The Tennessee Supreme Court today conditioned reinstatement of Davidson County lawyer Wendy Sue O’Neill on her completion of continuing legal education requirements. O’Neill petitioned the court for reinstatement on June 20. The court indicated that if the requirements are not met by Aug. 12, then the reinstatement petition will be dismissed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court in partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Tennessee Alliance of Legal Services (TALS) and the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) will hold a minority-owned business advice legal clinic on July 18 from 4-6 p.m. EDT. The event will take place at the Knoxville Area Urban League, 1514 East 5th Ave., Knoxville 37917 and pre-registration is required. View a flyer for the clinic.

Defendant, Hollie Whipple, pled guilty to especially aggravated burglary, aggravated assault by use of a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault in connection with her perpetration of a home invasion in Fayette County. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of ten years’ incarceration at 100% service rate. She argues on appeal that her sentence is excessive and the trial court erred in denying probation. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Denver Christian Smith, was convicted by a Washington County Criminal Court jury of first degree felony murder, attempted second degree murder, and attempted carjacking. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-202 (2014) (subsequently amended) (first degree murder), 39-13-210 (2014) (subsequently amended) (second degree murder), 39-13-404 (2018) (carjacking), 39-12-101 (2018) (criminal attempt). On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it denied the Defendant’s motion to suppress his statements to the police and (2) no reasonable trier of fact could find that the Defendant failed to establish his insanity defense by clear and convincing evidence. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Terrance Holliday, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred by denying his motion for recusal and by finding that he received effective assistance of counsel. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a case that had placed significant restrictions on government officials’ ability to communicate with social media companies regarding their content-moderation policies, NPR reports. In a 6 to 3 decision authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court reversed a lower court ruling on the ground those challenging the interactions lacked standing. The case arose from the Biden administration’s efforts to address the spread of false information around certain issues including COVID-19 vaccines and foreign interference in elections. The court did not decide the question of what precisely constitutes permissible contacts between executive branch officials and social media companies. SCOTUSblog has more on the case.

Loring Justice (“Justice”) filed a complaint against Kim Nelson (“Nelson”); David Valone (“Valone”) and the Law Office of David Valone (collectively, “Valone Defendants”); and Martha Meares (“Meares”), and Meares and Associates and/or Meares and Dillard (collectively, “Meares Defendants”), (collectively, “Defendants”) in the Chancery Court for Knox County (“the Trial Court”). Justice alleged, inter alia, wrongful execution of judgment and abuse of process. Nelson filed a motion to classify Justice’s action as an abusive civil action (“ACA”) pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-41- 101, et seq. The Trial Court granted Nelson’s ACA motion, and Justice appealed. Having reviewed the evidence, we affirm, albeit for somewhat different reasons than provided by the Trial Court.

This case involves a dispute over recovery under the Tennessee uninsured/underinsured motorist statutory scheme. The plaintiffs initiated a lawsuit against the defendant driver and served notice on their own insurance carrier. The plaintiffs also served notice on the insurance carrier covering the borrowed vehicle that the plaintiffs had been utilizing when the accident occurred. The plaintiffs' insurer entered into a settlement with the plaintiffs for $50,000 each, an amount that equaled the policy limit of the uninsured motorist coverage provided in the policy covering the borrowed vehicle. The defendant driver's insurer also entered into a settlement with the plaintiffs, paying them $30,000 each. The uninsured motorist carrier covering the borrowed vehicle filed a motion for summary judgment. Following a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurance carrier upon concluding that Tennessee Code Annotated § 56-7-1201(b)(3)(D) and the policy covering the borrowed vehicle limited the plaintiffs' recovery via judgment to an amount no greater than the policy providing the highest limits of uninsured motorist coverage. Plaintiffs have appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

Retired Sullivan County Chancellor E.G. Moody died June 16 at the age of 79 years. Moody earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1971 and practiced with the Kingsport law firm of Hawkins, Moody, Bingham and Miller for 35 years. He was elected to the 2nd Judicial District Chancery Court in September 2006 and retired in 2022 after 16 years of service. Among his professional accomplishments, Moody presided over the landmark “Baby Doe” case against opioid manufacturers, which yielded a $35 million settlement. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to The Crumley House, 300 Urbana Rd., Limestone, TN 37681, or a charity of the donor’s choice. Read reflections from those who worked with him from WJHL.

Mark your calendar for the 2024 Disability Law Forum, to be hosted as a live virtual event on Oct. 25. The half-day program will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT. Sessions will cover a variety of topics applicable to disability law practitioners, including a vocational expert discussing the use of artificial intelligence when reviewing files, a DDS/OHO update and more. Participants include Gallatin lawyer Christopher George and Knoxville lawyer Emma Drozdowski Webb, as well as representatives from Tennessee Disability Determination Services.