tn-statewide-format

name: tn-statewide-format description: > This skill should be used when the user asks to "draft a pleading", "format a Tennessee court document", "apply Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10", "build a Tennessee caption", "format a complaint", "format a motion", "draft a declaration or affidavit", "draft a proposed order", or "format a filing" for any Tennessee state court — Circuit Court, Chancery Court, or General Sessions Court. Triggers include "Tennessee caption", "Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10", "Rule 10.01 caption", "Rule 10.02 numbered paragraphs", "Rule 11 signature", "BPR number", "Board of Professional Responsibility number", "certificate of service Rule 5", "Circuit Court for Davidson County", "Chancery Court for Shelby County at Memphis", "Docket No.", "how do I format a Tennessee complaint", "what margins does a Tennessee court require", and "S.W.3d citation Tennessee". Covers Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10 form-of-pleadings requirements, the Tennessee caption (court identifier line, party block, docket-number line, centered document title), numbered paragraphs, attaching written instruments, the Rule 11 signature block with the attorney's Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) number, certificate of service under Rule 5, line-numbered pleading-paper conventions, and Tennessee citation format (S.W.3d, Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 4, Bluebook). It is the canonical home for the marketplace layout conventions and the key point that Tennessee has no statewide page/margin/font rule — typography and page limits come from each court's LOCAL RULES. version: 0.1.0

Tennessee Statewide Court Document Formatting

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This skill assists with drafting and formatting only. Verify against the current Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rules of the filing court before submitting any document.

Use these conventions whenever drafting a paper to be filed in a Tennessee state trial court. The form of a Tennessee pleading is governed by Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10 (form of pleadings) and Tenn. R. Civ. P. 11 (signing of pleadings), supplemented by Tenn. R. Civ. P. 5 (service and filing of subsequent papers).

Key architectural point: there is NO statewide page/margin/font rule

Tennessee does not publish a single statewide rule prescribing paper size, margins, font, line spacing, or page limits. The form of a pleading is set by:

• Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10 — caption, numbered paragraphs, and attachment of written instruments (content/structure, not typography);
• Tenn. R. Civ. P. 11 — the signature and its representations; and
• the LOCAL RULES of the filing court — each judicial district / county court publishes its own local rules covering margins, font, page limits, chambers copies, proposed-order requirements, and e-filing mechanics. These are indexed on the Administrative Office of the Courts "Local Rules of Practice" page at tncourts.gov.

So this skill states the common-practice defaults for typography and defers page limits / margins / font specifics to local rules. Always pull the controlling court's local rules before relying on any page limit or margin figure. (Davidson, Shelby, Knox, and Hamilton each have their own overlay skill — see Composition.)

Common-practice typographic defaults (verify against local rules)

These are the customary defaults Tennessee practitioners use absent a contrary local rule. They are conventions, not a statewide mandate — confirm against the filing court's local rules.

scripts/format-check.py validates a generated .docx against these common-practice defaults and flags departures so they can be checked against the controlling local rule.

Line numbering (pleading paper) — applied BY DEFAULT

Apply continuous line numbering down the left margin of every generated Tennessee pleading. Line numbers count every body line and restart on each page.

Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10 does not itself require line numbering, and a Tennessee pleading filed without line numbers is rule-compliant. But line-numbered pleading paper is universal practice across the claude-legal marketplace: it lets the court and opposing counsel cite an exact location ("page 4, lines 12-15") and never harms a Tennessee filing. Apply it by default to every motion, memorandum, declaration, affidavit, notice, and proposed order. Exhibits and attachments are exempt.

For programmatically generated .docx documents, apply line numbering through the section's lineNumbers property:

import { LineNumberRestartFormat } from "docx";

sections: [{
  properties: {
    page: { /* size + margins */ },
    lineNumbers: {
      countBy: 1,                                // number every line
      restart: LineNumberRestartFormat.NEW_PAGE, // restart 1.. each page
    },
  },
  // ...
}]

This emits <w:lnNumType w:countBy="1" w:restart="newPage"/> into the section's <w:sectPr>. The numbers render in the left margin and do not shift the 1-inch text margin.

Do NOT set start explicitly. An explicit start: 1 renders off by one in LibreOffice (the first body line shows "2"). Omit start — it defaults to 1 in OOXML.

Required footer (mandatory on every generated document)

Every generated document MUST carry a running footer on every page:

• Left: a short document identifier — typically [Document title] — Docket No. [docket number] (e.g., Motion to Dismiss — Docket No. 25C-1234). Keep it to a single line so it never wraps.
• Right: Page X of Y, where X is the current page number and Y is the total page count. Use Word's PAGE and NUMPAGES fields — never a static number.
• Font: 10 pt; matches body font family.
• Alignment: a right-aligned tab stop at 9,360 DXA (6.5") places the page counter flush right while the title stays flush left.

The footer runs continuously from page 1 through the last exhibit page — do not restart or suppress pagination anywhere.

Caption structure (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10.01)

Rule 10.01 requires every pleading to contain a caption stating the name of the court, the title of the action (the parties), the file (docket) number, and a designation of the pleading per Rule 7.01. The Tennessee caption stacks four elements:

        IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE

VELOCITY INVESTMENTS, LLC,             )
                                       )
       Plaintiff,                      )
                                       )
v.                                     )   Docket No. ____________
                                       )
JOHN DOE,                              )
                                       )
       Defendant.                      )

                        ANSWER OF DEFENDANT

The four caption elements in order

1. Court identifier line (centered, ALL CAPS). Name the court and county:
   • Circuit Court: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR [COUNTY] COUNTY, TENNESSEE
   • Chancery Court: IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR [COUNTY] COUNTY, TENNESSEE, AT [CITY] (many Chancery Courts name the sitting city, e.g., "AT MEMPHIS")
   • General Sessions: IN THE GENERAL SESSIONS COURT FOR [COUNTY] COUNTY, TENNESSEE (note General Sessions practice is informal — see tn-general-sessions)
2. Party block. On the left, the parties stacked with their designations, separated by a centered v.; on the right, a column of right parentheses ) (the traditional Tennessee "tied bracket" style) closing into the docket-number line. Use the designations that match the case type:
   • Plaintiff / Defendant for actions at law (Circuit Court);
   • Plaintiff / Defendant is also common in Chancery, but Petitioner / Respondent is used in domestic-relations matters and many special Chancery proceedings (In re: for in-rem captions).
3. Docket-number line. Docket No. ____________ (some clerks use No. ____ or Case No. ____). The filer leaves it blank on an initial pleading — the clerk assigns and stamps the number on filing — and populates it on every subsequent paper.
4. Document title (centered, ALL CAPS) immediately below the caption: e.g., COMPLAINT, MOTION TO DISMISS, ANSWER AND COUNTERCLAIM, MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT.

Caption variants by court

• Chancery Court routinely adds the sitting city ("AT MEMPHIS", "AT NASHVILLE") and is presided over by a Chancellor with a Clerk & Master as the equity clerk.
• Domestic relations (divorce may be filed in either Circuit or Chancery) uses IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF or Petitioner / Respondent. See tn-family-law and tn-family-court.
• General Sessions civil matters are commenced by a civil warrant, not a formal captioned complaint — the warrant form supplies the caption fields. See tn-general-sessions.

Numbered paragraphs (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10.02)

Under Rule 10.02, all averments of claim or defense are made in numbered paragraphs, the contents of each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances. Number with an Arabic numeral, a period, and a tab: 1.\tThe Defendant is a resident of Davidson County, Tennessee. Claims founded on separate transactions should be stated in separate counts when separation facilitates clarity.

Attaching written instruments (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10.03)

Under Rule 10.03, when a claim or defense is founded on a written instrument (a contract, note, lease, assignment, etc.), a copy must be attached as an exhibit unless its absence is excused, and the exhibit is a part of the pleading for all purposes. Reference each exhibit by letter in the body ("a true and correct copy of the [instrument] is attached as Exhibit A") and attach the copies after the signature block and certificate of service.

Signature block (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 11)

Under Rule 11, every pleading, motion, or other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney's individual name, or, if the party is not represented, by the party. The signature certifies the Rule 11.02 representations (the paper is not interposed for delay, claims are warranted by law, factual contentions have evidentiary support, etc.).

An attorney's signature block must include the attorney's Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) number — the attorney-registration number assigned through the Tennessee Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility:

Respectfully submitted,


                                   ____________________________
                                   [Name]
                                   BPR No. #####
                                   [Firm name]
                                   [Street address]
                                   [City, TN ZIP]
                                   Phone: (###) ###-####
                                   Email: name@example.com
                                   Attorney for [Party]

Pro se filers omit the BPR number and identify themselves as self-represented:

                                   ____________________________
                                   [Name]
                                   [Street address]
                                   [City, TN ZIP]
                                   Phone: (###) ###-####
                                   Email: name@example.com
                                   Pro Se / Self-Represented

See tn-pro-se for the full self-represented drafting framework.

Verification / declaration language

Many Tennessee filings use a traditional notarized affidavit with a jurat; Tennessee also recognizes unsworn declarations in certain contexts. For a declaration, close the body with:

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of
Tennessee that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on [date] at [city], [state].

                                   ____________________________
                                   [Declarant name]

For a sworn affidavit, use the jurat ("Sworn to and subscribed before me this ___ day of __, 20") with the notary block. Verify whether a particular filing must be sworn (notarized) rather than declared and that the current statute authorizes an unsworn declaration for that use.

Certificate of service (Tenn. R. Civ. P. 5)

Every paper required to be served must carry a certificate of service under Rule 5. Place it at the foot of the document, above or below the signature block per local custom:

                    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on [date] a true and correct copy of the foregoing
[Document Title] was served on:

  [Opposing party / counsel name]
  [Address]
  via [the court's electronic-filing system / U.S. Mail, postage
       prepaid / hand delivery / email per Tenn. R. Civ. P. 5.02].

                                   ____________________________
                                   [Signer name]

Rule 5.02 prescribes the permissible methods of service of subsequent papers (mail, delivery, and — where authorized — electronic service through the court's e-filing system). Initial process is served under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 4 (summons; 90-day issuance/return), not Rule 5.

Exhibits

Attach exhibits after the signature block and certificate of service:

1. An Exhibit List page, centered title, each entry like Exhibit A: [one-line description].
2. One cover page per exhibit: EXHIBIT A centered and bold, followed by an italic caption, then the exhibit content.
3. Footer pagination continues through the exhibits — do not restart the page counter.

A written instrument attached under Rule 10.03 is itself an exhibit and is part of the pleading for all purposes.

Citation format

Tennessee follows standard Bluebook style; there is no mandatory Tennessee-specific style manual.

• Tennessee Supreme Court: Rye v. Women's Care Ctr. of Memphis, MPLLC, 477 S.W.3d 235 (Tenn. 2015)
• Tennessee Court of Appeals: Smith v. Jones, 123 S.W.3d 456 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003)
• Court of Criminal Appeals: (Tenn. Crim. App. [year])
• Statutes: Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-109 (or T.C.A. § 28-3-109)
• Rules: Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04; Tenn. R. Evid. 803(6)

Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 4 governs publication and citation: a published opinion is controlling authority; an unpublished opinion is persuasive only and may be cited (subject to the limitations in Rule 4), unless it has been designated not-for-citation. See tn-fact-check for citation verification.

Producing documents programmatically

For .docx generation, use the docx npm package. Key points:

• Set page size explicitly to US Letter (12,240 × 15,840 DXA) — docx-js defaults to A4.
• Use Times New Roman at size: 24 (half-points = 12 pt).
• Apply uniform 1,440 DXA margins to all four sides on every section (a common-practice default — confirm against local rules).
• Build the footer with a right-aligned tab stop at 9,360 DXA and use PageNumber.CURRENT / PageNumber.TOTAL_PAGES for "Page X of Y".
• Apply the lineNumbers section property above (omit start).

Run scripts/format-check.py on the generated .docx to validate the common-practice defaults.

Filing mechanics: paper vs. e-filing

Tennessee has no universal statewide e-filing mandate — the platform is county-by-county. Davidson Chancery uses eFileTN/Odyssey (Tyler); Shelby Circuit and Chancery use eFlex; other counties use Tybera (TnCIS) or accept paper. Confirm the venue platform and whether e-filing is mandatory before assembling a packet. The appellate courts use the statewide AOC e-filing portal. See the venue skills and tn-file-packet.

Composition

• For Davidson County (Nashville, 20th JD): tn-davidson
• For Shelby County (Memphis, 30th JD): tn-shelby
• For Knox County (Knoxville, 6th JD): tn-knox
• For Hamilton County (Chattanooga, 11th JD): tn-hamilton
• For limited-jurisdiction / civil-warrant practice: tn-general-sessions
• For other counties: tn-county-courts
• For drafting specific document types: tn-draft-motion, tn-draft-declaration, tn-draft-note, tn-draft-order
• For pro se conventions: tn-pro-se
• For pre-filing QC: tn-quality-check
• For citation verification: tn-fact-check

References

• tn-law-references — canonical Tenn. R. Civ. P., Tenn. R. Evid., T.C.A., and local-rules corpus
• scripts/format-check.py — common-practice format validation