There are times when settlement of case is in our client’s benefit. Under the new DUI sentencing laws of 2014, treatment programs play a major part in how a client's sentence can be served. Many times the difference between serving 45 days (day for day in jail) and 25 days (with the [...]
We should always carefully examine the consequences of creating laws that prohibit and harshly punish acts we simply don't like, but that aren’t inherently evil actions. In the international world, Reverend Hyan Soo Lim was given a life sentence with hard labor today in North Korea after traveling to the country on [...]
This simple question is actually a multi-layered problem and its answer is subject to several different interpretations and situations. Tennessee is an equitable distribution state which means basically that whatever you bring into the relationship - you leave with; whatever you earn or receive during the marriage is marital property; and marital property (property bought [...]
Twenty-five years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the fields to the south of the Mt. Juliet exit at I-40 turning into the major commercial and residential development that is Providence. Back then, Mt. Juliet stopped at the interstate. Highway 109 was practically untraveled and Highway 70 from Mt. Juliet to Lebanon [...]
The above result is particularly timely as domestic violence charges were dropped this week against Nashville businessman David Chase. After spending over a year professing his innocence of the Domestic Violence and Strangulation charges filed against him by his former girlfriend, the Prosecutors in the case asked the Judge to drop the charges [...]
Beginning July 1st, the penalties for driving with insurance in Tennessee are getting much tougher. While "Proof of Financial Responsibility (Insurance)" has been required in Tennessee for a few years now, there were few teeth in the law. The Tennessee Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, a new law which will [...]
My clients are often placed on bond with the restriction of being required to use a transdermal monitoring device as a condition of bond if the person has a prior alcohol-related conviction. These devices are not only embarrassing and cumbersome, but are also very expensive, sometimes as high as $125.00 per week. We are able to [...]
Frank and Melanie are attending the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Conference in Nashville today and have been getting briefed on new and changing laws in Tennessee. Frank sent the following on Vehicular Homicide. . . As a general rule, Vehicular Homicide is a class B felony that carries a possible sentence of [...]
A potential client came by our office late last Friday very worried about a legal problem facing them. After spending some time with us, they left with peace of mind and the confidence to allow them to spend a long holiday weekend worry-free with their family. To say thanks, they brought us an apple [...]
A great number of the criminal cases I handle are for younger people. While these younger clients are most often between 18-21, it is becoming more common to see youths under 18 charged with serious crimes. I have often criticized the philosophy that young people in our society are considered too immature to make their [...]
