This is an appeal of a compensation order denying workers’ compensation benefits. The employee alleged he suffered an injury to his right leg resulting in a need for medical treatment. The employer provided a panel, and the selected physician opined the employee’s complaints were not primarily due to a work injury. Following a compensation hearing, the trial court found the employee failed to prove his alleged injury arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of his employment and denied benefits, and the employee has appealed. Upon careful consideration of the record, we affirm the order and certify it as final.

Connecticut lawyer Wesley Shelman Spears was suspended for two years, retroactive to Oct. 25, 2023, by the Tennessee Supreme Court on March 22. The court reports that Spears received a two-year suspension from the State of Connecticut Superior Court in the Judicial District of Hartford on Sept. 25, 2023. On Feb. 13, the Tennessee Supreme Court directed Spears to respond as to why the same discipline should not be imposed in the Tennessee. Spears failed to respond.

Week of March 18, 2024 - March 22, 2024

Knoxville lawyer Ford Little has been named to the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission where he will represent District 2, which consists of 11 counties. Little is an attorney with Woolf-McClane, where he handles construction law, commercial litigation and product liability/toxic tort cases. His appointment will run through February 2029, the Wildlife Resources Agency reports. Read more about Little’s career in a news release from the agency.

A news item in Thursday's issue of TBA Today incorrectly identified the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals judge that Kevin Ritz, current U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, will replace if confirmed to the court. Ritz was nominated by President Joe Biden last week to replace Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, who last August announced her intention to take senior status on the court following confirmation of a successor. Read the corrected story from the Daily Memphian.

The University School of Nashville was named the 2024 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial champion Saturday night after two days of preliminary rounds. The school prevailed over Montgomery Bell Academy, also from Nashville. Tennessee State Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater presided over the round, while members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) Executive Committee, TBA President Jim Barry and TBA Vice President Heidi Barcus served as jurors. Earlier in the day, the top eight teams were announced, an MVP for each team was recognized, individual awards were presented to the best advocates and witnesses, and Sevier County High School was awarded the 2024 Sportsmanship Award.

Special thanks to YLD Mock Trial Committee Chair Ashley Tipton and Vice Chair Michael Holmes, and members of the committee for organizing this year's event, which involved 14 teams, close to 200 participants and more than 100 volunteers, including sitting Tennessee judges, lawyers and the YLD's Diversity Leadership Institute's law students. The University School of Nashville will now represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Wilmington, Delaware in May. The team is coached by Nashville attorneys Ned Hildebrand with Dunham Hildebrand, Maureen Timoney Joyce and Ben Raybin with Raybin & Weissman. See more competition results and photos from the event.

Stall Legal, a virtual firm providing in-house counsel services to companies that may or may not have their own general counsel, is seeking an experienced employment attorney to provide employment advice to corporate clients. This part-time opportunity will require five to 20 hours of work per week with significant flexibility in hours worked. The ideal candidate will have at least 10 years of employment-related legal counseling experience, including five years of prior in-house experience; experience with ERISA/employee benefits is a plus. Learn more about this position and others on the TBA's JobLink Career Center.

A nearly $2 billion tax and refund for businesses passed the Senate on Thursday on a vote of 25-6, the Associated Press reports. “This bill will put this issue behind us and address it in a responsible way,” said Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, adding that doing so could make the state more competitive in attracting businesses to move to Tennessee. At issue are concerns that the state’s franchise tax violates a U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause provision, which bans states from passing laws that burden interstate commerce. Further adding to the legal woes is a 2015 case involving the U.S. Supreme Court striking down down Maryland’s tax that the justices ruled had the effect of double-taxing income residents earn in other states. The proposal is designed to prevent threats of a potential lawsuit. Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, told reporters that the House version will be different.

This appeal arises from a complaint wherein the plaintiff alleged that he had a confidential relationship with his alleged biological daughter and that she induced him, by a promise that she would take care of him, to grant her a remainder interest in his real property. After a bench trial, the trial court found that a confidential relationship existed between the plaintiff and defendant and that suspicious circumstances existed to support a finding of undue influence. As such, the trial court entered an order divesting the defendant of any interest that she had in the property and restoring the plaintiff’s interest in the property to be held by his estate. The defendant appeals. Discerning no error, we affirm.

After facing declines over several quarters, international trade is poised for a rebound in 2024, according to the latest Global Trade Update from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In 2023, global trade saw a roughly $1 trillion contraction, but despite this decline, the services sector showed resilience with a $500 billion increase from the previous year, while trade in goods experienced a $1.3 trillion decline compared to 2022. The fourth quarter of 2023 marked a departure from previous quarters, with both merchandise and services trade stabilizing quarter-over-quarter. Developing countries, especially those in the African, East Asian and South Asian regions, experienced growth in trade during this period. Geopolitical tensions continued to impact bilateral trade flows, as shown by the Russian Federation reducing its trade dependence on the European Union while increasing its reliance on China. Additionally, trade interdependence between China and the United States decreased further in 2023. Available data for the first quarter of 2024 suggests a continued improvement in global trade, especially considering moderating global inflation and improving economic growth forecasts. Additionally, rising demand for environmental goods, particularly electric vehicles, is expected to bolster trade this year. For more information, see UNCTAD's article.