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Supreme Court Overturns Decision on Attorney Reinstatement

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the decision of a chancery court, which held that an attorney’s license to practice law should be reinstated. Drayton Beecher Smith II agreed to disbarment in conjunction with his 2007 guilty plea to federal charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. In 2014, he sought reinstatement of his license to practice law in Tennessee before a hearing panel of the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR), which ultimately denied the petition. He then appealed the denial of reinstatement to the chancery court. The chancery court reversed the decision and ordered that Smith be reinstated to the practice of law. The BPR filed an appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the court overturned the Chancery Court decision, concluding that the hearing panel was within its authority to deny reinstatement of Smith’s law license.

Upkins Nominated for National Bar Association Award

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
Ashley Upkins of Upkins Law PLLC in Nashville has been selected as a nominee for the 2018 National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division Outstanding Young Woman Lawyer Award. Nominations are submitted from NBA members nationwide and Upkins is only one of five who were selected. Amber Floyd of Memphis also made the cut.

Courts to Launch E-filing on July 9

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018

The Appellate Court Clerk’s new electronic filing system will begin operation on July 9. A link on the Appellate Court Clerk’s webpage will provide access to the new system. Once the electronic filing system is in place, attorneys will be permitted to electronically file virtually all new filings in appellate courts. In addition to establishing a new, voluntary system for electronically filing documents, the Supreme Court has established a new fee structure for costs and fees assessed in the appellate courts. Beginning July 9, appellate litigants will be required to pay their fees when initiating a case in the appellate courts rather than waiting until the appellate process is complete. 

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Trump Travel Ban

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 5-4 to uphold President Donald Trump’s travel ban, bolstering the president’s control over the nation’s borders and giving him a political victory on a legal battle that dates to the start of his presidency, Bloomberg reports. The ban in its current form affects seven countries, five of which are predominantly Muslim, and indefinitely bars more than 150 million people from entering the country.

Arts and Business Council Seeking Director of Legal Services

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018

The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville is looking for a part time Director of Legal Services to oversee the management of the Arts & Business Council’s cornerstone program: Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts (VLPA). VLPA provides critical and necessary pro bono legal services to artists of all disciplines, as well as legal and business assistance to emerging nonprofit arts organizations in Tennessee. Read more about the job and requirements here.

Former Pilot Flying J President Blames Judge, Prosecutors, Attorney for Conviction

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
In a motion for a new trial filed yesterday, the new defense team for former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood blames his former attorney, a judge and federal prosecutors for his conviction in a fraud scheme, Knoxnews reports. Among other accusations, the motion blames U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier for allowing prosecutors to air recordings of Hazelwood using racial slurs and singing a racist song. Hazelwood is currently awaiting sentencing in the scheme, in which Pilot Flying J employees schemed to defraud smaller trucking companies.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules for Amex in Antitrust Case

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that American Express can continue contractually forbidding merchants from encouraging customers to use other credit cards with lower fees, CBS News reports. The case dates to 2010 when the Obama administration and more than a dozen states sued American Express, Visa and MasterCard for anti-steering rules. Visa and MasterCard have since changed their practices. “In this case, we must decide whether Amex’s antisteering provisions violate federal antitrust law. We conclude they do not,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the 5-4 majority opinion. 

Supreme Court Won’t Hear ‘Making a Murderer’ Case

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 25, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the case of a teenager convicted of rape and murder that was featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” the Associated Press reports. The decision leaves in place a lower court’s ruling against Brendan Dassey, who was 16-years-old when he confessed to joining his uncle in the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. His attorneys claim he is intellectually disabled and was pressured into a false confession.

Trump Suggests Forgoing Due Process for Immigrant Deportations

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 25, 2018
President Donald Trump yesterday said that the country should consider deporting immigrants with “no Judges or Court Cases,” Politico reports. Trump added that the current system, which is handled at the federal level by immigration judges, is a “mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order.” He did not elaborate on whether this applied to asylum-seekers or just to those crossing the border illegally.

Rausch Sworn In as TBI Director

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 25, 2018
David Rausch was sworn in as the ninth director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Monday in Nashville, The Tennessean reports. Rausch was formerly the chief of the Knoxville Police Department and was selected by Gov. Bill Haslam after a statewide search. His swearing-in ceremony was administered by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins.
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