and unjust enrichment (against the wife) claims. We find against the bank on its claims for civil conspiracy to defraud and the imposition of a constructive trust.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/bankofnashville_080811.pdf
WILLIAM H. THOMAS, JR. v. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
William H. Thomas, Jr., Esq., Memphis, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, and Larry M. Teague, Deputy Attorney General, for the appellee, Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Robert L. J. Spence, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.
Judge: CLEMENT
An applicant for a billboard permit appeals the dismissal of his Petition for Judicial Review of the decision of the Commissioner of Tennessee Department of Transportation to deny his application. During the pendency of this action, the applicant admitted he had sold his leasehold interest in the property on which the billboard was to be located. Upon the filing of a motion to dismiss for lack of standing, the trial court concluded that petitioner "lacks standing to maintain this lawsuit and this cause is moot as a matter of law." We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/thomasw_080811.pdf
PAUL DENNIS REID, JR. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Bradley A. MacLean and Kelly A. Gleason, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Paul Dennis Reid, Jr.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General and Jennifer L. Smith, Associate Deputy Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee
Judge: WELLES
Paul Dennis Reid, Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death on seven counts of first degree murder. Reid's convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal by the supreme
court. The instant appeals stem from evidentiary hearings wherein the Montgomery and Davidson County trial courts concluded that Reid was competent to decide on his own behalf to forego any post-conviction relief on his convictions and sentences. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial courts.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/reidp_080811.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Passages
Career Opportunities
Upcoming
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| 4,000 new legal jobs added in July |
| The legal industry rebounded sharply last month, adding 4,000 new jobs after dropping 2,900 in June, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
The AmLaw Daily reports
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| Opposites unite to keep judicial retention elections |
| Business groups and trial lawyers -- not normally allies -- are coming together to preserve Tennessee's current system for selecting state judges. The groups agree that they do not want to be fighting each other if Tennessee should shift to the popular election of judges on the state Supreme Court and appeals courts. The Judicial Nominating Commission is scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2012. The first step toward giving the panel another lease on life is winning the approval of Government Operations Committees in the House and Senate. |
The News Sentinel reports
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| Judges say 'no thanks' to much of audit advice |
| A recently completed audit of Davidson County's circuit, criminal and chancery courts found, among other things, that oversight and management of fiscal resources could be improved and that Metro procurement procedures are inconsistently applied. The courts likely will improve management of money and employees based on the recommendations, but judges are expected to largely ignore other recommendations, like how they handle their own courtrooms and caseloads. |
The Tennessean reports
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| Sevier drug court proposal unfunded |
| The Sevier County Budget Committee delayed action on a request to set aside $50,000 in funds for a new drug court program, after Chairman Ben Clabo said he didn't believe the local legal community supported the initiative. |
The Mountain Press reports
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| Opinion: 'Constitutional' is in eye of beholder |
| Columnist Tom Humphrey points out that with all the discussion of whether or not retention elections are constitutional, other subjects have not been given the same test, specifically photo IDs for voters and the new tort law. Effective next January, a voter must have qualified government-issued photographic identification.
"It's doubtful the drafters in 1870 had photo ID in mind, but that has not received much attention," he writes. "There has been no constitutional amendment on photography and identity for voting." Likewise, he says, Article I, Section 6 guarantees that "the right to trial by jury shall remain inviolate" but the new tort reform law declares that juries cannot decide to give an injured party more than authorized by the legislature. "Arguably, that means the right to trial by jury is no longer inviolate." |
Read his column in the News Sentinel
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| TV station stands by stories, asks for dismissal |
| Attorneys for WTVF-Channel 5 have asked the court to dismiss a complaint by
Judge Daniel Eisenstein, who filed suit in Davidson County Circuit Court on June 29, claiming the station libeled and portrayed him in a false light. Channel 5 argues that the station's stories were accurate. |
The City Paper has the story
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| Withers' secret FBI role detailed in sealed records |
| Several newly released documents add new insight to revelations last year that Ernest Withers, a trusted civil rights insider, had secretly worked as a paid informant to spy on the movement.
A lawsuit filed last November by The Commercial Appeal in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeks to force the FBI to provide complete details about Withers' secret work for the bureau and to release his confidential informant file. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson
will decide this fall whether or not to unseal more records. |
Catch up on the story in the Commercial Appeal
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| Passages |
| Former law dean Jim Smoot honored today |
| The University of Memphis today held a public memorial service in honor of former University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Dean James Smoot at the law school in downtown Memphis. Smoot died July 12. Scheduled speakers included university president Shirley Raines; law school dean Kevin Smith; the Honorable Jon McCalla, chief judge of the District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; local attorney Amy Amundsen; and Betty Huff, assistant vice provost for enrollment services at the university. |
Learn more about Dean Smoot from the U of M
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| Career Opportunities |
| Legal Aid seeks lawyer in Tullahoma |
| The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands is seeking a staff attorney to work in its Tullahoma office. The position will handle a general civil practice, including domestic violence, housing, consumer, elder, health and benefits law. Fluency in Spanish is preferred. Applications must include a cover letter, resume, writing sample and three references. Send to Human Resources Administrator, Legal Aid Society, P.O. Box 5209, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; by fax to (865) 483-8905; or by email to hr@las.org. No phone calls. |
Learn more on JobLink
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| Upcoming |
| Memphis lawyer to sign travel book |
| Memphis attorney Joe Leibovich will sign his book "Too Fat For Europe" on Aug. 9 from 6-8 pm at The Booksellers at Laurelwood (formerly Davis Kidd). The book, a travelogue featuring the adventures of two comedians (Leibovich and his wife), takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of London, Paris and Rome. Leibovich practices law with Shuttleworth Williams PLLC. |
Learn more about the event
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| TBA Member Services |
| Office Depot Discounts |
| Are you saving yet? Sign up for the TBA-Office Depot Program and begin saving. TBA Members receive significant discounts on office supplies from the store. |
Find out more
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Questions, comments: Email us at TBAToday@tnbar.org
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.
© Copyright 2011 Tennessee Bar Association
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