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TBA Law Blog

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AG Announces Settlement to Shutter Sham Charities, Distribute Funds to Cancer Centers

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 20, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Attorney General Herbert Slatery and Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced that $2.5 million will be distributed to cancer centers across the country as a result of a multistate enforcement action against sham cancer charities. The $2.5 million was recovered through settlements of a landmark lawsuit against four affiliated sham charities. Through the settlements, each charity was shut down, the people responsible for fronting the false charities were banned from any charity or fundraising activities for the rest of their lives, and the federal and state plaintiffs received judgments for the full amount of the alleged fraud. The recovered money will be transferred to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) which will distribute the money to select health and medical programs targeting breast and pediatric cancer.

ABC to Host Free Legal Clinic for Creatives in Nashville, June 25

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 20, 2019
News Type: Upcoming
The Arts & Business Council is hosting a pro bono legal clinic for members of the arts community on June 25 in Nashville. The event will take place at Sherrard Roe Voigt & Haribson, 150 3rd Avenue South, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Respond here for more information.

Lawsuit: Endo Pharmaceuticals Targeted Adolescents with Opioids

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 20, 2019
News Type: Legal News
In a lawsuit filed in May by the state against Endo Pharmaceuticals, maker of the opioid Opana, the drug manufacturer is accused of targeting teenagers, Knoxnews reports. Call records show pediatricians and adolescent specialists were among the specialists Endo sales reps visited who had a “suspect need to prescribe extended-release opioids.” The company also hired a consultant to prepare for a number of possible public relations problems, including in case of the death of a teenager from an overdose. 

Disbarred Memphis Attorney Charged with 67 Felonies for Misappropriating Funds

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 20, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A federal grand jury has returned two indictments against disbarred Memphis attorney Keith L. Dobbs, charging him with 67 felony violations for misappropriating funds from 26 recipients of veterans benefits and nine Social Security recipients, the Daily Memphian reports. In his role as fiduciary, Dobbs allegedly used funds embezzled from the victims to pay personal obligations, such as credit card bills and rent, and to purchase items including a BMW automobile. Each violation of the two indictments is punishable, if convicted, by up to five years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of no more than three years.

Judge Gives Extra Time to Man Who Made Threatening Calls to U.S. Rep. Diane Black

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 20, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Federal Judge Curtis Collier yesterday rejected an agreed sentence for a Chattanooga man who pleaded guilty to making vulgar, threatening calls to former U.S. Rep. Diane Black, the Chattanoogan reports. The sentencing range for Clifton Stewart Ward, 45, was 6-12 months for threatening a federal official. It was agreed between the prosecution and defense that the recommended sentence would be time served. However, Judge Collier set the term at 10 months. Ward is ordered to report to serve the final two months after 30 days.

4 Indiana Officials Sue State AG for Sexual Harassment

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Four female Indiana state officials and employees filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that they were sexually harassed by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, NBC News reports. The women allege that Hill groped them during an annual gathering of state lawmakers and staffers to mark the end of the legislative session. The four also claim that since their allegations became known, they have faced bullying and retaliation by other legislators and staffers. Previously, a special prosecutor said he believed the women's claims but that there's not enough evidence to prosecute Hill. Indiana's Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has called for the attorney general, who is also a Republican, to resign.

ABA Submits Amicus Brief Calling for SCOTUS to End Nonunanimous Juries

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The American Bar Association submitted an amicus brief this week to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it’s time to extend the Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous jury to the states, the ABA Journal reports. The brief was filed in Ramos v. Louisiana, a criminal appeal the court has accepted for its fall 2019 term. The Sixth Amendment guarantees unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases; Evangelisto Ramos argues that the justices should apply that to the states using the 14th Amendment. “The court’s precedents on the Sixth Amendment and on incorporation make clear that unanimity is required in state and federal courts alike,” the brief says. “The ABA therefore respectfully submits that the court should bring to an end this unusual and unfortunate aspect of our criminal justice system.”

TSC: Evidence Not Enough to Hold Man Liable for Woman's Suicide

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court last week, in a divided opinion, dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed by the estate of a woman who committed suicide. The case involved a woman who killed herself inside the home of the man who had just broken off their affair. The majority ruling, in an opinion authored by Justice Holly Kirby, concluded that the state had failed to prove that the woman's suicide was a “reasonably foreseeable probability." However, Justice Sharon Lee dissented, stating that because the man, who is a certified psychiatrist, had shown his gun to the woman, known she was depressed and because she had previously attempted suicide in the man's house before, her death was foreseeable.

Tennessee AG Announces $6 Million in Debt Relief for Former ITT Tech Students

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced today an agreement to obtain over $6 million in debt relief for 699 former ITT Tech students in Tennessee. Nationally, the settlement involving 42 states and the District of Columbia will result in debt relief of more than $168 million for more than 18,000 former ITT students. The settlement is with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC (CUSO), which offered loans to finance students’ tuition at ITT Tech, a failed for-profit college. ITT filed bankruptcy in 2016 amid investigations by state attorneys general and following action by the U.S. Department of Education to restrict ITT’s access to federal student aid. The CUSO loan program originated approximately $189 million in student loans to ITT students between 2009 and 2011.

Collierville Sues Owner of 'Negligently' Operated Landfill

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
News Type: Legal News
The town of Collierville has filed a complaint against Norman Brown over his operation of the Frank Road landfill, the Daily Memphian reports. The complaint, filed yesterday in Shelby County Chancery Court, claims the landfill is an odor nuisance, noise nuisance and safety hazard to residents. It says the property has been “negligently” operated. The town hopes a judge will order Brown to remedy the smell, noise and safety concerns. The town also wants a backup plan to be in place in case of “future breakouts.” 
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