News
February 2, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court has amended the eligibility requirements for graduates of law schools in foreign jurisdictions who apply to take the Tennessee bar examination.Under the revisions to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 7, section 7.01, applicants who have graduated from a law school in a…
January 24, 2018
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam announced he has appointed a steering committee of leaders from federal, state and local governments, industry, academia, environmental advocacy groups and public utilities to develop a statewide plan for future water availability in Tennessee. The plan, TN H2O, will…
January 22, 2018
On Monday, January 22, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam announced the state’s new opioid plan – Tennessee Together, a three-pronged initiative to combating the epidemic. This aggressive plan focuses on three approaches: prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. House Speaker Beth Harwell and…
January 19, 2018
The Administrative Office of the Courts will modernize its disbursement system for indigent representation payments to attorneys, interpreters, expert witnesses, and investigators in February 2018. The new AOC Claims and Payment (ACAP) system will replace the Indigent Claim Entry (ICE) system and…
January 18, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court set an execution date of August 9, 2018, for Billy Ray Irick, who was convicted of the 1985 murder and rape of Paula Kay Dyer, age 7, in Knox County, Tennessee. The Court received notice from the State Attorney General on January 11, 2018, that the United States Supreme…
January 18, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed Michael L. Forrester, John L. Farringer IV, and Alexander McVeagh to serve on the Access to Justice Commission. They will serve a three-year term beginning on April 1, 2018 and expiring on March 31, 2021.The Access to Justice Commission aims to provide…
January 16, 2018
Because of weather conditions, oral arguments scheduled for the Court of Appeals on January 17, 2018, in the Jackson Supreme Court Building and the Knoxville Supreme Court Building have been cancelled. All parties will be notified when the arguments are rescheduled. In addition, the Knoxville…
December 12, 2017
The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) began the process of modernizing a cornerstone part of communities statewide by awarding 66 Tennessee counties a total of $2 million to improve courthouse security. The AOC received 70 grant applications requesting $5,769,923 in funds…
January 11, 2018
Judge Richard H. Dinkins was awarded the John C. Tune Public Service Award at the Nashville Bar Association’s Annual Banquet in December. The award—the highest honor a member of the NBA can receive—recognizes a distinguished member of the legal community who makes outstanding contributions to the…
January 10, 2018
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed Jennifer S. Nichols of Memphis as Criminal Court Judge for the 30th Judicial District, which serves Shelby County.Nichols, 55, replaces Judge James C. Beasley, Jr., who retired effective December 31.Nichols has been Deputy District Attorney General in…
January 9, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously reinstated a jury verdict finding a Knox County defendant, LaJuan Harbison, guilty of three counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter and three counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.The convictions arose out of a shootout…
January 8, 2018
The Administrative Office of the Courts will provide grants to ten Tennessee counties to launch court kiosks in 2018. The court kiosks will allow court clerks and their staff to direct self-represented litigants to an on-site computer or tablet where the user can access legal information and…
January 5, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear four cases on January 10, 2018, in Knoxville. The details of the cases are as follows: Rhonda Willeford, et al. v. Timothy P. Klepper, MD, et al. v. State of Tennessee– The Supreme Court granted the plaintiff’s application for permission to…
December 27, 2017
In a case filed in Monroe County, the Tennessee Supreme Court clarified when Tennessee laws prevent a person who owes child support from receiving money damages from a wrongful death lawsuit. Those laws apply, the Court said, only when the person is a parent of the child who died, and the back…
December 22, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court is continuing its highly successful business court docket pilot project as it seeks to provide all Tennessee businesses and citizens across the state with a specialized business court docket, it announced today in a Supreme Court Order. The…
December 21, 2017
At the annual holiday luncheon of the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Appellate Courts, appellate judges presented service awards to the following employees pictured to the right: for five years of service: Rebekah Bradley, Tammy Capps, Sally Goade, and Carol Anne Long; for 10 years of service:…
December 19, 2017
In a case involving the custody of two minor children, the Tennessee Supreme Court determined that Father had established that a material change of circumstances had occurred and that it was in the children’s best interests for Father to be designated as the primary residential parent. The Court…
December 19, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court recognized Memphis-area 2017 Attorneys for Justice on at the Memphis Bar Association Annual Dinner. Justice Holly Kirby publicly thanked attorneys who provided 50 or more hours of pro bono work in the prior calendar year. Over 30 attorneys and two law students were…
December 18, 2017
The Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a Shelby County trial court’s decision denying relief from a final order of dismissal in a wrongful death case because the party filing the motion waited too long to seek relief.In December 2008, Derek Hussey died after being detained and handcuffed…
December 12, 2017
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed M. Wyatt Burk of Shelbyville as Circuit Court Judge for the 17th Judicial District. He replaces Judge Lee Russell, who has retired. The 17th Judicial District includes Bedford, Lincoln, Marshall and Moore counties.Burk, 35, has practiced with Bobo, Hunt,…