APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Please enter some keywords to search.
HCA, Inc., v. American Protection Insurance and Industrial Risk Insurers, et al.

M2003-02065-COA-R3-CV

HCA, Inc. appeals the action of the trial court in granting summary judgment to the insurer/
defendants based upon an “inventory exclusion” provision in the policies of insurance. We reverse
the action of the trial court and remand the case for further proceedings.

 

Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle
Davidson County Court of Appeals 01/24/05
HCA v. American Protection Insurance & Industrial Risk - Concurring

M2003-02065-COA-R3-CV

I concur with the outcome of the Court’s opinion. However, I am writing separately to focus on HCA. Inc.’s burden of production in response to the insurers’ motion for summary judgment and on the effect of our construction of the “inventory exclusion” clauses in HCA’s all risk insurance contracts on this burden of production.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle
Davidson County Court of Appeals 01/24/05
Aabert F. Joseph v. Ex Parte

M2004-01651-COA R3-CV

The appellant filed an ex parte petition for name change, but failed to pay a portion of the filing fee (20%). The petition was dismissed. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Judge William H. Inman, Sr.
Originating Judge:Judge Thomas W. Brothers
Davidson County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
Janna Sheya Falk v. Geary Falk

M2003-02134-COA-R3-CV

This is a divorce case involving an invalid marriage resulting from the existence of a subsisting previous marriage at the time of the parties' marriage ceremony in 1995. At the time of the parties' marriage ceremony, the purported wife's divorce from a previous marriage was still pending. The wife's divorce from her prior marriage did not become final until three and one-half months following the parties' marriage ceremony. The parties lived together as husband and wife until the wife filed for divorce in 2003. The trial court declared the parties divorced pursuant to section 36-4-101(2) of the Tennessee Code. The trial court then classified the parties' "marital" and separate property, making an equitable division of the "marital" property. The husband appeals the trial court's order granting a divorce and awarding certain property to the wife. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Judge C. L. Rogers
Sumner County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
Hannah Harris, et al., v. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, et al.

W2004-00012-COA-R3-CV

Following the death of their premature daughter, the mother and father filed a medical malpractice
lawsuit against several defendants, including the mother’s treating physician. The trial court granted the doctor’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm since our supreme court has expressly stated that Tennessee does not recognize a cause of action for loss of chance.
 

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Judge Robert L. Childers
Shelby County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
Sandra Claudine Morrow Howard v. Mark Anthony Howard

02660-COA-R3-CV

The Trial Court’s classification, evaluation and division of marital property was appealed by the
husband. We affirm the Judgment of the Trial Court.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge:Chancellor Jerri S. Bryant
McMinn County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
Noel and Josephine Crawley v. Hamilton County, Tennessee

E2003-03028-COA-R3-CV

Plaintiffs' action for damages against defendant was dismissed by summary judgment on grounds that "fringe benefits" provided by defendant was plaintiff's exclusive remedy. We vacate the summary judgment.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge:Judge L. Marie Williams
Hamilton County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
Amy Owens v. Ronnie Owens

W2003-03077-COA-R3-CV

This is a divorce action. The trial court designated Wife as the primary residential parent of the parties’ minor child and awarded Husband visitation. It also awarded wife alimony of $415 per month for 16 years. Husband appeals. We affirm designation of Wife as the primary residential
parent and the award of visitation to Husband. We modify the alimony award to an award of rehabilitative alimony of $415 per month for a period of five years.

Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Chancellor William Michael Maloan
Obion County Court of Appeals 01/21/05
John Jay Hooker v. Bill Purcell

M2003-03107-COA-R3-CV

Plaintiff appeals the denial of his Tenn. R. Civ. P. 60.02(3) motion by which he sought to be relieved from a final judgment that dismissed his complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Plaintiff argues that the order dismissing his action was "void" because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to dismiss his action. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Judge Frank G. Clement, Jr.
Originating Judge:Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman
Davidson County Court of Appeals 01/20/05
In re: Estate of Roy W. Barnett, Deceased

W2003-02530-COA-R3-CV

This appeal arises out of a claim filed against Decedent’s estate by the Bureau of TennCare.
Decedent’s estate filed an exception to the claim arguing that such claim was barred because
Decedent was not provided with notice of the State of Tennessee’s recovery provisions as required by section 71-5-118(l) of the Tennessee Code. The trial court found that the Bureau of TennCare’s claim was barred on the basis that no written notice of the State’s recovery provisions was provided to Decedent or his family members. The Bureau of TennCare brought the instant appeal to this Court, and, for the following reasons, we reverse.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Chancellor George R. Ellis
Haywood County Court of Appeals 01/20/05
Michael Underwood v. Tennessee Department of Correction

W2004-01630-COA-R3-CV

This is a petition for certiorari seeking review of the department’s disciplinary proceedings. The
petitioner, a prisoner, was disciplined for abuse of his telephone privileges. He appealed the
disciplinary charges against him through the administrative process, with no success. He then filed the petition for certiorari in the trial court below, seeking review of the adverse administrative
decisions against him. The trial court dismissed the petition for certiorari, because it was not verified and it did not allege that it was the first application for the writ as required under T.C.A. § 27-8-106. The petitioner now appeals that decision. We affirm.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Chancellor J. Steven Stafford
Lake County Court of Appeals 01/20/05
Jackson Energy Authority v. William T. Diamond, Jr.

W2004-01090-COA-R3-CV

This case involves the timeliness of an appeal from General Sessions Court to Circuit Court. The plaintiff utility company sued the defendant building owner in General Sessions Court for past due utility payments. On July 28, 2003, the General Sessions Court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff. On August 1, 2003, the defendant filed a petition to rehear, seeking to have the judgment set aside. On August 6, 2003, the General Sessions Court denied the petition to rehear. On August 18, 2003, the defendant filed a notice of appeal for a de novo review in Circuit Court. The Circuit Court dismissed the appeal on the basis that it was not filed within ten days of the final General Sessions judgment entered on July 28, 2003. The defendant now appeals that decision, arguing that the ten-day time limitation was tolled by his General Sessions petition to rehear. We affirm, concluding that the time limitation for filing an appeal to Circuit Court is not tolled by a petition to rehear filed in General Sessions, because no statute grants the General Sessions Court authority to hear such a petition to rehear.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Judge Donald H. Allen
Madison County Court of Appeals 01/20/05
Jerry C. Harlan v. Carol L. Soloman

M2003-01396-COA-R3-CV

This appeal comes to the court from the trial court's approval of a special master's report. The case was referred to a special master following a jury trial after which appellee Harlan was awarded 16.79% ownership in certain real property which appellant Soloman had purchased. The report did not consider depreciation and other deductions which Harlan had claimed in connection with his alleged ownership of the property. After the court adopted the report Soloman moved to amend the order, arguing that she was entitled to an 83.21% share of those deductions, and that the trial court should amend the report to conform with the motion. The trial court refused. Soloman appeals. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:Chancellor Donald P. Harris
Williamson County Court of Appeals 01/19/05
Riverside Surgery Center, LLC., et al. v. Methodist Health Systems Inc.

W2004-01195-COA-R3-CV

This case presents the interpretation of a transfer restriction clause in an LLC operating agreement.  The plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment requesting a declaration that the defendant, by negotiating for the sale of its interest in the LLC and granting a third-party buyer an option to purchase defendant’s interest, had triggered the plaintiffs’ preemptive purchase rights under the operating agreement. The defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment arguing that the transfer restriction clause in the operating agreement was triggered only by written notice of the intent to sell, which was never given. The trial court found that, under the language of the operating agreement, the plaintiffs’ preemptive purchase rights were triggered by the“desire or wish” of the selling member to transfer its interest and that the defendant had the desire or wish to transfer its membership interest in the LLC. The defendant appeals. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Chancellor W. Michael Maloan
Dyer County Court of Appeals 01/19/05
Annette Marie Thompson Bulick v. Richard Lee Thompson, Jr.

W2004-00816-COA-R3-CV

Father/Appellant filed a Petition in Opposition to Mother’s Relocation with the Minor Child.
Trial court found that parents did not exercise substantially equal parenting time under the Parental Relocation Statute, T.C.A. § 36-6-108, and allowed Mother/Appellee to move with the minor child. Father appeals. We affirm.
 

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Judge D'Army Bailey
Shelby County Court of Appeals 01/18/05
Annette Marie Thompson Bulick v. Richard Lee Thompson, Jr. - Concurring

W2004-00816-COA-R3-CV

I agree with the result reached by the majority and generally with the reasoning, but write
separately only on the issue of how the amount of time each parent spends with the child is
calculated, both by the majority and by the trial court. The trial court here looked only at the number
of overnight stays the child had with each parent, and indeed that is typically accurate and easily
ascertained. In some cases, however, it can be misleading, and I believe this is such a case. Here, the child would regularly spend the entire day, through the evening meal, with Father and would be returned to Mother in time for bed. In such a case, the trial court should look at the totality of the circumstances in comparing each parent’s time with their child. I concur in the result reached by the majority because, in this case, I do not believe that looking at the totality of the circumstances would affect the outcome. But where, as here, an involved, dedicated father will have his relationship with his daughter deeply affected by the mother’s relocation, the time each parent spends with the child should be measured as accurately as can reasonably be done.
In all other respects, I concur fully with the majority opinion.

Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Judge D'Army Bailey
Shelby County Court of Appeals 01/18/05
A.B.C. v. A.H.

E2004-00916-COA-R3-CV

This child custody case presents the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in awarding the father custody of the parties' child and (2) whether the trial court erred in ordering the father to pay the mother's attorney fees. We hold that the trial court considered the relevant statutory factors and that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court's award of custody to the father. We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the father to pay the mother's attorney fees. Although not raised as an issue on appeal, we note that the father did not request child support from the mother and the trial court did not set child support. We hold that the father did not have the right to waive child support. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's judgment regarding custody of the child, affirm the award of attorney fees, and remand this cause to the trial court for determination of the mother's child support obligation to the father.

Authoring Judge: Judge Sharon G. Lee
Originating Judge:Judge Carey E. Garrett
Knox County Court of Appeals 01/13/05
Michael K. Holt v. C. V. Alexander, Jr., M.D., and Jackson Radiology Associates

W2003-02541-COA-R3-CV

This is a medical battery case. The plaintiff went to the hospital suffering from a kidney stone, and
was admitted for observation. The next morning, the plaintiff was told that he was scheduled to
undergo a procedure to remove the stone. Soon, the defendant physician came to see the plaintiff
and told him that he would be performing an invasive procedure which required significant recovery time. According to the plaintiff, the plaintiff then asked the defendant physician whether his treating urologist had approved of the procedure. The defendant physician responded that he had spoken with the urologist and that the urologist had approved the procedure. The plaintiff then signed a consent form, and the procedure was performed. The plaintiff later learned that the defendant physician had not spoken with his urologist, and that the urologist did not approve the procedure. The plaintiff sued the defendant physician and his medical group for medical battery. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The plaintiff now appeals. We reverse, finding that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the plaintiff’s consent to surgery was vitiated by the defendant physician’s alleged misrepresentation of fact.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Judge Donald H. Allen
Madison County Court of Appeals 01/13/05
Donald M. Taylor v. City of Chattanooga, Police Department

E2004-00701-COA-R3-CV

Plaintiff brought a replevin action against defendant to recover his motor vehicle which had been seized by the defendant. The action was initiated in Sessions Court, but transferred by agreement of the parties to Circuit Court. The trial court entered Judgment on behalf of the plaintiff for $8,500.00, having found that the defendant had sold plaintiff's vehicle. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge:Judge W. Neil Thomas, III
Hamilton County Court of Appeals 01/13/05
Michael Lynn Martindale v. Margo Miller Martindale

W2003-00712-COA-R3-CV

This is a post-divorce alimony case. The parties were divorced in 1995 and the mother was awarded rehabilitative alimony for seven years. In 2003, the trial court extended the rehabilitative alimony until the youngest of the parties’ four children graduated from high school. The extension of alimony was based on the demands of being the primary residential parent for the parties’ four young sons, two of whom were found to have learning disabilities. The father appealed the extension of rehabilitative alimony. We affirm.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Judge Joe C. Morris
Madison County Court of Appeals 01/13/05
State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services v. ABB, In the Matter of: LJB, Jr., d/o/b 12/05/1997 and EJB, d/o/b 02/26/1999, Children Under 18 Years of Age

E2004-01306-COA-R3-PT

In this action to terminate the parental rights of the mother, ABB, to LJB, Jr., and EJB, the Juvenile Court ordered ABB's rights terminated, and the mother has appealed. We affirm.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge:Judge Suzanne Bailey
Hamilton County Court of Appeals 01/13/05
Cellco Partnership D/B/A Verizon Wireless, et al., v. Shelby County, Tennessee, et al.

W2003-02942-COA-R3-CV

In this case we are asked to construe several instruments related to a parcel of real property. In 1976, Shelby County obtained title to a parcel of property conveyed out of a larger tract and proceeded to construct a water tower on the property. From 1976 to 1982, Shelby County used a gravel road traversing the adjacent lot retained by the original grantor to gain access to the water tower. In 1982, the original grantor proceeded to executea document purporting to grant Shelby County an easement over the gravel road. The original grantor subsequently conveyed the adjacent parcel to a third party, Highway 64 Partners. In 1995, Shelby County entered into a lease agreement with Verizon, allowing Verizon to install a cellular communications antenna on the water tower and granted Verizon an easement over the gravel road. Highway 64 Partners protested Verizon’s use of the gravel road. Verizon filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration of the parties’ rights County, and denied summary judgment to Highway 64 Partners. We affirm.
 

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Judge Kay S. Robilio
Shelby County Court of Appeals 01/12/05
Lamar Tennessee, LLC, d/b/a Lamar Advertising of Nashville v. The City of Hendersonville

M2003-00415-COA-R3-CV

In 1987, a billboard advertising company obtained a permit to construct a billboard, approximately seventy-five (75) square feet in size, along a stretch of roadway in Hendersonville, Tennessee. At the time of issuance, the applicable zoning ordinance stated the billboard could not exceed eighty (80) square feet in size. Later that same year, the city passed a new zoning regulation providing that billboards could no longer be erected in the area as a primary use. Instead, billboards could only be erected as an accessory use to another primary use on the premises. The new zoning ordinance did not change the maximum allowable size of a billboard, which remained at eighty (80) square feet. Subsequent to the enactment of the new ordinance, the billboard company filed for a permit, pursuant to section 13-7-208 of the Tennessee Code, seeking to demolish the existing billboard and construct a new billboard, at 220 square feet in size, in its place. When the city denied the permit, the billboard company filed an action in the chancery court seeking a declaratory judgment, writ of mandamus, and permanent injunction. The billboard company also filed a motion for summary judgment, which the chancery court granted. The city filed an appeal to this court. We reverse.

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Chancellor Tom E. Gray
Sumner County Court of Appeals 01/11/05
Mid-Century Insurance Company v. Virginia Williams, et al.

W2004-00484-COA-R3-CV

Appellant, an insurance company, appeals from trial court’s judgment finding that the
business pursuit and home care service exclusions to personal liability coverage in a homeowners insurance policy did not exclude coverage for accidental death of child who drowned in a bathtub while in the care of Appellee. Trial court found that Appellee’s arrangement to care for decedent was not a business pursuit or home care service within the meaning of the insurance contract, but rather was an informal type of babysitting motivated by love and/or favor for deceased child’s parents. Appellant contends that motivation by profit was irrelevant to whether Appellee was engaged in a business pursuit or home care service, that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s fact findings, and that trial court erred in finding for Appellees. We reverse the judgment of the trial court, finding that the business pursuit and home care service exclusions do bar coverage under the homeowners policy.
 

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Judge Jon K. Blackwood
Hardeman County Court of Appeals 01/11/05
Ronda Gaw Brady, et al. v. James Donald Calcote, et al.

M2003-01690-COA-R3-CV

This appeal arises out of a shareholder derivative action brought by Appellant in behalf of Community Bank of the Cumberlands against the Appellees, the directors and chief financial officer of the Bank. The trial court granted the Appellee's motion to dismiss and further awarded Appellees their attorney's fees and the Bank its expenses for a Special Litigation Committee. Appellant seeks review by this Court, and, for the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Judge John A. Turnbull
Putnam County Court of Appeals 01/11/05