The Tennessee Supreme Court publicly censured Loudon County lawyer Arthur Wayne Henry on Jan. 25. The Court took the action after Henry failed to take reasonable steps to move a 2012 case forward. Henry’s actions resulted in the defendants moving to dismiss for failure to prosecute in January 2015. Read the BPR release.

Maureen T. Holland was recently awarded the Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award for outstanding achievement in the legal profession by The Association for Women Attorneys. The award was presented at the 36th annual Banquet and Silent Auction at the Clark Tower in Memphis. The organization also honored two women close to the organization who passed away recently: attorney Mary Wolff and University of Memphis law professor Janet Richards. The 2016 AWA board officers and committee chairs were also inducted.

Tennessee judges, lawyers, bar associations and the public can weigh in on a Board of Professional Responsibility petition to amend Tennessee Supreme Court Rules and allow the Board to share attorney registration information with other Supreme Court agencies. The agencies include the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization, the Board of Law Examiners and the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. Written comments should be submitted to the Tennessee Supreme Court by Feb. 29.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today said that in generic evidence cases, where the child victim testifies about repeated incidents of sexual abuse but cannot provide details about the acts, the prosecution is not obligated to choose a specific instance of abuse. The announcement comes as the Court upheld the conviction of Jimmy Dale Qualls, of Hornsby, for 37 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. The state asked the high Court to review the case after Qualls appealed to the Court of Appeals; Qualls claimed prosecution’s method of election was not sufficiently specific to guarantee the defendant his state constitutional right to a unanimous verdict on each charged offense. The Court, analyzing decisions from courts in other states, encouraged prosecutors to always attempt to gather details about specific incidents of sexual abuse. Read the unanimous opinion in State of Tennessee v. Jimmy Dale Qualls, authored by Justice Cornelia A. Clark.

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the election of offenses doctrine, articulated in Burlison v. State, 501 S.W.2d 801 (Tenn. 1973), and reaffirmed in State v. Shelton, 851 S.W.2d 134 (Tenn. 1993), requires the prosecution to identify a single incident of sexual battery in cases, such as this one, where the child victim testifies to repeated incidents of sexual contact occurring over a substantial period of time but does not furnish any specific details, dates, or distinguishing characteristics as to individual incidents of sexual battery.

Construction lawyers from across the state will meet tomorrow at the TBA Bar Center for a program focused on Licensing Issues for Tennessee Contractors and Owners. The forum is sponsored by the TBA’s Construction Law Section. Topics include licensing for commercial and residential contractors, dealing with the board for licensing and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. The forum will be held from 8:30 a.m. – 1p.m., providing 6.25 CLE credits.

House Speaker Beth Harwell asked state Attorney General Herbert Slatery III to investigate Rep. Jeremy Durham following allegations that Durham had an affair with a former representative. "Additionally, I have asked (the Attorney General) to issue a report with their findings. If and when an expulsion resolution comes before the House of Representatives, the report could be part of that process," Harwell, R-Nashville, said. Harwell's request comes after Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey earlier today claimed Durham, R-Franklin, had an affair with an unnamed representative and then forced that representative to resign. Three state representatives have resigned in the last year: Rep. Mike Harrison, Rep. Ryan Haynes and Rep. Leigh Wilburn. Read more from the Nashville Post.

A case in Knox County Criminal Court took another twist when the man who beat and tortured his friend claimed he also attempted to take the victim to the hospital, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Nehad Abdelnabi is accused of beating Naser Ferwanah with a baseball bat to get him to confess he made a sex tape with Abdelnabi’s wife. Ferwanah denied the allegation and refused to go to the hospital. 

Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole ordered Ryan Epperson, a county jailer who posed as a surgeon to steal narcotics from three Chattanooga hospitals, to drug court. Epperson’s charges, including drug, vandalism and burglary, were reduced to a six-year sentence as part of a plea agreement. “He's given an opportunity now to deal with his addiction,” said Bill Speek, Epperson’s attorney. Read more from the Times Free Press.

Judge Larry Wallace ruled three former Cheatham County school employees will receive back pay from the school district after they were removed from their administrative positions and reassigned to classrooms. The Tennessean reports the amounts to be received total $55,772.76.