The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision today that a judge may not properly charge an attorney with contempt of court when the behavior neither disrupts the proceedings nor disparages the court, even if the judge believes the attorney behaved unethically. The ruling came after a judge convicted attorney James Beeler of criminal contempt of court for speaking to his client's husband who was being represented by another attorney during trial. The judge stated Beeler broke the ethical rule that forbids attorneys from speaking with a person represented by another attorney about the subject matter of that representation without permission. The Court reversed and vacated Beeler's convicton. Download the full court opinion.

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart will soon open two offices in Europe, the ABA Journal reports. The firm, which specializes in labor and employment law, has offices in Nashville and Memphis and plans to open the Berlin office Dec. 1 and the London office soon after. The move is a significant step toward greater global practice by the firm, which presently has no other international offices, according to its website.

U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee Judge Todd Campbell dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Brentwood ordinance that prevents street vendors of the newspaper The Contributor from selling to vehicle occupants from sidewalks, the City Paper reports. The American Civil Liberties Union backed The Contributor, which is sold by homeless and formerly homeless vendors. The suit claimed the ordinance suppressed its constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of the press. Judge Campbell ruled in favor of the city of Brentwood whose attorneys argued that the sale of the newspaper from sidewalk to vehicles at stoplights was a safety and traffic issue.

The TBA Family Law Section's annual Family Law Forum is tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Bar Center. The centerpiece will be presentations on two issues of critical importance to family law attorneys. Mark Sullivan, a nationally renowned military divorce and family law expert, will present three modules on the special concerns that arise when one or both parties are serving or have served in the Armed Forces, from dividing military pensions, to military benefits, to unique parenting issues. Dr. Kathryn Steele will provide an extensive review of the role of neuropsychology in family law, how to use psychological tests and reports to bolster your own case and attack the other side’s position. In addition to offering five hours of general and one hour of dual CLE credit, CME credit for Rule 31 mediators will also be offered. For more information, visit TennBar U.

Don Fillers, who was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence in a well-publicized asbestos case, still has a court-appointed attorney although documents presented to the court show he purchased more than $2 million in property and valued his home at $403,000, the Chattanoogan reports. Federal Magistrate Judge Bill Carter said there were still unanswered questions about Fillers' finances, and set another hearing for Tuesday. Fillers is scheduled to go into federal prison Friday.

Imad Abdullah, who in January will be the new president of the Ben F. Jones chapter of the National Bar Association in Memphis, talks to the Memphis Daily News about the group's continuing service to the Memphis community. Initiatives include scholarships for minority students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and working with  Memphis Area Legal Services. “Our work has basically been focused on issues such as access to justice,” Abdullah said.

Knoxville lawyer Robert H. Leonard died Monday (Nov. 12) at age 87. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1947, then began his practice with the firm of White and Leonard, with O.L. White and his father, R.H. Leonard. He served as president of the Knoxville Bar in 1964-1965. In 1980, Mr. Leonard was elected the first mayor of Farragut, serving a total of six terms until 1993. He retired in 2010 after practicing law in Tennessee for 63 years. The family will receive friends 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Click Funeral Home Farragut Chapel with a memorial service at 3 p.m. Interment at Pleasant Forest Cemetery will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Christian Church of Knoxville, 211 West Fifth Ave., Knoxville 37917 or to The Optimist Club of Knoxville's Henry Naff Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 358, Knoxville 37901. Read his obituary

After the re-election of President Barack Obama last week, citizens from states across the county began filing petitions on the White House’s We the People website requesting to peacefully secede from the United States of America. Tennessee’s online petition has garnered more than 22,000 signatures, although state officials do not expect it to get much traction. Gov. Bill Haslam told the Tennessean he didn’t “think that’s a valid option for Tennessee. I don’t think we’ll be seceding.” Even Nashville Tea Party president Ben Cunninham, who was heavily opposed to Obama’s re-election, said he wouldn’t support succession.

Linda Lovelace, widow of Judge Eddie C. Lovelace who died in September after being exposed to tainted steroid injections in Nashville, has been invited to testify at the congressional hearings in Washington, D.C. against the New England Compounding Center that is accused of shipping thousands of vials of contaminated drugs across the country. Lawyer Mark P. Chalos with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, along with another attorney and client, were invited to the hearings as well. Chalos’ firm represents several affected families across the county, including at least four in Tennessee. The Tennessean has the story.

Sumner County lawyer Michael Scott Collins was publicly censured yesterday by the Tennessee Supreme Court pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 44. Collins entered into a representation agreement with a client that was vague, ambiguous, and without sufficient clarity for the client to understand the scope of Collins’ representation. He also billed the client for work performed by a paralegal without first obtaining the client’s consent. Download the BPR notice.