The House Civil Justice Committee today finished business for the year, working off a 29-item calendar. Among the bills addressed:

Lawyer Regulation -- A bill (SB 779/HB 635) to impose criminal sanctions on Board of Professional Responsibility panel members, staff, lawyers subject to discipline and their counsel for certain procedural violations could see action in committees in both chambers. The TBA resisted this unwelcome intrusion in the Supreme Court’s disciplinary process. This bill will be dealt with in the summer study.

Tort -- Codification of comparative fault with limitations of joint and several liability in several types of cases that the courts have carved out by common law -- including products liability and cases with combined intentional and negligent actors -- was recommended for adoption. (SB 56/HB 1099)

Court Reporting- The bill (SB443/HB206) to prohibit court reporting by reporters who contract with companies or intermediaries to provide court reporting services was deferred to 2014.

Conservatorship- The TBA’s bill (SB 555/HB 692) to improve conservatorship practice and procedure, with the agreed upon amendments, was unanimously recommended.

Consideration of the bills extending sunset dates for the Judicial Nominating Commission and Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission today were deferred to next week in the Senate Government Operations Committee.

The state House and Senate have agreed to have a joint committee conduct hearings during the summer and fall on federal laws and executive orders that some believe may have exceeded constitutional authority, Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, said Tuesday. The Knoxnews reports that Beaver’s announcement came after declaring she would not push for passage of the “Balance of Powers Act (SB1158), which would have set up a joint legislative committee to determine which federal laws should be nullified in Tennessee by the General Assembly.

A bill to change the state’s 2009 whiskey distillery law to include Hamilton County was approved 22-8 in the Senate today and now goes to the House. The measure would allow Chattanooga and other cities that have passed both liquor-by-the-drink and retail package store sales to operate distilleries. Chattanooga Whiskey Co. sought the legislation after Hamilton County was excluded from the original law, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

Gov. Bill Haslam said he would likely veto a Republican bill to remove voting power for Tennessee’s two U.S. senators from the voters in open statewide primaries to the state legislators, the Commercial Appeal reports. A few hours after Haslam’s announcement, the House version of the bill was deferred to 2014. The Senate version was delayed by sponsor Sen. Frank Nicely, R-Strawberry Plans, to the last day of the 2013 legislative season.

A number of bills of interest to lawyers may see action before the end of the session. They include:

Lawyer Regulation -- A bill (SB 779/HB 635) to impose criminal sanctions on Board of Professional Responsibility panel members, staff, lawyers subject to discipline, and their counsel for certain procedural violations could see action in committees in both chambers. The TBA has resisted this unwelcome intrusion in the Supreme Court’s disciplinary process.

Tort -- Codification of comparative fault with limitations of joint and several liability in several types of cases that the courts have carved out by common law -- including products liability and cases with combined intentional and negligent actors -- still awaits House committee action (SB 56/HB 1099).

Collateral Source Rule -- The effort to limit the effect of the collateral source rule (SB 1184/HB 978) will be studied for now but could return next year.

Workers Compensation Overhaul -- The Workers Compensation overhaul (SB 200/HB 194) continues its march towards expected passage. According to the Associated Press, the plan is scheduled for a full Senate vote on Monday night with the House Finance Committee taking it up on Tuesday.

Conservatorship -- The work of the TBA’s Special Committee on Conservatorship Practice and Procedure has been adopted by the Senate (SB 555/HB 692) and should see action in the House Civil Justice Committee this week.

Trust Law -- A bill (SB 713/HB 873) to rewrite Tennessee trust law and a 52-page amendment debuted 10 days ago will see action in the House Civil Justice Committee.

Criminal -- The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear about legislation (SB 1362/HB 1293) permitting prosecution of an alleged repeat child abuser in any county where an act of of abuse allegedly occurred, and permitting evidence of all prior child abuse by declaring past offenses to be a "continuing offense.”

With the General Assembly racing towards its earliest finish in more than a decade, several legislative issues affecting lawyers -- including the fate of the Judicial Nominating Commision and the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission -- still remain to be resolved before the expected April 19 adjournment. The sunset extension of the Judicial Nominating Commission, which is in wind down mode and will go totally out of existence on June 30, has passed the House but still awaits Senate committee action. There will be no authority to fill vacancies on any trial or appellate bench after June 30 without legislative action. The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, which must make recommendations regarding retention of appellate judges in the run up to the August 2014 election, also faces sunset on June 30. It will then have a year to wind down its business before going out of existence in June 2014. See a roundup of other legislative issues under the General Assembly category at right.

The Senate has passed a bill to eliminate hotel allowances for lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the state Capitol. The proposal, sponsored by Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin, would discontinue the $107 per night hotel payment for Nashville-area legislators, saving more than $250,000 annually according to WATE Knoxville. The legislation would continue to provide for mileage and meal allowances for all lawmakers however.

Legislation to scramble the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) and the current performance evaluation process suffered a huge setback today when the House sponsor withdrew the bill from consideration and the subcommittee with jurisdiction closed for the year. The bill (SB 1058/HB 1227), as amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee two weeks ago, would have removed all of the present JPEC members, reconstituted the body without any judges as members, allowed the commission to rewrite evaluation criteria, and provided that if an incumbent appellate level judge was evaluated as “for replacement,” that judge could not stand for retention election. The resulting judicial vacancy would then be filled by gubernatorial appointment after a nominating commission recommendation. The TBA fought the measure with TBA President Jackie Dixon saying that action on the bill would amount to “changing the rules, the referees and the scorekeeping after the two-minute warning.” Retention elections are set for August 2014 for all current Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals judges.

Tennessee House of Representatives Speaker Beth Harwell has appointed Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, to the Tennessee Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. The purpose of the committee, according to Chattanoogan.com, is to identify issues in the criminal justice system that are harmful to public safety and recommend changes. Rep. Watson’s appointment commences immediately and will run until Nov. 2, 2014.