On Dec. 3, the Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases at Bryan College in Dayton as part of the court’s Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students (SCALES) program. SCALES is an initiative launched by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1995 that educates high school students about Tennessee’s legal system and the functions of the judicial branch of government, and provides them with the unique opportunity to hear oral arguments in actual cases in a local community. The court will hear State v. Baylis, involving the sufficiency of evidence for a trafficking for a commercial sex act conviction stemming from a Tennessee Bureau Investigation sting operation, and Lowe v. Bridgestone, a workers’ compensation and premises liability case examining whether Bridgestone qualified as a statutory employer and owed a duty of care to an independent contractor killed on-site. Proceedings will begin at 9 a.m. EST in Rudd Auditorium and will be livestreamed on the TNCourts YouTube page. Read more in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert plans to appeal a ruling that allows ouster proceedings against her to resume, the Commercial Appeal reports. The announcement came a day after the Tennessee Court of Appeals reinstated the case against her, reversing a Shelby County Circuit Court judge's ruling that the case be dismissed for a lack of standing. The issue centers on whether the outside counsel bringing the case on behalf of the Shelby County Attorney's Office has standing to sue. Halbert, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection, has faced a range of complaints during her time in office, including a previous ouster attempt that ultimately was dismissed.

On Nov. 5, the Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for its November docket in Jackson. The proceedings will take place at the Supreme Court building and be livestreamed on the court’s YouTube page. Beginning at 1:30 p.m. CST, the court will hear arguments in two cases: Jamesway Construction Inc. v. David W. Salyers P.E. and State v. James R. Holley. A third case, Fred C. Dance v. Board of Professional Responsibility, will be submitted to the court on briefs. Read more about the cases in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that a defendant waited too long to challenge the plaintiffs’ standing to bring a lawsuit. In Houghton v. Malibu Boats, LLC, the court found that Malibu Boats waited too long to challenge the standing of plaintiffs Brett and Ceree Houghton in their lawsuit against the company. The Houghtons, owners of a now-defunct boat dealership, sued Malibu for allegedly misrepresenting whether the business relationship would continue and won compensatory damages at trial for assets that were sold when the company went out of business. After the verdict, Malibu argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Houghtons’ company — not the couple themselves — was the proper party to sue. In a unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision that Malibu forfeited the challenge by raising it after the trial concluded, holding that shareholder standing limitations cannot be raised post-trial. Read more in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will consider five applicants when it meets to select nominees for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Holly Kirby on June 30, 2026. The applicants are: Court of Appeals Judge Carma Dennis McGee, Court of Criminal Appeals Judges J. Ross Dyer and Kyle A. Hixson, Memphis lawyer Shea Sisk Wellford, and Eileen Kuo, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Public interviews are scheduled for Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. CST in the courtroom of the Nashville Supreme Court Building located at 401 7th Ave. N., Nashville 37219. At the conclusion of the interviews, the council will vote to send three applicants to the governor. Any member of the public may attend the hearing and express, orally or in writing, objections concerning any of the applicants. Those with questions should contact Administrative Office of the Court’s Assistant General Counsel Laura Blount at 615-741-2687.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an order seeking comments from the legal community and the public on amendments to Rule 21 that would require attorneys to complete at least one hour of continuing legal education in mental health or substance use disorders every three years. The changes, proposed by the Tennessee Lawyer Assistance Program and Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, would amend Section 3.01(a) to require at least one hour of the currently required three hours in ethics/professionalism programming be dedicated to these topics. The deadline for submitting written comments is Dec. 19. Comments should reference docket number ADM2025-01538 and be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov or mailed to: Clerk James Hivner, Re: Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 21, 401 Seventh Ave., N., STE 321, Nashville, TN 37219-1407.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Bobbie Jo Denson complied with Tennessee’s health care liability pre-suit notice statute. Denson sent pre-suit notice and later filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of two minor grandchildren under Tennessee’s Health Care Liability Act after she gained legal custody of the children. In the pre-suit notice, Denson identified herself rather than her grandchildren as the claimants. Defendants filed motions to dismiss, arguing Denson did not substantially comply with notice requirements because the minor children were not identified in the notice. The trial court found that Denson substantially complied with the requirements. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals reversed. The Supreme Court sided with the trial court, finding that Denson properly identified herself as the claimant because as minors, the grandchildren were unable to give notice or file a lawsuit.

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.