Memphis attorney Brenda Oats-Williams died April 24. She graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1994 and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1997. She worked at Memphis Area Legal Services and in private practice focusing on consumer protection and landlord tenant law. She was co-owner of the Lady Lawyers Law Firm in downtown Memphis. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. CDT at Greater Middle Baptist Church, 4982 Knight Arnold Rd., Memphis 38118. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. at the church.

The Tennessean reports that three U.S. Supreme Court justices penned a dissent on Monday after the court declined to hear the case of Kevin B. Burns, a Tennessee man who was convicted of murder and is currently awaiting execution. Burns argued that counsel at his 1995 trial and sentencing were ineffective and that they failed to introduce key facts and challenge the state’s narrative that Burns himself pulled the trigger of the gun that killed two men.

The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s new law that bans transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care. According to the Associated Press, the federal government is seeking to invalidate the statute because “no person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. The DOJ said the law violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause by discriminating on the basis of both sex and transgender status. The federal lawsuit comes after Clarke sent a letter to all state attorneys general last month warning them that federal law protects transgender youth against discrimination. The Justice Department also intervened last year in a lawsuit challenging a similar ban on transgender medical care for young people.

The Tennessee Lookout reports that special elections to fill three seats in the Tennessee Legislature could cost taxpayers up to $570,000 after the resignation of Rep. Scotty Campbell, R-Mountain City, and the expulsion of Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Person, D-Memphis. The Metro Council and Shelby County Commission voted to reappoint Jones and Pearson respectively, just days after their expulsion, but a special election must be held to fill all three seats because the two-year terms have more than a year remaining.

The American Bar Association (ABA) published the 2023 ABA Survey of Civic Literacy, which is released annually to mark Law Day, observed on May 1. The survey finds that social media and the media generally are to blame for the nation’s growing incivility. The survey also asks what issues respondents would be willing to compromise on and how much they know about how American government works.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section announced today that it will honor Nashville attorney Sam H. Poteet with the James K. Carroll Leadership Award on May 4. The award recognizes an attorney or judge who has demonstrated leadership qualities in service to the section. Poteet is a principal at Manier & Herod.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Vincent White, Jr., a state prisoner, sought federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court denied his petition but granted a certificate of appealability on a single issue: whether White had shown that his attorney was laboring under a conflict of interest that required automatic reversal of White’s conviction. White’s claim depends on facts outside the state court record, so the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Shinn v. Ramirez, 142 S. Ct. 1718 (2022), likely precludes relief. But even if we could consider the new facts introduced in federal habeas court, White’s claim fails. White’s attorney informed White of the facts underlying the purported conflict of interest, and White did not object. So White was required to show that the alleged conflict adversely affected counsel’s performance. White has not made such a showing, so we AFFIRM.

The Defendant-Appellant, Justin Darnay Graves, was convicted as charged by a Madison County jury of simple possession of cocaine, felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of drug paraphernalia, for which he received an effective sentence of six years’ plus eleven months and twenty-nine days’ imprisonment to be served consecutively to several unrelated convictions including case numbers 20-330 (sale and delivery of heroin), 20-331 (sale and delivery of heroin and sale and delivery of methamphetamine), 20-332 (sale and delivery of heroin and sale and delivery of methamphetamine),1 20-334 (possession of drugs; traffic offense; introduction of contraband into a penal facility; driving without a license; tampering with evidence), 2 and 20-335 (leaving the scene of accident resulting in death), two of which were committed while the Appellant was released on bond. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-111(b). Prior to trial, the Appellant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the traffic stop which formed the basis of his convictions. As grounds for the motion to suppress, the Appellant argued that “the amount of time between the initial traffic stop and the arrival of the [canine] unit [was] unreasonable” and in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 7 of the Constitution of Tennessee. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion to suppress. In this appeal, the Appellant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress and the trial court’s imposition of partially consecutive sentencing. Because the State failed to establish that the otherwise lawful traffic stop was not unreasonably prolonged in time and scope, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court, vacate the judgments, and dismiss the case.

This health care liability action was brought against a hospital and a physician. The plaintiff sent pre-suit notice to three1 potential defendants prior to initiating the action. The trial court found, however, that the plaintiff failed to include as part of the pre-suit notice a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization because one of the six core elements was incorrect on the authorization. Following a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(6), the trial court granted the motion and dismissed the action against the defendant hospital due to noncompliance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121. The plaintiff argues, among other things, that he should have been allowed to conduct limited discovery in order to determine whether the defendant hospital had been prejudiced by his failure to provide a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization. We vacate the trial court’s grant of the motion to dismiss and hold that the plaintiff should have been permitted to conduct limited discovery regarding whether prejudice existed for the trial court to consider in its determination of whether the plaintiff substantially complied with the pre-suit notice requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121.

All of the claims asserted in this action arise from a prior healthcare liability action in which Jane Doe (“Plaintiff”) sued Dr. John Rosdeutscher and his medical group for damages resulting from breast reduction surgery. In the action now on appeal, the complaint asserts claims for invasion of privacy, abuse of process, intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract against Dr. Rosdeutscher, his medical group, and the attorneys who represented them in the prior healthcare liability action. All of Plaintiff’s claims pertain to the fact that the defendants filed Plaintiff’s medical records in the healthcare liability action, which included nude photographs of Plaintiff and details about her sexual and mental health history—information that Plaintiff contends had “nothing to do” with her healthcare liability claims. The defendants responded to the complaint by serving a Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 11 notice on Plaintiff’s counsel. Shortly thereafter, the defendants filed a Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 12.02 motion to dismiss all claims on various grounds. The trial court granted the Rule 12 motion, dismissed all claims, and assessed $10,000 in damages pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 20-12-119 against Plaintiff. The trial court also assessed Rule 11 sanctions against Afsoon Hagh, Plaintiff’s attorney, in the additional amount of $32,151.67. Plaintiff appealed; her attorney did not. Finding no error, we affirm. We also find this appeal to be frivolous and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, including a determination of the reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and expenses incurred by the defendants in defending this appeal and entry of judgment thereon.