American Bar Association President Patricia Lee Refo on Tuesday urged acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen to delay the federal executions scheduled for this week. Corey Johnson is scheduled to die by lethal injection this evening for his role in a gang implicated in 10 murders in 1992. Dustin Higgs is scheduled to be executed on Friday for kidnapping and killing three young women on federal land in 1996. Lisa Montgomery was executed on Tuesday. In her letter, Refo writes that the executions to be carried out in Terre Haute “create a substantial risk of COVID-19 case transmission at the prison and in the surrounding communities.”

The Nashville Metro Public Health Department has announced a new initiative to ensure no doses of COVID-19 vaccine are wasted, WSMV reports. The department currently offers vaccines by appointment only to those who fall into the current vaccine phase. The list has been created to ensure no doses are wasted. Just before the end of each day, nurses will determine if any doses will remain. If so, those doses will be distributed at random to individuals on the list. To add your name to the list, email COVID19VaccineStandby@nashville.gov each day you want to be considered. The Standby List began operations yesterday.

The TBA’s Litigation Law Section is presenting a roundtable discussion Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon CST on COVID-19 in the Courtroom and What to Expect in 2021. The virtual event is open to all TBA members but registration is required. Three judges will join the discussion: Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins, Court of Appeals (Eastern Division) Judge Kristi Davis and Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle. Please register by 2 p.m. CST on Jan. 13 to receive the Zoom email invitation.

The state expects to open an online COVID-19 vaccine appointment portal to bring more order and certainty to the large task of vaccinating people statewide, the Daily Memphian reports. The website is expected to be live next week. All vaccines administered by county health departments will be scheduled through the portal.

Rep. David Byrd is unable to talk and continues to receive physical therapy after being on a ventilator for nearly a month, a family member posted on Facebook this week. The Republican state lawmaker from Waynesboro was hospitalized in December and went on a ventilator that month. He has stopped giving public updates on social media, but WPLN News obtained an update written by his sister: “His body [is] so weak…he can’t do anything without assistance,” she wrote. “As I’ve said before … David has a long and tough road ahead of him. He isn’t even aware that several of his friends, family and constituents are going through the same thing he is.”

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is currently in quarantine after learning last night that he had come into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19, Chattanoogan.com reports. Fleischmann tweeted this morning that he is currently non-symptomatic, following CDC guidelines and remaining in contact with the capitol physician.

Tennessee House Minority Leader Karen Camper is asking Gov. Bill Lee to order the legislature to hold its sessions online when the 112th General Assembly convenes, Tennessee Lookout reports. She also called on the governor to give his State of the State address virtually. Camper, one of several lawmakers who has tested positive for COVID-19, noted in her letter to the governor that Tennessee is the “epicenter” for COVID-19 infections, leading the world in cases per capita. The governor did not respond to questions about Camper’s requests. The General Assembly is set to convene Jan. 12 for the new session, but then will recess until Jan. 19 for a special session called by Gov. Lee to deal with education issues caused by the pandemic.

The temporary hold on all on-site visitations at the Bradley County Jail instituted on Dec. 11 has been extended to Jan. 19, Chattanoogan.com reports. In a statement announcing the move, Bradley County Sheriff Steve Lawson said, “After careful evaluation of the current status of COVID-19 numbers in our area, [we] have extended the temporary hold on all on-site visitations.” Remote visitations are accessible through a video chat platform. For more information, visit the Inmate Services page on the sheriff department's website.

Life for lawyers has changed. Distance communication is here to stay (at least for a while). Dangers of using remote technologies are real. New paradigms about lawyer liability and the ethical implications for lawyers who want to make their voices heard on the many pressing issues of the day continue to present challenges. In this three-hour program set for next Tuesday, the “CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher will explore these and other challenges lawyers will continue to face in a post-COVID world.

Tennessee is set to receive more than $1.1 billion in new federal funding for K-12 education through Congress' latest $900 billion coronavirus relief package, the Tennessean reports. The U.S. Department of Education is urging states and educators to use the funding to fully reopen K-12 schools in-person and to "take immediate action to address the unprecedented learning loss" caused by a lack of in-person school. The move comes as the Tennessee legislature is poised to hold a special session this month on education issues.