The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday held that a plaintiff may go forward with claims of direct negligence against a business even after the business admits it is indirectly liable for any negligence of its employee. The court also held that a plaintiff may assert concurrent claims based on both negligent activity and premises liability. Read the unanimous opinion in Binns v. Trader Joe’s East Inc., authored by Justice Roger A. Page.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will be at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law on Wednesday to hear oral arguments in three cases. The proceeding will begin at 9 a.m. CDT with the case of State of Tennessee v. Christopher Oberton Curry Jr., which will test whether there was sufficient evidence to support Curry’s conviction and whether the trial court jury instructions properly defined the term “crime of violence.” At 10:15 a.m, the court will hear arguments in the case of Leah Gilliam v. David Gerregano, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue et al. Gilliam is challenging the department’s revocation of her vanity license plate more than 10 years after issuing it. At 1:15 p.m., the court will hear the final case, State of Tennessee v. Andre Jujuan Lee Green, which will test whether the scent of marijuana detected by a canine is probable cause for a warrantless search. Green will argue that a canine cannot distinguish between the smell of illegal marijuana and legal hemp. The proceedings will be livestreamed on the court’s YouTube page.

With the Tennessee Supreme Court’s recent decision to abolish a common law rule that required testimony of a criminal defendant’s accomplice to be supported by other evidence, the Tennessean looks at how this change could impact trials in the state. The piece quotes a number of criminal defense attorneys, as well as Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, who says the change “has the potential to impact a large number of cases.” Read more reactions in the article.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has presented its Technology Strategic Plan for Tennessee’s judicial system. The plan, developed by the Court System Information Technology Oversight Committee, outlines the design and implementation of a unified technology strategy for Tennessee’s judicial system. The committee, headed by Justice Sarah Campbell, included a variety of stakeholders and participants in Tennessee’s judicial system who provided meaningful input on both the challenges and opportunities technology presents. Moving forward, the committee will work collaboratively with the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to collect detailed information from stakeholders as concrete action steps are developed for each goal.

The Tennessee General Assembly on Monday confirmed Shelby County Circuit Judge Mary Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Wagner will take her seat on the court after Justice Roger A. Page's retirement on Aug. 31. Wagner's confirmation passed the Tennessee House of Representatives 94-3 and the Senate 32-0 during a brief joint session. The Tennessean reports that members of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved her selection last week, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hailing her as an excellent choice for the court. During the hearing, Wagner described herself to committee members as “both an originalist and a textualist" and said overturning precedents should be done "sparingly and cautiously." Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week abolished a common law rule that required testimony of a criminal defendant’s accomplice to be supported by other evidence. The change, which will apply prospectively, was made in an opinion upholding a first-degree murder conviction. The court found that the “accomplice-corroboration rule is effectively obsolete as a common law rule and that the General Assembly is better equipped to decide whether such a rule should exist in Tennessee.” Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee agreed in a separate opinion that the conviction should be affirmed but disagreed with abolishment of the accomplice-corroboration rule. She argued that the rule has long served to safeguard against untrustworthy accomplice testimony. Justice Sarah K. Campbell also filed a separate opinion agreeing with much of the majority, but argued that abolishing the rule should have been applied retroactively. Read more about the decision from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Tennessee lawmakers have scheduled a joint convention for Monday to vote on Gov. Bill Lee’s nomination of Shelby County Circuit Judge Mary Wagner to fill an upcoming vacancy on the state Supreme Court, the Tennessee Journal reports. Lee chose Wagner on Feb. 1 from a list of three candidates that also included Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Ross Dyer and Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Camille McMullen. Wagner will fill a vacancy that will occur when Justice Roger A. Page retires on Aug. 31. Wagner, 39, is a TBA member and alumna of the association's Leadership Law Program. She earned her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and was appointed to the circuit court in 2016 by then-Gov. Bill Haslam. She won reelection in 2018 and 2022.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an order soliciting comments on proposed changes to its Rule 13. The proposed revisions do not include any adjustments to the compensation rates and/or caps for appointed attorneys representing the indigent. But they do address the financial obligations of a child's parents, legal custodians or guardians when a guardian ad litem is appointed. The changes also address the crimes that affect the maximum compensation allowed for appointed criminal cases. Comments should be submitted by May 6 and should reference docket number ADM2024-00227.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week held that an arbitration agreement signed by a power of attorney as part of the paperwork for admittance to an assisted living facility was not a health care decision because it was optional and not required for admission. The court also concluded that the next of kin in the wrongful-death suit filed is bound by the arbitration agreement. In 2007, Granville Williams Jr. executed a durable power of attorney naming Karen Sams as his attorney-in-fact, giving Sams authority to act for Williams in “all claims and litigation matters” but not health care decisions. In 2020, Williams was admitted to Azalea Court, an assisted-living facility, and Sams completed the admission forms, including an arbitration agreement not required for admission. After Williams died, his son brought a wrongful-death lawsuit against two corporations that managed Azalea Court. Read more about the case, the majority opinion and dissenting opinions from Chief Justice Holly Kirby and Justice Sharon Lee.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday upheld 11 convictions against David Eady, which stemmed from a string of robberies that occurred in Nashville in November 2017. The court reversed a 12th conviction and called for a new trial on that charge, holding that the trial court erred in denying a motion to sever the offense. The defendant had sought to disqualify the Davidson County District Attorney’s office from prosecuting him because Glenn Funk had represented him in a different case in 1989. The trial, appellate and supreme court rejected that argument. The Supreme Court did, however, overturn the two lower courts in determining that one of the charges should have been tried separately. Read more about the ruling in State v. David Wayne Eady.