By Penny Shrum, Court Clerk, Nashville
Over the past six years, admittedly, a lot has changed in workers’ compensation in Tennessee. You have graciously adapted to these changes. We know change can be hard. But when faced with the prospect of change, we suggest you look to the wisdom of the Brady Bunch: “when it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange.”
The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board offers free access to our decisions to the public. But the University of Tennessee Knoxville-TRACE website is no longer storing decisions of the Court or the Appeals Board.
Currently, the decisions from 2014 through 2020 are still accessible at TRACE. However, you won’t be able to access 2021 decisions on that platform.
CourtListener is now providing access to decisions from the Court and the Appeals Board. CourtListener is a free legal research website containing legal opinions from federal and state courts. By simply selecting a year on their main page, you can see the decisions released during a specific year.
The advanced search feature on CourtListener.com may be found under the Opinions dropdown list. You may search for decisions of the Court and the Appeals Board by selecting the jurisdiction. The search can be further narrowed by judge, docket number or case name.
Of course, the Appeals Board publishes its opinions on its page as well.
So remember to rearrange your browser, and update your bookmarks to CourtListener.
When it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange…
Sha na na na na na na na
Sha na na na na.
Sha na na na na na na na na na
Sha na na na na
From the Bench 
I appreciate the heads up on this but wish that there was a way to access the opinions that are readily accessible and searchable. I don’t think I am the only one with this problem because when I read decisions the courts are saying over and over that the standard of review has changed.
From the blog administrator:
Thanks for your comment. We’re glad you asked! To clarify, CourtListener is searchable by keyword. Select “Advanced Search” from the dropdown menu. Then it asks to “select jurisdiction.” Choose Tennessee. Then in the search box, type in “workers’ compensation” and whatever term you’re researching, such as “causation” or “temporary disability benefits.” You can sort the results by date, relevance, or how often the case is cited.
As with any new research tool, there’s a learning curve. This is no exception. Regardless, we’re happy to offer a free repository of our opinions.
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