TDLA News

TDLA has recently become involved in several issues that our Amicus Committee and TDLA Board found would be important for our civil defense community.

TDLA has recently participated/ approved participation as amicus in the following Tennessee appellate court cases:

· Denson v. Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, et. al., E.2023-00027-SC-R11-CV (case regarding the sufficiency of pre-suit notice under TN healthcare liability law).

· Castillo v. Rex, et. al., E2022-00322-COA-R9-CV (case regarding protective order addressing communications between defendant hospital and decedent’s family).

· Doe v. Bellevue Baptist Church, W2022-01350-COA-R3-CV (case addressing dismissal of parents’ claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress in relation to sexual abuse of their child, on the basis that the claims are not legally cognizable because the parents did not perceive any injury-producing event).

· Locke v. Aston, M2022-01820-COA-R9-CV (health care liability case involving issue of whether the defendant must produce surveillance videos of the plaintiff in discovery).

The Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association is proud to honor the outstanding talent and remarkable achievements of our esteemed members through the presentation of two prestigious annual awards at the upcoming Fall Meeting Awards event in Lexington. We are currently accepting nominations for these esteemed accolades (Defense Lawyer of the Year and Rising Star Awards), and the deadline for nominee submissions is September 16, 2024. To qualify for consideration, nominees must maintain active membership in good standing with TDLA.

2024 TDLA Award Nominee Form: Click Here

TDLA would like to congratulate the following 2023 Awards Winners honored at our Annual Meeting this past year. 

2023-2024

Defense Lawyer of the Year - Scott Rhodes, White & Rhodes

Rising Star - Christina Hadaway, Hickman, Goza & Spragins

Nathan E. Shelby Emerging Leaders Award - AJ Parker, Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell

DEFENSE LAWYER OF THE YEAR
To honor a TDLA member who has made significant contributions to TDLA, to the defense bar, and/or to the practice of law in Tennessee this year.

RISING STAR AWARD
To honor a TDLA member who has been practicing law 10 years or less and who has made significant contributions to TDLA, to the defense bar, and/or who has promoted the interests of young lawyers in Tennessee this year.

Nathan E. Shelby Emerging Leaders Award
To honor an emerging TDLA leader and participant in the TDLA Emerging Leaders Program, who has demonstrated development of leadership skills through participation in multiple TDLA events. The award honors Nathan Shelby (1979-2023), TDLA President-Elect 2022-2023, who was known for his strength in identifying and mentoring young lawyers to fulfill their potential as effective civil defense lawyers, and as emerging leaders in TDLA.

The TDLA 2024 Sponsorship Package is now available! TDLA takes pride in its ability to maximize your business’s exposure to our growing membership of defense attorneys in Tennessee. The exceptional growth of TDLA and its sponsors over the past few years is a testament to our ability to work cohesively with our partners. TDLA will host our 2024 Annual Meeting in the fall of 2024 jointly with Kentucky Defense Counsel.

To view the 2024 sponsor package, please Click Here.

If you, or any of your friends/ colleagues/ firm members or associates, need additional assistance with dealing with the emotional impact of sad news, please consider contacting the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP), which is available to support lawyers across the state of Tennessee, and can be reached at https://tlap.org/ or 615-741-3238 or toll free at 877-424-8527.  

With heavy hearts, the TDLA Board shares the heartbreaking news of the sudden and unexpected passing on September 6, 2023 of our beloved TDLA President Elect Nathan Shelby.  Nathan was a partner with Rainey, Kizer, Revere & Bell for 16 years and dedicated his life to helping others.  He leaves behind a loving wife and three beautiful children. 

Memorial information is available here:  https://www.coleandgarrett.com/obituaries/nathan-shelby   

TDLA President Hannah Lowe is excited to launch the Emerging Leaders program. Emerging Leaders is a Leadership Development Program whereby lawyers in our organization can have the opportunity to learn and develop leadership skills and be recognized for their participation in various TDLA activities. The program will launch at the TDLA Annual Meeting at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Spencer, TN on September 13-15, 2023. Anyone wishing to participate in the Emerging Leaders Program will be able to sign up using the link on the TDLA website. Each participant will receive a Progress Tracker, which will have space for each participant to mark when a task is complete.

The tasks are divided into two groups: Level 1 (more basic tasks), and Level 2 (more advanced tasks). When members complete 6/8 tasks in each level, they will be recognized as a TDLA Emerging Leader either Level 1 or Level 2 and receive recognition as a graduate of the TDLA Emerging Leaders Program at the TDLA Annual Meeting Awards Dinner, in the Newsletter and/or Journal, and on the TDLA website.

There will be no specific deadline for completion of the tasks on the list; however, if a member wishes to be recognized at the Annual Meeting, the Progress Tracker must be submitted (to office@tdla.net) by the end of the month before the annual meeting. Members who have already completed one or more task on the lists at the time of the Program Launch may mark the task complete with the completed date on the Progress Sheet.

Any members who have completed 6 of 8 tasks from either Level 1 or Level 2 by the time of the next TDLA Annual Meeting and submit their form by the end of the month before the meeting (TDLA’s next annual meeting will be in October 2024) will be recognized as a graduate of the Emerging Leaders Program at the Annual Meeting. They will also receive recognition in the TDLA Newsletter and/or Journal, and on the TDLA website. We plan to dedicate at least one hour of the TDLA Young Lawyers Boot Camp at the Annual Meeting to leadership training as part of the Emerging Leaders Program.

TDLA is excited about identifying and working with our emerging leaders to help them to develop the leadership skills they need to thrive not just in our organization but in the legal profession generally.

Emerging Leaders Program Tracker - PDF form: click here

Emerging Leaders Program Tracker - Online form: click here

Members are invited to take advantage of the TDLA Member Forums which are private online legal topic discussion areas, only for TDLA members. These forums may be found in the Members Only section of the TDLA website. 

The following forums may be found in the TDLA Members Only section:

• Young Lawyers Forum
• Tort Section Forum
• Professional Negligence and Med Mal Forum
• Workers' Compensation Law Forum
• Labor and Employment Law Forum

You must be signed in to the website to view the forums.

TDLA recognizes the talent and achievements of our members each year with the Defense Lawyer of the Year award and the Rising Star award. TDLA congratulates this year's award winners: Chris Frulla with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell in Memphis who received the Defense Lawyer of the Year award for 2022. Chancey Miller with Carr Allison in Chattanooga took home the Rising Star award this year.

Chris has been in practice for 10 years and established himself as a well respected trial lawyer within his community, according to Dawn Carson, TDLA Immediate Past President. He has tried numerous cases to verdict and most have been successful. He is an example for the younger defense attorneys and balances his busy work life with being a wonderful new father at home. TDLA congratulates Chris on all of his achievements within the legal community and at home.

In the five years he has practiced law, his nominator Derek Mullins writes, Chancey has gone above and beyond the proverbial call of duty to advance the cause of the defense bar in Tennessee, the activities of TDLA, and the collegiality of the practice of law, generally. This year, Chancey organized the TDLA YLD Happy Hour in Chattanooga and coordinated multiple amicus briefs for cases before Tennessee appellate courts. Chancey not only maintained but even managed to improve upon his ever-diligent work ethic to obtain positive results for his defense clients and figure out ways to further the cause of defense clients everywhere by being creative and innovative with his approaches and arguments. TDLA congratulates Chancey Miller on receiving the 2022 Rising Star award!

TDLA held its Annual Meeting on August 31 - September 2, 2022 in Nashville. During that meeting the 2022-2023 TDLA Board was announced. TDLA looks forward to the leadership of the following individuals:

Hannah Lowe - TDLA President

Nathan Shelby - TDLA President-Elect

Michael Haynie - TDLA Secretary/ Treasurer

Dawn Carson - TDLA Immediate Past President

Director I (one year terms)

Kenny Veit

Sean Martin

Chris Frulla

Divisional Directors (three year terms)

Rachel Bishop - Middle TN Representative

Ken Ward - East TN Representative

Hank Spragins - West TN Representative