Computer networks, telephone and email services have been disrupted at the Nashville Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, several boards and commissions and Davidson County courts due to the explosion in Nashville on Christmas day. The following is an update from the AOC as of Monday morning:

• The Nashville Supreme Court Building, including the Appellate Clerk’s Office, is closed through Dec. 28 while emergency services are restored and tested. All methods of filing will still be available, including the drop box located outside of the building, e-filing, fax filing, U.S. mail and commercial delivery services. Questions can be directed to the Appellate Court Clerk offices in Jackson at 731-423-5840, or Knoxville at 865-594-6700
   
• All three clerk offices are open, but there are phone and elevator issues in the buildings. To enter the Circuit Court Clerk or Chancery Clerk and Master, enter the Historic Courthouse on James Robertson Parkway only. After entry, a guard will take you to the clerk office. The Criminal Court Clerk in the Justice A.A. Birch Building is open. 
   
• The tncourts.gov website and email addresses with a tncourts.gov domain have been restored, but emails sent on Christmas day or after may have been delayed, mis-timestamped or made inaccessible on smartphones
   
• The AOC’s physical office is closed for the week, with staff working remotely. Technology staff may be on hand to work on servers and systems. Phone lines into the AOC have not yet been restored, but email is working
   
• The Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program offices are located in the blast zone and received heavy damage. The physical office is closed. The website and email are functioning. Email sent between Friday morning and late Sunday may be delayed, mis-timestamped or made inaccessible on smartphones. The phone lines are not currently working. If you have an emergency, please call this cell number: 615-393-2985
   
• The Board of Law Examiners will be open, with email and website capabilities. Phone lines to BLE have not yet been restored
   
• The Board of Professional Responsibility is expected to be open and functioning as planned
   
• Many of the Davidson County court offices are located within, or just north of, the blast zone. They are on a pre-planned reduced schedule this week. The court clerk offices are scheduled to open today, but may have limited phone and email capabilities
   
• The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims is experiencing a disruption in normal phone service. For this week only, settlement call-in numbers for the Nashville judges are as follows: Judge Josh Baker, 423-634-0163; Chief Judge Kenneth Switzer, 855-543-5041. All attorneys with approvals this week must contact the injured workers to convey this temporary change in plans. Bureau staff will be contacting the attorneys by phone or email as well
   
• As of Tuesday afternoon, phone lines at the Davidson County District Attorney's Office are down 

A news item in yesterday’s issue of TBA Today was not clear that an order issued by the Tennessee Supreme Court contained two dates. The order suspended in-person court proceedings through the end of January and suspended jury trials through the end of February. The order applies to all municipal, juvenile, general sessions, trial, and appellate courts beginning Monday. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a statewide order suspending all in-person proceedings in municipal, juvenile, general sessions, trial, and appellate courts beginning Dec. 28 through Jan. 31, and all jury trials through Feb. 26. According to the order, the decision was made due to the “recent record number of COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations” and applies to all courts and court clerks’ offices except administrative courts within the Executive Branch, and federal courts and federal court clerks’ offices across the state. The suspension of trials is subject only to exceptions which may be granted by Chief Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins on a case-by-case basis. Read more from the Tennessean.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that, under the Drug Dealer Liability Act, drug companies manufacturing opioids may be sued by babies who have been harmed by their mothers’ use of opioids. Under the Act, they may sue for damages caused by the use of illegal opioids if there is clear and convincing evidence that the companies knowingly facilitated the distribution of opioids in the illegal drug market. The high court also ruled that District Attorneys General who individually sue the drug companies on behalf of their districts do not have standing to sue under the Act. The ruling is a result of Effler, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., in which seven District Attorneys General and two unnamed children sued Endo Health Solutions Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. under the Drug Dealer Liability Act in response to the opioid crisis in East Tennessee. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has approved a plan developed by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission to assist courts facing a backlog of civil cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission has partnered with three community mediation centers across the state to make mediation more available to litigants. The service will be available to all pending civil actions in general sessions, juvenile, chancery and circuit courts. Judges are encouraged to review their dockets and refer to mediation any cases that could benefit from the service, giving priority to cases involving self-represented litigants. Indigent parties not represented by an attorney will receive the service at no cost. To help courts implement the plan, the commission has developed a Plan Toolbox, which includes sample documents and calendars of applicable deadlines. Learn more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has settled a split of authority in the Court of Appeals about the interpretation of a statute authorizing termination of parental rights. The high court held that the statute authorizes termination of parental rights upon clear and convincing proof that a parent or guardian failed to manifest, by act or omission, either an ability or willingness to personally assume legal and physical custody or financial responsibility for a child and that placing the child in the parent’s legal and physical custody would pose a risk of substantial harm to the physical or psychological welfare of the child. Read more about the case and the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion on the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

Tennessee Public Defenders Conference Executive Director Patrick Frogge is appealing to Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, asking the high court to take action to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus, specifically in general sessions courts, Knox News reports. In a letter dated Nov. 24, Frogge wrote that attorneys who represent the poor and their clients are being endangered by judges who are continuing to hold in-person hearings despite the state's ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The state Supreme Court last month suspended all jury trials, but did not suspend all in-person hearings, meaning general sessions court judges were not required to change day-to-day operations. Frogge noted that, unlike judges and prosecutors, public defenders  must meet with clients inside local jails, where outbreaks of COVID-19 are now becoming common place, making them particularly vulnerable to the virus. Frogge is asking the Supreme Court to step in, but did not specify what actions he’d like them to take.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order supplementing its COVID-19 order of Nov. 17 to require those who enter a courthouse to comply with current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control regarding quarantine and isolation. CDC guidelines call for a seven-day quarantine for anyone who comes into close contact with an infected individual and gets a negative test; a10-day quarantine for anyone who comes into close contact with an infected individual and does not get tested, or anyone who gets a positive test but has no symptoms; and a 10-day isolation for anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms. Isolation should continue until 24 hours with no fever (without fever-reducing medication) and until other symptoms are improving.

In an opinion released Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the rebuttable presumption of acceptance of an insurance policy’s terms by payment of premiums in Tennessee Code Annotated section 56-7-135(b) applies in actions against an insurance agent for failure to procure a policy in accordance with an insured party’s instructions. The Court of Appeals had previously held that the presumption did not apply to the agent because he was not a party to the insurance contract. Read more about the case or view the opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday adopted amendments to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. The amendments are now subject to approval by the General Assembly.