The Tennessee Supreme Court on March 5 suspended 52 attorneys who did not pay the annual professional privilege tax as required. The attorneys include those living in Tennessee as well as 11 other states. View the order or see the list with reinstatements noted.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has directed Carlos Eugene Moore to respond within 30 days why discipline imposed in the state of Mississippi should not also be imposed in Tennessee. The Supreme Court of Mississippi imposed a one-year suspension on Moore on Dec. 31, 2024. The Tennessee court noted in its order that if Moore does not respond, it will impose discipline "with identical terms and conditions" than what was imposed in Mississippi.

Effective Feb. 24, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Shelby County lawyer Aaron Anthony Neglia from the practice of law for 10 years. On June 9, 2022, the Supreme Court suspended Neglia and asked the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) to institute formal proceedings. Neglia pleaded guilty in two felony cases and was sentenced in the Shelby County Criminal Court for bribery of a public servant and in the U.S. District Court for conspiracy to violate the Travel Act. On July 19, 2022, the BPR filed a petition to institute formal proceedings in the case. A hearing panel of the board found that Neglia’s conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional 8.4(a), (b), (c), and (d), and imposed a 10-year suspension. In November 2024, the court weighed increasing punishment from suspension to disbarment. Following review, the court agreed with the recommendations of the panel and imposed a 10-year suspension but applied a 124-day credit to the term.

The Tennessee Supreme Court transferred the law license of Shelby County lawyer Gilbert Henry Jacobson to active status on Feb. 18. Jacobson was placed on disability inactive status more than five ago on June 18, 2019.

Carter County lawyer Jason Lee Holly has been reinstated to the active practice of law. He had been temporarily suspended for failure to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility on Oct. 28, 2024. The court reports that on Jan. 3, Holly provided an appropriate response to the board and filed a petition to dissolve the temporary suspension. At a hearing on Feb. 7, a panel of the board determined that dissolution of the temporary suspension was appropriate.

Florida lawyer Darian Boos Taylor was reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee on Feb. 7. The Tennessee Supreme Court reports that Taylor was placed on inactive status more than five years ago, on March 5, 2019. The Board of Professional Responsibility found that Taylor’s petition for reinstatement was satisfactory. The court issued the reinstatement order on Feb. 11.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has transferred the law license of Blount County lawyer Horace Maynard Brown III to disability inactive status after finding that he “is currently incapacitated from continuing the practice of law.” Brown will remain on inactive status until further order of the court. He may not practice law while on inactive status but may petition the court for reinstatement by showing the disability has been removed.

On Feb. 6, the Supreme Court of Tennessee released an opinion affirming in part, and reversing in part, the decision of the Sullivan County Chancery Court imposing a public censure on Sullivan County Lawyer, Frank L. Slaughter Jr., pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 12.4. The Supreme Court affirmed the findings of the disciplinary hearing panel that Slaughter improperly disclosed confidential information about a juvenile client to third parties without the client’s informed consent in violation of Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6(a). The court reversed the finding that Slaughter violated Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4(a)(1).

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a reinstatement petition from Virginia lawyer Daniel Lynn Withers on Feb. 4. The court took the action after determining that Withers had not met outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education by the deadline of Feb. 1. On Dec. 19, 2024, the court alerted Withers to the outstanding obligations and gave him until Feb. 1 to resolve the issues.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Mississippi lawyer Franklin Alan Garrison to the practice of law on Feb. 4 after finding he satisfied outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. The court made the reinstatement effective as of Jan. 8. Garrison filed a reinstatement petition on Dec. 26, 2024. The court gave him until March 17 to satisfy the obligations or said it would dismiss the petition.