Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch is planning to step down from active service on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a report from Reuters. Stranch, appointed by former president Barack Obama, plans to take senior status following confirmation of a successor. Prior to joining the court, Stranch was managing partner of Branstetter Stranch & Jennings in Nashville with a practice focused on labor and employee benefit matters. The move gives President Joe Biden another appointment to the court. The president has not yet nominated a replacement for Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, also from Tennessee, who said in August that she would take senior status once a successor was confirmed. Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for judges over the age of 65 who have completed at least 15 years of service on the federal bench.

A Giles County jury convicted the Defendant, Robert James Houston, of aggravated assault and simple assault, and the trial court sentenced him to a total effective sentence of ten years of incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

The defendant, Steven Ray Crockett, appeals his Rutherford County Circuit Court jury conviction of aggravated robbery. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred by imposing a 12-year sentence, by ordering the sentence to run consecutively to his prior felony conviction from Virginia, and by accrediting only a portion of his pretrial time served in incarceration. Because the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentencing was superfluous and because it failed to properly accredit the defendant’s pretrial jail credits, we reverse and remand for entry of a corrected judgment on these issues. We affirm the trial court’s judgment in all other respects.

This is the second appeal concerning the trial court’s distribution of the divorcing parties’ marital property. Following a prior appeal, this matter was remanded to the trial court to, inter alia, value and equitably divide the assets and debts contained in the parties’ marital estate. The trial court appointed a special master to complete these tasks. At the beginning of the special master’s hearing, the parties entered into a stipulation agreement concerning the values of certain marital properties, including their associated debts. Upon the conclusion of the special master’s hearing, the parties stipulated to the special master’s findings. The trial court subsequently conducted an additional hearing and entered its own findings, which it relied upon to formulate an equitable division of the marital estate pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-4-121(c). The husband has appealed the trial court’s division of the marital estate, arguing that the court’s mathematical and other errors rendered the division of the marital estate inequitable. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified herein. We decline to award attorney’s fees to the wife on appeal.

Appellants Matthew Swilley (“Swilley”) and Samuel Barr (“Barr”) entered into two agreements to purchase mobile home parks from William Thomas (“Thomas”). The buyers had not secured financing in order to close on the originally agreed upon closing date. The seller granted the buyers a number of extensions of the closing date; however, the buyers were ultimately unable to obtain financing in time to close by any of the dates demanded by the seller. As a result, the seller rescinded the agreements and shortly thereafter sold the properties to unrelated third parties for a higher price than provided for in the agreements with Swilley and Barr. Swilley, Barr, and their purported assignee, SB Capital LLC (“SB Capital” or, together with Swilley and Barr, “Plaintiffs”), brought suit against the seller for breach of contract and for a declaratory judgment as to the proper disbursement of the earnest monies held in escrow. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the seller on Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim, finding that Plaintiffs were the first to materially breach the agreements. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Because the order from which the appellant has filed an appeal does not constitute a final appealable judgment, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

The Nashville Bar Association YLD is holding a Law Day Art & Essay Contest for the students in the Nashville area. This year's theme, The Voice of Democracy, encourages Americans to deepen their understanding of the electoral process. Click here for more information.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and Tennessee Judicial Conference will hold a Bar and Bench reception tonight at 5:30 p.m. CST in Memphis. The event is sponsored by and will take place at Morgan and Morgan, 80 Monroe Ave., Ste. 900, Memphis 38103. The reception will kick off a series of networking events across Tennessee, offering a unique opportunity for lawyers and members of the judiciary to interact in a casual atmosphere. We look forward to seeing you there!

Frank Buck, a former TBA member and former state representative, died Jan. 24 at the age of 80. Buck was born in 1943 in Trousdale County and graduated from Tennessee Technological University before receiving a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He first joined the law office of McAllen Foutch and later formed his own practice, Buck & Buck Attorneys, with his wife Lena. In 1972, Buck successfully ran for the General Assembly and represented District 40 for 36 years, retiring in 2005. While in the House, Buck served as chair of the House Judiciary and Conservation and Environment committees and vice chair of the Transportation Committee. The Tennessean has this in-depth look at his time in office. Buck was named Tennessean of the Year in 2005 and served four years as chair of the Tennessee Judicial Council.

The TBA's 2024 Estate Planning & Probate Forum, set for Feb. 23 at the Embassy Suites in Franklin, will feature a probate panel comprised of judges and clerk & masters from the state’s three grand divisions. Moderated by TBA Estate Planning & Probate Section Vice Chair Charles Frazier, panelists will discuss best practices and answer questions from attendees. Other topics at the forum include how to navigate probate when there is no will, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, marital deductions, the Hamilton County public receiver initiative, legislative update and ethics. Learn more or register here.