In State of Tennessee v. Tabitha Gentry (AKA Abka Re Bay), the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled the state’s theft statute applies to real property. In the case, the defendant challenged whether Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-103 encompassed theft of a house. The Supreme Court affirmed the defendant’s convictions of Class A felony theft and aggravated burglary. Justice Cornelia A. Clark authored the opinion.

The Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance will host a free legal advice clinic in Knoxville on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. The clinic will take place at Ball Camp Baptist Church, 2412 Ball Camp Byington Road, and is coordinated by the Knoxville Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the University of Tennessee College of Law and legal volunteers.

For the second time this year, the U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged it suspended the wrong lawyer, the ABA Journal reports. The court mistakenly suspended Jim Robbins of San Francisco rather that James A. Robbins of New York. The latter had tried to cover up his loss of a client’s will. In May, the Supreme Court suspended the president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association who happened to share the same first and last name of the lawyer the court intended to suspend.

The Shelby County Commission voted today to override two mayoral vetoes of the commission’s decision to hire a New York-based law firm to file a Circuit Court lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers, The Commercial Appeal reports. The dispute is over control of the lawsuit, which the Shelby County Chancery Court ruled should fall under the jurisdiction of Mayor Mark Luttrell. The commission also voted to instruct the mayor to stop suing the commission in Chancery Court for control of the lawsuit and approved the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the commissioners’ legal defense against the mayor’s lawsuit.

In the trial of Pilot Flying J executives accused of a scheme to rip off small trucking companies, the subject has turned to whether CEO Jimmy Haslam knew of the dealings, Knoxnews reports. For the first time, Haslam was identified as one of the participants in a conversation that was secretly recorded and included references to the name “Manuel,” which has been shown in testimony as a code word for the fraud.

Following the retirement announcement of longtime House of Representatives member JoAnne Favors, Chattanooga businessman Brandon Woodruff has announced his plans to seek the seat in next year’s election, Nooga.com reports. Woodruff is the owner of Brainerd’s Scenic City T’s and is also a licensed sales producer for Allstate Insurance. Earlier this month, former Chattanooga city council member Yusuf Hakeem also declared his intentions to run for the District 28 seat.

Use your pre-paid credits that come with your TBA Complete Membership and register free for TBA's Ethics Roadshow. The program will be held in Nashville on Thursday and offer three hours of dual/ethics CLE credit. This year's program will focus on the 13 reasons why ethics issues are more complicated than ever. Find other locations for this year's Ethics Roadshow.

Three former on-air personalities for Nashville TV station WSMV have filed an age discrimination lawsuit against their former employer, The Tennessean reports. Reporter Dennis Ferrier, anchor Jennifer Johnson and meteorologist Nancy Van Camp claim that they were victims of harassment and ridicule prior to their termination from the station. The lawsuit also alleges that longtime anchor Demetria Kalodimos, who is not a plaintiff, was subject to “public berating,” “ridicule” and other “acts of age-based discrimination and hostility.” WSMV’s parent company, Meredith Corporation, denied the allegations.

Leo Vital, husband of TBA House of Delegates member Patricia Vital, died on Monday, Chattanoogan.com reports. He was 95. The family will receive friends Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 E. Brainerd Road. Services will be held Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the funeral home. A private family burial will follow at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Tennessee Aquarium Penguin Fund or a charity of choice.

The Tennessee Supreme Court addressed a certified question from a federal district court on an aircraft maintenance company’s effort to collect a bill for work done on a commercial airplane. Nashville-based Embraer Aircraft Services performed maintenance work on a plane leased by Colgan Air but owned by AeroCentury Corporation. Embraer acquired a repairman’s lein on a the plane itself in case of nonpayment. Colgan never paid after the work was completed, and later went bankrupt. Embraer then filed a lawsuit against AeroCentury in effort to collect the money owed. The federal district court handling the case asked the Tennessee Supreme Court whether a repairman’s lien under the statute can be enforced by a method other than allowing the creditor to take possession of the property and sell it to pay the debt. The Supreme Court held that it only allows creditors to enforce a repairman’s lien by sale of the lien-subject property, which in this case, is the airplane.