As part of its ongoing effort to gather feedback from Tennessee attorneys on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order seeking public comment on seven areas of potential regulatory changes to the legal profession, the TBA’s Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force will host a series of virtual town halls this month. Friday's event will start at noon CDT and focus on non-lawyer ownership and fee sharing. There is no cost to attend but registration is required to receive the meeting link. Attorneys also are encouraged to review the TBA’s Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page before attending.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently appointed three new members to serve on its Access to Justice (ATJ) Commission. Eric Osborne (left), a member at Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison in Nashville; Nathan Kibler, a shareholder in the Knoxville office of Baker Donelson; and Jennifer Sneed-Perry, in-house counsel for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will begin two-year terms on April 1. In addition, the court named Osborne to serve as the next chair of the commission, replacing Joy Radice. The other new appointees will replace Monty Burks and Amber D. Floyd. All three members rolling off the commission are in their second three-year term, which will expire on March 31. They are not eligible for reappointment. Read more about the new appointees in a press release from the commission.

As part of its ongoing effort to gather feedback from Tennessee attorneys on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order seeking public comment on seven areas of potential regulatory changes to the legal profession, the TBA’s Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force will host a series of virtual town halls this month. Each town hall will focus on specific issues outlined in the order, starting with a discussion about Alternative Education and Licensure Pathways on Feb. 10 at noon CST. Additional sessions will address Nonlawyer Ownership and Fee Sharing on Feb. 13 at 11 a.m., Paraprofessionals on Feb. 19 at noon,  ABA Accreditation on Feb. 23 at noon, and Interstate Mobility and Reciprocity on Feb. 26 at noon. All times are central time zone. There is no cost to attend but registration is required to receive the meeting link. Attorneys also are encouraged to review the TBA’s Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page before attending.

On Feb. 12, the Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for its February docket in Nashville. The proceedings will be held at the Supreme Court building and livestreamed to the YouTube page. At 9 a.m. CST, the court will hear three with the first two cases involve the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County challenging the constitutionality of 2023 state laws affecting the size of Metro’s legislative body and the governance of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, raising questions under the Tennessee Constitution’s Local Legislation, Exemption and Anti-Ripper clauses. The third case centers on whether a hospital may pursue an unjust enrichment claim for post-stabilization medical services provided to TennCare patients without prior authorization. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more about each case.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that Tennessee courts lack jurisdiction to confirm arbitration awards when the parties agree that the arbitration occur in another state, according to a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts. In Berkeley Research Group LLC v. Southern Advanced Materials LLC, the parties entered into a contract providing that any disputes would be resolved through arbitration in Philadelphia. When a dispute arose, the parties conducted arbitration over Zoom with the arbitrator located in Philadelphia. The arbitrator ruled in favor of Berkeley Research Group, which then filed a case in Shelby County Chancery Court to confirm the arbitration award. The Supreme Court held that under the Uniform Arbitration Act, Tennessee courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction to confirm an out-of-state arbitration award.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has extended the deadline for commenting on its Sept. 16 order from March 16 to April 30. The order sought feedback from the legal community about potential changes to regulation of the profession “to ensure that all Tennesseans have access to affordable quality legal service.” On Jan. 13, the Tennessee Bar Association filed a motion requesting that the court extend the deadline for comments to June 1. Comments now should be submitted by April 30 via email or by mail to James Hivner, Clerk, Re: Regulatory Reform, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37219. Comments should reference docket No. ADM2025-01403. The TBA also is seeking feedback. Comments to its Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force should be submitted via email to townhall@tnbar.org. Visit TBA's Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page to learn more about the areas the court is reviewing.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected proposed amendments to Rule 21 of the Rules of the Supreme Court that would have required Tennessee licensed attorneys to complete one hour of CLE credit every three years to address mental health and substance abuse disorders. The amendments were requested by the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program and Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services. The court said it received comments on the proposal from the law firm of Baker Donelson, the Board of Professional Responsibility, the Commission on Continuing Legal Education, the Knoxville Bar Association, Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, the North Carolina Lawyers Assistance Program, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and many individual attorneys. Read the court's order.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued two orders announcing amendments to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rules of Criminal Procedure. The appellate package would affect Rules 20B “Public Access To Appellate Court Filings And Privacy Protection” and 27 “Content of Briefs” while the criminal package would impact Rule 41 “Search And Seizure.” Amendments will take effect July 1 subject to approval by the General Assembly.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated workers’ compensation benefits in Edwards v. Peoplease LLC et al. The plaintiff in the case, Jo Carol Edwards, drove a truck for Peoplease. In 2020, one of the tires on the truck blew out, and the vehicle went down an embankment and crashed into a bridge. Edwards was injured and applied for workers’ compensation benefits. After multiple appeals, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board denied benefits, saying that Edwards failed to counter her physician's determination that the accident did not qualify for compensation under Tennessee law. According to a news release, the Tennessee Supreme Court disagreed, saying Edwards was entitled to benefits because her work accident aggravated a preexisting condition and that aggravation necessitated knee replacement surgery. It also clarified the circumstances under that “aggravation” injuries are compensable under workers’ compensation law. Read the opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in Brian Coblentz et al. v. Tractor Supply Company that workers’ compensation law does not bar an employee of a product vendor from suing a retail store for injuries sustained on the job. Brian Coblentz, employed by Stanley National, was injured when part of a display rack fell on his head while he was stocking merchandise. He received workers’ compensation benefits from Stanley National before filing a tort lawsuit against Tractor Supply, alleging the store was negligent and its display rack was in an “unreasonably dangerous and unsafe condition.” Tractor Supply argued it was Coblentz’s “statutory employer” and therefore immune from the suit, but the court held that the companies’ relationship was a product vendor-purchaser arrangement, not a contractor-subcontractor relationship, and that any work Coblentz performed was incidental to the sale of merchandise, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.