Simple possession or casual exchange is the lowest drug offense there is in Tennessee. If you did not have enough of a controlled substance on you to be charged with a felony possession, trafficking, or sale charge, then simple possession is another option for the prosecution. What constitutes "simple possession or casual exchange" in Tennessee ? T.C.A. 39-17-418 prescribes simple possession or casual exchange as knowingly possessing or casually exchanging a controlled substance, unless the … [Read more...]
Driving Under the Influence in Tennessee DUI
February 6, 2019 by
Driving under the influence (DUI) in Tennessee may result in serious consequences including but not limited to significant fines, restitution, DUI classes, court costs, and incarceration. The conviction may also result in loss of driving privileges, suspension of a drivers license, increased auto insurance premiums, and collateral adverse employment actions such as termination of employment. There are a number of factors to determine the disposition of a DUI charge but the prevailing factor … [Read more...]
Elements for a Charge of Assault and Battery
February 5, 2019 by
The distinction between an assault and battery and Tennessee is very little and battery falls within the definition of assault in the criminal code. Historically battery was a separate act and crime requiring actual physical contact and considered a completed assault. Modern statutes now join the separate elements of assault and battery into assault as defined below. The elements for assault set out in T.C.A. 39-13-101 are the following: A person commits assault who: (1) … [Read more...]
Tennessee Orders of Protection
January 15, 2019 by
An Order of Protection is an Order signed by a judge upon a Petition prohibiting you from contacting or going near another person. Tennessee law on orders of protection are often misunderstood as only applying in circumstances of where a domestic relationship exists. This does not apply in the context of harassment and stalking where an order of protection can be issued without such a domestic relationship.If the victim happens to be a minor child at the time of the incident, then the guardian … [Read more...]
Is the other parent of your child willfully under-employed to avoid paying child support?
January 14, 2019 by
Tennessee courts can modify child support up or down if a parent has a significant change in income. However, courts won't allow a noncustodial parent to decrease child support if he or she is willfully unemployed or underemployed. There are a number of factors to determine whether the other parent of your child is willfully and/or voluntarily unemployed and/or underemployed.The Guidelines do not presume that a parent is willfully underemployed. TENN. COMP. R. & REGS. … [Read more...]
New Reasonable Purpose Standard in Tennessee Parental Relocation Case Stringer v. Stringer
October 25, 2017 by
In this post divorce matter, Stringer v. Stringer, the mother filed a petition to relocate with the minor child to Texas pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-6-108. The statute sets out two different standards for the Court to analyze depending upon whether the parents share substantially equal parenting time. When parents spend substantially equal amounts of time with the child, “[n]o presumption in favor of or against the request to relocate with the child shall arise,” and the trial … [Read more...]
2014 Motorcycle Injury Statistics
August 24, 2016 by
Here are the 2014 statistics on motorcycle injuries and accidents. It takes a year or more to aggregate statistics explaining why 2014 was just published. Our law firm is now litigating a major motorcycle injury and we have done several in the past. We are seeking to promote ourselves more to help those injured in motorcycle wrecks. Often, motor vehicle accidents involving motorcycles are not to be analyzed through the prism of a normal car accident. The rules of the road may be different for … [Read more...]
Can you have sex with your psychotherapist and what is the statute of limitation for malpractice ?
April 1, 2016 by
In matters of psychotherapy, a patient is in a fragile and vulnerable state where their decisions and acts may lack proper competency and a psychotherapist is in a position of power and/or authority to some extent. The issue for determination in Roe v. Jefferson, 875 S.W.2d 653 was whether the plaintiff Jane Roe's action was barred by the statute of limitations for medical malpractice actions,Tenn.Code Ann. § 29–26–116, under the facts of her case. During the summer of 1984, Roe was advised by … [Read more...]
Discovery Rule as Applied to Medical Malpractice in Tennessee
March 18, 2016 by
This cause of action involved a patient who brought medical malpractice action against podiatrist who had performed foot surgery, alleging that he had improperly operated on both feet despite only receiving consent to treat right foot, and had negligently performed operation. Here the Court had to determine whether the common law “continuing medical treatment doctrine” remained viable in Tennessee which operates to toll the statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases until the … [Read more...]
