In a unanimous panel opinion issued on August 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ordered that Horwitz Law, PLLC appellate client Kenneth Mynatt's malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy claims against the United States—maintained under the Federal Tort Claims
The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, Registry of Election Finance “is in contempt of court,” a senior Chancery Court judge has found. The finding arose from the Registry’s willful collection of $64,000.00 in PAC fees in violation of a permanent injunction prohibiting
In an opinion issued September 28, 2021, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ordered that Horwitz Law, PLLC appellate client Kenneth Mynatt's malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy claims be reinstated. The Court's unanimous ruling, authored by Judge Thomas R. Frierson, explains that the retirement
A Davidson County Circuit Court judge has ordered approval of a $304,000.00 settlement award arising from a May 2020 dog attack in Madison. The $304,000.00 award is among the largest—if not the largest—recoveries ever obtained in a dog bite case in Tennessee that did not
In a resounding win for free speech, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle has issued an order striking down Tennessee's criminal defamation law prohibiting false "campaign literature in opposition to any candidate in any election." Finding that the law represented an unlawful content-based, viewpoint-based,
In a unanimous panel opinion, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has affirmed a ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle that two of Tennessee's campaign finance statutes unlawfully discriminate against non-partisan speakers and violate the First Amendment. As a result, the
The second-ever anti-SLAPP petition filed under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA)—Tennessee’s new anti-SLAPP statute—has officially been granted, accompanied by the largest fee-shifting award ($26,500.00) ever awarded in a defamation case filed in Tennessee. The final order—granted by Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Joe
In the last chapter of year-long saga, the dismissal of Déjà Vu Showgirls's SLAPP-suit against Linda Schipani—previously dismissed outright for failure to state any cognizable claim for relief—has been unanimously upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Said Daniel Horwitz, Schipani’s attorney: “Deja
On July 1, 2019, the Tennessee Public Participation Act—Tennessee's first meaningful anti-SLAPP statute—took effect. The statute dramatically expanded the scope of speech that receives heightened legal protection in Tennessee. It also equips people targeted by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation ("SLAPP-suits") with important tools
In a Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on February 4, 2019, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Deja Vu of Nashville, a local strip club, against business owner Linda Schipani. The lawsuit arose out of