Tennessee case abstract on motions to recuse in divorce.
Decide’s ethics complain againt Spouse’s lawyer in unrelated case doesn’t warrant recusal.
Catina Hope Kestner Lusk v. Brandon Burl Lusk
The spouse on this Unicoi County, Tennessee, case filed for divorce in 2021. The husband filed a solution, however the case remained dormant for over a 12 months. The case was ultimately set for trial earlier than Decide Suzanne Prepare dinner. About two weeks earlier than the trial, the spouse filed a movement for Decide Prepare dinner to be recused. Amongst different issues, she alleged that the choose had filed a grievance towards her lawyer with the Board of Skilled Duty in an unrelated case.
The trial courtroom denied the movement. The courtroom famous that the grievance didn’t come up from this case, didn’t contain any overlapping points, and that it didn’t contain the spouse. The spouse then appealed to the Tennessee Courtroom of Appeals.
The appeals courtroom first famous that events do have the proper to an neutral choose, however the proof have to be adequate to immediate an inexpensive individual to consider there’s a foundation for criticizing the choose’s impartiality.
The spouse argued that the trial courtroom confirmed its bias by setting a trial date “as a result of she was not within the spouse’s life circumstances.” However the appeals courtroom discovered no proof that this was the case.
The courtroom subsequent turned to the declare that the choose was biased due to the sooner grievance towards her lawyer. The appeals courtroom famous that it was hamstrung in its means to overview this declare due to the restricted quantity of fabric introduced. Nevertheless it discovered nothing within the proof introduced that may warrant recusal.
It additionally held that merely criticizing the lawyer was not adequate grounds for recusal.
For these causes, the Courtroom of Attraction affirmed, and taxed the prices of attraction towards the spouse.
No. E2024-00226-COA-T10B-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 22, 2024).
See unique opinion for actual language. Authorized citations omitted.
To be taught extra, see The Tennessee Divorce Course of: How Divorces Work Begin to End.