APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

This dispute over the custody of a minor child arose after the paternal grandparents filed an intervening petition for child custody. They were granted temporary custody of the child pending a hearing on the matter. After two hearings, the trial court ordered that custody remain with the paternal grandparents pending the results of home studies of each party seeking custody, i.e., the mother and the paternal grandparents. The trial court held additional hearings after receiving the results of the home studies and awarded custody to the paternal grandparents. We affirm the trial court.

This is the third occasion which this Court has had to address the merits of this case. By prior opinions and judgments entered on September 6, 1996, and February 17, 1998, respectively, the Court addressed previous issues on appeal. In the interests of judicial efficiency, the Court adopts and incorporates herein the following recitation of facts contained in our opinion entered in this cause on February 17, 1998: In this case, an inmate at a state correctional institution filed
a defamation [lawsuit] in circuit court against two state employees. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, holding that the Tennessee Claims Commission had exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. The trial court also denied the plaintiff's requests for default judgment. . . .

David Aaron Goodman (“Husband” or “Appellant”) appeals the judgment of the trial court which awarded a divorce to Halle Lynn Goodman (“Wife” or “Appellee”), found Wife to be incapable of being rehabilitated and ordered Husband to pay the sum of $2,200.00 per month to Wife as alimony in futuro, and the sum of $16,961.25 as alimony in solido for Wife’s attorney fees, and further ordered Husband to pay credit card debt in the amount of $22,000.00 incurred by Wife after separation.

This personal injury case arose when Plaintiff Barbara Cornett sustained injuries while operating a lawn mower manufactured by Defendant Deere & Company and sold by General Equipment and its owner Vernon Keith. Ms. Cornett sued, alleging negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. She also sought punitive damages. The first trial concluded with a directed verdict for the defendants at the conclusion of the evidence. The trial court, however, granted Ms. Cornett a new trial.1 In the second trial, the court granted directed verdicts to Vernon Keith on all issues, to both General Equipment and Deere & Company on the issues of negligence and punitive damages and to General Equipment on the strict liability claim. The jury returned a defense verdict on the remaining breach of warranty and strict liability claims. Ms. Cornett appeals, alleging ten errors. We affirm.

This appeal involves a law firm’s efforts to enforce a statutory attorney’s lien on the proceeds of a post-verdict personal injury settlement. After the law firm withdrew from representing the plaintiff because of a dispute arising from the settlement, the Circuit Court for Robertson County, the court where the underlying personal injury action had been tried, granted the law firm’s motion for a lien on the settlement proceeds for its fee and costs advanced on the plaintiff’s behalf. Thereafter, the trial court granted the law firm’s motion to execute on the lien and directed the plaintiff to pay her former law firm $51,091.99. On this appeal, the plaintiff asserts that the trial court erred by directing her to pay her former law firm because the lien was not properly perfected and because the procedure followed by the trial court did not permit her to assert her available claims and defenses against her former law firm. While we have determined that the law firm properly perfected its lien, we find that the trial court did not have the authority to adjudicate the fee dispute between the law firm and its former client. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order granting the motion for execution of the attorney’s lien.