This is the second appeal arising from a lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleges the defendants engaged in tortious conduct and committed breach of contract when they filed certain medical records into the record of a separate healthcare liability lawsuit. The plaintiff is the same in both cases as are two of the defendants. The defendants’ motion to dismiss was granted, and sanctions were imposed against the plaintiff’s attorney. The plaintiff appealed to this Court, and we affirmed. We also deemed the appeal to be frivolous and awarded the defendants attorneys’ fees and costs incurred litigating the appeal. Upon remand, the trial court calculated the attorneys’ fees and costs incurred and the plaintiffs subsequently filed this appeal. Finding that our award of fees in the prior appeal became the law of the case, we affirm.

The plaintiff filed this lawsuit against his former attorney and her law firm, alleging legal malpractice and related claims. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, supported by the affidavit of the defendant-attorney and various other documents. Just days before the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff filed an untimely response to the motion for summary judgment along with voluminous exhibits. The defendants asked the trial court to disregard the late-filed exhibits and grant them summary judgment. The trial court found that the plaintiff’s response was untimely and deemed it stricken. In the absence of a response, the trial court also took the defendants’ statements of undisputed material facts as true. It then examined each of the causes of action asserted by the plaintiff and concluded that no genuine issues of material fact existed and that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on all claims. The plaintiff appeals. We affirm and remand for further proceedings.

January 20, 2025 - January 24, 2025.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a heightened standard of proof for showing workers are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules, making it easier for employers to prove that employees are not entitled to overtime protections, Bloomberg Law reports. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the unanimous court that when a law is silent on the standard of proof, the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard typically applies. Under that standard, employers must show that it is more likely than not that an employee is exempt from the overtime rules. The case resolved a lopsided circuit split in which most courts agreed the default preponderance rule was appropriate. The court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to apply the correct standard.

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced two bills last week aimed at addressing illegal immigration, according to WBIR News. The "Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act" would make individuals who admit to or are convicted of sexual or domestic violence ineligible to enter the U.S. and calls for the deportation of undocumented people if they are convicted of a sex offense. A similar bill was introduced in the U.S. House last week and passed. The "Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly (CONTAINER) Act" authorizes border states adjacent to either the northern or southern borders to place a "movable, temporary structure" on federal land so long as the U.S. Interior Department is notified at least 45 days in advance. The structure could remain in place for up to a year unless an extension is approved. The CONTAINER Act was read twice in the Senate on Jan. 10, 2024, before being referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where it stalled.

A proposed Metro Nashville law detailing how police surveillance technology can be used across Davidson County won approval on the first of three readings last week. According to the Tennessean, the measure would allow the use of a “community safety camera network” and outline where such cameras can be installed, who can access them and how they may be used. The proposal specifies that public safety cameras would not be allowed in locations where there is an expectation of privacy and requires the Metro Nashville Police Department to post a map of any cameras it owns and operates on its website. The next vote is expected on Feb. 4. Last month, the Nashville Metro Council voted against a resolution to approve Fusus, a software program that would have allowed the police department to access security camera footage from willing private business owners. The city of Knoxville passed similar legislation earlier this month.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family of David Batts, a former Knoxville Area Transit employee who died after leaving the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility on Jan. 7. Crump, along with the Batts family, is calling for the immediate release of all footage related to Batts' death, Knox News reports. The Batts family met with Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen last week, and she informed them that her office would not bring charges against jail employees. Batts' autopsy revealed he died from meningitis and also had fentanyl in his system. In a statement, Allen said meningitis led to Batts' "assaultive or resistive" behavior and “based on my review of the body camera footage and the Medical Examiner’s preliminary findings, I have concluded that the officers involved responded to Mr. Batts’ assaultive and resistive behavior with appropriate force under the circumstances." Knox News requested video footage of Batts in the jail earlier this month, and the sheriff’s office responded last week, saying it expects to release the footage in the coming weeks.

Fort, Holloway & Rogers LLC has announced that Stuart Saylor has been named partner. Saylor also has been appointed managing partner, and the firm will officially change its name to Fort, Holloway & Saylor LLC. The firm focuses on family law, estate planning and criminal defense from offices in Franklin and Columbia.  Read more in the firm’s tongue-in-cheek announcement.

Tennessee ended 2024 with an unemployment rate of 3.6% in December, well below the U.S. rate, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in December, up one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month. Despite the uptick, Tennessee’s unemployment rate remains five-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 4.1%, Clarksville Online reports. Between November and December, Tennessee employers added 500 nonfarm jobs, with the health care and social assistance sector seeing the largest gains, followed by local government and the real estate, rental and leasing sectors.

Join the TBA's Tort & Insurance Law Section on Feb. 20 for its annual forum, presented virtually this year. This program will feature sessions covering first party claims, healthcare liability and an ethics course dedicated to the fine art of thriving in your practice without being a jerk. Earn up to two general hours and one dual hour of CLE credit. Reserve your spot today!