Looking back, it has been a productive and exciting year for the Court of Workers' Compensation Claims. By last count on November 30, 2015, the Court conducted 197 Expedited Hearings where a judge issued an order and approved over 3,000 settlements. We also grew by four new judges in 2015, to help accommodate our burgeoning docket … Continue reading Happy Holidays!

State offices are closed on December 24, 25 and 31, 2015, and January 1, 2016. There will be no settlement approvals, statewide, on Friday, January 8, 2016, due to a judicial conference. Settlements will be approved in the Nashville office only on Thursday morning, January 7, 2017. 

WHO:  Workers’ compensation practitioners and Chief Judge Kenneth M. Switzer, Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation ClaimsDATE:  Friday, December 11, 2015TIME:  1:30 – 2:30 p.m.LOCATION:  TOSHA Room, Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims Courtroom – 220 French Landing Dr., Nashville     Chief Judge Switzer will be submitting revisions for the Workers’ Compensation Rules and Regulations to the Attorney General’s … Continue reading Wanted: Your Input

There will be no settlement approvals on Wednesday, November 11, 2015, in honor of Veterans' Day.

The vast majority of cases resolve via settlement rather than adjudication, and the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims is no different. From November 2014, when new-law settlements were first presented to the Court, through September 2015, the judges approved approximately 2,204 settlements, roughly 183 per judge. Some of our offices (Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville) are … Continue reading How to Settle Your Case

Approximately 15 months ago, before this Court even opened its doors, we drafted Practices and Procedures for the Court of Workers' Compensation Claims. We drew upon our collective experience as civil litigators and/or practitioners under the pre-2013 reforms to Tennessee's Workers' Compensation Law. We thought deeply about how the execution of the new law would play … Continue reading Revised Rules Reflect our First-Year Experience

The first year for Tennessee's new workers' compensation courts has been as exciting as a trip down the Ocoee. This summer saw the release of several weighty opinions from the Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, a few of which are highlighted below. This post will conclude our three-part look back at the Board's first year. Remember, … Continue reading A Busy Year for the Appeals Board, Part Three

Welcome back! Last week, we started a look backward at the opinions from the Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board from its first year. We began with the court's very first opinion from October 2014, and chronologically covered roughly the first five months. In this post, we'll discuss opinions from spring 2015.As you'll see below, the … Continue reading A Busy First Year for the Appeals Board, Part Two

By Jane Salem, Assistant to Chief Judge Kenneth M. SwitzerHappy birthday to us!A little over one year ago, the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims and the Appeals Board were borne. Our Courts were created in the historic 2013 reform legislation, which brought Tennessee in line with 48 other jurisdictions in their approach to workers' … Continue reading A Busy First Year for the Appeals Board, Part One

In any contested case pending in our Court, typically there will be two opportunities -- before an interlocutory, expedited hearing and before a final compensation hearing -- to explore settlement options, using the help of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s experienced, highly effective mediators.Allow me to brag on our mediators for a moment. They have … Continue reading Give Peace a Chance

In the Court of Workers' Compensation Claims, we conduct the vast majority of our non-evidentiary hearings telephonically. We do this principally for the convenience of parties and their lawyers, and because we understand and respect the value of everyone's time.We ask that you do the same. It seems that recently, more and more attorneys call … Continue reading Please be Timely

To the right, you'll see the latest "gadget" added to this blog: a Calendar listing all Expedited and Compensation Hearings for every judge. (If you can't see it, try downloading Google Chrome and use that browser to view this blog.) We are a public Court and our doors are open. The goals of posting this calendar are … Continue reading You’re Cordially Invited

FYI:  Starting tomorrow, the standard language in Expedited and Compensation Hearing orders regarding the parties’ appeal rights changes as follows:The appealing party is responsible for payment of a filing fee in the amount of $75.00.  Within ten (10) calendar days after the filing of a notice of appeal, payment must be received by check, money … Continue reading New filing fee rule for appeals takes effect July 1

State offices are closed next Friday, July 3, 2015, to commemorate the July 4 holiday. There will be no settlement approvals in any offices on that day. Business as usual on Monday, July 6, 2015.In addition, on Friday, July 24, 2015, there will be no settlement approvals in any offices statewide due to the judges' judicial … Continue reading Happy Birthday America!

When you work for a court in the American justice system, it is very rare to be able say, "Everybody wins." Yet that's exactly what happened on June 6, 2015, when we took the competition we usually see in the courtroom to the roads, for a common goal: helping kids.The Tennessee Self-Insurers' Association and the … Continue reading Coming Together for Kids

On June 11, 2015, Justice William C. Koch Jr. swore in four new judges to the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims. Congratulations to them.The new jurists, left to right, are: Judge Robert Durham, Cookeville; Judge Audrey Headrick, Chattanooga; Judge Amber Luttrell, Jackson/Memphis; and Judge Dale Tipps, Murfreesboro/Nashville. Justice William C. Koch Jr., formerly with … Continue reading It’s Official!