Articles Posted in Managing Your Practice

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility has a  website that includes a section that allows you to search ethics opinions by key word.  Of course, it also has a complete set of the displinary rules.

The Eastern Section of our Court of Appeals has ruled that Rule 5A(4)(c) of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure means what it says and that a party cannot fax file an affidavit opposing a motion for summary judgment . Rule 5A (4)(c) says that “The following documents shall not…

Day on Torts:  A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers 2008 has been updated to include all cases through Sunday, January 13, 2008. The updates work like this.  After you have found the leading case summarized in one of 233 sections of the book, go to the "Free Updates" page of…

The subject of court approval of attorney’s fees in a case involving minors addressed in this post and this one have given rise to a discussion on the TAJ listserve about the wisdom of the decision.  The debate has been interesting.  One point made by several commentators is that  some…

On December 14 I wrote about an opinion that addressed the issue of charging  fees to minors.  The opinion was written by Judge Walter Kurtz, a Nashville Circuit Court judge sitting by designation on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. I have been hearing some negative comments about this opinion.   I…

Do you want to know the law of collecting attorney’s fees when you represent a minor in personal injury case?   Do you want to see how you can end up in the Court of Appeals when you seek an attorney’s fee in such a case? Read the opinion in Wright v. Wright, …

The nice folks at Justia (which did our firm website and my book website) also have a free service for searching for federal court filings.  The site allows you to search or browse for recent orders or opinions issued by just about any federal court in the country. You can…

Do you document substantive conversations with other lawyers?  Once upon a time, it was unheard of to do so and some felt it was downright offensive.   A lawyer can and should be trusted to stick by an understanding that is reached with another lawyer, the theory went, and to confirm…

Those of us in small firms struggle with many of the same issues.  One of those issues is the decision to hire our first (or hire another) associate? I enjoy the Legal Ease Blog and read this article that provides some guidance on the issue.  Enjoy.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has asked for public comment on proposed changes to Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, Appellate Procedure,  Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Juvenile Procedure. The most significant proposed rule change is the change to Rule 8.01.  The proposed rule change says as follows: 8.01 Claims for Relief.–A pleading…