Ep. 44 Beyond the Bench: Featuring Appellate Court Clerk Jim Hivner

The Clerk of the Appellate Courts in Tennessee is an appointed position – one you may not be aware of.

Very few people ever see an appellate court clerk at work, but their role is crucial in keeping the courts open, well-organized, and transparent. 

On this episode of Tennessee Court Talk we get to know Jim Hivner, who has served as Clerk of the Appellate Courts for ten years. He talks to Nick Morgan about the role of e-filing, what his job entails in and out of the courtroom, and even his favorite casserole. Listen to learn more the Appellate Court Clerk of Tennessee. 

Transcript

00;00;00;04 - 00;00;20;28
Host
On this episode of Tennessee Court Talk, we are going to dive further into the roles of clerks and the Tennessee Judiciary and are happy to welcome Supreme Court Clerk Jim Hivner to the podcast. Mr. Hivner was appointed in his first six year term as the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Tennessee in 2014, and reappointed in 2020, before serving as the Supreme Court Clerk.

00;00;21;01 - 00;00;30;19
Host
Mr. Hivner was in private practice for almost 20 years, and served two years as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Shelby County Chancery Court. Jim, welcome to Tennessee Court Talk.

00;00;30;20 - 00;00;32;18
Jim Hivner
Thank you Nick. It's a pleasure to be with you.

00;00;32;19 - 00;00;45;29
Host
We recently sat down with Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond and learned how that position is an elected position and how that job is structured within county government. Can you explain your position and how it differs?

00;00;46;01 - 00;01;08;08
Jim Hivner
Sure. So the Supreme Court clerk is a constitutional officer, and, I am appointed, or the Supreme Court clerk is appointed by the Supreme Court, for a six year term. So it's different because the Supreme Court clerk is a state officer, not accounting officer. The trial court clerks are all county officials.

00;01;08;11 - 00;01;17;26
Host
And like many positions in the judiciary, there are many, many paths that you can take to be appointed to the position. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led to your appointment?

00;01;17;28 - 00;01;45;29
Jim Hivner
So I grew up in West Tennessee. I went to high school there and then, went to undergrad at UT Knoxville. I got an accounting degree there and actually, when I, graduated from UT Knoxville, I took a job in Huntsville, Alabama with NASA, and I was working at NASA for a couple of years before I had decided to, attend law school, attended law school in Alabama at the University of Alabama.

00;01;46;02 - 00;02;19;11
Jim Hivner
And when I graduated from there, I had already been married and had a child and took a and decided to open up my own practice in North Alabama in Florence, Alabama, and started practicing law in Florence, Alabama. At the time I also was getting an LLM in tax from the University of Alabama. So, I had a busy about seven and a half years between practicing law, raising a family and, and, getting an LLM in tax.

00;02;19;13 - 00;02;58;13
Jim Hivner
So after about, seven years, I decided I wanted to do, something different other than trying to struggle through practicing law on my own. So I, sought a position and and found a position in back in the Memphis area in West Tennessee, where I grew up, and came back and went to work for a law firm in Memphis and actually worked with two different law firms, for about a 12 year period, before I actually took a position in the court system, I decided to to make a career shift and became the Chief Administrative Officer of the Chancery Court Clerk's office in Shelby County, Tennessee.

00;02;58;16 - 00;03;22;23
Jim Hivner
I was there for a couple of years and was very busy with implementing e-filing and other activities within that office. When my predecessor in this position, Mike Catalana, retired and this position became available, that was in 2012. And so I applied and, and, went through the interview process and the Supreme Court appointed me at that time, to this position.

00;03;22;23 - 00;03;25;11
Jim Hivner
And I've been here for just over ten years now.

00;03;25;18 - 00;03;32;07
Host
Lots of people will only see you in a courtroom calling court to order for the Supreme Court. How does your role differ in and out of the courtroom?

00;03;32;09 - 00;03;55;05
Jim Hivner
So it's really hugely different. Most of my work is outside of the courtroom. The bulk of my work is actually in managing the paperwork, and all of the filings and pleadings and other aspects of the case. Case files or case records for all of the appeals and other cases that are initiated in the Appellate Courts.

00;03;55;07 - 00;04;15;06
Jim Hivner
And so and we have thousands of cases. And so I'm no different than any other clerk, throughout the state who manages the paperwork for their, their court system. So that is the the bulk of the work that we do. We also other clerks in the state, we have a docket. And so we prepare the dockets for, the three a different Appellate Courts.

00;04;15;07 - 00;04;47;18
Jim Hivner
We have communication with the attorneys and the litigants and the judges. And, so I spend, I spend the bulk of my time working on those types of administrative matters associated with the appeals and other cases in the court system. But then as the as the, clerk of the appellate courts, the Supreme Court asked me to take on different roles, serve on, different boards, including the, building committee boards for each of the buildings in the in the Supreme Court buildings in the state.

00;04;47;21 - 00;05;03;23
Jim Hivner
And we have three Supreme Court buildings. And so I'm very active in helping to manage the buildings, and in other aspects or other different committees. And I've been very active in, in implementing technology, for the state, in the court system.

00;05;03;25 - 00;05;10;14
Host
So Tennessee's appellate court system is unique and having the three grand divisions, what staff do you have in place to accommodate all those divisions? Sure.

00;05;10;14 - 00;05;34;16
Jim Hivner
So I have 29, staff individuals across the state who, serve in different roles. And so I have staff in each of the grand divisions, and, and since we have a Supreme Court building in each Grand Division, they are located in those buildings. We are in unique, as a state, but we're not completely unique.

00;05;34;16 - 00;05;59;21
Jim Hivner
I mean, other states also, even though they're not necessarily divided in three grand divisions, other states have, appellate divisions, in their state. California has multiple appellate divisions. They have one Supreme Court like we do. And, and, but their and their Supreme Court typically just sits in, you know, their one location. But they may do special settings, sittings, other places.

00;05;59;21 - 00;06;27;03
Jim Hivner
And so other states do similar stuff. They're just not designed exactly the way art that we are in Tennessee. As we noted, we do have three grand divisions. And so my staff in each Grand Division keep up with the cases for that Grand Division. And in the Middle Division, we also have some staff who help with administrative matters, because the Supreme Court has a lot of administrative work that they do on behalf of the state judicial Department.

00;06;27;05 - 00;06;35;26
Jim Hivner
And my staff in the primarily in the Middle Division, work on those administrative matters and and maintain the paperwork associated with that.

00;06;35;28 - 00;06;38;23
Host
What other courts does your office provide a clerk for?

00;06;38;25 - 00;07;05;13
Jim Hivner
The Supreme Court clerk is, appointed by the Supreme Court, but also has responsible ability to serve as the clerk for the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals, and also serves as the clerk for the Board of Judicial Conduct. Now, the activity associated with the Board of Judicial Conduct is very limited, because it's only when when formal charges are made against a judge that really becomes active in my office.

00;07;05;15 - 00;07;17;23
Jim Hivner
But we do have some administrative role that we play throughout the, throughout the year. But primarily the work that we do is for the three, appellate courts being the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Court of Appeals.

00;07;17;29 - 00;07;24;26
Host
When someone files an appeal above the trial court level, how does that appeal? Make it to an intermediate appellate court, to the clerk's office.

00;07;24;28 - 00;07;44;22
Jim Hivner
So this is sort of transitioned over the years, the, the paperwork process for many years. If you are filing what we refer to as a notice of appeal, you would file it in the trial court, and then that would be, sent to us by the trial court, sent to the appellate court, by the trial court.

00;07;44;24 - 00;08;12;05
Jim Hivner
Other types of appeals, besides what we referred to as rule three, appeals, would be sent directly to the appellate court today after we implemented e-filing or right before we implemented e-filing, we've kind of changed the process to make it easier for the implementation of e-filing. And now all initiation case initiations are sent directly to the Court of Appeals or to the appellate courts.

00;08;12;07 - 00;08;21;03
Jim Hivner
Whether it be the Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals or Supreme Court, whatever documentation is necessary to initiate a case is sent directly to us.

00;08;21;09 - 00;08;27;26
Host
When you say E file, are we talking just a simple email with everything they need or is there a software process to have them?

00;08;27;26 - 00;09;04;03
Jim Hivner
So that's a great question. So in in Tennessee we really are only authorized to utilize, software. For, for e-filing purposes. Email is really not a recognized method for, for e-filing. Having said that, in 2018, the appellate courts implemented e-filing. And, we have a software system and we have many attorneys. And litigents who utilize our software system to submit their documentation, their pleadings briefs.

00;09;04;05 - 00;09;26;15
Jim Hivner
Case initiation documentation, other documentation to us. And, we actually prefer that they utilize our e-filing system. And I think that's what many, many people are starting to do because we're trying to become a, a less paper environment. So it's we're very pleased with our, our software e-filing system. And I think it's really working. Well, you.

00;09;26;15 - 00;09;41;26
Host
And I work together a lot during the Covid pandemic, when all three appellate courts were livestreaming or arguments via zoom and being live streamed on YouTube, you may have sort of already answered this question with e-filing, but how have different aspects of your office changed since remote hearings and e-filing have come into play?

00;09;42;13 - 00;10;09;07
Jim Hivner
That's a great question. And I think you're right that that covid did have a major impact on all of that. We implemented e-filing before the Covid era for the pandemic hit, and our intent was to try to, transition and utilize technology, to create a more efficient and effective means for our citizens to interact with the appellate courts and the appellate court clerk's office.

00;10;09;09 - 00;10;40;11
Jim Hivner
Covid, did provide as an opportunity and to really think broadly about how we provide, the Judicial Department services to the citizens of the state and whether, you know, what we are required to do and responsible for doing, whether that can be accomplished by utilizing other technology, because we were required to do that. And so today we actually do, provide some other services.

00;10;40;13 - 00;11;12;29
Jim Hivner
We live stream our events as a result of all of the activity that was associated with, with, Covid. We do utilize more remote hearings now than we did before. We're we're still, you know, struggling. I say, I shouldn't say struggling, but we're still working through how to ensure that whatever we're doing utilizing technology today doesn't negatively impact the citizens of the state and their ability to access the court system.

00;11;13;02 - 00;11;40;15
Host
I can speak to some of that live streaming and say that I know the Supreme Court in general has been extremely supportive of anything we can do to, make it more accessible for a lawyer to show up and to be heard, during oral arguments, whether that be in person, virtual. They've always been supportive of our office, making sure that we have the technology to to get a lawyer there on time and whatever, you know, whatever they need to do that.

00;11;40;20 - 00;12;14;00
Jim Hivner
Well, and your office has done a fantastic job of helping us to figure out the best ways to utilize the technology. And so, as you know, today we're able to do complete, digital hearings, or we can do hybrid hearings where one judges who can't make it actually can participate remotely, or a litigant can participate remotely. So it's amazing how we actually have learned, how to utilize the technology and make the best use of it so that everybody can participate fully.

00;12;14;02 - 00;12;31;26
Host
It's always been nice that when you call or some other clerk calls and says, hey, this judge wants to appear virtually. And I say, well, I need a minute or I might need some supplies. It's never an issue. It's like, yeah, just start working and we'll get you what you need. What's one thing you would like the average Tennessean to know about our judicial system?

00;12;31;27 - 00;13;09;17
Jim Hivner
Well, I think that, most people learn about the judicial system by watching TV or watching movies. And what you typically see is, a judge and, and lawyers and the court and, and I, I think what's important for and I hope that, our citizens understand is that there are a whole lot of people that work behind the scenes to ensure that the judicial department works well, and that we are trying to create an environment where actually justice can be accomplished for the citizens of the state.

00;13;09;20 - 00;13;32;08
Jim Hivner
And so we have, great law schools that train our lawyers. We have, great lawyers that serve as staff attorneys, law clerks, we have clerks in the staff and all the clerks offices. We have administrative personnel that served many different roles in our state. Whether at the county level or at the state level. We have media.

00;13;32;08 - 00;13;57;03
Jim Hivner
Personally, I like you, Nick, who do a great job in helping us to educate our citizens by helping us stream our proceedings or do these podcasts or whatever we're doing to try to make us more accessible to the community at large. We even have maintenance staff who help us keep our buildings going. And because we couldn't do the things that we do if we didn't have the locations, our courthouses and those things.

00;13;57;03 - 00;14;04;18
Jim Hivner
So there's a lot of people that are actually working very hard every day to ensure that the Judicial Department is working for the state.

00;14;04;22 - 00;14;16;12
Host
So for people listening in across the state who are just now learning about you or your job or our system, have a couple fun questions for you. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

00;14;16;14 - 00;14;42;13
Jim Hivner
That's a really hard question, Nick. So I've thought about this before, and, you know, with great power comes great responsibilities. So I'm not sure that I need any powers, but sometimes I, I wish that I had the power to heal people. So if I really had a great superpower, it would be the power to provide healing.

00;14;42;15 - 00;14;54;22
Jim Hivner
But the problem with that, once you get a superpower that everybody wants, utilize it. And then I'll be standing in line getting just healing everybody. So I'm not sure if that's the superpower that I want or not.

00;14;54;25 - 00;14;57;22
Host
What's the what's your idea of a perfect vacation?

00;14;57;25 - 00;15;14;17
Jim Hivner
You know, the most enjoyable times I have is when I'm spending time with my family in a nice, relaxing environment and where we can just have fun and not deal with the stresses of work or or or life.

00;15;14;17 - 00;15;17;25
Host
What's a movie, that you could watch every single day?

00;15;17;28 - 00;15;36;12
Jim Hivner
I like all kinds of movies. I'm not sure that there's any movie that I could watch every day. That would be a lot of, that's, I could probably watch movies every day, but I'm not sure if there's any one movie that I could watch every day, but I do like lots of different types of movies.

00;15;36;12 - 00;15;57;21
Jim Hivner
I'm big into action thrillers like the Jason Bourne, you know, sagas and those types of things. But I also like a great, comedy like Princess Bride. Or. Yeah, I even like the old movies like Casablanca and those things. So I like all types of movies, but I'm not sure that there's one I could watch every day.

00;15;57;21 - 00;16;02;21
Host
So Tennessee is famous for its barbecue, as everyone knows. What's your all time favorite food?

00;16;02;27 - 00;16;20;16
Jim Hivner
My all time favorite food is ice cream. Ice cream. I love ice cream, but for substance, I think my all time favorite food is spaghetti. That's what I've always loved eating as a kid and growing up. I love spaghetti and my wife makes an incredible spaghetti casserole that I love.

00;16;20;16 - 00;16;33;20
Host
So, finally you travel around the state just as much as I do. What is your go to, music genre in the car or just what's on the radio in the car? I get a lot of podcasts answer. So I had to change that question.

00;16;33;22 - 00;16;55;00
Jim Hivner
So I understand I understand well, I do spend a lot of time in the car. And, too often I'm working when I'm on the car, talking to people on the phone and that type of stuff. And I do like to listen to audiobook books and podcast, but when I'm listening to music, I love all types of music.

00;16;55;00 - 00;17;22;14
Jim Hivner
You know, I grew up, my kids like to say you grew up in the 1900s. Dad. So I did grow up in the 1900s. And, so I grew up listening to my parents music, which was from the 50s and 60s, and my older siblings music from the 70s. I kind of grew up in the 80s, and then I have kids, and they listened, you know, to the 2000s music.

00;17;22;14 - 00;17;44;02
Jim Hivner
So I've listened to it all. I've been to lots of dance competitions and baton competitions where you hear it all. But I think if I'm flipping through the radio station, if I come across a good 1970s, 80s, rock or pop station, that's probably where I'm going to sit for a little while and listen to the music from my childhood.

00;17;44;03 - 00;17;53;02
Host
Jim, thanks so much for joining me today. We've worked together for several years now. It's been a pleasure to sit down and talk to you. Thank you for your time with Tennessee Court Talk and your service to the state.

00;17;53;04 - 00;17;57;04
Jim Hivner
Well, thank you, Nick, and thank you for all that you do. And it's great. Great. Spend time with you today.

00;17;57;04 - 00;18;05;05
Host
Thank you. To learn more about the Tennessee Court System. Visit tncourts.gov and listen to more episodes of Tennessee Court Talk on all major podcast platforms.