Glen Campbell’s Estate Worth $410,000, Report Says

The estate of country music and pop legend Glen Campbell, previously reported to be worth tens of millions of dollars, is actually worth an estimated $410,000, according to a new report.

Nashville's Tennessean newspaper reports that Stanley B. Schneider, who worked for the singer and guitarist first as his accountant and then as his manager, has filed a four-page document in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville that places the estimated value of Campbell's estate at $410,221, a far cry from initial press reports after the singer's death that listed assets closer to $50 million.

Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy appointed Schneider as administrator ad litem of Campbell's estate in February. His inventory of Campbell's assets includes two bank accounts containing a combined total of $959. The largest single asset listed is a 50 percent stake in the AZPB Limited Partnership, valued $296,164. He also lists a 50 percent interest in the AZ Baseball Broadcast Holdings at $3,464. That appears related to Campbell's previously reported ownership interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Glen Campbell Music Inc. is valued at $25,110 in the filing, and Glen Campbell Enterprises is listed at $84,524. Campbell was the sole owner of both of those companies.

Schneider is also in charge of tracking ongoing royalties paid to the estate, and he listed $42,448 in royalty payments between Aug. 8 and April 20, with $76,000 in royalties still owed to the estate. Checks totaling $1,776 were awaiting deposit at the time of his filing, and a payment of $14,246 is expected as a settlement on an insurance claim stemming from water damage to a California property Campbell owned.

Schneider listed debts of $118,200, including an estimated $107,000 in state and federal income taxes and $71,000 in legal fees. His estimate of Campbell's assets does not include future income from royalties, saying, "Appraisal needed."

Campbell died on Aug. 8, 2017, after battling Alzheimer's since 2011. His estate is the subject of a legal battle; Campbell's 13-page will excludes his daughter Kelli and sons William Travis and Wesley Kane from benefitting from his estate. They are his children from his marriage to his second wife, Billie Jean Nunley, which ended in divorce in 1976. Campbell was married a total of  four times and had eight children.

The singer's widow, Kim Campbell, has filed a claim asking for more than half a million dollars in reimbursement from the late singer's estate to cover his medical costs. Campbell's will names her as executor, while she and his five other children are listed as beneficiaries.

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Glen Campbell’s Estate Worth $410,000, Report Says

Judge reduces woman's legal bills

WSMV News 4
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Reba Sherrill was billed more than $13,000 for legal work she said she didn’t want or need.

The News 4 I-Team has learned that bill is being reduced by order of the court.

One of the items on the bill was a charge of more than $400 for Cathryn Armistead, a court-appointed lawyer, to pick up groceries at Whole Foods.

“Do you know how much food she bought? It was half a bag! Half a bag!” Sherrill said.

Armistead charged $175 an hour to shop and deliver the food. It doesn’t include the cost of the groceries.

Legal bills started to mount up when Vanderbilt University Medical Center went to court last year to get a conservator approved for Sherrill. They said she had borderline personality disorder and couldn’t care for herself.

“I’ve been fighting for two months now,” Sherrill said.

The court battle ended when Judge Randy Kennedy agreed to let Sherrill’s brother handle her affairs.

Armistead, who Kennedy appointed to handle Sherrill’s medical affairs, submitted a bill for 76.6 hours of legal work, plus expenses, for a total of $13,469.

Kennedy lowered that amount to $12,500. There is no information in the court file why he reduced Armistead’s fees.

There was a second court-appointed lawyer, Corleta Mance, to represent Sherrill in the proceedings. She billed $7,600. Kennedy approved paying her in full.

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Judge reduces woman's legal bills

Woman fights court system for right to make own decisions

WSMV News 4

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Reba Sherrill may be in a wheelchair, but she's ready for a fight.

"I'm not going to let them just get away with this," she said.

Sherrill is fighting for the right to make her own decisions – something her daughters don't take for granted anymore.

“My mom's not a criminal, and yet they're treating her like a criminal," said Brenna Outlaw, Sherrill’s daughter.

The struggle began when Sherrill went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in August. She was having complications from a car accident that happened in December 2016.

"When I went on Tuesday night, they kept me. And that was the beginning of the nightmare,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill went to Vanderbilt for a physical problem, but Vanderbilt's lawyers filed papers in Davidson County Probate Court saying Sherrill had a "borderline personality disorder.” Vanderbilt asked a judge to appoint someone to take control of her affairs. They said no family members were willing to do it.

Judge Randy Kennedy approved Vanderbilt's request the same day without consulting Sherrill or her family.

"Aug. 23, they went to court and asked the judge to appoint someone to make my decisions. They didn't tell me this hearing was taking place. It happened, and the next day, I was notified that it had taken place," Sherrill said.

"And it didn't matter. It didn't matter that they didn't notify family. That they had family willing to step in," said her daughter, Emily Outlaw.

The judge appointed a Nashville attorney, Cathryn Armistead, to serve as what's called a fiduciary. That gave Armistead power over where Sherrill would live; what doctors she would see – and it gave Armistead control over Sherrill’s financial affairs.

"They took all the money out of my bank account. Didn't even warn me. They didn't even tell me they were going to do it. They redirected all my personal mail to the attorney who was serving as the fiduciary," Sherrill said.

Sherrill was trying to rebuild her house in Hendersonville. It had been damaged in a fire. She couldn’t go forward because she couldn't pay the contractors.

Armistead moved Sherrill to a nursing home. Her family said she was given mind-altering anti-psychotic drugs even though her own family doctor wrote a letter saying those medications could cause a life-threatening adverse reaction.

"It didn't matter that she had a neurologist who said she's allergic to it, shouldn't take it, they were just shooting her up with it anyway," Emily Outlaw said.

Vanderbilt's attorney Anthony Bills filed papers with the court saying doctors determined that Sherrill was paranoid and delusional.

Sherrill said she believes it was because she told them she was highly sensitive to pesticides and herbicides.

"They said that because I eat only organic food that I was paranoid and psychotic," she said.

Sherrill’s daughter Brenna Outlaw found the idea laughable.

“I eat organic food; there’s a lot of people who eat organic food. There are millions of people who only eat organic food,” she said.

Vanderbilt’s attorney filed more papers, asking the court to give Armistead broader powers. They asked that Armistead be named Sherrill’s conservator permanently.

That would give Armistead the right to make end-of-life decisions, control all her medical care, decide where she lives, and sell her property.

"Basically when you go through this situation it's like you've already died. They take everything. They liquidate," Sherrill said.

A hearing was set for Oct. 11. Two days before that hearing, Judge Kennedy signed an order giving Armistead control over the settlement that Sherrill received after the December car accident.

The settlement totals more than $1 million – money that would then become available to pay all the fees that are racked up in conservatorship cases.

Hourly fees are charged by the lawyer the judge appointed to represent Sherrill. Armistead, an attorney, is also allowed to bill by the hour for work done on Sherrill’s behalf.

It's up to the judge to approve the bills; the family has no say.

"I'm kind of scared of how much they're going to end up charging her," Emily Outlaw said.

On Oct. 11, News 4 attended the hearing as the family fought the proposed conservatorship. Lawyers spent hours in negotiations behind closed doors.

In the end, both sides agreed that Sherrill's brother could be her conservator. Armistead is out of the picture.

"I like that if somebody is going to be over me, it's him," said Sherrill, referring to her brother.

There's something that Sherrill's family has never understood. Why did Vanderbilt's lawyers keep fighting to establish a conservatorship, even long after Sherrill had been discharged as their patient?

The News 4 I-Team’s Nancy Amons asked Vanderbilt’s attorney Anthony Bills as court finished for the day. He declined to answer questions.

"Again, Miss Amons, I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to speak outside the courtroom about this case. Thank you." Bills said.

Sherrill and her family are at a loss to understand Vanderbilt’s continuing interest in their former patient.

"My attorney asked them that question, and they never really gave us an answer,” Sherrill said.
A Vanderbilt spokesperson emailed the I-Team a statement:

“The 2 million-plus patients we treat each year represent a variety of life experiences and social circumstances. We support the use of conservatorships for some patients to ensure there is an appropriate legal process in place for decisions associated with patient care,” said John Howser, chief communications officer with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vanderbilt did not comment on why they pursued the conservatorship for some six weeks after Sherrill was no longer an inpatient.

The Sherrill family wants the laws changed. They want more protection for people like themselves – protection from a system they feel is un-American.

"This could happened to anybody," Brenna Outlaw said.

"They claim these are put into place to help the individual, to protect them, but all I see is it's abuse," Sherrill said.

Armistead did not return phone calls and emails sent to her office.

This isn't the first conservatorship case the I-Team’s Nancy Amons has investigated in Judge Kennedy's court.

Songwriter Danny Tate fought to get out from under a conservatorship under Judge Kennedy. His home was auctioned, and was purchased by the attorney to whom he owed legal bills.

Amons also profiled the stories of two other women, Jewell Tinnon and Ginger Franklin. Both of them lost their homes and all their possessions after the court put them in conservatorships. They have since died.

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Woman fights court system for right to make own decisions

Woman battles unintended consequences of conservatorship bill

WSMV News 4

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Reba Sherrill’s legal bill for a lawyer she didn’t want and didn’t hire: $13,469.19.

"Oh my God!" she said when the News 4 I-Team showed her the 11-page detailed bill.

Davidson County's Probate Judge Randy Kennedy appointed attorney Cathryn Armistead in August to look after Sherrill's affairs.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center asked the judge to do that since Sherrill was a patient there and was about to be discharged.

Vanderbilt's lawyers told the judge that Sherrill had a borderline personality disorder and couldn't make her own decisions. Vanderbilt’s motion said no family members were able or willing to step in.

The same day Vanderbilt made the request, Judge Kennedy appointed Armistead at $175 an hour to arrange for Sherrill to be transferred to another facility and to handle the financial transactions. It's help Sherrill said was unneeded.

"I didn't want this. I didn't need this. Why should I pay for something that they sought?" she said.
Sherrill hired her own lawyers and went to court Oct. 11. She fought for, and won her freedom. Armistead was removed as her fiduciary.

The I-Team showed Sherrill what Armistead is billing her for: dozens of legal meetings, emails and phone calls, as well as a trip to Whole Foods grocery store, on the clock at $175 an hour to purchase and deliver food, soap and shampoo.

“Oh my God, you have got to be kidding me; $437.50. Do you know how much food she brought? It was half a bag! Half a bag! Has this woman lost her mind?" Sherrill said.

Armistead charged $437 to make a two and a half hour trip to the store, not including the cost of the food.

Sherrill said Whole Foods could have had delivered the groceries.

“I didn't need her. I didn't need anybody," she said. "Myself and my family should not be penalized for this mess that Vanderbilt created."

How does something like this happen? Who gave hospitals the right to have someone appointed to take over their patient's lives?

The legislature did, in 2013. Rep. Andrew Farmer introduced an amendment to a conservatorship bill that he explained would help hospitals free up bed space.

"If we have folks in a hospital unable to make decisions for themselves, the hospital has the authority to move them from the hospital to a nursing home," Farmer said before the 2013 vote.

Rep. Bill Dunn questioned it at the time, asking why the amendment wasn't debated in the committee system.

"It just sort of sends off alarms when something like this shows up," Dunn said.

Farmer said before the vote that it did not go through the committee system.

"It did not. It did not. It was an oversight on my part. I was approached by Vanderbilt and a couple of other hospitals." Farmer said in 2013.

Dunn watched our story about Reba Sherrill. He said he's concerned about how Vanderbilt used the new law to take over Sherrill's life.

"Just by watching the story it's obvious this was not what the legislature intended," Dunn told the I-Team.

The law gives fiduciaries very limited powers.

Armistead's own bills show she took on far more responsibilities at $175 an hour.

"It's obvious you shouldn't be charging someone 400-plus dollars to go to the grocery store," Dunn told the I-Team.

We found Armistead also billed for conversations with the man Sherrill has been divorced from for 10 years.

“Oh my God! She wrote to my ex-husband! Holy cow!” Sherrill said when she saw the legal bill.
The detailed billing showed Armistead also charged for investigating the value of Sherrill's house.

"And she demanded a key to my home; why? I'm not there," Sherrill said.

The legal bills show Armistead charged for repeatedly contacting Sherrill's attorney in Florida – an attorney who helped Sherrill win a million-dollar settlement after she was hit by a car.

Armistead got the judge to sign a court-order instructing the Florida lawyer to send the $1 million to the court system in Davidson County. That money would then become available to help pay the very lawyers who had taken control of Sherrill's life.

"That's what this whole thing was about. They wanted the money. If I was broke, do you really think they would bother with me?" Sherrill said.

Armistead did not return a call from the I-Team.

"In this case you all did a good job in discovering it, which will allow us to take a deeper look at the issue," Dunn told the I-Team.

Dunn said he wants the legislature to see if what happened to Reba Sherrill is an isolated case or an example of a glitch in the law that needs to be fixed.

"Oh yeah, I'm angry all right. Number one, they claim they are protecting the individual. I don't feel protected Nancy, I feel violated," Sherrill said.

Full Article & Source:
Woman battles unintended consequences of conservatorship bill

Sumner County Woman Wins Partial Victory

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

After a lengthy court hearing today, a Sumner county woman won a partial victory when a Davidson probate judge agreed to replace her current court appointed conservator with her brother.

Judge David "Randy" Kennedy agreed to name Alex Sherrill as the conservator of his 53-year-old sister Reba.

Reba Sherrill had been placed in a limited health care conservatorship in August based on a petition filed by attorneys for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The hospital said in its filing that she no longer needed acute hospital care but needed to be transferred to an appropriate facility.

Sherrill, who is a paraplegic, had originally been admitted to Vanderbilt on Aug. 8 for medical treatment.

The hospital also petition sought to have Cathryn Armistead, a Nashville attorney appointed as a temporary conservator with the power to transfer Sherrill.

Kennedy approved the petition, including the appointment of Armistead.

Interviewed today following the lengthy hearing, Sherrill said she was happy with the outcome even though her motion to have the conservatorship finally terminated was denied.

"We made a compromise," she wrote in an email.

Just after Sherrill was transferred to a Nashville nursing home under Kennedy's original order, she was brought under protest back to Vanderbilt. She has charged that she was injected with a powerful anti-psychotic drug, Haldol, to which she is allergic.

Sherrill was brought back to Vanderbilt after her newly appointed conservator filed a report with the court showing she had a substantial settlement from the accident which left her as a paraplegic.

From Vanderbilt she was transferred to a Robertson County nursing home, once again over her protests.

Attorneys involved in the litigation have not responded to requests for comment.

Full Article & Source:
Sumner County Woman Wins Partial Victory

See Also:
Woman Conserved Despite Protest

Danny Tate Still Trapped by Conservatorship

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

More than five years after finally winning release from a hotly contested conservatorship, singer songwriter Danny Tate has once again gone into bankruptcy in attempt to regain access to royalties he hasn't seen for years.

Tate sought bankruptcy protection in federal court in Kentucky in the Fall after a Nashville judge summarily rejected his attempt to recoup at least a portion of royalties ranging from an estimated $12,000 to $20,000 a year.

The royalties have been going to Nashville attorney Michael Hoskins who represented Tate in his efforts to escape a conservatorship first imposed by a Davidson Probate judge in 2007.

Hoskins already has gained title to Tate's Belle Meade home, which was sold off at auction.

In a recent filing in Davidson Circuit Court, Tate's attorneys argued that the attachments placed on Tate's assets and income were driving him into homelessness.

Noting that the garnishment was imposed on Feb. 12, 2013, Tate's lawyers said 100 per cent of his royalties from BMI music have been taken away, leaving him " little or nothing to for his personal family or household needs."

They asked that the garnishment be reduced to $500 a month.

Hoskins billed Tate $164,087.92 plus 10 per cent interest for his services starting on July 27, 2009.

Tate's new lawyers, Mark B. Reagan and Stephen Young, had charged that the amount being taken from Tate exceeded legal limits and that his contract with Hoskins was invalid because the songwriter lacked the legal authority to sign a contract while under a conservatorship.

They charged $26,323.44 had been withheld from Tate in excess of the legal limits.

Hoskins, acting as his own attorney, argued that the legal limits referred to by Tate's attorneys applied to wages, not royalties. He also contended that Tate had "acquiesced" to the prior garnishments and lost the right to contest them.

In a decision issued following an Aug. 28 hearing Circuit Judge Joseph P. Binkley Jr. ruled in Hoskins favor, concluding that BMI was not Tate's employer and that he had indeed acquiesced to the ongoing garnishment and "is barred from challenging all prior disbursements."

He wrote that Tate had 20 days after the attachment was issued in March of 2013 to challenge the action.

"The doctrine of acqiescence is applicable in this case," Binkley wrote, adding that "BMI is not his employer."

In a subsequent letter to the court, BMI attorney Richard A. Garza wrote," Please be advised that BMI intends to place a withhold against the debtor's accounts and await further instruction from the bankruptcy trustee."

Without his knowledge Tate was placed in the 2007 conservatorship by his brother. Subsequently he was ordered to pay not only his own legal bills but also his brother's.

Full Article and Source:
Danny Tate Still Trapped by Conservatorship

Undocumented Minors in Nashville Face Judicial Quandary

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

After being shuffled from relative to relative, at one point being held in a locked room for weeks at a time, Edith Gracibel Pineda Orellana fled from her native Honduras last year only to be greeted by waiting U.S. Homeland Security agents who quickly took her and some 30 others into custody.

Orellana, 17, though temporarily rejoined now with her mother in Nashville,  faces the prospect of deportation and efforts for assistance in Davidson Probate Court have been swiftly rebuffed.

A petition seeking to have her mother appointed as her guardian, the first step in a lengthy legal process, was rejected this month without notice or a hearing by Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy. In a one-page order Kennedy ruled that he did not have jurisdiction and instead transferred the case to Juvenile Court

Court records and interviews show the same action was taken on several other nearly identical petitions, including one filed for Edith's cousin.

Thomas J. Brown of the Community Law Group, who represents Iris Varela, Edith's mother, said in response to questions that while Edith's petition has not yet been acted on by the Juvenile Court, similar petitions have been rebuffed  in that forum.

 Brown  said similar petitions filed in Davidson County Juvenile Court have been rejected also on jurisdictional grounds because any alleged neglect, abandonment or abuse occurred in a foreign country by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents on May 3, 2014.

Requests for comment from Davidson County court officials went unanswered.

"I am aware of past petitions concerning undocumented immigrant minors brought in Davidson County Juvenile Court that have been dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, concluding that the alleged neglect or abuse "took place in a foreign country – not in Tennessee,"Brown said.

The local legal roadblock comes amid a national flood of undocumented aliens crossing U.S. borders. A recent report showed that 1,361 minors who crossed the U.S. border illegally had been placed in Tennessee over the past 15 months.

The swift rejections come despite a little noticed opinion issued Sept. 16, 2014 by then Attorney General Robert Cooper. Citing state and federal statutes, Cooper concluded that guardianships for undocumented minors can be considered in both Probate and Juvenile Courts.

Responding to a request from State Sen. Brian Kelsey, Cooper concluded that the only legal requirement was that such actions be brought in the county of the person seeking the guardianship.

While acknowledging that "No Tennessee court has addressed the question whether an undocumented alien may establish domicile in Tennessee," Cooper concluded that state law and past court rulings show there is no impediment to an undocumented alien qualifying as a Tennessee resident.

"Unquestionably, my client, Iris Yolanda Orellana Varela, has standing in Tennessee to bring a guardianship petition,"  Brown wrote in an email response to questions.

Kelsey asked for the opinion at the request of Shelby County Probate Clerk Paul Boyd, who said the questions about guardianship petitions for undocumented alien minors had been raised by local attorneys handling such cases.

In contrast to Davidson County, Boyd said such guardianship petitions for alien minors have been filed and approved in other Tennessee jurisdictions.

 Brown, who previously practiced law in Florida, said other states have developed specific procedures for the handling cases similar to Edith Orellana's.

"Questions regarding jurisdiction should be settled statewide," Brown said, adding that in light of the growing border crisis, the current conflict is "in dire need of immediate clarification."

The petition by Iris Varela and an accompanying affidavit from Edith, recount a short life well stocked with abuse, abandonment and a natural disaster, Hurricane Mitch, adding to the misery.

She wrote that her father lied  and told her that her mother had died. The mother had come to the United States to earn money to support her family

Locked in a room, she wrote that she was fed only plantains and was let out only to go to the bathroom. 

Later she joined with her cousin Fredy to plan their escape to the United States. They were both captured on May 3 of last year. 

The two still face May hearings before a federal Immigration Judge on the pending removal proceedings.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com

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Undocumented Minors in Nashville Face Judicial Quandary

Former Davidson County (TN) Public Guardian Must Stand Trial

by Walter F. Roche, Jr.

A clearly frustrated Davidson circuit court judge has ruled that former Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart must stand trial on charges in a civil suit that she engaged in willful misconduct in her role as the court appointed conservator for a Hendersonville woman.

"This is going on and on and on," Gayden said in a recent hearing. "Let's get this case going."


Ginger Franklin

The ruling came in a longstanding suit filed by Ginger Franklin who was placed in a conservatorship in 2010 without her knowledge following a fall.

Franklin has charged that after her appointment Stuart engaged in "willful and malicious conduct" in her case by failing to act on her request to have the conservatorship ended.

During the same Dec. 12 hearing Gayden also ruled that Metro government could not be held liable for Stuart's actions. Stuart's lawyers had argued that Stuart was a Metro employee and thus was protected from claims under provisions of the Governmental Tort Liability Act. "

She was acting within the scope of her duties as an employee," said William Hubbard, Stuart's lawyer, according to a transcript of the session. But Michael Hoskins, Franklin's attorney, disagreed.

"It's clear that the legislature never intended to give some special immunity to the public guardian," he said, adding that previously Stuart had claimed immunity as a state employee.

Gayden later agreed with Hoskin's  that even if the liability act did apply, the charges of willful and intentional misconduct would not be protected.

Hoskins and Metro attorney Jeff Campbell also noted that Stuart made her claim against Metro long after the statute of limitations had passed.

Gayden also granted Stuart's lawyer's motion to file an appeal of his rulings in the case.

Stuart stepped down as public guardian last year on the same day Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy stated that he would no longer appoint her to any cases because of questionable billing practices. Her job has remained vacant ever since.

Source:
Judge Rules Former Public Guardian Must Stand Trial

Judge Denies Motion to Block Suit Against Former Public Guardian

By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A circuit court judge has turned down a motion filed by Davidson's former public guardian in a suit filed by a Hendersonville woman who has charged she was wrongly placed in a conservatorship.

In a two-page order, Judge Hamilton V. Gayden denied the motion filed by attorneys for former Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart.

Stuart's lawyers had argued that Ginger Franklin's claims should be decided under a law limiting the claims that can be filed against public agencies because Stuart was acting as an agent of Davidson County.

But Gayden concluded that he could not grant the motion because Metro government was not even a party to the suit.

He wrote that he would reconsider the matter if Metro becomes a party to the suit within the next 30 days.

Gayden also noted that Franklin's suit charges that Stuart's conduct was "knowing and willful" which,  if true, would negate the limitations.

Ginger and her best friend 

Franklin's suit charges that Stuart failed in her fiduciary duties to look out for her best interests during the conservatorship, which was ultimately dissolved.

Stuart was removed from the public guardian's job by Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy after questions were raised about her billing practices. She submitted a resignation the same day.

The position remains unfilled, but a proposal by Mayor Karl Dean would created a new Public Guardian's office funded by Metro government.

Gayden's ruling comes on claims by Franklin that she was placed in a group home by Stuart and put to work caring for other residents.

In an earlier ruling Gayden dismissed other claims Franklin made relating to the loss of her condo and car due to actions or inactions by Stuart during the conservatorship. The condo was auctioned off and the car was abandoned.

Source:
Judge Denies Motion to Block Suit Against Former Guardian

TN: Metro Sued in Probate Court Scandal Involving Now-Jailed Former Attorney John E. Clemmons

The court-appointed attorney for victims of a probate court scandal is suing Metro government for nearly $700,000, charging that a court official failed to monitor two cases and did not require the filing of mandatory annual reports.

John E. Clemmons

The two suits filed in Circuit Court by Paul Gontarek charge that Probate Master Robert H. Bradshaw was negligent in the handling of reports that were supposed to be filed by John E. Clemmons, the now-jailed Nashville attorney who served as a conservator in cases in Davidson and Rutherford counties.

“The Probate Court clerk’s office failed to ensure proper accountings were filed as required,” Gontarek said in one of the complaints.

In one case in which he served as an administrator, Clemmons filed just one annual report in a decade, according to the suit.

“Each failure to require an annual accounting is a separate negligent act or omission.”

Clemmons, 66, was jailed after entering guilty pleas to charges that he stole over $1 million from four clients. He is serving a sentence of up to 18 years.

Initially, Gontarek also filed suits against Bradshaw as an individual but records show he subsequently dropped those cases and consolidated all of the claims against Metro government, which employs the probate master.

Bradshaw declined to comment on the litigation. Lawyers for Metro have asked that the suits be dismissed, contending that the government is immune from such claims.

“The complaints contain no allegations of intent, malice or reckless misconduct,” Metro lawyers wrote in asking for the cases to be dismissed. “Because the duty owed is a public duty, the Metropolitan Government is immune.”

Conservator appointments
Clemmons was first appointed as the conservator for William Link and as the administrator of his estate after Link died in 2003. He also served as a conservator for Donald Griggs, 68, of Nashville. In Link’s case the missing money was supposed to go to his disabled daughter, who also is in a conservatorship.

The complaints charge that Clemmons stole $771,009 from the Link estate and $172,506 from Griggs. Clemmons was removed from both in April of last year after disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him.

Due to legal limitations the suits seek only $672,957 — $515,907 for Link’s estate and $157,050 for Griggs.

Gontarek’s complaint also charges that Bradshaw should have initiated contempt charges against Clemmons due to the failure to file the required reports.

“A reasonable person in the Probate Clerk’s position would have discovered Mr. Clemmons’ improper distributions,” the suit states. “The negligent acts and omission by the employees within the Probate Clerk’s office resulted in financial losses to the estate of William Link of at least $771,009.”
Gontarek did not respond to a request for comment.

Family’s motion
Members of the Link family, meanwhile, have filed a motion charging that Gontarek’s complaint does not go far enough and that additional criminal charges should be brought in the case.
“Both my family and I feel the actions of the circuit court clerk and probate master go beyond just negligent acts but are criminal in nature and for personal gain,” the motion by Elaine Dismang states.

Source:
Metro Sued in Probate Court Scandal

Tennessee State Senator Wants Judicial Discipline Panel to Investigate Nashville Judges

State Sen. Randy McNally has asked the Board of Judicial Conduct to investigate whether two Nashville judges had “too close a relationship” with a lawyer involved in getting a client released from jail without spending a 12-hour “cooling off” period he was charged with domestic assault.

 The Oak Ridge Republican said he was inspired to send a letter to the BJC by newspaper reports of General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland moving to promptly release Nashville contractor David Chase when Chase was charged with assaulting his girlfriend, whereupon Chase returned to the woman’s home and brutally beat her again, authorities allege.

Current state law allows a judge to order someone charged with domestic violence to spend 12 hours in jail as a “cooling off” period before release. But Moreland waived the requirement at the request of Chase’s attorney, Brian Lewis. Another judge, Night Commissioner Thomas Nelson, waived the 12-hour rule after Chase’s second arrest.

The Tennessean reported that Lewis and his wife had donated $3,000 to Moreland’s re-election campaign last November. Moreland also told the newspaper the two were close friends and had vacationed together.

Full Article and Source:
Senator Wants Judicial Discipline Panel to Investigate Nashville Judges

Last-minute change in law lets hospitals drop patients

A few weeks before Terry Gordon died, a court-appointed lawyer paid a visit to the 63-year-old homeless man in his seventh-floor hospital room at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital.

"I explained to him that this was not the Hyatt Regency, but we had to find him another place for him to stay," the lawyer, George Duzane, later reported to the court.

But the visit, which took place in August of last year and led to Gordon's temporary departure from the hospital, had its origin in a last-minute amendment to legislation involving conservatorships approved earlier that year.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Farmer after he was approached by various hospitals, was added to a bill designed to protect those who are placed in the care of conservators. The amendment gave hospitals a way to petition for court approval to discharge patients they say no longer need the costly care of a major health facility.

In Nashville the add-on provision has been used a dozen times to try to discharge people, more than half of them listed on court documents as currently or formerly homeless. In nine of the cases, including Gordon's, the petitions were approved by Davidson Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy.

The petition for Gordon's dismissal from the hospital was filed Aug. 8. He died less than a month later, on Sept. 2.

It's not clear from records and interviews who bore ultimate responsibility for the care of the patients involved. No one has alleged that the care they received was substandard. What is known is that the legislation gave hospitals a new way to move patients into other facilities.

Adrienne Newman, associate executive director of FiftyForward, which had been named as Gordon's health care fiduciary under the new law, said Gordon was transferred to a rehabilitation facility but then sent back to Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital on the day he died.

Full Article & Source:
Last-minute change in law lets hospitals drop patients

Woman wins award against group home in conservatorship case

A woman who was placed in a conservatorship without her knowledge has won a $23,050 award from a Sumner County court against a group home that put her to work caring for other residents while she was paying an $850 a month fee.

In a four-page ruling Circuit Court Judge C.L. Rogers ruled that Ginger Franklin of Hendersonville, who was recovering from head injuries, was the victim of “egregious and intentional abuse” while she was confined at a Nashville facility run by Salim Homes.

In the ruling, Rogers concluded that Franklin suffered “mental anguish of grief and worry” when she was forced to provide care for other disabled adults and perform cleaning duties for the owners of the group home.

Franklin was placed in a conservatorship on Aug. 25, 2008, after she fell at her Nashville condominium and suffered a brain injury. She was placed in a conservatorship by Davidson Probate Judge David “Randy” Kennedy and then county Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart was named as her conservator.

Stuart, who has since been removed from the post, placed Franklin at Salim Homes at 509 Phipps Drive in Nashville after she was released from an Illinois rehabilitation facility. Franklin eventually was released from the conservatorship in December of 2010.

In the ruling issued earlier this week, Rogers concluded that Franklin and other disabled residents of Salim Homes “were used to clean business properties and provide care for disabled adults” and also to clean the personal residences of the group home’s owners.

“Plaintiff had no success in contacting her conservator,” Rogers wrote, adding that Franklin “had reasonable fear and worry she could be put out for not cooperating, saying ‘No’ or objecting, she would have no place to go.”

Rogers wrote that it was the duty of Salim Homes “to provide care for these disabled adults. It was not to work a mentally dysfunctional, disabled adult and use them as free labor.”

As the ruling noted, Franklin was being charged $850 a month while at the group home.

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Woman wins award against group home in conservatorship case