Tennessee Bar Association members now have access to discounted pet insurance through Spot, “America's Most Loved Pet Insurance.” Receive up to 90% cash back on eligible veterinary bills for accidents, illnesses and more. Preventative care coverage also is available. There are no restrictions on providers so policy holders can visit any vet in the U.S. or Canada. Participants also have access to a 24/7 pet health helpline at no additional cost. Get your quick, easy and free quote today. And be sure to check out all of TBA's insurance programs, including preferred providers for malpractice insurance. Ruby belongs to TBA Human Resources & Administrative Coordinator Tanja Trezise. She is an English Setter who loves to run and chase squirrels, and her favorite food is cheese. Watch for more introductions to staff pets as we roll out this new member benefit!

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates (HOD) approved a new policy that requires law schools to adopt free speech policies in order to maintain their accreditation, reports Reuters. The new policy, approved by a voice vote, requires that law schools develop and publish policies that “encourage and support the free expression of ideas.” The change comes after several high-profile incidents where law students disrupted speakers and amid campus tension over the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The HOD, which is the association’s policymaking body, also approved nearly 30 other new policies, including opposing laws that limit teaching about race or gender; urging governments to follow federal reporting guidelines for deaths in custody; opposing the suspension or removal of elected prosecutors for personal or partisan reasons or without due process; and supporting the Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Uniform Collaborative Law Act. Read more about the new policies.

The Knoxville Bar Foundation (KBF) is now accepting requests for grant proposals. The deadline is March 8. The KBF’s goal is to facilitate and support projects and programs that seek to improve the administration of justice, enhance the public’s understanding of and confidence in the legal system, support access to the legal system, and serve the legal profession. Since 1997, the KBF has awarded approximately $560,000 in grants for local law-related projects. In 2023, the KBF board approved 12 grant requests totaling $25,000. Awards will be announced in May. Learn more and apply.

A federal judge has denied a requested temporary restraining order, creating a delay for Tennessee and Virginia in their quest to pause NCAA rules regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) benefits for college athletes, reports the Tennessean. The ruling leaves the current NIL rules in place for Wednesday, the start of the Division I football regular signing period, when recruits can sign a letter of intent with a university. The same judge will hear arguments for a lengthier preliminary injunction in a Greeneville courtroom Feb. 13.

CLAY, Circuit Judge. This is an indemnification action between Nissan, a car producer, and Continental, a brake parts supplier, for the amount of a jury award from a products liability case in California. After a car accident involving a Nissan vehicle, several plaintiffs brought an action alleging defects in the vehicle’s braking system against Nissan and Continental. After Continental settled and Nissan proceeded to trial, the jury determined that the design of the vehicle’s braking system caused harm to the plaintiffs. Accordingly, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding them $24 million in damages. During the litigation, Nissan incurred another $6 million in attorney fees and costs.

Following the California jury’s verdict, Nissan brought this action against Continental, seeking indemnification for the jury award and its attorney fees and costs based on a provision in the contract between the parties. Both Nissan and Continental moved for summary judgment. The district court granted Continental’s motion for summary judgment in full. Nissan appeals that ruling. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s order granting summary judgment to Continental.

The Petitioner, Omari Davis, pled guilty to possessing heroin with intent to sell or deliver. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Petitioner as a Range II, multiple offender to serve a term of eighteen years. Thereafter, the Petitioner sought post-conviction relief, alleging that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to seek a competency evaluation. At the hearing, the Petitioner also argued that trial counsel was ineffective when he failed to seek a continuance of the sentencing hearing. The post-conviction court denied relief as to the competency evaluation but did not address the continuance issue. On our review, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Petitioner, Ahmed G. Mohd Alkhatib, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his motion to vacate his 2006 guilty-pleaded convictions for two counts of facilitation of the delivery of marijuana, for which he received an effective eleven-month, twenty-nine-day sentence. The post-conviction court treated the motion as a petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the court erred by dismissing the petition after determining it was untimely. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

An employer terminated an employee after she requested unpaid commissions pursuant to her contract. The employee sued her former employer claiming breach of contract, unjust enrichment, retaliatory discharge, and intentional misrepresentation. She also sought punitive damages. The jury found in the employee’s favor on all claims and awarded damages for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and retaliatory discharge as well as awarding punitive damages. The former employer sought post-trial relief, arguing the jury’s verdicts were inconsistent and that the jury’s punitive damages award was in error and excessive. The trial court concluded the verdicts were consistent but did reduce, while not eliminating, the punitive damages award. The former employer appeals, challenging the compensatory and punitive damage awards. We affirm.

This appeal presents two issues. First, we consider whether the District Attorney General’s Office should have been disqualified from prosecuting this case because the District Attorney General previously served as counsel for the accused in a separate case. Second, we consider the propriety of conducting a single trial for multiple offenses under the theory that the separate crimes were all parts of a larger, continuing plan. David Wayne Eady was charged in one indictment with committing multiple robberies in Nashville over the course of a month. Mr. Eady moved to disqualify the District Attorney General’s Office, primarily because the District Attorney General had represented him in a criminal matter approximately thirty years earlier. The prior matter resulted in a conviction that the State sought to use in this case to qualify Mr. Eady as a repeat violent offender for sentencing purposes. The trial court denied the motion to disqualify, noting the limited nature of the District Attorney General’s involvement in this case and the “mandatory nature of the repeat violent offender statute.” See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-120(g) (2019). Mr. Eady also moved to sever the offenses, which the trial court denied upon finding that the crimes were parts of a common scheme or plan and that the evidence of one offense would be admissible in the trial of the others. See Tenn. R. Crim. P. 14(b)(1). Mr. Eady ultimately was convicted as charged of eleven counts of aggravated robbery, two of which later were merged, and one count of attempted aggravated robbery. Upon Mr. Eady’s appeal as of right, a divided panel of the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. State v. Eady, No. M2021-00388-CCA-R3-CD, 2022 WL 7835823, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Oct. 14, 2022), perm. app. granted, (Tenn. Jan. 31, 2023). The intermediate appellate court was unanimous in rejecting the challenge to prosecution of the case by the District Attorney General’s Office. Id. at *34–35. After noting that there was “no real dispute between the parties that [the District Attorney General] had an actual conflict of interest disqualifying him from participating in [Mr. Eady’s] prosecution,” the court seemed to proceed on the assumption that an actual conflict of interest existed but nevertheless held that this conflict did not require disqualification of the entire office. Id. at *34. In addition, a majority of the court upheld the denial of a severance. Id. at *28–30. One judge dissented, however, concluding that the offenses should have been severed because the evidence did not reflect that the offenses were parts of a larger, continuing plan. Id. at *38–42 (McMullen, J., dissenting in part). We granted Mr. Eady’s appeal to address both issues. As for the motion to disqualify, we agree with the State’s argument before this Court that the circumstances do not establish an actual conflict of interest for the District Attorney General, and we conclude that the trial court correctly denied the motion to disqualify the District Attorney General’s Office. As for the motion to sever, we have determined that the record does not establish that the offenses were parts of a larger, continuing plan. Thus, we conclude that the trial court erred in denying a severance. However, we find the error harmless as to all convictions except the one in count eight. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals in part, reverse it in part, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) joined lawyers from across the country in Louisville, Kentucky, this past weekend for the 2024 American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear Meeting. YLD members participated in ABA governance meetings and networked with other members of the profession. See photos from some of the events.