TBA YLD Board members partnered with Belmont Law students and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services to host a Tennessee Free Legal Answers clinic at Belmont College of Law yesterday. Law students and volunteer attorneys met in small groups to answer legal questions submitted on the site. Special thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and talents for this clinic! See pictures from the event.

This case stems from a dispute over a parcel of real property located in Monroe County, Tennessee. Following a partition action and sale of the property, the trial court entered an order dividing the sale proceeds between several parties that the trial court determined had an interest in the property at the time of the sale. One of those parties appeals, arguing that it is entitled to a bigger portion of the sale proceeds. Discerning no error, we affirm.

In this divorce action, the trial court entered an order in December 2021, according to the parties’ announced agreement, granting the parties a divorce on stipulated grounds and directing, inter alia, that the marital residence would be sold at auction and that any “marital personal property” upon which the parties could not reach an agreement prior to the auction would be “sold by the court when the [marital residence was] auctioned.” The court also memorialized the parties’ agreement that each would keep the vehicles in his or her possession and be responsible for debts incurred in each of their respective names. In an order entered in April 2022, the court confirmed that the marital residence had been sold at auction to the husband. Following a bench trial, the court found that, with the exception of two personal items belonging to the wife, the marital residence and “the contents located at the property” were all marital property; that the proceeds from “marital property located at the home” were included in the auction sale proceeds; and that the proceeds from the auction should be divided equally between the parties. The wife has appealed. Upon careful consideration, we affirm the trial court’s findings that the marital personal property located at the marital residence had been sold with the marital residence and that the auction sale price reflected the total valuation of both the residence and personal property sold. We also affirm the trial court’s adoption of the parties’ agreement regarding vehicles and debts. However, we vacate the trial court’s classification of the marital residence as marital property and the court’s overall distribution of marital property. We remand for (1) further findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding classification of the marital residence and, if necessary, identification of any increase in value of the marital residence that resulted from the husband’s significant contributions during the marriage; (2) a limited evidentiary hearing to identify, classify, and value the parties’ bank accounts; and (3) reconsideration of the marital property distribution inclusive of the findings on remand and pursuant to the statutory factors provided in Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-4-121(c) (2021).

This is an interlocutory appeal as of right, pursuant to Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 10B, filed by Arthur A. Allen (“Father”), seeking to recuse the trial judge in this case. Having reviewed the petition for recusal appeal filed by Father, and finding no error, we affirm.

Legal Aid of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will host two clinics this week. Tomorrow, the group will hold a clinic specifically for veterans from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., Nashville 37203. On Thursday, the group will hold a clinic from 3-4:30 p.m. at Greenhouse Ministries, 309 South Academy St., Murfreesboro 37130. All times central. Get additional information on the LAS website or volunteer to help at any of these clinics by contacting Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131.

Twenty-one people in West Tennessee are facing federal charges for their involvement in an organized drug trafficking scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee. The charges are the culmination of a yearlong investigation by FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with local police departments. Read the full press release.

An audit conducted by the Tennessee's Comptroller's office has found Tennessee prisons may have violated federal law by mishandling sexual assault cases, reports the Tennessean. The report also found triple-digit staff turnover rates at CoreCivic-operated facilities. In addition, the audio showed multiple examples of TDOC and CoreCivic staff violating federal Prison Rape Elimination Act standards, including closing sexual assault investigations before receiving rape testing results. In its formal response to the audit, TDOC pledged to provide "training for the appropriate staff" to improve compliance with the federal law.

U.S. litigation firm Susman Godfrey will award seniority-based year-end bonuses to its associates worth between $140,000 and $360,000, more than triple what other U.S. law firms have committed to this year, reports Reuters. Last year, the Houston firm gave out bonuses between $85,000 and $160,000 based on seniority.

Johnson City lawyer Frederic Brandt died Sunday. He was 88. Brandt was a lifelong resident of Johnson City. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee in 1957 and served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves before graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Brandt served on several non-profit boards, including the Johnson City Boys Club and the Tennessee Mental Health Association. A celebration of life will be held next spring. To receive notification of services, contact the Morris-Baker funeral home at 423-282-1521 or by email at info@morrisbaker.com.

Democrats are calling for local governments to have a say in where the state builds optional toll lanes, the Commercial Appeal reports. State officials recently named a Transportation Modernization Board which was created through Gov. Lee’s Transportation Modernization Act. The act allocates $3.3 billion in one-time funding for statewide road projects without input from local officials. The five-member board has authority to develop and operate toll lane projects without local input.