Plaintiff Loring Justice brought this health care liability action against Thomas Hanaway, Ph.D. (“Defendant”), a psychologist who provided family counseling and therapy to Plaintiff’s minor child and the child’s mother, Kim Nelson (“Mother”). Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing among other things that he was entitled to immunity as a court-appointed psychologist and testifying witness. Defendant provided therapy as a result of an order by the Roane County Juvenile Court in long-running litigation between Plaintiff and Mother. The Juvenile Court’s order stated that “there will be a transition from the current therapist, Dr. Nancy Brown, to a new therapist to be selected by the Mother.” The issue is whether the trial court correctly deemed Defendant to be a court-appointed therapist and granted Defendant summary judgment on grounds of immunity. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Mother was not present when the trial court found that four grounds for termination were proven by clear and convincing evidence, and that termination was in the best interest of the child. The trial court denied the oral motion to continue made by Mother’s counsel. Mother appeals the denial of the continuance, as well as the findings of grounds and best interests. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm (1) the trial court’s denial of Mother’s motion for a continuance; (2) the finding that there was clear and convincing evidence of abandonment by failure to visit, abandonment by failure to establish a suitable home, and persistence of conditions; and (3) the finding that terminating Mother’s parental rights was in the best interest of the child. We conclude that the trial court failed to make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law with regard to the ground of failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody of the child and vacate that ground. Accordingly, we vacate in part and affirm in part.

Week of May 8, 2023 - May 12, 2023

Memphis City Council members are set to consider two ballot referendums tomorrow that would allow Memphians to vote on whether handguns without permits should be banned within city limits and whether the sale of assault rifles should be banned in the city, the Commercial Appeal reports. If approved by council members and then by voters, the ordinances would directly contradict state law. In 2021, Tennessee became a permitless carry state, allowing for both concealed and open carry of handguns without a permit. Tennessee law also states that local firearms ordinances will be preempted by state law.

The American Bar Association (ABA) is pausing a plan to allow law schools to go fully test-optional for admissions by 2025, Reuters reports. The council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar had planned to resubmit the proposal to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration at its August meeting after the House rejected the proposal in February. Now, the council has decided to remove the agenda item from the August meeting in response to concerns from hundreds of law school deans and stakeholders. The pause will allow the council “to evaluate the concerns and determine what is best for law schools and applicants,” a spokesperson said. Reuters reported earlier that deans from more than half the nation’s law schools were backing a compromise that would allow them to admit up to 25% of students without a standardized test score — up from the current 10% allowance.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has joined a motion filed by Memphis defense attorney Robert Hutton to prevent the Tennessee attorney general from handling a post-conviction case for his client. The motion challenges a new law, which removes power from local district attorneys to litigate death penalty post-convictions, often referred to as collateral reviews, when new evidence and competency questions are raised. The motion argues that the law is “unconstitutional” and violates voters’ rights, the Commercial Appeal reports. District Attorney Steve Mulroy tells the paper that he believes the law improperly infringes on “the inherent prosecutorial discretion of local elected district attorneys” and that it also violates the rules regarding the captions of bills. The bill in question originally dealt with rape-kit backlogs, but an amendment stripped that language and inserted the collateral review provision. The bill’s sponsor argued that the process needed streamlining and that under the law, the “attorney general will be able to move seamlessly up and down the trial court as necessary, and back into the appeals process” rather than turn cases temporarily over to local prosecutors.

Soliciting clients can be an ethical minefield. In fact, it is so tough to navigate that the American Bar Association has issued a new opinion on the subject. Join the CLE Performer Stuart Teicher on June 23 at 10:15 a.m. CDT for one hour as he explains the rules on solicitation and talks about the weird “hybrid” situation that arises when a lawyer talks to a potential client. Specific rules to be covered are Rule 1.18, Prospective Client Relationships; Rule 7.2, Communicating About Lawyer Services; and Rule 7.3, Soliciting Clients. One hour of dual credit will be offered. The session follows Teicher’s presentation on legal writing at 9 a.m. the same day.

Chattanooga lawyer Russell Fowler will receive the prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing on June 16 during the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) Annual Convention in Knoxville. The award, which will be presented at the Lawyers Luncheon, was established nearly 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer who writes the most outstanding article published in the Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year.  Fowler is being recognized for his article "Tennessee Lawyers Impact America: A History of Advancing the Right to Vote" and companion piece "Dunn v. Blumstein: A Young Tennessee Lawyer Wins Expansion of the Right to Vote, which ran in the March/April 2022 issue of the Journal. Fowler is director of litigation and advocacy at Legal Aid of East Tennessee. He has written many pieces on law and legal history, and is a regular columnist for the Journal. Read the full release.

A federal judge in Florida blocked the Biden administration’s plan to release some migrants into the U.S. on “parole,” shortly before Title 42 expired at midnight last night, The Hill reports. U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell granted Florida’s request for a temporary restraining order on the parole policy, finding that the policy is not substantially different from one he struck down in March. Under the parole program, migrants are released into the United States without a court date and asked to schedule an appointment with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within 60 days.

The defendant, Philip Mainer, appeals his conviction of aggravated cruelty to animals that he received following a bench trial before the Sullivan County Criminal Court. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.