Southeast Tennessee Legal Services was recently awarded a large cy pres donation, which is the single largest donation in the firm’s history. Miller & Martin PLLC of Chattanooga joined US Xpress Inc., O’Toole, McLaughlin, Dooley & Pecora Co., LPA of Ohio and United States District Court Judge Curtis Collier in facilitating the donation to the firm.

The T.J. Martell Foundation Nashville Honors Gala, hosted by Charles Esten, will be held Feb. 29 at the Omni Nashville Hotel, 250 5th Ave S. Attorney Aubrey Harwell will be honored with the Spirit of Nashville Award. Red carpet and cocktail reception are planned for 5:30 p.m. Dinner and awards will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online.

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III today announced a $3 million settlement with Festiva for alleged violations of the federal Telemarking Act, federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. Certain consumers who purchased vacation or timeshare products from Festiva companies will be eligible to have their Festiva contracts cancelled and receive partial refunds of the money they have paid to date. Under the terms of the settlement, Festiva agreed to provide $1,250,000 in cash restitution and up to $1,000,000 in loan forgiveness for eligible Tennesseans.

Employee suffered a work-related accidental injury to his back on April 27, 2001; he reported the injury, received conservative treatment, and returned to work without restriction in 2001. In 2011, his pain recurred, and he filed a second injury report. Employer denied Employee?s claim for workers? compensation benefits. The trial court found Employee?s claim timely and his injury compensable.

This appeal involves a petition to terminate a mother’s parental rights on the grounds of abandonment by willful failure to support and willful failure to visit. We affirm the trial court’s finding that grounds for termination do not exist as to either ground. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision not to terminate the parental rights of the mother.

The petitioner, Gary W. Robinson, III, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. He contends that the post-conviction court erroneously found that his petition was untimely filed. Following our review of the briefs of the parties, the record, and the applicable law, we conclude that the post-conviction court erred by dismissing the petition.

Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess said he wants the county to supervise its own probation company, WSMV reports. The announcement comes after the county recently ended its relationship with Providence Community Corrections, a company accused of running an extortion scheme. PCC and the county are named in a federal lawsuit as a result of the allegations. 

Several Chattanooga City Council members want Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston to appear before them to defend his role in the city’s Violence Reduction Initiative, which is aimed at reducing gang violence. The VRI plan includes convincing gang members that prosecutors will use “every legal means at their disposal to target them,” the Times Free Press reports. Pinkston said he supports the VRI, but does not believe he can ethically treat gang members differently than other alleged criminals.

The defendant, Jeffery Yates, appeals the summary dismissal of his motion to correct an illegal sentence under Rule 36.1 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, arguing that he stated a colorable claim for relief in that he received concurrent sentences when consecutive sentences were statutorily required. After review, we affirm the summary dismissal of the defendant?s motion.

Lawyers for the University of Tennessee requested in a motion filed Tuesday that references to allegations against Peyton Manning be removed from a federal sexual assault lawsuit filed against the university. The lawyers said the allegations are in an attempt to generate press coverage of the suit and are only relevant if the court found that Manning committed sexual assault. Read more from the Knoxville News Sentinel.