Judge Monte Watkins today ruled that Corey Batey, one of four men charged with raping an unconscious woman at Vanderbilt University in 2013, will stand trial alone. Worrick Robinson, Batey’s attorney, said today that a judge granted a request to delay Brandon Vandenburg’s trial because of “personal issues.” Robinson then filed an emergency motion to delay the trial for Batey, but Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman argued the trial “would not be significantly different for Batey alone.” The Tennessean reports jury selection will begin Wednesday in Chattanooga and Batey’s trial is expected to start Monday. Judge Watkins last year granted a mistrial for Batey and Vandenburg due to a juror’s conduct.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended the law license of Rhea County lawyer John Arnold Fitzgerald for four years, retroactive to Sept. 10, 2014. Fitzgerald entered a conditional guilty plea to the Board of Professional Responsibility’s Hearing Panel on Feb. 22. The Court accepted the panel’s recommendation and issued an Order of Enforcement that lays out the terms of the suspension. Read the BPR release. 

The Board of Professional Responsibility Spring 2016 Board Notes are now available. The notes include “Practical Pointers to Avoid Complaints” in criminal law practice (pg. 5-9) and formal ethics opinions issued by the BPR (pg. 12-23).

The state legislature last week passed a bill (SB2033 / HB2082) that will require nearly every government office across the state to have a written public records policy by July 17, 2017. The policy cannot be less open than state law allows, the Associated Press reports. The measure requires the state comptroller's office to come up with a model public records policy that agencies can adopt.

Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission Executive Director Keith Bell announced his sudden departure from the commission last week in an email to lawmakers and lobbyists. The Tennessean reports Bell will be temporarily replaced by Commission Assistant Director Gina Winfree, who is set to join the Nashville firm Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin in April. Bell’s resignation comes as the ABC is processing hundreds of applications for retailers to begin selling wine this summer, as permitted by a 2014 state law. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court today adopted the Board of Professional Responsibility’s petition to amend the Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 32.9, which allows the Board to share attorney registration information with other Supreme Court agencies such as the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education, the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, the Board of Law Examiners and the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. The Court adopted the amendment following a period of accepting public comments on the amendment from organizations, including the TBA.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger on Friday awarded $2.03 million to the winning plaintiffs in Tennessee’s same-sex marriage court case, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The award, which covers nearly 6,000 hours of work by the plaintiffs’ 19-attorney team, is about 15 percent less than the $2.33 million they requested, but more than the $1.1 million that Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery's staff had argued the lawyers deserved.

Former Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff said the Obama administration instructed Justice Department attorneys to “neglect applications for president pardons to give priority to the Justice Department’s initiative to release low-level offenders from prison.” The information was revealed in Leff’s resignation letter, obtained by USA Today. Leff added the initiative “means that the requests of thousands of petitioners seeking justice will lie unheard.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel last week reversed a lower court ruling that could mean Ashland City-based Trinity Marine Products Inc. is still liable for payments to the estate of a worker whose widow died before receiving benefits. The widow, Marilyn Stamps, claimed her husband died from an occupational lung disease and that she and her son were entitled to workers comp benefits, Business Insurance reports. Stamps died in 2014. The Chancery Court agreed with Trinity when the company argued that the right to receive benefits terminates upon the surviving spouse’s death. The case has been remanded to the trial court.

Knox County lawyer William James Taylor was publicly censured March 24 by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court took the action due to Taylor’s actions in two separate matters. In the first matter, Taylor failed to respond to a motion for summary judgment and failed to timely file an appeal. He later stated in a motion to withdraw the appeal that he had advised the client the appeal would be a “waste of time.” In a separate matter, Taylor failed to respond to a client and communicate with opposing counsel regarding a settlement in a personal injury matter. Read the BPR release.