The team at Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, PC shares updates and thoughts on developments in the law.

When does a Material Change in Circumstances Warrant a Modification of a Parenting Plan?

The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s order on a modification of a parenting plan. The trial court wrongly granted the mother’s petition to change the parenting plan, giving her primary residential custody and the majority of days with the children. The trial court found that based on the material changes of circumstance, and the geographical distance between the parties, it...

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Another Alimony Correction Court of Appeals Win for Donald Capparella

When divorce ends a long-term marriage, a court usually has to make a decision about an award of alimony.  In this case, the trial court properly found that the wife was entitled to alimony, but did not properly account for the wife’s own income-earning capacity. In its alimony analysis, the trial court determined that amount of income the wife needed to sustain a similar lifestyle was $9,700...

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How Taxable Income Can Impact A Spouse’s Ability To Pay Alimony

Alimony in futuro is more likely to be awarded after a lengthy marriage, when one spouse is more economically disadvantaged than the other, and it’s typically awarded for life or until the economically disadvantaged spouse gets remarried. Donald Capparella recently argued two separate cases addressing alimony in futuro at the Court of Appeals. In the case discussed here, a husband was wrongfully...

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Amazon Can Be Liable for Negligent Assumption of Duty to Warn for Website Sale of Dangerous Product

In 2015, online retailer Amazon, Inc. sold more than 250,000 hoverboards through its website.  By November 2015, Amazon knew that these products presented a risk of explosion. Amazon stopped selling the hoverboards and emailed customers with an “Important Product Safety Notification” that mentioned news reports of safety issues and offered information on how to return the product,...

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Tennessee Supreme Court Argument Marks Third Appellate Review in Ten Year Old Case

When litigation begins, lawyers try to prepare their clients for delays.  Sometimes a civil trial is delayed because it takes longer to gather materials than expected, because a witness is unavailable, or because a judge’s docket is full. Sometimes, litigation is protracted not because of delays but because of appeals.  This is why it is important to have an experienced appellate...

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“Final” Doesn’t Mean Last When It Comes to Court Orders

In Tennessee, a “final order” is not necessarily the last order that a court enters at the trial level, and that’s an important point to know when considering whether a litigant has a right to appeal. Generally in Tennessee, parties in civil trial matters are fortunate to have the absolute right to an appeal after the trial court issues its final order. Under Tenn. R. App. P....

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Big Changes to Appellate Procedure in Tennessee

Big changes are coming to Tennessee’s appellate courts in 2017. While news of the move to electronic filing is not new, the recently filed proposed amendments to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure have some significant changes to make way for the change….The biggest change is that the notice of appeal will be filed with the Appellate Court Clerk’s office and not the trial court...

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Third Appeal’s the Charm…

The recent Tennessee Court of Appeals case of Bancorpsouth Bank v. 51 Concrete, LLC provides a good analysis of the principles for an award of prejudgment interest but an even better argument for reasonable settlement of claims… Background This was the third appeal in a conversion action arising from the sale of construction equipment, which served as collateral on a loan, to third parties...

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Does Oral Argument Really Matter?

[Excerpted from materials presented at the Tennessee Appellate Academy in Memphis, Tennessee on April 1.] Can you change a judge’s mind at oral argument? If you are committed to doing one, the only attitude to take is that you can; any other assumption is both risky and counterproductive. One writer stated that “oral arguments are as useless today as the judges during my clerkship...

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