The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will consider five candidates when it meets to select nominees for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Justice Sharon G. Lee plans to retire on Aug. 31, 2023. The applicants are: Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Kristi M. Davis, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Tom Greenholtz, First Judicial District Chancellor John C. Rambo, Chattanooga lawyer Michael Richardson with the Richardson Law Firm, and Knoxville lawyer Dwight E. Tarwater with Paine | Tarwater | Bickers. The council will hold a public meeting to consider the candidates on Jan. 4, 2023, beginning at 9 a.m. EST at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy in Knoxville. The council is expected to vote to forward three names to Gov. Bill Lee immediately following the interviews.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today made a number of appointments to the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure. Commission members Kathryn Barnett, James Bowman, Doug Halijan, F. Dulin Kelly and Allan Wade were reappointed to another term. They now will serve through June 30, 2026. The court also named three new members. Sarah Keith, an assistant district attorney general in the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office, will replace Steven Strain, while Donald Capparella with Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella in Nashville will replace F. Braxton Terry. Both will serve through June 30, 2026. Finally, the court named 20th Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Jennifer L. Smith as the new trial court liaison to the commission. She replaces Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Mark Ward.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today made a number of appointments to the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. Commission members Julie Bennett and Mitchell Panter were reappointed to another term. They now will serve through Dec. 31, 2025. Franklin lawyer David Veile also was reappointed to another term as commission chair. He will serve through Dec. 31, 2023. In addition, the court named two new members. Dr. LaDonna Tatum Williams, assistant principal of Nashville’s Westmeade Elementary School, will replace Concetta Smith, while Shannon Hoffert, regulatory counsel with Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare in Memphis, will replace Christopher S. Campbell. Both will serve through Dec. 31, 2025.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld partial consecutive sentencing that was imposed by a trial court after it had found that a defendant’s record of criminal activity was extensive. The case involved the downloading of child pornography and child erotica material and subsequent uploading of 174 images and video to a Dropbox account. At trial, the defendant admitted those actions and that he had shared or traded electronic files with others. At sentencing, the trial court imposed partial consecutive sentences believing that the volume of material involved in the case qualified as extensive criminal activity. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the sentence though one judge dissented, arguing the trial court should not have relied just on the number of counts to determine the activity was extensive. The high court affirmed the majority appellate decision, saying that an extensive record of criminal activity is that which is large or considerable in amount, time, space or scope, and that the trial court was correct in finding extensive criminal activity in this case.

The Memphis Bar Association has announced it will host a portrait unveiling for retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice M. Holder on Jan. 13. The event will take place at 2 p.m. CST at the Judge D’Army Bailey Courthouse, Second Floor, South Corridor, 140 Adams Avenue, Memphis. A reception will follow. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by Jan. 6 to info@memphisbar.org or 901-527-3573.

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order last week seeking comments on a petition filed by the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners asking the court to amend Supreme Court Rules 6 and 7. The board states in its petition that the proposed amendments “reflect changes to processes adopted during the pandemic that positively impact the licensing and admissions process” and respond to the “changing nature of the practice of law.” More specifically, the petition recommends changes regarding remote legal education, administration of the bar exam and how “active practice of law” is counted by the board. Comments should be submitted by Jan. 20, 2023, to Clerk James M. Hivner by email or mail to Tennessee Appellate Courts, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave. North, Nashville, TN 37219-1407. Comments should reference docket number ADM2022-01449.

Retiring Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee will be remembered as a bold dissenter, former Knoxville News Sentinel associate editor Georgia Vines writes in a recent column. Lee wrote so many dissenting opinions in 2017 that the Knoxville Bar Association wrote a story about it, Vines says. Some of those involved majority opinions that Lee believed provided inadequate constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, deprived parents facing termination of their rights the effective assistance of counsel, and erected barriers for inmates’ access to the courts. Vines also looks at a paper written in 2020 by a Nashville School of Law student who examined the overarching themes of Lee’s dissents. Lee, the longest-serving judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court, will retire on Aug. 31, 2023.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications for the Tennessee Supreme Court vacancy that will be created by the retirement of Justice Sharon G. Lee on Aug. 31, 2023. Interested applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 35 years of age, residents of the state for five years and a resident of the Eastern Tennessee Grand Division. Applicants must complete the designated application and submit it to the Administrative Office of the Courts by noon CST on Dec. 12. Applicants will be interviewed on Jan. 4 at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy in Knoxville. Complete application instructions are available on the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Nov. 22 suspended McMinn County lawyer Joseph H. Crabtree Jr. from the practice of law for three years, with one year to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. During the first year of probation, the court directed Crabtree to engage a practice monitor at his own expense. It also conditioned reinstatement on Crabtree completing six hours of continuing legal education on ethics and six hours on law office management, paying restitution to two former clients, and reimbursing the Tennessee Lawyers Fund for Client Protection for any payments to complainants. The court took the action after finding that Crabtree’s conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.8 (h), 3.2, 3.4 (c) ,8.1 (b) and 8.4 (a), (c) and (d). The court explains why it rejected the Board of Professional Responsibility's recommendation for discipline as "inadequate" in this opinion.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Jeffery S. Bivins recently was presented the Distinguished Alumnus in Public Service Award by his college alma mater, East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Bivins graduated from ETSU in 1982 with a bachelor degree in political science and a minor in criminal justice, the Elizabethton Star reports. Bivins graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1986. He practiced law with Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry PLC in Nashville and was assistant commissioner and general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Personnel before joining the bench. He served as a circuit court judge for the 21st Judicial District and then as a judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Bivins was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2014. In 2016, his colleagues elected him chief justice, a position he held until 2021.