The Tennessee Judiciary released its 2015 Annual Report, which includes details on the newly created business court, a review of case management practice and the groundwork for the state’s e-filing system. “We will continue our review of the judicial branch to ensure that we are using best practices and being good stewards of our tax dollars,” Chief Justice Sharon Lee said in her introductory letter.

The Blount County Recovery Court is now using GPS monitoring to track its participants, the Daily Times reports. Participants who wear GPS monitoring devices have to pay a weekly fee. “It’s an alternative sanction to jail,” Program Director Amy Galyon said.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday publicly censured Clarksville lawyer Travis Nathaniel Meeks. The court took the action after Meeks falsely stated in a letter to an adversary attorney that he anticipated calling an expert witness, a certified public accountant, who would testify that his adversary’s expert witness, also a CPA, was engaged in criminal conduct. As a result, the trial was postponed. Read the BPR release.

The University of Memphis Health Law Institute will host its third annual Symposium, titled “An ACE in the Hand of Policy Reform; Loading the Deck for a Trauma-informed Juvenile Justice System,” on Feb. 9. Mark Soler, the executive director at the Center for Children’s Law and Policy in Washington, D.C., will be the keynote speaker. The event will be held from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, 1 North Front.

Four of the five candidates for circuit court judge say they will not stand around Veterans Plaza in Clarksville during early voting, The Leaf-Chronicle reports. "As voters ourselves, we felt uncomfortable when we went to cast our ballots at Veterans Plaza and had to run a gauntlet to do so,” stated a joint release from Jill Ayers and Robert Bateman, candidates for Circuit Court Judge Part IV, and Ted Crozier Jr. and Roger Nell, candidates for Circuit Court Judge Part III. 

Nashville-based Tennessee Oncology is suing Genentech for false representation in the packaging of its cancer drug Herceptin, The Tennessean reports. Tennessee Oncology, represented by Bass Berry & Sims, claims the label on the drug misrepresents the amount of product after following the approved preparation instructions for the freeze-dried powder. Similar lawsuits are pending in six other states.

At least 60 percent of children in Shelby County who come in contact with the juvenile justice system have a mental disorder, according to the Mental Health Juvenile Justice Policy Academy Action Network. The group’s study also reveals 30 percent of the children have a learning disability and 70 percent of the children have gone through some sort of traumatic event. Read more from WREG.

The Shelby County Commission approved $569,783 for the Juvenile Court to use in adding personnel and court upgrades. The expenses are necessary to keep the court in compliance with the memorandum of agreement between the county, the court and the U.S. Department of Justice, The Commercial Appeal reports. Court upgrades include installing bullet-proof safety glass for the judicial chambers.

Criminal Court Judge Shayne Sexton yesterday dismissed charges against a Campbell County woman who had not been able to get her name cleared because of a controversial fee policy enacted by Campbell County General Sessions Court Judge Amanda Sammons, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Eighth Judicial District Assistant Public Defender William C. Jones argued that Sammons had no right to make an innocent woman pay a $50 public defender fee when she did not use the office’s services. "By denying the state's motion to dismiss, (Sammons) has continued a prosecution of a citizen for crimes she did not commit, knowing she didn't commit them, solely for the purpose of leverage in collecting a civil debt," Jones said.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood was arraigned today on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud following a three-year investigation. Hazelwood joins seven others accused in a diesel fuel rebate fraud. Ten former Pilot employees have already pleaded guilty.