Motions to Reconsider
Motions to reconsider are a strange lot. They should be used when there is some changed circumstance from the original court filings - for example, the court concentrated on issues not addressed by the parties, or the facts or law have changed since the party's original filing. They're often filed when they should not be, essentially looking for a "do over" in hopes of getting a different result without any changed circumstance. Over at the Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, they have a good snippet from a brief on when motions to reconsider are appropriate. Although the citations are to Illinois Federal law, the same ideas should apply here in Tennessee.