Valerie Radu, director of Chattanooga's new Family Justice Center, was suspended for 15 days without pay and prohibited from operating a city vehicle after failing to immediately report a wreck involving a motorcycle, the Times Free Press reports. “Through a review of police records and in-person interviews, it is clear that Dr. Radu violated the city's vehicle policy in addition to being cited for leaving the scene of an accident," Stacy Richardson, senior advisor to Chattanooga’s mayor, said. 

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee will host the investiture of Barbara D. Holmes as U.S. Magistrate Judge on Oct. 6., 3:30 p.m., in the Estes Kefauver Federal Building and Courthouse, Room 874, located at 801 Broadway in Nashville. A reception will follow the ceremony.

Nashville attorney Abby Rubenfeld was among attorneys selected to receive the American Bar Assocation’s (ABA) third annual Stonewall Award for their work as gay rights advocates. Rubenfeld was co-counsel for some of the plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges. Evan Wolfson and Thomas Fitzpatrick will be honored alongside Rubenfeld at the ABA’s Midyear Meeting, Feb. 6. “The ABA is pleased to recognize these three gay rights pioneers. Each has been a forceful voice for LGBT inclusion and legal progress,” said the commission’s chair, Mark Johnson Roberts. 

Davidson County Drug Court will hold its Treatment Court Graduation Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. in the Justice A.A. Birch Building, Jury Assembly Room, 408 2nd Ave. N., Nashville. District Attorney Glen Funk will be the guest speaker. Light refreshments will be served following graduation.

Hamilton County Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton has granted a couple’s divorce, just weeks after denying it, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Atherton originally said it was up to the U.S. Supreme Court to define what was not a marriage following Obergefell v. Hodges. But in a hand-written note on the divorce order, Atherton vacated his Aug. 31 ruling that Tennessee courts could not hear contested divorces because the Supreme Court ruling invalidated their jurisdiction. That ruling had puzzled the legal community in Chattanooga and beyond, the newspaper says.

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a complaint against the city of Clarksville after ruling that claims made by Richard Moreno, who was injured by a tree on state property in Clarksville, were filed too late and should be dismissed. Moreno waited nearly a year after the 2009 incident to file a complaint against the state and later filed against Clarksville. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of Moreno’s complaint against Clarksville. In his dissent, Justice Gary R. Wade wrote, “a ‘notice of claim’ qualifies as an ‘original complaint initiating a suit’ because the notice meets the traditional definition of a ‘complaint’ and its filing has the same effect.” Read the majority opinion. 

Nashville lawyer L. Gino Marchetti Jr. was elected to the the National Foundation of Judicial Excellence's Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. “I am honored that the NFJE has given me this opportunity to advance the profession further,” Marchetti said. He has been a partner with Nashville's Taylor, Pigue, Marchetti and Blair PLLC since 1977, after receiving his law degree from the University of Tennessee.

Combine a week of fabulous skiing with daily CLE programming and you have the TBA's annual CLE Ski program, taking place Jan. 17-22 at Vail Cascade Resort and Spa in Vail, Colorado. This program offers a wide variety of CLE topics to benefit lawyers from various practices. Earn three hours of CLE each day without missing time on the slopes.

Talking Points Memo predicts a banner year for state legislatures “trying both new and well-established ways to bully, politicize or pack impartial courts.” Liz Seaton, Interim Executive Director for Justice at Stake Campaign, points to recent efforts in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Kansas – where a law threatens to shut down the state court system. “The executive and legislative branches must be reminded of their duty to respect and understand the role of the courts,” Seaton writes.

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Responsibility recently issued a formal ethics opinion stating a lawyer may ethically allow confidential client information to be stored in “the cloud” if the lawyer takes reasonable care to assure the information remains confidential and that the information is protected from breaches. The opinion attempts to offer guidance from other jurisdictions on the matter. Read the opinion here.