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Hamilton Commission Appoints Webb to Replace Retiring Shattuck

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 27, 2019
The Hamilton County Commission today voted 8-1 to appoint attorney Gerald Webb as the replacement for General Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck, The Chattanoogan reports. Webb will serve until August of next year when there will be a general election. Some 200 attorneys participated in a poll sponsored by the Chattanooga Bar Association and had attorney Joseph Hollis Jr. as the front-runner. There were 19 applicants, and the commission interviewed 17 of them last Wednesday afternoon.

Registration Now Open for TBA Convention in Nashville, June 12-15

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
The TBA's annual Convention returns to downtown Nashville this summer! Mark your calendars for June 12-15 and prepare for four days of CLE, networking, entertainment and more at the Renaissance Hotel, 611 Commerce Street. Registration is officially open, with early bird rates available until April 30.

Reeves Named Chief Judge of Eastern District

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves will become the chief judge of the Eastern District of Tennessee on April 1, succeeding U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan, who has held the chief judgeship for the past seven years, The Chattanoogan reports. Reeves is the first woman to hold a district judgeship in the Eastern District of Tennessee and becomes the first woman to hold the district's chief judge position in the court's 222-year history. She was nominated to her judgeship in 2013, confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 2014. She received her law degree from the UT College of Law in 1979, and she practiced law in Knoxville until her appointment. She served as the first female president of the Tennessee Bar Association from 1998 to 1999.

Knox County Reaches Settlement in Lawsuit Accusing Commissioner of Abuse

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that accused Knox County Commissioner Evelyn Gill of abusing a special-needs student when she was his teacher at South-Doyle Middle School, Knoxnews reports. The county agreed to spend $93,000 in taxpayer funds, as well as court costs and the mediator's fee, to settle the suit, court records show. The student's parents assert Gill inflicted physical and psychological abuse in 2017 on their then-11-year-old son, who has autism, a mild mental disability and severe schizophrenia. In the suit, filed in August 2018, the family named as defendants Gill, Knox County, the Knox County Board of Education, Schools Superintendent Bob Thomas and South-Doyle Middle School Principal Andrew Brown.

Florida Attorney Censured in Tennessee

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
Florida-based lawyer Thomas W. Thompson on Monday was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court. On July 6, 2018, a petition for discipline was filed against Thompson, alleging that he committed ethical misconduct by practicing law while suspended for failing to comply with continuing legal education requirements. Thompson was suspended by the Tennessee Supreme Court on Aug. 16, 2016, for failing to comply with continuing legal education requirements. While suspended, four lawsuits were filed in Tennessee naming him as the attorney for the plaintiffs.  The lawsuits were prepared and filed by Thompson’s non-lawyer staff without his knowledge, and he has not yet withdrawn from the cases.

Davidson County Lawyer Censured and Reinstated

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
Davidson County lawyer Erich Webb Bailey on Monday was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court. On Oct. 4, 2017, a petition for discipline was filed against Bailey, alleging that when he represented the mother in a child custody dispute, he failed to communicate with his client and failed to appear in court when the matter was set for hearing. Bailey entered into a conditional guilty plea admitting that his actions violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. On July 17, 2017, he was temporarily suspended by the Tennessee Supreme Court for substantial noncompliance with a previous TLAP monitoring agreement. Bailey is reinstated from that suspension via the order which publicly censured him.

TBA, Governor Opposes Bill Requiring Legislative Confirmation for Judicial Appointments

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
A bill currently making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly would require legislative confirmation for the governor’s picks for vacant lower-court judgeships and other local judicial positions, The Nashville Post reports. The TBA opposes the bill, with Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson saying  it "adds an unnecessary delay and political layer to the process." Gov. Bill Lee spokesperson Laine Arnold said the administration also opposes the bill because "our current process already provides a high level of accountability as these positions are often up for election within a short time from the governor’s appointment."

UTK Law Student Appointed to the University's Advisory Board

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 26, 2019
University of Tennessee College of Law first-year student Johnelle Simpson has been appointed to serve as the student member on the UT Knoxville Advisory Board. Simpson’s term extends from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020. He was recommended for the advisory board position by the provost, deans of the College of Graduate Studies and the College of Law, and the graduate student senate. The UT FOCUS Act, passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in April 2018, created an advisory board for each UT campus. The boards are charged with submitting recommendations to the UT System Board of Trustees on campus-level strategic plans, operating budgets and tuition.

2 TBA Adoption Bills Signed into Law

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 25, 2019
Gov. Bill Lee on Friday signed into law two bills that were a part of the TBA's legislative agenda and were authored by the TBA Adoption Law Section. SB0207/HB0288 allows biological parents and adoptive parents to enter into an enforceable, written contract for post-adoption contact that permits continued contact between legal relatives and the child, while SB0208/HB0287 is a corrections/clean up bill for the TN: First in Adoption Act, enacted in 2018.

Teacher Awarded $1.7 Million in Lawsuit with Oak Ridge Schools

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 25, 2019
John Edward Anderson III, a teacher who sued Oak Ridge Schools in federal court, was awarded more than $1.7 million by a jury this week, the Columbia Daily Herald reports. Anderson sued the school district and its head administrators for wrongful termination, breach of contract, defamation, lack of due process and an invasion of his privacy. Anderson retired from the Oak Ridge district in 2015 amid a series of allegations, which related to the sleeping arrangements of a high school track trip that had upset parents.  
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