Ronald Vandergriff v. Nat'L. Service
03S01-9807-CH-00079
Authoring Judge: John K. Byers, Senior Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. H. David Cate,
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court awarded the plaintiff 75 percent permanent partial impairment to the body as a whole. The defendant says the evidence preponderates against this finding. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.1 Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6- 225(e)(2); Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and conclusions of the trial court in a workers' compensation case. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). On November 16, 1994, while in the course of his employment with the defendant, the plaintiff sustained a back injury. The plaintiff had a previous back injury in 1992 and was paid workers' compensation benefits in the amount of 7 percent to the body as a whole. The resolution of this appeal depends upon the evaluation of the value of the medical testimony, which was given by deposition. In a findings of fact and memorandum of law, the trial judge reviewed the findings of Dr. William Kevin Bailey, an orthopedic surgeon, who saw the plaintiff twice after taking over the plaintiff's case upon the death of Dr. John Bell, the original treating physician. The trial judge also reviewed the findings of Dr. Gilbert L. Hyde, an orthopedic surgeon, who saw the plaintiff for purpose of evaluation, and the testimony of Norman E. Hankins, a vocational expert. 1 The Second Injury Fund was originally a defendant. The Fund was dismissed in the trial court. 2

Stella L. Starks v. Samuel J. Browning, Joseph F. Browning, et al. - Concurring
01A01-9801-CV-00038
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge John H. Gasaway, III

This appeal involves a law firm’s efforts to enforce a statutory attorney’s lien on the proceeds of a post-verdict personal injury settlement. After the law firm withdrew from representing the plaintiff because of a dispute arising from the settlement, the Circuit Court for Robertson County, the court where the underlying personal injury action had been tried, granted the law firm’s motion for a lien on the settlement proceeds for its fee and costs advanced on the plaintiff’s behalf. Thereafter, the trial court granted the law firm’s motion to execute on the lien and directed the plaintiff to pay her former law firm $51,091.99. On this appeal, the plaintiff asserts that the trial court erred by directing her to pay her former law firm because the lien was not properly perfected and because the procedure followed by the trial court did not permit her to assert her available claims and defenses against her former law firm. While we have determined that the law firm properly perfected its lien, we find that the trial court did not have the authority to adjudicate the fee dispute between the law firm and its former client. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order granting the motion for execution of the attorney’s lien.

Barry Shawn Ralston, v. Gina Ione HollowwayRalston
01A01-9804-CV-00222
Authoring Judge: Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge Muriel Robinson

This appeal arose after the trial court rejected Appellant Barry Shawn Ralston's ("the father") petition to reduce child support on the basis of his reduced actual income. In his sole issue on appeal, the father argues that the trial court misapplied Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-101 (a) (1), which he claims mandated the modification of child support on a showing of a significant variance between the amount of child support required by application of the Child Support Guidelines to his current actual income and the previously-ordered support obligation. Appellee Gina Ione Holloway Ralston ("the mother") responds that the father remains intentionally underemployed and that the trial court properly considered the father’s potential income in denying the requested reduction. For the reasons set out herein, we vacate and remand for further proceedings.

Barbara Cornett, v. Deere & Company, General Equipment and Vernon Keith
01A01-9808-CV-00405
Authoring Judge: Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge John Turnbull

This personal injury case arose when Plaintiff Barbara Cornett sustained injuries while operating a lawn mower manufactured by Defendant Deere & Company and sold by General Equipment and its owner Vernon Keith. Ms. Cornett sued, alleging negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. She also sought punitive damages. The first trial concluded with a directed verdict for the defendants at the conclusion of the evidence. The trial court, however, granted Ms. Cornett a new trial.1 In the second trial, the court granted directed verdicts to Vernon Keith on all issues, to both General Equipment and Deere & Company on the issues of negligence and punitive damages and to General Equipment on the strict liability claim. The jury returned a defense verdict on the remaining breach of warranty and strict liability claims. Ms. Cornett appeals, alleging ten errors. We affirm.

Scott Mckeehan v. White Cons.
03S01-9806-CH-00056
Authoring Judge: John K. Byers, Senior Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. Earl H. Henley,
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6- 225(e)(2); Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and conclusions of the trial court in a workers' compensation case. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). The trial judge found the plaintiff sustained an accident in July 1988 and was 1 percent permanently vocationally impaired. As a result, the defendant was ordered to pay 96 percent of the award and the Second Injury Fund was ordered to pay 4 percent of the award. The plaintiff appeals and asserts the date of the industrial accident should be fixed as August 25, 1995. The defendant and the Second Injury Fund appeal also and say the trial court erred in finding the plaintiff 1 percent totally and permanently disabled. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The plaintiff, Scott McKeehan, was 37 years old at the time of the trial. Mr. McKeehan has a high school education and received a special vocational course through his employer, Athens Products. He has an employment history of heavy manual labor. In 1987, Mr. McKeehan injured his back in an automobile accident, and surgery for a herniated disc was done. No workers' compensation award was sought because this was a non-work related injury. Mr. McKeehan testified that he reinjured his back on July 2, 1988 while tightening a bolt in the course and scope of his employment. An MRI performed at that 2

Shawn Michelle (Stewart) Dill v. Jeffrey Allen Dill
02A01-9810-GS-00272
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Judge Max Seaton

This is a child support case. Respondent/Appellant, Jeffrey Allen Dill (Father), appeals the trial court’s order modifying the amount of child support to be paid to Petitioner/Appellee, Shawn Michelle (Stewart) Dill (Mother).

Herman Vanderheyden, d/b/a Vanderheyden Construction Co. v. Ajay Inc. and Federal Savings Bank - Concurring
02A01-9803-CH-00070
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly Kirby Lillard
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Floyd Peete, Jr.

This is a construction case. The defendant owner hired the plaintiff contractor to build a movie theater. The contract contained an arbitration clause. The owner terminated the contractor before the construction was completed. The contractor filed suit against the owner regarding an amount of money required to be held in escrow pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 66-11-144, which permits the contractor to seek “any remedy in a court of proper jurisdiction . . . .” The trial court stayed the proceedings and ordered the parties to arbitration. We reverse and remand.

Alexander & Associates, Inc. v. Debra Bond-Owens - Concurring
01A01-9812-CV-00618
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Judge Thomas W. Brothers

This is a suit initiated in the General Sessions Court for Davidson County by Alexander & Associates, Inc., an insurance agency, seeking to recover from Debra Bond-Owens, its former employee, reimbursement for payments made to her which it contends were “unearned advanced salary in the amount of $5701.37, plus interest.”
 

Shannon Rhea Roberts v. Creig McLaughlin - Concurring
01A01-9812-JV-00631
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Betty Adams Green

This case originated as a paternity action. Shannon Rea Roberts (“Ms.  Roberts”) sought to establish that Creig McLaughlin (“McLaughlin”) was the father of her child, Dylan Daniels Roberts (“Dylan”) (DOB: February 14, 1997). The part of the case now before us concerns the petition to  intervene filed in that proceeding by Janice Roberts (“Grandmother”), who is the mother of Shannon Rea Roberts and the grandmother of Dylan. In her petition, Grandmother seeks court-ordered “reasonable visitation  rights” with Dylan. McLaughlin moved to dismiss Grandmother’s petition, relying on Rule 12.02(6), Tenn.R.Civ.P., and asserting that the petition  “fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”¹ Id. The trial court granted McLaughlin’s motion, finding² that T.C.A. § 36-6-306 (Supp. 1998) does not authorize an award of grandparents’ visitation under the undisputed material facts of this case. Grandmother appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in dismissing her petition.  We affirm.

Charles ClayYoung v. Louise Johnson, Toy Young, and Hubert Barr
01A01-9902-CV-00105
Authoring Judge: Judge David Michael Swiney
Trial Court Judge: Judge John A. Turnbull

Plaintiff filed a pro se complaint ["Torts Suit"] for damages suffered as a result of Defendants' removal of a dwelling he constructed on Young-Graham family cemetery property, and for back wages as a maintenance worker at the cemetery and punitive damages. The Trial Court, after consideration of the pleadings and Affidavits filed by the parties, entered an Order granting the Defendants summary judgment, which judgment the Plaintiff appeals. The appeal was submitted on briefs and addressed only the Defendants' removal of the dwelling the Plaintiff constructed on cemetery property. For the reasons herein stated, we affirm the Trial Court's dismissal of the Plaintiff's complaint.
 

State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services, v. James Bostick Osborne, In the matter of Sherry Monet Hendren
01A01-9810-JV-00564
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Judge Betty Adams Green

This case involves a petition for termination of parental rights. The Respondent/Appellant, James Bostick Osborne, appeals from an order of the Juvenile Court of Davidson County terminating his parental rights as the biological father of Sherry Money Hendren. We affirm the judgment of the Trial Court.

Betty Nesmith and Cecil Nesmith, v. John Alsup, II, and Teresa Alsup
01A01-9809-CH-00509
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert E. Corlew, III

The plaintiff petitioned the court for a declaration that she was entitled to a one-half interest in a farm that had been part of her father’s estate. Her brother responded by claiming to be the sole owner under the provisions of their father’s will, or in the alternative, under a theory of adverse possession. The trial court found that the effect of the will was to divide the property equally between the siblings, and that the brother failed to prove ownership by adverse possession. We affirm the trial court.

Mobile Living, Inc., v. J. Michael Tomlin and Aubrey Earl Gregeory, et al.
01A01-9809-CH-00466
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

This case is before the court on interlocutory appeal from the Chancery Court of Davidson County under Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 9. The trial court order granting the interlocutory appeal presents a single issue: "1. Whether the defendant Gregory's affirmative defenses of waiver, laches and estoppel, abandonment, and breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing are matters of law to be decided by the court and not material facts in dispute, which would be decided by the jury in the case."

State vs. Josephine C. Skidmore
01C01-9804-CR-00159

Randy Dale Hill vs. State
01C01-9806-CR-00273
Trial Court Judge: Cheryl A. Blackburn

TN Downs vs. William Gibbons
02A01-9812-CH-00379
Trial Court Judge: Floyd Peete, Jr.

Jennifer Kensinger vs.s James Kensinger
02A01-9811-CV-00322
Trial Court Judge: James F. Russell

Valerie Humphries vs. Plant Maint.
02A01-9811-CV-00323
Trial Court Judge: George H. Brown

State vs. Maurice Boyd
01C01-9810-CR-00412

01C01-9612-CR-00502
01C01-9612-CR-00502
Trial Court Judge: Ann Lacy Johns

01C01-9801-CC-00045
01C01-9801-CC-00045
Trial Court Judge: Allen W. Wallace

Brennco Inc. vs. Chattanooga Better Housing Comm.
E2000-01508-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Trial Court Judge: W. Frank Brown, III
Plaintiff's action for an order restraining defendant from demolishing plaintiff's buildings was ultimately dismissed, after plaintiff failed to meet conditions set by the Court to keep the restraint in place. On appeal, we affirm.

State vs. Steven Willard Self
03C01-9807-CR-00227
Trial Court Judge: Richard R. Baumgartner

State vs. Chris Teffeteller
03C01-9803-CC-00114
Trial Court Judge: D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.

Luther Fowler vs. State
03C01-9711-CR-00509
Trial Court Judge: Douglas A. Meyer