http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-24T00:35:29-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-judge_gets_6_months_for_lying_to_cover_up_prescription_drug_conspir/ A former Tennessee criminal court judge who was convicted last year of lying to cover up a prescription drug conspiracy that involved some defendants in the court system has been sentenced to six months in federal prison. Richard Baumgartner, 65, benefited from the Knox County scheme,… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, States, Tennessee Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:58:43 -0500 43678.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/will_federal_judge_kill_suit_over_costumed_zombie_protest_of_corpse_of_a_po/ A federal judge in Knoxville, Tenn., is scheduled to hear next week a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by government meeting protesters over a no-costume policy that they say prevented them from exercising their First Amendment right to speak. The subject of their protest was a plan to complete… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Government Law, Law in Popular Culture, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:01:09 -0600 43147.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/grand_jury_chair_is_a_felon_800_indictments_now_in_question/ Indictments from nearly 900 cases in the Nashville area are under review after officials discovered a man who served as grand jury chair in 2011 is a convicted felon. Eugene Grayer was appointed to lead the grand jury, even though the Davidson County district attorney's office had been notified of… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, Juries, States, Tennessee Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:30:16 -0600 42666.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_suspended_60_days_for_rude_remarks_to_judge_at_trial_isnt_sorry_plan/ A lawyer suspended 60 days for the rude remarks he made to a Tennessee judge during a 2008 medical malpractice trial plans to appeal the legal ethics penalty. But regardless of what happens, attorney R. Sadler Bailey told the Commercial Appeal, he isn't sorry he spoke to… Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Tennessee Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:45:15 -0600 42253.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/a_tennessee_county_agrees_to_grant_new_protections_to_accused_juveniles/ Tennessee’s Shelby County has agreed to reform its justice system in a ground-breaking pact with the U.S. Justice Department. A federal investigation had highlighted the problems there, the New York Times reports. Black teens in the county, which includes Memphis, were twice as likely as white… Attorney General, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, States, Tennessee Fri, 21 Dec 2012 06:30:13 -0600 42133.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/an_atomic_bomb_in_courthouse_flurry_of_threats_in_tennessee_follows_inciden/ Government workers at 24 courthouses in Tennessee were ordered out of their buildings on Tuesday as a result of bomb threats received by 31 government buildings in the state. No bombs were found. Employees at the Knox County Courthouse kept on working after receiving three bomb threats in a 10-minute… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, States, Tennessee Wed, 28 Nov 2012 07:30:16 -0600 41768.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-prosecutor_convicted_of_official_misconduct_in_sex-for-leniency_case_is_/ Convicted earlier this year on a criminal official misconduct charge and sentenced to probation, a former Tennessee prosecutor has now been disbarred. John Douglas Godbee was accused by a female defendant and the woman's mother of seeking a sexual relationship with the younger woman in exchange for favorable treatment in… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Legal Ethics, States, Tennessee Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:36:47 -0600 41726.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_replaces_jury_foreman_accused_of_bullying_tells_jury_to_begin/ A federal judge in Nashville has dismissed a jury foreman accused of bullying other jurors, replacing him with an alternate and telling the jury to begin deliberating anew in a drug conspiracy case. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger said she had received multiple notes from the jury and noted… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Juries, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:51:57 -0600 41670.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_convicts_former_tenn._judge_of_lying_to_cover_up_prescription_drug_con/ A federal jury in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday convicted a former criminal court judge there of lying to cover up a prescription drug conspiracy that reportedly involved some defendants in the court system. After deliberating for four days, the jury convicted Richard Baumgartner on five counts of misprision of a… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:05:41 -0500 41464.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/duncan_school_of_law_drops_lawsuit_over_accreditation_denial/ Lincoln Memorial University's Duncan School of Law has dropped its federal antitrust suit against the ABA over the denial of its bid for provisional accreditation. The school, which has also withdrawn its appeal of a decision before an ABA appeals panel affirming the denial of its application, will file a… Antitrust Law, Bar Associations, ABA, Education Law, Law Schools, Law Students, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:51:18 -0500 41361.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_axes_1_count_in_drug_cover-up_case_of_ex-tenn._jurist_calls/ Things began to look up a little bit Monday for a disgraced former Tennessee judge accused of lying to three other judges and a prosecutor to try to conceal a prescription drug-trafficking conspiracy related to a woman with whom he was having an affair. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer axed… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Tennessee Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:35:24 -0500 41338.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kentuckys_wyatt_tarrant_absorbs_9-member_memphis_firm/ Louisville-based Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs announced this week that it's merging with a 45-year-old firm in Memphis. Wyatt's merger with Williams McDaniel means a significant expansion of Wyatt's estate-planning practice, according to the firm and Business First. "Our strategic plan calls for growth, and when we looked… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Law Firms, Midsize Firm, Mergers & Acquisitions, States, Tennessee Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:48:43 -0500 40273.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/tennessee_appellate_court_dismisses_judges_defamation_claims/ Corrected: A Tennessee judge, the subject of television news broadcasts that the judge said suggested he may have lied to the Justice Department in regards to a Mental Health Court grant and suggested he could be facing an ethics investigation, was not defamed by the pieces, the state appellate court… Judiciary, Media & Communications Law, Privacy Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:55:37 -0500 40077.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_tenn._court_oks_4-year_suspension_for_longtime_partner_who_took_legal/ A four-year suspension was an appropriate punishment for a longtime partner who misappropriated legal fees that should have gone to his Tennessee law firm, the state's highest court has determined. However, it took issue in a Tuesday written opinion (PDF) with the way the attorney disciplinary case against… Appellate Practice, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Law Firms, Partners, Legal Ethics, States, Tennessee Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:49:54 -0500 39570.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_reprimanded_for_posting_order_on_court_website/ A Tennessee judge has been publicly reprimanded (PDF) for publishing an order on a Montgomery County court website that referred to claimed facts outside the record and accused attorneys of unethical conduct. The order concerned recusal motions made by lawyers who had recently left a law firm… Judiciary, Law Firms, Partners, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:35:25 -0500 39555.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/known_as_site_of_famous_1925_scopes_prosecution_dayton_tenn._prepares_for/ Looking for some summer fun? There's still time to plan to attend this year's annual festival in a small Tennessee town celebrating one of the nation's most famous trials. Although Clarence Darrow lost the so-called Monkey Trial, his client, high school teacher John Scopes, eventually saw his guilty verdict and… Law in Popular Culture, Legal History, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:39:12 -0500 39541.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_suit_claims_he_was_denied_indigent_defense_work_because_of_his_race/ A Tennessee lawyer has filed a lawsuit alleging he was denied indigent defense work because he is East Indian. The suit filed in federal court in Knoxville names Knox County and its general sessions court as defendants, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Lawyer Arun Rattan writes… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Judiciary, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:30:01 -0500 39501.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/collection_law_firm_sends_26573_check_to_client_city_taxpayers_money_was_ta/ A law firm that collects taxes for a Tennessee city has sent its client a check for $26,573. The money will be applied to pay taxes of an elderly resident who wrote checks directly to a former employee of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, reports the Memphis Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Consumer Law, Government Law, Tax Law, States, Tennessee Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:58:53 -0500 39455.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/adding_37_lawyers_in_nashville_office_is_just_a_start_says_butler_snow_chai/ A Mississippi law firm that earlier this month announced the addition of 37 lawyers to its Nashville, Tenn., office isn't done growing there yet. The 39 attorneys now working in Nashville for Butler Snow O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada may soon have more colleagues, the Nashville Ledger reports.… Law Firms, Midsize Firm, States, Mississippi, Tennessee Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:21:54 -0500 39276.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/37_lawyers_are_leaping_from_miller_martin_to_nashville_office_of_butler_sno/ A law firm based in Jackson, Miss., has confirmed that it is poised to become one of the biggest in Nashville, Tenn., as a 37-lawyer group exits Miller & Martin for the Nashville office of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens and Cannada. The move, confirmed in a Thursday Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Law Firms, Midsize Firm, States, Tennessee Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:23:30 -0500 39140.abajournal.com