Local Rule, Failure to Follow

Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the court’s opinion. 

Decisions of the Tennessee Supreme Court

Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Appeals

Haynes v. Haynes,  No. W2021-01004-COA-R3-CV, p. 5 (Tenn. Ct. App. May 26, 2022) (memorandum opinion).

A court has inherent power “to make, enforce, and relax rules of practice; a rule is an instrument of the court used to expedite the business of the court.” Osgood Co. v. Bland, 141 S.W.2d 505, 506 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1940). Due to this inherent power, we have held that a trial court “‘is not restricted in the administration of its rules in the absence of a clear abuse of discretion on the part of the court to the injury of a party,’” and “‘[t]his Court will not reverse a Trial Judge for waiving a local rule absent the clearest showing of an abuse of discretion and that such waiver was the clear cause of a miscarriage of justice.’” Craven v. Dunlap, No. 02A01-9202-CH-00027, 1993 WL 137584, at *3 (Tenn. Ct. App. May 3, 1993) (quoting Osgood, 141 S.W.2d at 506; Killinger v. Perry, 620 S.W.2d 525, 525 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981)).