50 years ago... Inside... - Chattanooga Bar Association

4 Friday, June 13, 2008 HAMILTON COUNTY HERALD
I can't believe I now eat
good bacteria
Is it not amazing how things
we used to take for granted seem
to change overnight? From the
clothes we wear to the food we
Read
eat, nothing remains the same
and some of the changes can
really cause those of us of the
alongside retired judge Sam Polk
Raulston and one other attorney,
but the former sadly passed away
and the latter decided to practice
elsewhere, leaving Greer to learn
the ropes on his own. “It was a
bit of a frightening experience,
but I got through it,” he says,
smiling and leaning his tall frame
back into a chair opposite his
desk.
As time went on and partners
came and went, Greer found
himself doing more and more
trial work, in both the civil and
criminal arenas, until it comprised
a majority of his time.
Although he seems modest when
speaking of his accomplishments,
his record suggests otherwise.
Not only has Greer prevailed on
a number of cases where he’s
defended people against serious
charges, he’s even chalked up
Read All About It ...
By Pettus L. Read
Tennessee Farm Bureau
boomer generation a lot of
thought time. Just the other day,
I was eating a snack of yogurt -
something I would have never
thought of doing just a few years
ago - and began thinking about
how something that would have
been a strange thing for me to do
in the past has become something
I do very often.
I have to admit that when
yogurt came on the dairy scene, I
was not one of its fans. When
they started using it to compete
with my daily ice cream habit, I
did not talk too pleasant about
this bacteria laden product.
Growing up, all I ever heard
at home, school and from the
local health department was that
a good bacteria was a dead bacteria.
The last thing you wanted to
do was eat one. But, now we
have learned that there are good
bacteria and yogurt is supposed
to contain some of the best kind
acquittals in federal court, which
is rare. In addition, he served as
the president of the Tennessee
Trial Lawyers Association (now
called the Tennessee Association
for Justice) for one year beginning
in June 2006. But the
achievements of which he seems
the most pleased are his victories
in civil cases where he’s helped
people who have suffered injury
or another major loss receive
compensation.
“I’ve got clients — a couple
— that resolved their cases about
25 years ago. I still see them frequently,
and I know the settlement
we achieved for them still
continues to provide the support
they need to get through life. It’s
very gratifying,” says Greer.
As a former athlete, Greer
also enjoys the competitive
aspects of being a trial attorney.
of bacteria for the human body if
you have to digest them into
your diet. And, since one of the
world's largest producers of
yogurt is located right here in
Tennessee, and me being a former
dairy farm boy, I have to
support the local products.
Yoplait is processed at its
plant in Murfreesboro, which is
located only about 11 miles from
my farm, and makes a good product
that us boomers seem to need
more of these days.
Growing up in Rutherford
County during the 50s and 60s, I
remember that everyone I knew
was involved in the dairy industry
in one way or the other. You
either owned dairy cows and sold
milk or worked on a dairy farm
milking cows.
That is not the case today.
In my home county of
Rutherford, there is less than 15
dairy farms, and that number is
decreasing daily. In mid-May,
there were fewer than 560 dairy
farms in the whole state of
Tennessee, compared to more
than 900 at the same time just
five years ago. Milk production
in the state has dropped from an
average of 2 billion pounds in
Whether he’s matching his wits
and skills against another
lawyer’s or trying to marshal the
facts of a case to fit his theory,
Greer says being a trial attorney
can be rewarding — especially
when you win. “It’s tough when
you lose, but I’ve always enjoyed
competing, and a trial is among
the keenest forms of competition
there is. A lawyer is often the
only person standing between a
client and either financial chaos
or loss of life or liberty, so there’s
a lot at stake” he says.
Being a trial lawyer can also
place heavy demands on one’s
schedule, something Greer
knows well. “My wife says I work
more now than 20 years ago, and
that’s probably true. Part of it is
the workload and part of it is I
enjoy what I’m doing,” says
Greer.
2000 to a total state production
of 1.1 billion pounds at the
beginning of 2006.
Numbers and production
continue to decrease around the
state, but those Tennessee dairy
farmers who remain still produce
perhaps the safest food product
consumed in this country. From
the 70,000 milk cows located in
Tennessee, consumers receive a
nutritious product containing
nine essential vitamins and minerals,
protein, calcium and vitamins
A and D, as well as some
real good yogurt.
Seventy-one percent of our
milk produced in this state is on
family dairy farms that have less
than 200 cows. The average milk
cow will drink 12 gallons of
water, eat 20 pounds of grain and
feed plus 35 pounds of hay and
silage, and chew her cud from 6
to eight hours each day to produce
those 6.1 gallons. The average
cow produces 90 glasses of
milk a day. She is doing her part
to keep us healthy, but are we?
Tennesseans' diets are lacking
when it comes to good nutrition.
We only get half the
amount of fruit and milk we
need to meet our daily require-
A quick glace around
Greer’s office doesn’t reveal
many stacks of paper, but don’t
let that fool you; his year as president
of the TTLA put him
behind on a lot of work on which
he’s just now catching up. But
you won’t hear him complain, as
he speaks matter-of-factly about
almost everything, including his
18-year tenure on the board of
education in Sequatchie County
and his efforts in real estate
development, which he describes
as “something of a hobby.”
The only time Greer softens
his professional guise is when he
speaks of his family, a fact that
would no doubt make his wife of
39 years smile. In fact, there are
no brief conversations about
Greer’s relatives, which include
two brothers, both of whom are
doctors; three kids and their
ments, says the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. By getting three
servings of dairy products a day,
we can help boost our nutritional
needs.
June marks a month-long
salute that began in 1937, and
has grown into an annual tradition.
June is National Dairy
Month and has been a major celebration
within the Volunteer
State for many years. The dairy
industry has generated billions of
dollars over the years to our
economy and continues to do so
today.
This month, let's honor the
contributions of our dairy farmers,
who look after our good
health, as well as work 24/7/365
to provide us consumers with
fresh, wholesome dairy products.
To celebrate the occasion, have
a container of yogurt. It's high in
calcium, which us boomers need,
and it has that good bacterium
in it too!
I still can't believe I'm pushing
bacteria.
Pettus L. Read is director of
communications for the Tennessee
Farm Bureau Federation. He may
be contacted by e-mail at
pread@tfbf.com ❖
Greer Continued from page 1
Case Digests
TENNESSEE COURT OF APPEALS SYLLABUS
Philip Q. Smith, M.D. vs.
Moquey Kseal Marquross
Hamilton County - This
action arose out of plaintiff’s
purchase of an aircraft from
defendant on Ebay. The Trial
Court ruled that defendant
denied plaintiff his right to
inspect the goods pursuant to
Tenn. Code Ann. §47-2-513,
and plaintiff was not required to
purchase the aircraft. On appeal,
we affirm the Judgment of the
Trial Court.
Kathy Huber, et al vs.
Douglas Marlow, et al
Knox County - In this interlocutory
appeal of a medical malpractice
case, the issue presented
is whether the trial court erred in
granting partial summary judgment
to the employer because it
could not be held vicariously
liable for the actions of its nonparty
employee when the statute
of repose had run as to the nonparty
employee before the plaintiffs
amended their complaint to
include allegations based on the
nonparty employee’s actions. We
hold that because the statute of
repose extinguished the plaintiffs’
cause of action against the
nonparty employee, the employer
cannot be held liable for alle-
gations of medical negligence
based solely on the actions of the
nonparty employee. The trial
court’s partial summary judgment
is affirmed.
David Goff, et ux, et al. v.
Elmo Greer & Sons Construction
Co., Inc.
White County - This appeal
involves a jury’s award of punitive
damages. The construction
company entered into a contract
with the State of Tennessee to
widen a portion of a highway.
The homeowners entered into a
contract with the construction
company allowing the construction
company to place excess
materials generated from the
highway project on the homeowners’
property. In exchange,
the homeowners would receive
compensation based on the
cubic fill area, and the company
would fill and grade that portion
of the homeowners’ property.
The project required that the
construction company conduct
extensive blasting near the
homeowners’ house and vehicles.
One of the homeowners
became concerned when he witnessed
the construction company
placing various garbage items
and tires on his property near the
fill area. After three years, the
construction company finished
the project. The homeowners
brought suit, alleging that the
company failed to pay the
amount due under the contract
and caused damage to their
house due to the blasting. The
complaint also alleged that the
company buried certain items,
including tires, on the property
which constituted an environmental
tort. The homeowners’
amended complaint stated a
cause of action in nuisance and
also sought an award of punitive
damages in the amount of $1
million dollars. The jury
returned a verdict in favor of the
homeowners for the nuisance
claim in the amount of
$3,305.00 and found that punitive
damages should be imposed
on the construction company.
The jury found in favor of the
construction company for the
environmental tort claim. After
the second phase of the trial, the
jury returned an award of $2 million
in punitive damages. The
trial court remitted the award to
$1 million, the amount of the
homeowners’ ad damnum. The
construction company appeals,
and we reverse and remand in
part and affirm in part.
Brim Holding Company, Inc.
v. Province Healthcare Company
Davidson County - The
issue on appeal in this contract
dispute is whether the defendant
breached its indemnification
obligations under the terms of a
stock purchase agreement. The
trial court found that the plaintiff
was entitled to be reimbursed
for payment of a claim specifically
identified under the indemnification
provisions of a stock
purchase agreement.
Significantly, the trial court
found that the indemnity provisions
in the stock purchase
agreement anticipate the specific
loss and assure that it will be
paid by the defendant. The
defendant contends that the
plaintiff has already received
reimbursement for that payment
through the post-closing working
capital adjustment and the
plaintiff, therefore, is not entitled
to reimbursement under the
indemnification provisions.
Finding no error, we affirm.
Sherrie Engler, et al. v.
Karnes Legal Services
Madison County - This
appeal involves the Tennessee
saving statute, Tenn. Code Ann.
spouses, most of whom are either
lawyers or teachers; a gaggle of
grandkids; and his dad, Thomas
Greer, Jr., now an 85-year-old
retired circuit court judge, practicing
across the hall. With offspring
scattered as far as
Memphis and North Carolina,
it’s a good thing Greer and his
wife enjoy traveling and spending
time with family.
When you look back across
an attorney’s life, it’s not the
number of cases he won or the
amount of wall space he covered
with accolades that will matter,
but the lives he touched along
the way. And although Greer
will brush aside any such suggestions,
it’s clear he’s done the best
he could at his chosen career, as
his father advised, and that the
lives of other people are better
for it. ❖
§ 28-1-105. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit
was dismissed without prejudice
for failure to prosecute
when their attorney failed to
appear at a hearing. Three
months after the dismissal, the
plaintiffs’ attorney filed a motion
seeking relief from the order of
dismissal, citing the saving
statute, along with an amended
complaint. The trial court considered
the motion under Rule
60 but did not address the applicability
of the saving statute.
The court refused to set aside the
order of dismissal upon finding
that the attorney’s failure to
attend the hearing did not constitute
excusable neglect. The
plaintiffs appeal. We reverse and
remand for further proceedings.
Jay S. Gorban v. David
Harris
Montgomery County - This
is a dispute between a homeowner
and the contractor he hired to
build a sunroom onto his home.
We have concluded that the evidence
does not preponderate
against the trial court’s award of
a judgment in favor of the homeowner
for 60 percent of the
requested damages, based upon
its allocation of 40 percent of the
fault to the homeowner. ❖