The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Settlement approvals will proceed on Jan. 25 but only in Nashville. The court also announced today that no settlement approvals will take place in any of its offices on Jan. 26 or 27 due to an upcoming judicial conference meeting. The court also recently reminded practioners of the process for filing approvals by affidavit in Nashville.

The TBA will be closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. CST.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is encouraging victims of human trafficking, stalking, domestic abuse or any sexual offense to protect their addresses from public disclosure under a free state program. The Safe at Home address confidentiality program provides approved applicants a substitute address that can be used for voter registration, government services such as a driver’s license, access to assistance programs and other legal needs. The program currently serves more than 580 victims in 43 counties. The Associated Press has more on the story.

The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati today affirmed a lower court’s ban on a vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government, the Associated Press reports. A federal judge in Louisville in November 2021 found the Biden Administration rule unconstitutional and blocked the mandate in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The mandate would have required workers contracting with the federal government to wear face masks and be vaccinated for COVID-19.

The TBA Book Club held a successful meeting yesterday to discuss the book “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult. Poet and African American literature and cultural history expert Darius Stewart joined the meeting as a special guest providing context and insight into the book. Voting is now underway to help select the third book in the TBA's quarterly book club. Continuing with the theme of race relations and divides, voters will choose between “Black Cake” by Charmaine Wilkerson, “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi or “Memphis” by Tara M. Stringfellow. Cast your vote here.

Maynard Cooper & Gale, a Birmingham-based firm with a Nashville office, is merging with Nexsen Pruet of Columbia, South Carolina, the firms recently reported. The new firm will operate under the name Maynard Nexsen starting April 1. The combined firm will number more than 500 attorneys in 23 offices. Maynard managing shareholder Jeff Grantham will be CEO and managing shareholder of the combined firm, while Nexsen chair Leighton Lord will be the combined firm’s president and chief strategy officer. Maynard lists 17 attorneys in its Nashville office.

Hendersonville lawyer and TBA member Russ Edwards was recently appointed as Hendersonville city judge. He replaces Judge Curtis Lincoln, who had served in the role since 1994 but died in November. Edwards was appointed by the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Alderman to fill Lincoln's remaining term, which will end in March 2025. Edwards has been in private, general practice in Hendersonville since 2003. He currently serves as the TBA House of Delegates representative for the 18th District. Edwards had been an alderman for the city of Hendersonville, but resigned the position to take the judicial appointment.

Falling demand, declining profits and rising expenses are creating a challenging climate for major law firms in 2023, a new industry report warns. Some law firms already have let attorneys go after bulking up in 2021, and more layoffs are likely as clients tighten their belts and move work to lower-priced firms, the report from Thomson Reuters suggests. The “2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market” found that after growing 3.7% in 2021, client demand dropped 1.2% in the first nine months of 2022. That contraction was fueled largely by declines in transactional work and general uncertainty about the direction of the economy. The outlook for mid-sized firms may be more positive, the report finds. Read the full report.

The Tennessee Journal reports that Blake Harris, former chief of staff to Gov. Bill Lee, has established Blake Harris & Associates with Laine Arnold, former communications director and campaign aide to Lee. Others on the team include David Topping, former chief of staff to the Tennessee secretary of state; Douglas Sellers, previously a U.S. Senate and Trump administration official; and Jessica Bader, a former aide to Lee and Bob Corker. The Nashville Post has the story.

Gov. Bill Lee this week appointed Stanley “Stan” Kweller as a circuit judge in Davidson County’s 20th Judicial District. Kweller, a Nashville family law attorney, will fill the vacancy left by the death of Judge Phil Smith last year. Kweller was most recently a solo practioner and attorney at Watkins & McNeilly. Earlier in his career, he was a prosecutor in East Tennessee. He attended Emory University and University of Tennessee College of Law. Other finalists selected by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission were Stephanie Williams, special master in Smith’s court, and Nashville attorney Audrey Anderson.