Civil Matters
Appellate Retroactivity Rules: The Pipeline Doctrine
November 8, 2017It is important to be aware of developing legal issues so that if the Tennessee Supreme Court creates some new right or remedy you can take advantage of the ruling even though your case has already been adjudicated. This is known as the “pipeline doctrine” which grants limited retroactive relief if the litigant has preserved […]
read moreVictims of Crime Now Allowed To Sue without the Necessity of Re-Litigating the Facts of the Case
September 29, 2016Victims of crime have long been allowed to sue the criminal in a civil suit to gain compensation directly from the criminal. However, until now, the victim had to re-present the entire criminal case in the civil litigation. Even though a criminal case has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, crime victims still had […]
read moreCan Signing Your Name to a Lease or Contract in Your Corporate Capacity Still Subject You to Personal Liability?
September 4, 2016Convention wisdom is that if you add your company name to your signature then only the company is bound by the terms of the legal document if you and your company are sued for failure to perform. Not always, says the Tennessee Supreme Court. In MLG Enterprises, LLC v. Richard Johnson, Richard Johnson was the […]
read moreThe University of Tennessee Rape Case – A Civil Perspective
July 27, 2016It seems at present we live in a world where our college campuses are out of control. As I have written on this blog in the past, I am the father of teenage girls. I have sent one off to college and the other is not far behind. I think and hope I have done […]
read moreCan “Pocket Dial” Calls be Recorded?
August 19, 2015Many of us have made, and received, a “pocket dial” call in which a phone number is accidentally dialed. Normally there is not much to listen to. But what if an entire conversation is heard (or even recorded) on the other end? In the case of Huff v. Spaw, just such a situation was considered […]
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