In this installment of The Legal Life, get a sneak peek at the TBA's new home, see the new section and committee leaders for the 2025-2026 bar year, say farewell to TBA's Access to Justice Director Liz Slagle Todaro, get information on Celebrate Pro Bono month and more!

TBA President Heidi Barcus shares her newfound respect for managers navigating the disparate needs of staff and stakeholders in her President's Perspective column.

After a bench trial in the Tipton County Circuit Court, the Defendant, Travis Michael Barnett, was convicted of one count of theft of property valued at $10,000 or more but less than $60,000, and the trial court imposed a six-year sentence as a Range II multiple offender with a 35% release eligibility. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The owner of a Pitbull mix canine appeals from the trial court’s denial of her motion to set aside the judgment entered in favor of the canine’s victim. Discerning no error, we affirm.

This appeal arises from a complaint filed by a faculty member against The Vanderbilt University (“Vanderbilt”) after Vanderbilt rejected her applications for promotion and tenure during the academic years 2015-16 and 2018-19. The faculty member initially alleged one count each of gender discrimination, retaliation, and breach of contract but subsequently amended her complaint to omit the gender discrimination and retaliation claims. Concerning her breach of contract claim, the faculty member alleged that Vanderbilt had not followed its own policies and procedures for promotion and tenure when reviewing her tenure file and had shown bias against her, thus exhibiting a substantial departure from accepted academic norms and procedural regularity. After discovery, the parties filed competing motions for summary judgment. The trial court adopted this Court’s deferential standard for reviewing promotion and tenure decisions by academic institutions as set forth in Figal v. Vanderbilt Univ., No. M2012-02516-COA-R3-CV, 2013 WL 5459021 (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 27, 2013), and determined that Vanderbilt had not exhibited a substantial departure from accepted academic norms or procedural regularity in denying tenure to the faculty member. The trial court then determined that Vanderbilt had met its burden of negating an essential element of the breach of contract claim because the evidence was insufficient to establish that Vanderbilt had failed to follow its own tenure review process. The trial court further determined that the faculty member had failed to establish undisputed material facts that would entitle her to summary judgment. Accordingly, the trial court denied the faculty member’s motion for summary judgment, granted Vanderbilt’s motion for summary judgment, and dismissed the case with prejudice. The faculty member timely appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm

Appellant asks this Court to order the trial court to remove certain allegedly disparaging comments from the trial transcript and two court orders. Appellant also asks this Court to issue a “letter of reprimand” to the trial judge for the allegedly disparaging comments. Due to the deficiencies in Appellant’s brief, and because we cannot grant Appellant the relief he seeks, we dismiss the appeal.

The defendant landowner appeals the trial court’s finding that the restrictive covenants applicable to her property prohibited the construction of a second residence. We affirm.

Over ten years ago, Commerce Union Bank, d/b/a Reliant Bank (“the Bank”) obtained a deficiency judgment for a property owned by Dr. Byron V. Bush and Kelly D. Bush (“Plaintiffs”) that Plaintiffs used to secure a loan. Since then, Plaintiffs have filed and lost four appeals related to this case. In March 2024, Plaintiffs filed a complaint for fraudulent breach of contract against the Bank; the late Devan D. Ard, Jr., the former Bank president; Rick Belote, Senior Vice President of the Bank; and William Ronald DeBerry1 (collectively, “Defendants”). Defendants filed a motion for sanctions pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 11.03. The Chancery Court for Williamson County (“the Trial Court”) granted the motion, dismissed Plaintiffs’ complaint with prejudice, awarded Defendants attorney’s fees and expenses incurred in filing the motion, and imposed a screening mechanism on any future filings by Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs appeal. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has voted to extend the deadline for law schools to apply for permission to admit students without requiring an admissions test, including the LSAT, Above the Law reports. The move follows a November decision by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to allow schools to seek variances from Standard 503, giving them the option to admit up to 100% of students without a test score, a major shift from the prior 10% limit. Since then, more than a dozen law schools have applied for the variance, which is expected to reshape admissions policies nationwide.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for its September docket on Sept. 4 at the Supreme Court building in Knoxville, with proceedings livestreamed on the TNCourts YouTube page. Beginning at 9 a.m. EDT, the court will hear Kendall Collier v. Pericilis Roussis and State v. Ronald Lacy. At 1:30 p.m., the court will hear two related consolidated appeals, Sarah Woodruff ex rel. Ethan Woodruff et al. v. Dorel Juvenile Group Inc. and Sarah Woodruff ex rel. Ethan Woodruff et al. v. Ford Motor Company, while a fifth case, Elliott Schuchardt v. Board of Professional Responsibility, will be submitted on the briefs. Read more about the cases in a press release.