Criminal Defense
Can a Non-Custodial Parent with a Criminal Record Obtain Custody?
A criminal record will keep you from doing a lot of things. It can keep you from getting a loan, getting a job, carrying a firearm, or finding housing. The one thing it might not do is keep you from parenting your child. Just because a non-custodial parent has a criminal record, it doesn’t mean…
Read MorePandemic Forces Tennessee Supreme Court to Suspend In-Person Hearings
A surge in COVID-19 cases throughout Tennessee has prompted the Tennessee Supreme Court to suspend all jury trials and in-person hearings. The order was filed by the state’s Supreme Court and applies to all state and local courts. In-person proceedings and jury trials are suspended until at least March 31. The order, which was issued…
Read MoreMy 17-Year-Old Got Caught with Drugs. What Do I Do?
As the parent of a teenager who sometimes gets into minor trouble from typical teenage antics, you might think back on your own childhood stunts. Your stunts never resulted in life-altering consequences. Your parents probably yelled a little, maybe grounded you and called it a day. Today, even minor incidents can turn into hair-raising events…
Read MoreDo Legal TV Shows Ever Get It Right?
Almost every year, new legal dramas and comedies on television highlight the types of cases that people have in real life. The shows often focus on criminal cases, but there have been popular shows that highlight other areas of the law. The shows profile the legal system from various viewpoints – criminal and civil defense…
Read MoreJudicial Diversion and Pre-trial Diversion in Tennessee, Explained
Let’s say you find yourself on the wrong side of the law. You have never gotten in trouble before, but now, due to a foolish mistake, you find yourself charged with a crime. You are in a panic because you do not know how this will affect your education, your job and your future. If…
Read MoreHow Safe is Southeast Tennessee? Depends on Where You Live
Maryville, the count seat of Blount County, is a city with a reputation for enjoying a good quality of life. It’s ranked one of the best places to live, year after year, by a number of different publications and sites. One of the reasons for that is how low the crime rate is compared to…
Read MoreTennessee Law Enforcement Cracked Down on Drug-related Crimes This Summer
A recent article in the New York Times showed that between January 2016 and January 2017, more than 64,000 people died as a result of an overdose. (The drug that’s pushing those numbers ever higher is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.) In Tennessee, there are rough estimates at how many deaths illegal drugs cause each year…
Read MoreMeth Drug Ring Busts and the Consequences in Tennessee
Tennessee, like many places in the United States right now, is facing down the challenge of an opioid-fueled methamphetamine epidemic. It seems there is constant news coverage of drug busts and the dangerous and often deadly overdoses of the customers of those fledgling operations that are cropping up to meet the ever-growing demand for meth.…
Read MoreAre You Eligible to Get an Expungement in Tennessee?
We make mistakes in our youth; the young tend to think they’re invincible, and often can’t see the repercussions of a “mistake” that involves the law. But flash forward to now. You have gotten your life on track, and you looking forward to getting a good job and having a positive future – but your…
Read MoreThe Real Truth about Getting a DUI in Tennessee
Being arrested for a DUI in Tennessee is serious; you could lose your license, pay thousands of dollars in fines, and you may be ordered to undergo a substance abuse program. But there are some other tricky bits involved with a DUI that most people don’t know. So I wanted to make sure you could…
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