News
October 8, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court has determined that the Tennessee Health Care Liability Act (the Act) applies to all claims relating to the delivery of health care services by covered health care providers. As a result, the Supreme Court dismissed the claims of Nashville-area parents against a licensed…
October 5, 2015
Court of Appeals Judge Andy D. Bennett spoke recently at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for State and Local History to a gathering of historians interested in legal cases.Appearing as part of a panel entitled, "An Untapped Resource: How to Locate and use Legal Cases at Historic…
October 5, 2015
Former Court Of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Smith has been appointed as an adjunct faculty member at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville.Judge Smith, who retired from the bench in 2014, will teach appellate practice at the institution starting in October of 2016. He has been an…
October 2, 2015
In a unanimous opinion, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance must refund more than $16 million in taxes paid by five groups of out-of-state insurance companies.Tennessee, like every other state except Hawaii, has adopted a retaliatory tax…
October 2, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court has selected former Circuit Court Judge William Acree to serve as senior judge and preside over cases across the state.Judge Acree, who is from the 27th Judicial District in far northwest Tennessee, replaces Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood, who retired.“We are…
October 1, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral arguments in front of more than a thousand Middle Tennessee high school and college students at Cumberland University in Lebanon as part of SCALES – Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students.Students prepared for the event by studying the cases in…
September 25, 2015
The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments met today to consider three applicants for the impending criminal court vacancy in the 9th Judicial District, which serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties. The seat will become vacant December 31, 2015, when Judge E. Eugene Eblen retires.…
September 24, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear two civil cases, two Board of Professional Responsibility cases and one death penalty case when it sits for oral arguments in Nashville October 1.State v. Howard Hawk Willis –This death penalty case comes to the Supreme Court on a direct appeal. The Supreme…
September 23, 2015
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby spoke to students at St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis last week as part of their Constitution Day celebration. The students sang the Preamble of the Constitution Song from Schoolhouse Rock. Constitution Day is celebrated September 17th and…
September 22, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in three criminal cases in front of more than a thousand Middle Tennessee high school and college students when it brings court to Cumberland University in Lebanon September 30.The program is called SCALES – Supreme Court Advancing Legal…
September 21, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission has released its annual report showing that attorneys in Tennessee have increased the number of hours of free and reduced-rate legal services they are providing to those in need.The report shows that the number of hours of pro bono service…
September 18, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that claims against the City of Clarksville did not fall under any exceptions to the legal deadlines for filing a lawsuit and have dismissed the complaint against the City.On Christmas Eve in 2009, a tree on State of Tennessee property fell on Richard Moreno’s…
September 18, 2015
More than 200 court clerks offices across the state participated in the first Purple Out Day Friday, September 18th by wearing purple to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and related dementias as well as raise funds to support the work of Alzheimer’s Tennessee.
Pictured here are the appellate…
September 18, 2015
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed Tom Greenholtz of Ooltewah as Criminal Court Judge for the 11th Judicial District, which serves Hamilton County.Greenholtz, 42, replaces Judge Rebecca Stern, who retired June 1 this year.Greenholtz is a shareholder with the law firm Chambliss, Bahner…
September 16, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court has an aggressive agenda for the next year with the goals of improving the service the judiciary provides to attorneys and adapting to better meet the needs of litigants.Chief Justice Sharon Lee outlined plans for the next year while speaking at the Knoxville Bar…
September 11, 2015
More than 200 court clerks offices across the state will participate in the first Purple Out Day Friday, September 18th as they wear purple to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and related dementias as well as raise funds to support the work of Alzheimer’s Tennessee.
Alzheimer’s disease and…
September 10, 2015
The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for the man who kidnapped, sexually abused, and murdered a woman in west Tennessee in 2010.Rickey Alvis Bell, Jr. appealed his conviction and sentence after a trial court found him guilty of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual…
September 9, 2015
The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications for the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Gary R. Wade’s retirement September 8.Any interested applicant must be a licensed attorney who is at least 35 years of age, a resident of the state for five years, and a…
September 8, 2015
The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will consider three applicants when it meets September 25 in Harriman to select nominees for the impending criminal court vacancy in the 9th Judicial District, which serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties.The impending vacancy has been…
September 3, 2015
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed James R. Newsom III of Memphis as Chancellor in the 30th Judicial District, which serves Shelby County.Newsom replaces Oscar C. “Bo” Carr III, who died earlier this year.Newsom, 61, has been a member of the Memphis law firm Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh,…