News
August 2, 2019
The Administrative Office of the Courts has approximately $125,000 in grant funding available for the development or continuation of initiatives that will address the needs of never-married, self-represented litigants and focus on services to help them resolve any or all issues concerning parenting…
August 1, 2019
Longtime City of Clarksville Municipal Court Judge Charles W. Smith was named the 2019 recipient of the Sharon G. Lee Award of Excellence at the most recent meeting of the Tennessee Municipal Court Judges Conference.The award, named in honor of Tennessee Supreme Court Justice and former…
July 25, 2019
For more than 20 years, the Davidson County Drug Court Residential Treatment Program has been a statewide and national leader in the effort to reduce recidivism, lower costs, and improve the lives of non-violent offenders with chemical dependencies.Founded in 1997 by 20th Judicial District Criminal…
July 24, 2019
Judge Carma Dennis McGee was publicly sworn in as a member of one of Tennessee’s highest courts Friday in Savannah at an investiture. Judge McGee, a former 24th Judicial District chancellor, was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Bill Lee to fill the seat of former Judge Brandon…
July 22, 2019
In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that a trial court should not have considered the constitutionality of the Public Safety Act prior to entering two defendants’ guilty pleas.The defendants, A.B. Price, Jr., and Victor Sims, were charged with crimes in separate cases,…
July 22, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed an award of summary judgment and sent a contract dispute back to the trial court based on factual disputes about the parties’ intent to substitute a new contract for an existing one. A development company had contracted with a Nashville architect firm,…
July 15, 2019
Life did not start out easily for Judge Don Elledge. Born into a housing project built for the economically deprived during the New Deal era in Charleston, West Virginia, Judge Elledge’s living conditions took a turn for the worse after he moved to DeKalb County in Tennessee just before he started…
July 11, 2019
The Advisory Task Force on Composition of Judicial Districts will hold a public hearing in Memphis on Monday, July 15 to receive comments from those interested in sharing their thoughts on judicial districts in Tennessee. The public hearing will be held from 1 – 5 p.m. CDT at the University…
July 9, 2019
While the criminal justice side of the opioid epidemic has received significant attention, the civil legal issues it has caused have quietly smoldered into a raging inferno, overwhelming legal aid providers, families, social service providers, and courts. The Legal Services Corporation, which funds…
July 8, 2019
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee today appointed Wesley Bray of Putnam County as the criminal court judge to the 13th Judicial District to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David. A Patterson. The 13th Judicial District covers Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, and…
July 3, 2019
The Tennessee Judicial Conference recently announced the new members of its Executive Committee for the coming year.Taking over as president of the TJC is 7th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Donald R. Elledge. Judge Elledge has been on the bench since 2005, when he was first appointed to his…
July 2, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld a decision of the Chancery Court of Knox County that disbarred Knoxville attorney Loring Edwin Justice.The disbarment stems from Mr. Justice’s conduct in a federal personal injury lawsuit in which he represented the plaintiff. The federal district court…
June 26, 2019
Governor Bill Lee was recently welcomed to the 66th Tennessee Judicial Conference where he spoke about an issue very important to him: criminal justice reform. At the conference, Governor Lee explored why he feels reform is so crucial and emphasized that state judges have a huge role to play in…
June 25, 2019
The Trial Vacancy Commission met today, Tuesday, June 25, 2019, to consider five candidates for the 24th Judicial District Chancery Court judge vacancy, which covers Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin, and Henry counties.This vacancy was created by the appointment and confirmation of Judge Carma…
June 21, 2019
Fourth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Duane Slone, whose groundbreaking work in the courtroom has given new hope to many battling addiction issues, was recently awarded the National Center for State Courts Distinguished Service Award. NCSC President Mary McQueen presented Judge Slone with…
June 19, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court today, in a divided opinion, dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed by the estate of a woman who committed suicide.In 2011, the defendant, Dr. Jerry Scott Wilson, a psychiatrist, and the decedent, Christina Marie Cotten, a registered nurse who worked with him, embarked on…
June 18, 2019
The Nashville Business Journal recognized Former Court of Appeals Judge Lew Conner with its Best of the Bar Lifetime Achievement award. Former Judge Conner served on the Court of Appeals from 1980-1984 and is a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP.Conner has practiced law for more than…
June 18, 2019
On June 30, 2019 the current Board of Judicial Conduct will sunset and a new board will take its place on July 1, 2019, per Tennessee Public Chapter 496, passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Bill Lee. Under the new law, four of the Tennessee judicial conferences appointed one or two…
June 11, 2019
Former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge F. Lloyd Tatum succumbed to cancer at his home in Henderson on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. He was 93 years old. Judge Tatum was appointed to the Criminal Court of Appeals in 1976 by Governor Ray Blanton. He served on that court until 1986 and later became a…
June 7, 2019
In 1990, Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey became the first woman ever appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Her appointment signaled a coming sea of change. In the ensuing two decades, women would go from being an anomaly on the Court to a persistent majority. Serving as witnesses to this…