Tennessee

Is more cemetery regulation needed? Lawsuit plaintiffs say answer is yes

Galilee Memorial Gardens was closed two years ago, and the owner of the Memphis, Tennessee-area cemetery got probation in a plea deal. But relatives and friends of hundreds of people allegedly buried there in unknown graves, according to an ongoing Tennessee lawsuit, are still seeking answers about the locations of…

Apr 11, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Is association of office-sharing lawyers liable for member’s alleged malpractice? Maybe, judge says

An unincorporated association of lawyers who share an office isn’t entitled to summary judgment in a suit claiming it is liable for a member’s alleged malpractice, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp of Nashville ruled against the association of three lawyers in a March 11 decision,…

Mar 28, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Judge orders arrest of defendants who are late to court as a result of her closed-door policy

A Tennessee newspaper has uncovered more than a half dozen incidents in which a Campbell County judge barred the public from entering her courtroom during docket call and then ordered the arrest of defendants who were late as a result. Judge Amanda Sammons closes her doors during the docket call…

Mar 8, 2016 7:01 AM CST

Jury awards $55M to sportscaster Erin Andrews in lawsuit over nude video

After about eight hours of deliberation, a Nashville jury on Monday awarded $55 million to sportscaster Erin Andrews in her lawsuit over a nude video taken from an adjoining hotel room by a stalker. While the jury found Michael David Barrett 51 percent responsible for taking the videos through a…

Mar 7, 2016 5:15 PM CST

A child who murders ‘cannot be willy-nilly turned loose into society,’ judge says

An 11-year-old boy who shot and killed his 8-year-old neighbor in a dispute over puppies “is in desperate need of help,” according to the judge who found the boy delinquent for the offense of murder. Judge Dennis “Will” Roach of Jefferson County, Tennessee, issued a dispositional order (PDF) on Feb.…

Feb 9, 2016 7:20 AM CST

Still on parole when admitted to practice, lawyer hopes to help others facing hefty prison terms

Back around the turn of the century, David Harris would have seemed an unlikely lawyer. He served a seven-year prison term for a series of armed robberies committed in 1997, and was still on parole when he was licensed to practice law in Tennessee in 2013. But the state does…

Feb 8, 2016 4:55 PM CST

Rejecting 30-day recommendation, top court suspends lawyer for a year for having sex with client

Rejecting a recommended 30-day law license suspension for a Tennessee attorney who had sex with a court-appointed client, the state’s supreme court on Thursday imposed a one-year suspension on Robert Lee Vogel. “By making sexual advances towards [the client], engaging in a sexual relationship with her, pleading with her on…

Feb 5, 2016 11:23 AM CST

10 partners exit 26-attorney Nashville firm to join Bass Berry

One of Tennessee’s largest law firms announced Thursday the addition of 10 shareholders, including two name partners, from a 26-attorney Nashville firm. An unstated number of associates and staff from Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner also are expected to join Bass Berry & Sims, reports the Nashville Business Journal.…

Feb 4, 2016 1:15 PM CST

Inmate settles suit over ‘be sweet’ chair

A Tennessee inmate’s federal civil-rights suit over a restraint device once known as the “be sweet” chair has settled for $50,000. Inmate Lavonte Simmons said in his lawsuit that he was kept in the restraint chair at a Knoxville detention facility for nearly 48 hours, although he had two-hour breaks…

Feb 4, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Southern firm triples Austin, Texas, office by acquiring Taube Summers

One of Tennessee’s oldest law firms has tripled the attorney roster in its Austin, Texas, office by acquiring a 13-attorney legal shop that specializes in commercial litigation, insurance and bankruptcy matters. The group from Taube Summers Harrison Taylor Meinzer Brown is the largest ever taken in by the 225-attorney Waller…

Feb 1, 2016 3:00 PM CST

13 inmates held for inability to pay probation fees win release in class action suit

Two Tennessee judges have ordered the release of 13 inmates in Murfreesboro who were being held because they couldn’t pay fees to a private company overseeing the misdemeanor probation system. The judges acted last Friday, a day after a federal judge in Nashville issued an injunction in a class action…

Dec 23, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Tennessee Supreme Court affirms Nashville lawyer’s six-month suspension

The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the six-month suspension of a Nashville lawyer who challenged the constitutionality of the state’s disciplinary process. The court, in a ruling (PDF) Thursday, said lawyer Paul J. Walwyn’s claims were without merit, the Tennessean reports. It also said that Walwyn’s arguments to the contrary…

Dec 4, 2015 12:20 PM CST

Ex-client guilty of threat to kill lawyer; another man fights case over lawyer face-slap

After less than an hour of deliberation, a federal jury in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday convicted Leon Houston of threatening to kill his former attorney, James Logan, during a jailhouse conversation with his girlfriend. Houston, who will be sentenced at a later date, had argued that what he said wasn’t…

Nov 19, 2015 4:30 PM CST

Lawyer is sentenced in attempted murder of his wife; his law firm found hit-man research

A Tennessee lawyer was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday after entering a plea to charges he tried to murder his estranged wife. Lawyer Fred Auston Wortman III of Collierville entered a “best interest” plea, also known as an Alford plea, to charges of attempted first-degree murder and…

Nov 10, 2015 10:19 AM CST

Fred Thompson, lawyer, former lawmaker and actor on ‘Law & Order,’ is dead at 73

Fred Thompson, who grew up in small-town Tennessee and went on to make his mark as a lawyer, a lawmaker and a film and television actor, died Sunday of a recurrence of lymphoma, his family said. He was 73 years old. Thompson was known for his commanding presence and folksy…

Nov 2, 2015 8:00 AM CST