The Tennessee Supreme Court today released an opinion that affirms a holding of the Court of Appeals that the Brentwood company Crouch Railway Consulting LLC met its burden of establishing personal jurisdiction to sue LS Energy Fabrication LLC. Crouch filed a breach of contract and unjust enrichment action against LS Energy after it failed to pay what Crouch claimed it was owed for design and consulting services. LS Energy, a Texas company, filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that Tennessee lacked personal jurisdiction over the Texas company. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss, but that ruling was later overturned by the Court of Appeals. LS Energy appealed to the state’s high court, which, in a unanimous opinion, found that the Tennessee court’s exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over LS Energy in this case was constitutionally permissible. Read more on the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

Two months shy of his execution date, Pervis Payne’s legal team is asking Gov. Bill Lee to grant the death row inmate clemency, the Commercial Appeal reports. In their application for executive clemency, Payne’s lawyers say Tennessee law prevents Payne from “adjudicating his intellectual disability.” The petition asks Lee to be “the solution to the problem,” by commuting Payne’s sentence to life imprisonment until the legislature creates a statute that would allow  him to bring his disability before the courts. The Tennessee Black Caucus for State Legislators has drafted such legislation, but cannot introduce it until after Payne's Dec. 3 execution date. Payne’s defense team is also awaiting results from DNA testing being conducted on certain evidence from the crime scene. That testing, which was approved by a Shelby County judge last month, is expected to be completed by mid-November.

Thirteenth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Lee Young has been issued a public reprimand from the Board of Judicial Conduct. According to the reprimand, Young acknowledged to an investigative panel that he had sent inappropriate messages to various women on social media from 2015 to 2020. The messages were sent to a legal professional employed by a firm that conducted business in Young’s court and a litigant who previously had a child custody matter before Young and ranged from “flirtatious to overtly sexual.” Most of the messages depicted Young in his judicial robe. In addition to the reprimand, Young is suspended for 30 days, which will be held in abeyance if there are no meritorious complaints regarding ethical misconduct for the remainder of his current term. He must also refrain from using a picture of himself in judicial robes as his profile picture on any social media account, complete a judicial ethics program at his own expense and refrain from engaging in similar misconduct.

Eleven attorneys have applied for an opening on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle District. Applicants include: Jill Bartee Ayers, Charles R. Blanton, Keith M. Davis, Dustin Faeder, Kim R. Helper, I'Ashea L. Myles, Manuel B. Russ, Barry R. Tidwell, David Veile, Larry J. Wallace and Jonathan H. Wardle. The Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments will hold a public hearing to interview the candidates at the end of October. The hearing will be livestreamed on the Administrative Office of the Court’s YouTube page.

Two lawyers were among those named to the Knox.biz “40 Under 40” Class of 2020, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Devin Lyon, associate attorney at Arnett, Draper & Hagood and Tyler Roy, general counsel with the Whitten & Roy Partnership appear on the list, which features the “best of the best” from East Tennessee’s business community. Both attorneys will appear in a January 2021 issue of Knox.biz magazine and on the New Sentinel’s website. They’ll also be honored during the 40 Under 40 gala, which has transitioned into an online event. This is the 14th class that Knox.biz, formerly the Greater Knoxville Business Journal, has honored. 

Twelfth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel is now the second judge to recuse himself from a case in which 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Crump is accused of being blackmailed into securing a conviction in a 2018 second-degree murder trial, the Times Free Press reports. Angel was appointed just a few days ago to replace Judge Andrew Mark Freiberg, who recused himself from the case in September. Angel said that after reviewing the pleadings in the case, he discovered a conflict and decided to recuse himself. He did not disclose what the conflict was. Crump has denied allegations of an affair or being blackmailed into seeking a conviction against a woman who was accused of killing her husband. A hearing is set for Oct. 9 to determine whether Crump's entire office should be removed from any involvement in the case.

A trial date has been set in the case against Tennessee state Sen. Katrina Robinson of Memphis, WREG reports. Robinson, who is charged with theft and fraud, will face trial starting Sept. 13, 2021. Defense lawyers argued for a delay in the trial saying they have nearly 20,000 documents to review and as many as 60 witnesses to interview, all of which is difficult given the COVID-19 pandemic. The government did not disagree, saying that a trial of this magnitude should be held when health restrictions are somewhat lifted. Robinson was indicted for alleged misuse of federal grant money that was given to The Healthcare Institute, a nursing school she directed. Investigators said she used $2 million meant for the school on personal debt, travel, clothes, cars and her family.

Alabama human rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, whose work fighting racial injustice was depicted in the Hollywood movie “Just Mercy,” was among four activists awarded the global Right Livelihood Award, sometimes referred to as the “alternative Nobel prize.” The award "honors and supports courageous people solving global problems." Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative in 1989 while working to free wrongly convicted people from prison and was also the driving force behind a national memorial to the victims of lynching. He was recognized for “his inspiring endeavor to reform the U.S. criminal justice system and advance racial reconciliation in the face of historic trauma.” Read more in the Tennessee Tribune.

After 32 years of litigation practice, Memphis lawyer Amy Amundsen is launching her own virtual firm to offer family law dispute resolution and legal consulting in divorce cases. She previously was a partner at Rice, Amundsen & Caperton. A graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Amundsen is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 Family Law Mediator and a Collaborative Family Lawyer and Arbitrator. She is a past chair of the TBA Family Law Section, founder of the TBA Alimony Bench Book Committee, and recipient of the association’s Justice Joseph W. Henry award for legal writing. Amundsen Legal Consulting can be reached at www.amundsenlegalconsulting.com.

The Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program, which launched March 1, 2019, has seen a more than 250% increase in program participation in the last year, says Secretary of State Tre Hargett. The program now has partners in every county that promote its use by crime victims. In comments today, Hargett said the critical program protects individuals and families who have been victimized by allowing them to use a substitute address for documents that are publicly available. The program is open to all victims of domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking and sexual offense. There is no cost to participate.