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| Monday, October 24, 2011 |
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Diversity Job Fair connects students and employers
Law firms from across Tennessee interviewed more than 60 law students this Saturday during the Tennessee Bar Association's Diversity Job Fair at the Tennessee Bar Center. Just in its first year, the Job Fair still drew students from 21 law schools, ranging from those in Tennessee to historically black institutions as far away as Texas, Louisiana and Michigan. In announcing the job fair earlier this year, TBA President Danny Van Horn told his colleagues that the event would help the state retain its most promising law students and help the profession become more diverse. "Despite all that is being done," he said, "our profession lags behind other sectors in becoming measurably more diverse." The event was developed by the TBA's Committee on Racial & Ethnic Diversity under the leadership of Committee Chair Cristi Scott, clerk and master of Chancery Court for Davidson County.
See photos from the job fair on TBAConnect
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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
04 - TN Court of Appeals
02 - 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
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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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/certlist_102411.pdf
AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK, FSB v. MICHAEL FITZGIBBONS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Michael Fitzgibbons, Sevierville, Tennessee, appellant, pro se.
Michelle S. Moghadom, Brentwood, Tennessee, for the appellee, American Express Bank, FSB.
Judge: SUSANO
American Express Bank, FSB, sued Michael Fitzgibbons on a sworn account for unpaid credit card debt. It later sought summary judgment. Following a hearing, the trial court
granted the motion and entered a judgment against Fitzgibbons for $25,766.70 plus attorney's fees and costs. Fitzgibbons appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/americanexpress_102411.pdf
KEVIN COX, D.V.M. v. TENNESSEE BOARD OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EXAMINERS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Richard L. Colbert and Courtney L. Wilbert, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kevin H. Cox. D.V.M.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; and Sara E. Sedgwick, Senior Counsel, for appellee, Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Judge: STAFFORD
This is an appeal from an administrative decision against Appellant, a licensed veterinarian. Appellee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners sanctioned Appellant for improperly
prescribing medications to farms. Appellant appeals. Discerning no error, we affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/coxk_102411.pdf
JENNIFER LYNN JACKMAN v. KENNETH ROBERT JACKMAN
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
John C. Ryland and Robert L. Parris, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kenneth Robert Jackman.
Emily Lauren Hamm and Kay Farese Turner, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Jennifer Lynn Jackman.
Judge: FARMER
This is an appeal of an alimony award. The trial court entered an order declaring Husband and Wife divorced, but reserved all financial issues, including alimony, for trial at a later
date. After the trial, the trial court entered a final order awarding Wife rehabilitative alimony and ordering her to undergo a vocational rehabilitation evaluation. Husband filed a petition for contempt and to modify the final order based on Wife's failure to file proof of her completion of a vocational rehabilitation evaluation. In response, Wife filed proof of her completed vocational rehabilitation evaluation, and filed a counter-petition for contempt and to modify the final order seeking alimony in futuro. Subsequently, Wife filed a motion pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 60.01, arguing that the language of the final order failed to include the trial court's findings that the alimony award was not final, and was subject to change based on the results of the vocational rehabilitation evaluation. The trial court granted Wife's Rule 60.01 motion, and conducted a hearing to determine the appropriate nature and amount of alimony to be awarded based on the results of the vocational rehabilitation evaluation. Following the hearing, the trial court awarded Wife alimony in futuro, increased the amount of alimony awarded, and required Husband to maintain additional life insurance to secure his alimony in futuro obligation. Husband appeals the order granting Wife's Rule 60.01 motion, and further argues that Wife was required to show a substantial and material change of circumstances to warrant a modification of the original rehabilitative alimony award. Finding that the trial court's alimony award was not final, and therefore the trial court retained jurisdiction to consider the results of the vocational rehabilitation evaluation, we affirm the trial court's award of
alimony in futuro.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/jackmanj_102411.pdf
ALAN HOWARD PETERS ET AL. v. CASEY BURGESS ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
W. Holt Smith, Madisonville, Tennessee, and Howard L. Upchurch, Pikeville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Alan Howard Peters and wife, Edith H. Peters.
Alaric A. Henry, Kathryn Russell and Sam Anderson, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellee, Cincinnati Insurance Company.
Judge: SUSANO
Alan Howard Peters was seriously injured when his vehicle collided with logs that had rolled off a truck. He and his wife filed this personal injury action and thereafter settled their
claims against the defendant tortfeasors for policy limits of $1 million. In doing so, they reserved their claim against the uninsured motorist ("UM") carrier, Cincinnati Insurance
Company ("CIC"). The UM provisions in effect with CIC were set forth in an endorsement to a 2005 renewal of an umbrella policy. The UM endorsement to the original policy issued
in 1999 and to the first renewal issued in 2002 expressly limited UM coverage to $1 million. A space in the 2005 renewal endorsement form that was intended for insertion of the UM policy limits was left blank, which, by default, rendered the limits of the UM endorsement equal to the $2 million liability limits of the umbrella policy. After the dismissal of the claims against the tortfeasors, CIC amended its answer to include a counterclaim asking the court to reform the policy to make the UM limits equal to the $1 million limits of the previous policies. The trial court entered an order reforming the policy. Subsequently the court entered an order dismissing the remaining claim against CIC. Mr. and Mrs. Peters appeal. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/petersa_102411.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CLIFFORD EDWARD CLARK, ALIAS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, Senior Counsel; Randall Eugene Nichols, District Attorney General; and Zane M. Scarlett, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the Appellant, State of Tennessee.
Ronald C. Newcomb, Knoxville, Tennessee for the Defendant-Appellee, Clifford Edward Clark, Alias.
Judge: MCMULLEN
Defendant-Appellee, Clifford Edward Clark, was indicted by the Knox County Grand Jury for vandalism of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, a Class D felony,
and reckless endangerment committed with a deadly weapon, a Class E felony. Clark filed several motions to suppress evidence and dismiss the indictment because of lost or destroyed evidence pursuant to State v. Ferguson, 2 S.W.3d 912 (Tenn. 1999), which were denied. Clark then filed a motion to reconsider, which the trial court took under advisement. The trial court subsequently dismissed the indictment and suppressed certain evidence pursuant
to both Ferguson and Arizona v. Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710 (2009). In this appeal by the State, it argues that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the indictment and erred in
granting Clark's motions to suppress based on its holdings that: (1) the search of Clark's vehicle violated Gant, and (2) the State's loss or destruction of certain evidence violated
Ferguson. Upon review, we reverse the trial court's judgment, reinstate Clark's indictment, suppress the photographic evidence of the camera housing, and remand for trial.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/clarkc_102411.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JEREMY BRANDON SCOTT
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Glenn Funk, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jeremy Brandon Scott.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Senior Counsel; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Deborah Housel, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: TIPTON
The Defendant, Jeremy Brandon Scott, pled guilty to aggravated assault, a Class C felony. See T.C.A. section 39-13-102 (2006) (amended 2009, 2010, 2011). Although he was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to three years and six months with six months' confinement, a conflict exists regarding the length of probation. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for judicial diversion and his request for three years' probation. We affirm the denial of judicial diversion and the imposition of six months' confinement. We vacate the judgment of the trial court and remand the case to the Davidson County Criminal Court for clarification of the length of probation and entry of a corrected judgment.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/scottj_102411.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Celebrate Pro Bono
Politics
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| 3 names sent to governor for criminal appeals court seat |
| The Judicial Nominating Commission today recommended three finalists for the Court of Criminal Appeals:
J. Robert Carter Jr., Criminal Court judge for the 30th Judicial District in Memphis;
J. Ross Dyer
senior counsel & managing attorney for the Memphis office
office of the Tennessee Attorney General; and
Roger A. Page,
Circuit Court judge for the 26th Judicial District in Medina. The commission, meeting in Jackson, interviewed eight applicants before making their recommendations to fill the opening created by the death of Judge J.C. McLin.
The governor may now appoint one of these candidates or request a new slate of candidates from the Judicial Nominating Commission. |
The AOC has more
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| Judges to hire lobbyist |
| Members of Tennessee's Trial Judges' Association voted to hire a lobbyist to represent them in legislative efforts to revamp the Court of the Judiciary.
The judges voted to increase their dues with a one-time assessment of $200 each in order to help get their message out to legislators. The vote came during a meeting of the trial judges at the Tennessee Judicial Conference in Franklin. |
Read more from the Tennessee Report
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| Baker Donelson moves into Texas with merger |
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Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC today announced its merger with the Houston law firm of Spain Chambers. The addition of the Texas firm to Baker Donelson expands its practice to nearly 620 attorneys in 17 states and Washington, D.C.
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Read more about the merger
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| Youth Court set to begin in Madison County |
| Judge Christy R. Little was scheduled to swear in new members of the Madison County Youth Court at ceremonies this afternoon. Legislators and local dignitaries were to witness the event, as high school students from around the county were sworn in as officers of the court and volunteer members of the Tennessee Youth Court Program. This diversionary program is both a prevention and intervention program for first-time juvenile offenders who have plead guilty to a non-violent offense. The Madison County Youth Court has a docket set with five cases for which they will determine the sentencing or disposition, this week. |
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| U of M grads rank high on bar passage rate |
| Graduates of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis had the highest passage rate on the July 2011 exam of any school in the state, the school reports. UM's passage rate was 92.59 percent; the 2011 statewide percentage was 79.97 percent. |
Read more from the school
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| Firm and Black Law Student group host seminar |
| Burch, Porter & Johnson hosted a group of University of Memphis Law students for a seminar and reception on Oct. 12. The event, with about 30 students and attorneys, was part of a series of talks about professionalism. Firm lawyers Ted Raynor and Porter Field gave a presentation on the business aspects of law. The event was co-hosted with the Black Law Students Association (BLSA). |
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| Recent court decisions ease parent romance rules |
| A recent series of Tennessee Court of Appeals decisions makes it clear that judges can no longer automatically forbid parents from having their romantic partners spend the night, lawyers say. "What is happening is that the courts are not going to be the moral compass for the parties or for the child," Memphis attorney Amy Amundsen said. "They're requiring evidence that it's harmful." |
The Tennessean has the story
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| Crumley's case has probable cause for grand jury |
| The case of former district attorney general Joe Crumley, charged with reckless endangerment, evading arrest, failure to yield to blue lights and sirens and reckless driving, has been sent to the grand jury. |
The Johnson City Press has the story
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| Chattanooga corporate counsel group formed |
| Last week, Miller & Martin's Chattanooga office hosted the second meeting for area in-house lawyers at the Chattanooga Corporate Counsel Network.
About 25 of what the firm estimates are 90 local corporate lawyers attended Thursday's meeting. |
The Times Free Press reports
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| Celebrate Pro Bono |
| Pro bono appreciation event set for Tuesday |
| Memphis Area Legal Services will host a Pro Bono Volunteer Appreciation Reception Oct. 25 at Lexus of Memphis, 2600 Ridgeway Blvd. from 5:30 to 7 p.m. For more information contact Linda Seely at 901-523-8822, ext. 417, or at lseely@malsi.org. |
See a full schedule of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events
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| Politics |
| GOP candidates campaign against judiciary |
| Six out of eight candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are backing limits on the federal judiciary, ranging from an end to lifetime tenure to impeachment to curbs on jurisdiction.
The candidates are criticizing the judiciary even though a majority of judges, including those on the Supreme Court, have been appointed by Republican presidents, the Associated Press reports. |
ABAJournal.com connects you
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| TBA Member Services |
| Think FedEx first |
| If you've been shipping with other carriers, it's time to switch to FedEx. Not only will you get peace of mind from reliable FedEx shipping, but you can also take advantage of great savings on FedEx shipping as well as FedEx Office services by enrolling in the FedEx member benefits program. |
Take advantage of your member discounts on select FedEx shipping services and FedEx Office business services
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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.
© Copyright 2011 Tennessee Bar Association
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