Intermediate Scrutiny Blog

November 2–November 8, 2024 Woman with a history of financially motivated criminal dishonesty contests Decedent’s will; claims that she and the Decedent had secretly married; and seeks half of his “sizeable” estate.  The trial court dismisses the petition, finding both that clear and convincing evidence demonstrated that the marriage certificate that Woman presented was

October 26–November 1, 2024 Driver who carries uninsured motorist insurance is injured in a car accident with an uninsured motorist.  Driver sues both the uninsured motorist and Driver's Insurer, but the case proceeds to trial against Driver’s Insurer alone.  Afterward, the jury finds for the Driver and awards her $320,000.00 in damages for the

October 12–October 25, 2024 Realtor files malicious prosecution lawsuit against Defendant who filed an ethics complaint against Realtor, which the Tennessee Real Estate Commission resolved as: “CLOSED/NO ACTION.” Because filing an ethics complaint is presumptively protected petitioning activity, Defendant petitions to dismiss Realtor’s lawsuit under the Tennessee Public Participation Act, but the trial court

September 28–October 11, 2024 Child suffers serious injuries, requires multiple surgeries after being cut on a “broken metal pole with [] jagged edges which was allowed to remain embedded in [a] lakebed.”  The pole was maintained by the State on state-owned property, so the Child’s resulting negligence claim is filed in the Claims Commission. 

September 14–September 27, 2024 Crappy and famously abusive teledentistry company that is now in bankruptcy sues NBC for reporting on its ineffective products, seeks a gagillion dollars in damages.  NBC petitions to dismiss SmileDirectClub’s SLAPP-suit under the Tennessee Public Participation Act, and the trial court does so.  Tennessee Court of Appeals: And that decision stands. 

August 24–September 13, 2024 Little Richard dies.  His will lays out a plan for nine beneficiaries to work together to exploit his rights of publicity upon his death.  After a majority of the beneficiaries agree on a plan to do so, a dissenting beneficiary—who is also one of the co-administrators of Little Richard’s estate—sabotages