Court Rulings

Following settlor's death, settlor's daughters, the beneficiaries of the settlor's trust, engaged in mediation, which resulted in a settlement agreement concerning the distribution of the trust's assets. Before the settlement was approved by the trial court under the Tennessee Uniform Trust Act ("TUTA"), one of the daughters died, and her estate was substituted in the lawsuit. The surviving siblings then joined in an amended complaint seeking a determination concerning whether the terms of the settlement agreement violated a material purpose of the trust so as to be unenforceable under the TUTA. The deceased daughter's estate argued for enforcement of the settlement agreement such that the estate would receive the deceased daughter's share of the trust. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the estate, holding that the settlement was enforceable under the TUTA. The trial court awarded attorney's fees and costs to the estate under the terms of the settlement. We affirm the trial court's enforcement of the settlement but reverse its award of attorney's fees and costs to the estate.

This case involves a dispute between workers' compensation insurance carriers concerning liability for benefits paid to an injured employee. The plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action seeking indemnity for benefits voluntarily paid to the employee on the theory that the employee was actually a loaned servant, which shifted liability to the defendant borrowing employer. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the undisputed facts could not establish a claim for implied indemnity. We granted this Rule 9 interlocutory appeal to consider whether the trial court improperly denied the motion. After our thorough review, we affirm the trial court's decision to deny the motion for summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.

This appeal involves the termination of a county employee for insubordination and intentional failure to carry out instructions. The employee appealed to the Shelby County Civil Service Merit Board, which upheld his termination after a hearing. The employee then sought review in chancery court, and again his termination was upheld. He now seeks review before this Court. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the chancery court and remand for further proceedings.

The defendant, Adam Lee Ipock, appeals his Fentress County Circuit Court jury convictions of vehicular assault, driving under the influence ("DUI"), and simple possession of methadone, claiming that he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court erred by permitting the State to question him about the facts underlying his prior convictions and that the charges of vehicular assault and DUI must be dismissed because the State relied on a blood toxicology report obtained in violation of his right to due process. The prosecutor improperly inquired into the facts underlying the defendant's prior convictions, and the error was not harmless when viewed in light of the evidence of the defendant's guilt of vehicular assault and DUI. In consequence, we affirm the defendant's conviction of simple possession but reverse the convictions of vehicular assault and DUI and remand those charges for a new trial.

In this post-divorce matter, the trial court determined that the father's child support obligation should be increased due to the father's significant increase in income subsequent to the parties' divorce. In calculating the father's new child support obligation amount, however, the trial court included the children's private school expenses, which the father had previously agreed to bear, as a "work-related childcare" expense for the father on the respective child support worksheet, thereby reducing the father's child support obligation. The mother has appealed. We vacate the trial court's modifications to the parties' permanent parenting plan and its calculation of child support, including its inclusion of private school tuition and health insurance premiums paid by a stepparent on the child support worksheet. We remand the child support issue to the trial court for recalculation of the father's child support obligation consistent with this opinion. We also vacate the trial court's partial award of attorney's fees to the mother and remand that issue to the trial court for determination of a reasonable award of all attorney's fees incurred by the mother concerning her petition to increase the father's child support obligation. We affirm the trial court's judgment in all other respects. In addition, we grant the mother's request for attorney's fees incurred on appeal.

ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL - unemployment compensation appeal to court of common pleas dismissed failure to prosecute without prejudice no assignments of error no argument to evaluate App.R. 16(A) nothing to review.

ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL - R.C. 2506.04 standard of review question of law de novo board of utilities appeal imposition of additional tap-in/capacity fee for drinking water and sewage expansion of restaurant change of use interpretation of water department regulations.

The Defendant, John Orise Adams III, was convicted by a jury of one count of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-402. The trial court then imposed an eight-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends (1) that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the Defendant's conviction (2) that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the Defendant's drug use (3) that the trial court erred in allowing a witness to testify that the Defendant was "aware" of certain events prior to the robbery because the witness could not have had personal knowledge of what the Defendant was "aware" of and (4) that the cumulative effect of these errors denied the Defendant a fair trial. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.