TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

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Kirk Davies Named Court Clerk for U.S. District Court for Middle District

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Chief District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee announced Kirk Davies has been named clerk of court. Davies will begin May 20. Davies most recently led the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, which serves as the Department of Defense’s primary source for international legal education, training and rule of law programs.

Legislature: Budget Deal Derails Professional Privilege Tax Cut

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
The TBA weekly video legislative update focuses on the final budget agreed upon by both the House and the Senate. The budget includes an elimination of the professional privilege tax entirely for several professions, but not for lawyers and some doctors. TBA Government Affairs Director Berkley Schwarz and Communications Coordinator Katharine Heriges talk about how this happened and what it means for the future. Watch the video on the TBA's Facebook page.

Still Time to Register for May 9 Business Law Forum

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
News Type: TBA CLE
The TBA Business Law Section’s Forum on May 9 will help business lawyers learn and refresh their knowledge about issues that may arise when drafting an LLC operating agreement. Topics at the Nashville program will include an overview of the two extant Tennessee LLC acts and a comparison of those acts with the Delaware LLC Act; other distinctions of Tennessee law that impact the operating agreement; drafting key provisions, including distribution and allocation, employee and member compensation and exit rights; and ethical considerations for lawyers drafting LLC operating agreements. Earn up to five hours of general CLE and one ethics hour.

Woman Sues Rutherford Election Commission Over Fall at Polling Location

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
News Type: Legal News
Murfreesboro resident May Glover is suing Rutherford County and the county's election commission for $300,000 after she tripped over an extension cord and fractured two bones while voting, the Daily News Journal reports. The suit, which was filed on April 17, claims that her injuries from the fall amounted to nearly $60,000 in medical bills.

SCOTUS Rules TVA Doesn’t Have Automatic Immunity from Some Lawsuits

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
News Type: Legal News
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that Tennessee Valley Authority and its contractors can’t invoke governmental immunity in lawsuits over injuries tied to power production, Knoxnews reports. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that though the TVA was created for the governmental purpose of building dams and helping farmers, it doesn't look like a government agency these days. “The rates it charges, along with the bonds it issues, bring in over $10 billion in annual revenues, making federal appropriations unnecessary," Kagan wrote. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court to review whether the TVA is able to claim limited immunity because it was carrying out a governmental function when the accident occurred. 

Blount County Lawyer Placed on Disability Inactive Status

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
News Type: BPR Actions
By order of the Tennessee Supreme Court entered Wednesday, the law license of Blount County lawyer Charles Irvin Poole was transferred to disability inactive status. Poole cannot practice law while on disability inactive status. He may return to the practice of law after reinstatement by the Tennessee Supreme Court upon showing clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and he is fit to resume the practice of law.

TSC Historical Society, YMCA Partner for Essay Contest Named for Justice Drowota

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 2, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society has partnered with the Tennessee YMCA Center for Civic Engagement to sponsor an essay contest for high school students who participate in the judicial component of the YMCA’s Youth in Government program. The Justice Frank F. Drowota III essay contest, named for the late Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, asks students to submit a 1,500 word essay on a legal topic of historic significance. This year’s topic was the Scopes Monkey Trial. The winning student received a commemorative plaque, a letter from the TSCHS, and $250. Matthew Goodbred, a student at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, was announced as the inaugural winner of the essay contest at a special ceremony during the Youth in Government conference in Nashville.

ABA Law Day Poll Shows Gaps in Americans’ Civic Knowledge

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 1, 2019
News Type: Legal News
In conjunction with this year’s Law Day theme, “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society,” the American Bar Association conducted a civics study, finding that many Americans struggle with basic questions about the law and our government. The questions were pulled from the pool of 100 possible questions on the U.S. naturalization test. Only 5 percent of those surveyed could correctly answer all 15 questions they were asked. Read more in the ABA Journal.

Legislature Approves Budget, Including Professional Privilege Tax Cuts

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 1, 2019

The state legislature approved a $38.6 billion budget for fiscal 2019-20 with a variety of tax cuts while adding $220 million to bolster the rainy day fund and give teachers pay increases totaling $71 million, the Daily Memphian reports. The measure passed the Senate and House unanimously after both chambers reached a compromise for funding the Katie Beckett waiver. More than $45 million in tax cuts will be made, including reductions in the professional privilege tax by a total of $22 million; $13 million on the gym tax; $450,000 on ammunition; $2.5 million on fiber-optic cable sales taxes; and a $200,000 exemption on government-leased dumpsters.

Former Knox County Employees Claim They Were Fired for Whistleblowing

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on May 1, 2019
News Type: Legal News

Two Knox County employees claim in newly-filed lawsuits they were fired for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing while the alleged culprit was promoted, Knoxnews reports. David Ball and Teresa Ferguson claim in lawsuits filed in Knox County Chancery Court that then-coworker Zack Webb repeatedly used his county credit card to buy computer equipment and office furniture in 2017 and 2018. The duo contend in the lawsuits they suspected Webb and Knox County Finance Director Chris Caldwell of giving away the items “for political gain.” The lawsuits do not detail the alleged plot’s political beneficiary.

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