By Daniel A. Horwitz: Defending Criminal Contempt Cases in Tennessee[1] Under Tennessee law, courts may punish a person’s contempt of a court order as a criminal offense. Courts’ criminal contempt authority “is designed to preserve the power and vindicate the dignity and authority of the
By Daniel A. Horwitz: I. Introduction[1] In 2016, Tennessee enacted a new law criminalizing the “unlawful exposure” of certain sexually explicit, private images: a form of sexual abuse commonly known as “revenge porn.”[2] Tennessee’s “unlawful exposure” law supplemented a pre-existing criminal statute that prohibited
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
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
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
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
By Daniel A. Horwitz: Strategic lawsuits against public participation—better known as “SLAPP-suits”—use the legal system to punish constitutionally protected speech.[1] The Tennessee Supreme Court has explained that “[t]he primary aim of a SLAPP is not to prevail on the merits, but rather to chill
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
“[A]ll enforcement of the recruitment provision” of Tennessee’s so-called “Abortion Trafficking” statute is now preliminarily enjoined, U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger has ordered. The decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by Horwitz Law, PLLC clients Rachel Welty and Tennessee State
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