TBA partner Clio will hold four online “Meet Ups” this month to explore changes law firms can make to adapt to new realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Join legal and industry professionals to learn more about how your firm can leverage technology, embrace automation and improve traditional processes. Each of the following sessions will be held at 1 p.m. CDT: June 11, Communication Tools for Law Firm Efficiency; June 17, Automating Document Management; June 24, Malpractice & Security in a New Digital Age; and June 30, Embracing Technology for Long-Term Success.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold four legal clinics by phone this week: Tuesday from 4:30-6:30 p.m., Wednesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday from 3-4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30-11 a.m. CDT. Those needing assistance may call 800-238-1443 on any of these dates to speak to an attorney. Please contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131, for more information or to volunteer.

Harvard Law School will push all of its classes online for the fall 2020 term because of concerns that testing and monitoring for the coronavirus will not be fully available by that point. Stanford Law School plans to have a mix of in-person and online classes for the fall. Many other law schools are still developing plans for the fall, the ABA Journal reports. Yale and The University of Chicago expect to announce decisions this summer. The journal also reports that law students interested in taking the bar exam in North Carolina will assume all risk of exposure to or infection by the virus simply by signing up for the exam. Above the Law reports that Virginia has taken a similar step. But the language in both cases is posted online, which has led legal commentators to wonder if it is enforceable. The state of Mississippi earlier announced a waiver requirement for its bar exam.

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle yesterday ordered the state to give all registered voters the option to request a ballot by mail, The Tennessean reports. Currently, Tennessee has limited the use of absentee ballots and mail-in voting to those who are actively sick, disabled, traveling or elderly. The risk of being exposed to COVID-19 has not been considered justification to submit a vote by mail. State attorneys argued that making mail in voting widely available was not feasible. Lyle countered that argument by pointing to a number of other Southern states that are making such an option available. In a statement released today, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III said the court “gave little weight to the unanimous expertise of state and county election officials that hastily expanding absentee voting is impracticable and risks disenfranchising Tennessee voters.” 

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle in a virtual hearing yesterday called the state’s guidelines about who can vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic “very ambiguous,” the Associated Press reports. Two lawsuits have been filed against the state, seeking absentee voting for all voters this year in an attempt to help keep the COVID-19 virus from spreading at polling locations. Lyle cited “weighty proof” that other states have expanded to let all voters cast absentee ballots this year, but cautioned that whatever she orders needs to be “a practical, workable solution, or it will throw the election into chaos.” She said she will rule next week on whether to issue a temporary injunction to allow all voters to request absentee ballots for the Aug. 6 primary, something Tennessee officials say is not feasible. A federal lawsuit is also pending.  

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals will livestream oral arguments on June 9, the first time any in-person appellate proceeding in the state has been livestreamed. The intermediate appellate court will hold in-person proceedings on four cases in Nashville. Under the judicial emergency currently in effect, access to the courthouse will be limited, but proceedings will be livestreamed and available through video or call-in. Judge Thomas T. Woodall, Judge Robert L. Holloway Jr. and Judge Timothy L. Easter will hear the cases at 9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. CDT. The cases will be livestreamed through the Tennessee State Courts YouTube page. For those who want to listen in only, the State Courts website has more information on how you can dial in.

Gov. Bill Lee and other state leaders yesterday unveiled a $200 million fund to help various small business owners hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nashville Post reports. Lee teamed with Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and others to announce the Tennessee Business Relief Program, which will channel federal CARES Act money through the Department of Revenue to small companies such as restaurants and bars, hair salons, fitness centers and various entertainment venues. An estimated 28,000 businesses are expected to qualify for the aid. More information will be available on the Department of Revenue’s website in the coming days. A second round of relief for other businesses also is under discussion.

While most lawyers across the country are still sheltering in place and working from home because of the pandemic, some law firm offices are cautiously reopening in parts of the country that have lower infection rates, Law.com reports. In a new podcast, Law.com's Business of Law Senior Editor David Bario describes what will be a very different workplace for many law firms going forward. Listen on the Law.com website or on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or Libsyn.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold its June legal clinics over the phone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local attorneys will offer advice on questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Those needing assistance may call 800-238-1443 on one of these dates to speak to an attorney. Please contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131, for more information or to volunteer. Phone clinics planned for this week will take place tomorrow from 11-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m., Thursday from 4:30-6 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. CDT. 

Three Rutherford County Jail employees and 21 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, triple the number reported last week, the Daily News Journal reports. Spokeswoman for the jail, Lisa Marchesoni, had reported on May 20 that a jail kitchen contract worker and an inmate who worked in the kitchen had tested positive for the virus. In this week’s report, Marchesoni said the virus “spread from the same source.” All 679 inmates at the Rutherford County Jail have been tested and no female inmates have tested positive. The inmates are being quarantined away from other inmates and new detainees are screened by medical staff before they are booked and quarantined for 14 days.