Schedule of Meetings for Access To Justice Commission and Subcommittees
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently endorsed the Clerks’ Guidelines approved by the State Clerks’ Association Board. These guidelines offer another way to assist the public in navigating our court system. To download the guidelines (English version), please click here. For the Spanish version of the guidelines, please click here.
The Tennessee Supreme Court today unveiled plans to host a statewide pro bono summit as a part of the Court's effort to address access to justice in Tennessee. The pro bono summit was just one of several action items outlined by the Court, as it announced the adoption of four over-arching goals to guide its Access to Justice Initiative in the coming years:
Goal 1: To involve more lawyers and law students in meeting legal needs so that the public is better served.
Goal 2: To provide greater educational opportunities and resources for policymakers, self-represented litigants, the community, lawyers, court personnel and others.
Goal 3: To make the justice system more user-friendly.
Goal 4: To remove barriers to access to justice, including, but not limited to, disability, language, literacy and geography.
For more information about the event, please view the following resources:
Chief Justice Holder’s Remarks (PDF)
Commission Chair Margaret Behm Remarks (PDF)
Access to Justice promotional video
The Tennessee Access to Justice Commission submitted its first strategic plan to the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 1, 2010 for review and consideration by the Court.
To download the plan, please click here.
On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Tennessee Supreme Court announced the creation of a new statewide Access to Justice Commission to help address the growing civil legal needs crisis in Tennessee. The ten-member Commission is chaired by Margaret Behm, a Nashville lawyer with Dodson Parker Behm & Caparella, PC who has been a leader in the legal community in Tennessee. She is joined by Dean Douglas A. Blaze of the University of Tennessee College of Law; Kathryn Reed Edge of the law firm of Miller & Martin PLLC; Francis S. Guess, executive vice-president of The Danner Company; George T. "Buck" Lewis of the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC; A. Gregory Ramos of the law firm of North, Pursell, Ramos & Jameson, PLC; D. Billye Sanders of the law firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP; Maura Abeln Smith, senior vice-president and corporate secretary of International Paper; Dr. Frank Anthony Thomas, Senior Servant of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis; and Bill Young of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.
“I’m honored that the Court selected me to head this very important Commission, and I look forward to working with these talented Commissioners,” said Margaret Behm.
The Court created the Commission through the adoption of a new Supreme Court Rule 50, which outlines the structure of the Commission and the responsibilities to be undertaken by it to improve access to justice in Tennessee. The Commission has been charged by the Court to develop strategies and solutions to help meet the legal needs crisis; to foster continued collaboration among the judiciary, access to justice organizations, bar associations, and legal professionals; and to work to educate and focus the attention of the public and policymakers on this civil legal needs crisis so that all Tennesseans will be fully vested in solving this problem. The Commission will begin its work in April.
Chief Justice Janice Holder expressed confidence in the Commission and its members, stating, "I am confident that this very distinguished Commission will build on our efforts to date and will collaborate with other individuals and organizations to provide greater access to civil legal services to Tennesseans who are most in need."
Order Adopting Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 50
Biographical Information for ATJ Commissioners
Video of Justice Holder's April 3 Remarks (will open a new browser window)
Transcript of Chief Justice Holder's Remarks (PDF)
Remarks of Commission Chair Margaret L. Behm on April 3, 2009 (PDF)
On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Tennessee Supreme Court adopted three amendments to the rules governing the practice of law that will encourage more lawyers to volunteer to provide pro bono legal services to Tennesseans who need legal assistance but cannot afford it. These new rules are in response to the requests by the Tennessee Bar Association in 2008 to make it easier for lawyers to help deserving persons who need legal assistance with civil matters.
These three rule changes will:
(1) encourage but not require lawyers to provide 50 pro bono hours of work each year;
(2) enable lawyers to provide limited scope legal assistance to persons without formally becoming their attorney-of-record, and
(3) enable lawyers to earn one (1) hour of continuing legal education credit for every five (5) hours of pro bono services they provide.
In addition to these rules, the Court has amended, and the Legislature has approved the rules governing class action settlements that will permit the unclaimed class action funds to be paid to the Tennessee Voluntary Fund for Indigent Civil Representation, which will provide additional funding for legal service providers across the state. This amendment took effect on July 1, 2009.
Copies of these amended rules are included by link, below.
Remarks by Chief Justice Janice M. Holder
Supreme Court of Tennessee
Dec. 5, 2008
As many of you already know, the Supreme Court of Tennessee has designated access to justice as a strategic priority this year and in the years to come. On behalf of the Supreme Court, I thank you for joining us today. We are here to explain why we are committed to the challenge of providing access to justice to all of Tennesseans and to begin outlining the direction our commitment will take us.
I will not repeat all of the statistics in the handout you have before you. But it is no exaggeration to say that low-income Tennesseans have little hope of legal assistance when they encounter civil legal problems. Only one in five income-eligible people will receive the legal help they need. We have 75 very dedicated legal aid attorneys in Tennessee, but they simply are not able to assist all of the many low-income Tennesseans who encounter legal problems on a daily basis.
Click here to read Chief Justice Holder's complete December 5, 2008 remarks .
Click here for a video of Chief Justice Holder's December 5, 2008 remarks. (A new browser window will open)
Click here to view the current calendar of meetings and events of the Access to Justice Commission and subordinate committees.
For more information about Access To Justice, contact Anne-Louise Wirthlin, Access to Justice coordinator, at (800) 448-7970, (615) 741-2687 or by email at Anne.Louise.Wirthlin@tncourts.gov.
Many of the documents below require Adobe Acrobat® to read the files. If you need the free reader, go to the Adobe Acrobat web site, here. Download the install file (it is large, about 22 megabytes) and run it on your computer. Once the Reader is installed, you will be able to view our PDF files.