<BillNo> <Sponsor>
HOUSE BILL 1012
By Shaw
HB1012
002632
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 23,
Chapter 3; Title 27 and Title 39, relative to
attorneys at law.
WHEREAS, attorneys are officers of the court and have a general duty of candor to the
courts, including a duty to refrain from knowing misrepresentations; and
WHEREAS, attorneys have a duty to disclose to the court all material information; and
WHEREAS, attorneys have a duty to be honest and forthright with courts; and
WHEREAS, attorneys have a duty to refrain from deceiving or misleading courts either
through direct representations or through silence in all aspects of litigation; and
WHEREAS, an attorney who makes false statements, tells half-truths, or otherwise
misleads or harms the legal system and the legal profession; and
WHEREAS, the essential aim of our legal system is to seek truth in the pursuit of justice;
and
WHEREAS, an attorney who subordinates truth to obtaining a successful outcome for a
client undermines the rule of law and erodes public trust and confidence in the legal system;
and
WHEREAS, the law is supposed to be an honorable profession, intended for the
promotion of justice, and not a trade of trickery, for the purposes of fraud or oppression; and
WHEREAS, compliance with the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct is expected
of attorneys practicing before all courts; and
WHEREAS, the license to practice law is a continuing proclamation by the Court that the
holder is fit to be entrusted with professional and judicial matters and to aid in the administration
of justice as an officer of the court; and
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WHEREAS, violations of the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct constitute
misconduct and must be grounds for discipline; and
WHEREAS, disbarment is generally appropriate when an attorney, with intent to deceive
the court, makes a false statement, submits a false document, or improperly withholds material
information, and causes serious or potentially serious injury to a party, or causes a significant or
potentially significant adverse effect on the legal proceeding; and
WHEREAS, an attorney must not knowingly use perjured testimony or false evidence;
and
WHEREAS, an attorney must not participate in the creation or preservation of evidence
when the attorney knows or it is obvious that the evidence is false; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee courts currently recognize the litigation privilege as an absolute
privilege that applies when a statement or act is made in the course of a judicial proceeding and
is relevant to the issue involved in the judicial proceeding; and
WHEREAS, conduct involving the creation and submission of false and fraudulent
pleadings, affidavits, and subornation of false court testimony has been held by the Tennessee
Court of Appeals in Law Offices of T. Robert Hill PC v. Cobb, No. W2020-01380-COA-R3-CV
(Tenn. Ct. App. May 27, 2021) to fall within the litigation privilege; and
WHEREAS, if this conflict between the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct and
the common law privilege is not resolved in a manner to hold lawyers accountable for deliberate
misinformation and subornation of perjury, then the Tennessee justice system loses all
credibility; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 23, Chapter 3, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
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An attorney who, while acting in the capacity of counsel for a client or identifiable
prospective client, engages in conduct that would constitute any of the following offenses
is not immune from prosecution:
(1) Perjury, as defined in § 39-16-702;
(2) Aggravated perjury, as defined in § 39-16-703;
(3) Subornation of perjury, as defined in § 39-16-705;
(4) Tampering with or fabricating evidence, as defined in § 39-16-503;
(5) Destruction of or tampering with governmental records, as defined in
§ 39-16-504; or
(6) Coercion or persuasion of a witness, as defined in § 39-16-507.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.