The University of Tennessee College of Law’s 2016 Symposium on Professional Leadership Education is planned for April 1, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee, Stanford Law professor Deborah L. Rhode and Volunteers football coach Phillip Fulmer are the headlining speakers. The registration deadline is March 26.

The Petitioner, Armand E. Booker, Jr., appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2014 guilty pleas to especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, attempt to commit aggravated robbery, and custodial interference and his effective fifteen-year sentence. The Petitioner contends that (1) his guilty pleas were involuntary and unknowing and (2) he received the ineffective assistance of counsel.

WPLN highlights the emerging fashion industry in Nashville, which includes nationally-recognized brand Elizabeth Suzann. "Developing and sustaining talented designers will take more than boot camps and favorable press mentions," reporter Abby White said. The TBA has taken note of the growing fashion brands in Nashville with its upcoming CLE, Tennessee Fashion Law: Protecting Brands, planned for March 31 at the Tennessee Bar Center.

Eighth Judicial District Judge Shayne Sexton today removed Campbell County General Sessions Court Judge Amanda Sammons from presiding over a child neglect case, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Sammons is currently facing an investigation for her handling of the case, in which she is accused of changing the defendant’s charges without notifying her or prosecutors. Also today, the News Sentinel reports that a number of jailers with the Campbell County Sheriff's Office appeared in Sexton's court prepared to confirm that Sammons had changed the charge.

A Nashville jury today awarded TV personality Erin Andrews $55 million in her suit filed against the man who secretly recorded her through a peephole in her room at Nashville Marriott in 2008, and the hotel owner and operator. Attorneys for Andrews, including Randall Kinnard of Nashville, argued that the hotel enabled Michael David Barrett, who pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge in 2009. The Tennessean reports Barrett and the hotel’s owner and operator will split the cost of the award.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a professional negligence lawsuit filed by Circle C Construction LLC against the Kentucky firm of Furman, Nilsen & Lomond PLLC. The firm represented Circle C in a case brought by the United States under the False Claims Act. Circle C appealed the federal court’s decision in the case and entered into an agreement with the firm that included a deadline for it to file a lawsuit against the firm that would extend 120 days after the appeal’s court issued a decision. Circle C voluntarily dismissed the negligence suit against the firm in 2012, but later refiled it in 2013 after the the decision was issued by the appeals court. The firm’s attorneys claimed that Circle C’s case was filed too late; the trial court and Court of Appeals agreed, dismissing the suit. Circle C appealed to the state Supreme Court, where justices ruled that the savings statute applies to the claim and it can proceed. Read the majority opinion in Circle C Construction, LLC v. D. Sean Nilsen et al., authored by Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee, and the separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, authored by Justice Holly Kirby.

The issue we address is whether the savings statute applies to save an action that was filed within the extended statute of limitations set by a tolling agreement, was voluntarily nonsuited, and was refiled within one year, but after the extended statute of limitations in the tolling agreement. The trial court granted summary judgment, ruling that the case was not timely filed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the tolling agreement precluded application of the savings statute.

A survey by The Florida Bar reveals nearly half of female lawyers in the bar said they have experienced gender bias. The survey was completed by 464 members of the bar’s Young Lawyers Division. The survey also found that 21 percent said they believed they were not being paid the same as their male counterparts.

The Tennessee General Assembly has been named the most conservative legislature in the country by the American Conservative Union. Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, accepted the award Saturday at the group’s Conservative Political Action Conference. Read more from Humphrey on the Hill.