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| Monday, October 31, 2011 |
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10 apply to fill Judge Haynes' seat
Ten attorneys have applied to fill the Circuit Court vacancy in the 20th Judicial District, which serves Davidson County. The vacancy was created by the impending retirement of Circuit Court Judge Barbara Haynes.
The Judicial Nominating Commission will hold a public meeting Dec. 5 to interview the following candidates, who are all from Nashville:
Cynthia Jane Bohn,
attorney at law;
John Winston Heacock, attorney at law;
Marian L. Kohl,
special master/judicial clerk,
First Circuit Court;
Stanley A. Kweller,
Jackson, Kweller, McKinney, Warden, Lewis & Hayes;
John Richard Manson
special master,
8th Circuit Court in Davidson County;
Mary Ashley Nichols, special master,
Davidson County Circuit Courts;
Phillip Robinson,
attorney at law;
W. Scott Rosenberg,
magistrate,
Juvenile Court of Davidson County;
Joycelyn Stevenson,
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP; and
Keith Alan Turner, attorney at law.
Following the public hearing, the commission will interview each applicant before recommending three candidates to the governor.
Learn more about the process and candidates
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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
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_103111.pdf
AUBREY E. GIVENS ET AL. v. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Aubrey Timothy Givens, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Aubrey E. Givens, Administrator of the Estate of Jessica E. Givens, deceased, and Aubrey E. Givens and Jessica
R. Givens, individually.
Erin Palmer Polly and Steven Edward Anderson, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Vanderbilt University(The), d/b/a Vanderbilt University Hospital, and Dr. David Slosky.
Judge: BENNETT
The question in this case is whether the trial court properly granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiffs' medical malpractice action. Because the lawsuit before this court was not filed within the applicable statute of limitations, we affirm the decision of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/givensa_103111.pdf
ROY L. HAMILTON v. ELIZABETH K. HAMILTON
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Roy L. Hamilton, Pro Se.
Frank Morriss Fly, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellee, Elizabeth K. Hamilton.
Judge: FARMER
The trial court denied Father's petition to modify custody, restore telephone privileges, and re-evaluate income assignment. It found Father to be in contempt, and denied Mother's request for attorney's fees under Rule 11. The trial court awarded Mother a portion of her attorney's fees. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/hamiltonr_103111.pdf
KEVIN JUNKANS v. ALAMO RENTALS, INC. v. PAMELA JUNKANS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Lorraine Wade, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Kevin Junkans and Pamela Junkans.
Christopher J. Pittman and Gregory P. Patton, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellee,
Alamo Rentals, Inc.
Judge: BENNETT
Plaintiff and third-party defendant appeal the circuit court's denial of third-party defendant's motion to dismiss, grant of defendant/third-party plaintiff's motion for sanctions against
third-party defendant, and dismissal of the plaintiff's claims. Finding that defendant/thirdparty plaintiff's complaint makes out a claim for relief as a matter of law, we affirm the
circuit court's denial of third-party defendant's motion to dismiss. Finding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm the grant of the motion for sanctions. Finding that defendant negated an element of plaintiff's claim, we affirm the circuit court's dismissal of the plaintiff's case against the defendant.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/junkansk_103111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RODREIGORS JEFFERSON
CORRECTION on page 14, sentence in 3rd paragraph
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
James P. DeRossitt IV (on appeal) and Gregg Carman (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Rodreigors Jefferson.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Clarence E. Lutz, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Jennifer S. Nichols, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: BIVENS
A Shelby County jury convicted Rodreigors Jefferson ("the Defendant") of aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to eighteen years, six months. On appeal, the Defendant argues
that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction, and that the trial court erred in applying a sentencing enhancement factor. Following a careful review, we affirm the Defendant's conviction and sentence.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/jeffersonr_COR_103111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. PAUL WHETSTONE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Paul Whetstone, Morristown, Tennessee, pro se.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, Senior Counsel; and Randall Eugene Nichols, District Attorney General, pro tem, for the appellee, State of
Tennessee.
Judge: THOMAS
The Defendant, Paul Whetstone, was convicted of direct criminal contempt by the Jefferson County General Sessions Court, Judge Alfred Benjamin Strand, Jr., presiding. The
Defendant then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari and supersedeas in the Jefferson County Circuit Court, which was granted. Following its review, the Jefferson County Circuit
Court affirmed the Defendant's conviction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/whetstonep_103111.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Celebrate Pro Bono
Legal News
TBA Member Services
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| Celebrate Pro Bono |
| Celebrate Pro Bono Month counts 42 events in month |
| Bar associations, law schools and legal services providers joined together to produce a total of 42 events across the state during Celebrate Pro Bono Month, which concludes today. Among those were 21 legal advice clinics, five "free" CLE programs for lawyers willing to take a pro bono case and 10 community education programs on topics such as simple wills, health care powers of attorney, bankruptcy, foreclosure and landlord/tenant law. Each grand division of the state held a volunteer recognition program to honor the commitment and service of lawyers who provide pro bono services to the community. |
See pictures of some of the events on TBAConnect
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| Legal News |
| Federal judge: Stop enforcing 'Occupy Nashville' curfew |
| U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger
this afternoon granted a temporary restraining order to stop enforcement of a curfew that led to the arrest of Occupy Nashville protesters. A suit asking the state to stop enforcing the curfew had been filed earlier in the day by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.
The suit alleges Gov. Bill Haslam violated the state Administrative Procedures Act when he issued the curfew, which led to the arrests of about 50 protesters and a journalist. The arrests followed other police crackdowns around the country in places including Oregon, California, Texas, Atlanta, Denver and, this morning, Richmond, Va.
In Tennessee, Night Court Magistrate Tom Nelson refused to sign off on the arrest warrants, saying state officials have no authority to set the curfew. Hear more from ACLU-TN legal director Tricia Herzfeld in the Tennessean. |
NewsChannel5 reports
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| Anderson County adds video arraignments |
| Judges in Anderson County say their new high-tech digital systems that enable them to conduct arraignments from their courtrooms while the defendants remain behind bars will save money.
"It's a good example of government actually working," Division I General Sessions Judge Don Layton said. |
The News Sentinel has this story
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| Motives behind anti- discrimination law faces critical test |
| A hearing is scheduled this week before Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy, the first skirmish in the lawsuit brought by Nashville Metro Council members and others alleging the state law illegally discriminates against gay, lesbian and transgender people.
Three state lawmakers and some of the state's Christian Right are trying to quash subpoenas aimed at forcing them to surrender any documents that might exist about their plans, specifically what happened at a January 2011 meeting at the LifeWay offices of the Southern Baptist Convention. The lawmakers have claimed immunity for their actions outside the legislature, even those that are strictly political in nature.
To win their lawsuit, Tennessee's plaintiffs must show legislators were deliberately aiming to deny the rights of gay people while claiming they were not. |
The City Paper has more
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| Sides align in judicial appointment issue |
| The battle lines are firming up over an issue the state legislature is liable to spend considerable time and effort debating during its session that begins in January: judicial appointments and elections. |
The Memphis Daily News looks into it
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| Court: Contractors liable for what their subs do |
| A ruling from the Tennessee Supreme Court last week made it easier for homeowners to hold contractors responsible for shoddy work by subcontractors.
The court has found that contractors have a duty to perform services in a "careful, skillful, diligent and workmanlike manner" that can't be fully delegated to another contractor they hire. Read more about the issues that led up to the decision in the Tennessee Bar Journal.
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The Jackson Sun carried this AP story
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| TBA Member Services |
| New TBJ explains sweeping changes to patent law |
Sweeping changes in U.S. patent law were signed into law this fall, and the November issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal covers it. In their cover story, Mark J. Patterson and Andy Pitchford detail how the America Invents Act implements these huge updates and what it will mean to your client. [Note a correction: the printed version has an incorrect date for the Prior User Defense, which will now apply to all patents issued on or after Sept. 16, 2011, regardless of subject matter.]
Also in this issue of the Journal: two book reviews, Surviving Divorce by John Hollins Jr., and A History of Federal Courts by Ed Bryant; Wade V. Davies detailing how to protect the attorney-client privilege for incarcerated clients; and regular columnists Danny Van Horn, Donald F. Paine and Bill Haltom rounding out the issue. |
Read the Journal online or look in your mailbox
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| 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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