JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Fetch! Pet Care, Inc. (“Fetch!”), a nationwide franchisor of pet-care services, alleges that several of its franchisees orchestrated a coordinated effort to exit their franchise agreements due to their discontent with paying royalties. In Fetch!’s view, these franchisees breached their agreements when they attempted to abscond and steal Fetch!’s branding, clients, intellectual property, and trade secrets with the intent to operate their own competing businesses. On the other hand, the franchisees claim that nearly all of those operating under Fetch!’s “2.0” model have failed, as evidenced by their high attrition rate due to the model’s exorbitant royalty fees, Fetch!’s failure to deliver the results it advertised, and Fetch!’s deficient but expensive corporate support. And the few “1.0” model franchisees in this action claim they did not intend to leave but were forced to after being unexpectedly shut out of Fetch!’s system, leaving them unable to service their clients. Their only option for survival, they say, was to open their own businesses.

In response, Fetch! promptly filed a complaint along with a motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) and preliminary injunction against thirty-one former franchisees. Fetch! urged the district court to enjoin them from launching or continuing to operate their competing businesses, misappropriating its trade secrets, infringing its trademarks, and conspiring to interfere with its business relationships. After additional briefing and a two-day evidentiary hearing, the district court denied in part and granted in part Fetch!’s motion for injunctive relief. Specifically, the court reiterated what its TRO had ordered: that defendants-appellees stop using Fetch!’s trademarks and cease further communication with any existing Fetch! franchisee.

Ultimately, the district court determined that although the case presented a close call in several respects, Fetch! failed to carry its burden of showing that these circumstances clearly demanded a preliminary injunction. In fact, the court noted that granting an injunction in full could fatally compromise the parties’ ongoing arbitration. The court further concluded that there was sufficient evidence that Fetch exhibited “unclean hands” in the way it sold its franchises. Because we review the district court’s application of the unclean hands doctrine for abuse of discretion and sufficient evidence in the record supports the court’s conclusion, we affirm.

This appeal involves an employee who reached maximum medical improvement with no permanent impairment after suffering a compensable injury to his thumb. The employee requested that the court enter an order reflecting that, although he was not entitled to any disability benefits, he remained entitled to reasonable and necessary future medical treatment causally related to the work injury. The employer argued that the employee’s petition was improperly filed because there was no current dispute for the court to address. The employee responded that a court order was necessary to ensure his right to future medical treatment was not lost due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Following a compensation hearing, the trial court agreed with the employee and entered an order reflecting the employee was entitled to future medical benefits that are reasonable, necessary, and causally related to the work injury. The employer has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s order, conclude the employer’s appeal is frivolous, award attorneys’ fees for the frivolous appeal, and certify the order as final.

Defendant, Louis Thomas Smith, appeals the Lauderdale County Circuit Court’s revocation of his supervised probation and the imposition of his original, ten-year sentence. Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that he violated the terms of his probation by absconding and asks this court to reverse that finding and “remand the case back to the trial court as a technical violation.” Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant, Montrell Reid, appeals from his guilty-pleaded convictions for harassment and stalking, both Class A misdemeanors. Under the plea agreement, Defendant agreed to serve eleven months and twenty-nine days for each count, with the sentences to be served consecutively and the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. At sentencing, the trial court denied Defendant’s request for probation and ordered that he serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his request for probation. Following our review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments as to the denial of probation, but we remand for a determination of the percentage of service pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-302(d).

Due to TBA’s Day on the Hill and Big Shrimp Reception this week, our legislative team is taking a break from the Legislative Updates Podcast. Watch for a new episode to release next Friday on Facebook and on the TBA website. As always, you also can follow TBA’s coverage of legislative news in the General Assembly section of the Law Blog or sort all news by category by using the filter tool at the top of the Law Blog page.

The University of Memphis initiated termination proceedings against a tenured faculty member. An administrative hearing was held before a panel comprised of four other tenured faculty members. The panel issued a report in which the majority of its members found that the university had not proven adequate cause for the faculty member’s termination. The report and a record of the hearing were provided to the university’s president, who disagreed and signed a letter terminating the faculty member. The faculty member sought review of the termination in the Shelby County Chancery Court. The chancery court held that the university president did not have authority to issue a decision contradictory to that of the faculty panel. The chancery court also held that the facts contained in the record did not amount to clear and convincing evidence of adequate cause for termination and ordered the faculty member be reinstated with backpay. The university appeals. We reverse and remand for entry of an order consistent with this opinion.

The Church Street Park in Nashville will celebrate Women’s History Month with two events over the next few weeks highlighting Nashville’s role in the suffrage movement. On March 22, the park will host a historical retelling of the history with Nashville historian David Ewing. On March 29, it will host live music with the Song Suffragettes. Both events begin at 2 p.m. CDT and take place just steps from where Tennessee lawmakers cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Morristown attorney Aaron Chapman has announced his candidacy for the newly-vacant 3rd Judicial District Circuit Court seat resulting from Gov. Bill Lee’s appointment of William Phillips II to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Election Day is Aug. 6. (Due to timing of the vacancy, there will be no Republican primary this year.) Chapman says his focus will be continuing to ensure that the circuit court is future-ready, stating, “We must think ahead, think about each other and take our task seriously. Our court system plays a vital role in protecting our future. The work we do now will be seen well into the next century and beyond.” A graduate of the University of Tennessee (now Winston) College of Law, Chapman is a member of the TBA's Board of Governors and a longtime delegate to TBA's House of Delegates. He is the founder of Lakeway Family Law in Morristown. Read more in a press release.

Senior Judge Mark Ward ruled earlier this week that death row inmate Tony Carruthers is competent to be executed. According to the Nashville Banner, Ward found that Carruthers’s testimony showed him to be someone who understood his conviction and sentence but simply believed it was wrong. Defense attorneys had argued that Carruthers is not competent because he is consumed by psychotic delusions that he is the victim of a vast conspiracy and will be released once that conspiracy is exposed. They said they plan to appeal Ward’s decision. Carruthers is scheduled to be executed on May 21 for the murders and the kidnapping of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois, and Anderson’s friend Frederick Tucker.

University of Tennessee (UT) Chancellor Donde Plowman fired Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Tamar Shirinian in February over a Facebook post celebrating Charlie Kirk's assassination. The action, just being reported now, cites reputational harm to the university and potential safety risks as justification for the termination. Shirinian had been suspended in October 2025 while the university pursued termination. She subsequently filed a lawsuit arguing the action amounted to viewpoint discrimination and political retaliation. In February, Shirinian expanded the suit to include top UT officials and board members in the complaint. She has requested an administrative appeal and is awaiting trial, which is scheduled for early 2027. Knox News has more on the story.