The Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 10 issued an order amending Rule 21 to make changes designed to improve processes for attorneys, support an overhaul of the regulations of the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and properly align the rule and regulations. The court solicited comments on amendments, which were requested by the commission.  The court now reports that it received comments from the Knoxville Bar Association and the Board of Professional Responsibility. After consideration of the comments, the court has deleted Rule 21 sections 2.03(e), (f), (g) and (h); 3.02; 4.08(f); and 10.01(c)(7). It also has amended sections 1.05; 1.09; 2.03(b), (c) and (d); 4.05; 4.06; 4.08(b), (c), (d) and (e); 5.01(g); 12.; 5.05(c); 7.06; 10.01(c)(5) and (6); and 11.06 as set out in Appendix A. In addition, it also amended the regulations of the commission as set out in Appendix C. The amendments will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today denied pension benefits to former Chattanooga firefighter Matthew Long, who had applied for job-related disability pension benefits in 2020 due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After a hearing, the Chattanooga Fire and Police Pension Fund denied benefits. Long appealed and the Hamilton County Chancery Court reversed the denial and awarded benefits finding there was not sufficient and material evidence to deny benefits. The fund then appealed to the Court of Appeals. That court affirmed the chancery decision after determining that the disability benefits policy was ambiguous and should have been interpreted in favor of Long. On appeal, the Tennessee Supreme Court disagreed and determined that the policy was not ambiguous. It then upheld the initial denial of benefits because it found substantial and material evidence in the record to support the decision.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld the conviction of Ambreia Washington, ruling that the warrantless seizure of a firearm from his vehicle did not violate the U.S. Constitution. In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the court found that the handgun was properly seized under the “plain view exception,” which allows law enforcement officers to confiscate incriminating evidence seen in plain sight without a warrant. In this case, a Jackson Police Department officer responding to a car accident saw a handgun in the passenger seat and later learned that Washington was a convicted felon. The court concluded that the firearm was lawfully seized and admissible at trial. Justice Dwight E. Tarwater wrote a concurring opinion addressing the plain view doctrine’s “immediately apparent” requirement and its relationship to the Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Holly Kirby on June 30, 2026. Applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 35 years of age, have been residents of the state for five years and must reside in the Eastern or Western Grand Division of Tennessee. Applicants must complete the application and submit it to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) by noon CDT on Oct. 22. The council will meet on Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. CST in the courtroom of the Nashville Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave. N., Nashville 37219. Complete application instructions can be found here and questions can be directed to AOC Assistant General Counsel Laura Blount or at 615-741-2687.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has set 2026 execution dates for four death row inmates, including Christa Pike, the state’s only woman on death row. According to the Tennessean, The court issued orders on Sept. 30 scheduling executions for Tony Carruthers on May 21, Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines on Aug. 13, Pike on Sept. 30 and Gary Wayne Sutton on Dec. 3. Carruthers was sentenced to death for the 1994 kidnapping, shooting and burying alive of three people in Memphis and has argued he is mentally ill and incompetent to be executed. Hines was sentenced for the 1985 rape, robbery and murder of a motel maid, and his case briefly reached the U.S. Supreme Court before being reversed. Pike was convicted for the 1995 torture killing of a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student and would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years; her attorneys cite her youth and severe mental illness as grounds to commute her sentence. Sutton was sentenced for the 1992 killings of a friend and the friend’s sister in Blount County; he maintains his innocence and supporters say he is intellectually disabled. Tennessee resumed executions earlier this year following a pause in 2022, and all four inmates continue to challenge their sentences on legal and mental health grounds.

The Tennessee Supreme Court announced that it would hear appeals in two cases affecting Nashville government. First, the court will consider the size of the Metro Nashville Council. The Tennessee Court of Appeals in June reversed a lower court ruling that a law cutting the size of the council in half was unconstitutional. Second, the court will consider who controls the Nashville airport. In April, the Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the legislature’s attempt to take over the airport authority was unconstitutional. The Nashville Business Journal has more on both the council size and airport board stories.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for its October docket on Oct. 1 at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave N, Nashville 37219, which will be livestreamed to the TNCourts YouTube page. At 9 a.m. CDT, the court will hear State v. Torrian Seantel Bishop, State v. William Tony Burrell and Cinda Haddon v. Ladarius Vanlier et al. At 1 p.m. the court will hear SH Nashville LLC et al. v. FWREF Nashville Airport LLC. Additionally, State v. Jeffrey Tate and Steven J. Ogle will be heard on briefs.

Justice Holly Kirby has announced she will retire from the Tennessee Supreme Court, effective June 30, 2026. “I’ve been privileged to work alongside my Supreme Court colleagues, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Tennessee Bar Association and trial judges and lawyers across the state, as well as our governor and our general assembly, to advance our shared vision for Tennessee’s justice system,” Kirby said in a release. “Their dedication and hard work made all the difference. Together we’re making the judicial branch stronger.”

Kirby was appointed to the court by then Gov. Bill Haslam in 2014 and has served as chief justice for the last two years. She achieved many “firsts” in her career. At just 38 years old, she was the first woman in Tennessee to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. While in private practice, she became the first female partner in the Memphis firm of Burch Porter & Johnson. And she was the first graduate of the University of Memphis to sit on the state’s high court. As chief justice, Kirby helped secure $26 million to fund indigent representation in Tennessee and establish a new commission to oversee the administration and compensation of appointed counsel. Recognizing the need to modernize the court system, she also  supported the court’s Technology Oversight Committee and helped bring stakeholders together to develop a solution to unify court system data. She also focused on increased threats to Tennessee’s judiciary, leading efforts to strengthen laws on intimidation of judicial officials, and to protect judges, their families and justice system employees.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Sept. 19 affirmed the suspension of Davidson County attorney James B. Johnson for disclosure of confidential client communications. The violations stemmed from Johnson's representation of a client in a divorce proceeding in Shelby County beginning in February 2021. At some point, Johnson and his client began to have disagreements regarding his performance and decisions. Johnson filed a motion to withdraw from representation in March 2021. In support of that motion, Johnson attached emails between him and his client that discussed the scope of his representation, legal opinions and advice, his client’s position on matters at issue in the case, and personal insults between the two. The client then filed a complaint with the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR), which filed a formal disciplinary petition. The BPR alleged that Johnson disclosed the confidential communications without his client's permission and recommended that he be suspended from the practice of law for three months, with 30 days to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. The BPR also recommended that he complete six additional continuing legal education hours. Johnson appealed to discipline first to the Davidson County Circuit Court and then to the state Supreme Court, both which upheld the suspension. Read the court's decision or a press release from the BPR.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Sept. 16 issued an order soliciting comments from the legal community and the public on seven questions related to regulation of the legal profession. The court said the goal of the effort is to lower barriers to entry into the profession and ensure availability of affordable legal services in the state while ensuring the competency of attorneys and safeguarding the public. Comments should address whether the court should (1) modify, reduce or eliminate reliance on American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation in setting minimum educational requirements for lawyers; (2) consider alternatives to ABA accreditation; (3) consider adopting alternative pathways for admission to the bar; (4) consider modifying requirements for admission for those licensed in other states; and (5) modify, reduce or eliminate regulations prohibiting non-lawyer ownership of law firms or fee sharing with non-lawyers. Feedback also is sought on whether there are less costly alternatives to the traditional three-year law school curriculum and whether any legal services currently provided by lawyers could be competently provided by paraprofessionals. Comments should include docket No. ADM2025-01403 and be submitted by March 16, 2026, to Clerk James Hivner, Re: Regulatory Reform, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37219 or by email to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov.