Tennessee corrections officials are looking into testing all state inmates for the virus after positive tests have come back for staffers and inmates at several facilities, including Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, Northwest Correctional Complex, Trousdale Turner Correctional Center and Turney Center Industrial Complex. Those who have tested positive or were exposed to someone testing positive have been put in quarantine for 14 days, WJHL reports. Despite several attempts have the Corrections Department  release inmates, the department says it “has no plans for early release … at this time.”

If you prefer to receive your Tennessee Bar Journal and other TBA mail temporarily at your home address, that's easy to accomplish. You can update your mailing address while leaving your office information as your tba.org profile. This one-minute video will show you how to do that. For the May issue of the Journal to be delivered at the updated address, please make the change by end of the day on Sunday.

Law firms across the country are taking steps to protect their cash flow by cutting partner and associate salaries, offering unpaid leave, furloughing employees who are not able to work from home, and canceling summer associate programs, Above the Law reports. Two firms with offices in Tennessee recently made news for their actions. Husch Blackwell, with an office in Chattanooga, reportedly cut equity partner draws by 15% percent and salaries for all managing directors and c-level executives by 10%. Ogletree Deakins, with offices in Memphis and Nashville, is reportedly cutting both work-week hours and salaries, with some saying their pay has been cut in half. The firm is also canceling its 2020 summer associate program. The law students who were planning to work at the firm will receive no compensation and no promise of future employment.

Memphis-based law firm Baker Donelson is temporarily reducing pay 20% firmwide and is furloughing less than 4% of employees as part of a continuing response to the pandemic, the Daily Memphian reports. The firm says the cuts are part of an effort to maintain cash flow in the face of a drop in business. The firm says the measures are expected to be temporary, and it will be able to bring back furloughed workers and restore pay to previous levels.

Above the Law and Major, Lindsey & Africa are conducting a survey of law firms to assess how lawyers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions focus on reprioritizing and reconfiguring workflow and client relationships; how partner, staff and client expectations are being managed; what technology resources are working; preferred methods of communication; and the long-term effects of this disruption on the profession. Want to share your experience? Start the survey here.

Gov. Bill Lee today announced the launch of an expanded COVID-19 testing effort that will enable any Tennessean, regardless of symptoms, to be tested for the virus for free, the Tennessean reports. Drive-through testing will be available this Saturday and Sunday at 15 sites across the state operated by the Tennessee National Guard. Sites also will offer testing the weekends of April 25 and 26 and May 2 and 3. The move is part of the governor’s effort to re-open the state for business. In a call with lawmakers today, the governor said he plans to take measured steps to re-open parts of the economy sometime in May, saying the state "can't shut our economy down for months on end." Chattanooga Times Free Press has more on that story.

Whether you are sitting serenely surrounded by candles and relaxation music, or if you have one hand on your work computer and the other grading math homework, or if you have to mute all your Zoom meetings because the dogs are barking and the baby is crying ... or maybe it's all going perfectly and you are clicking along just fine — we want to see what it's like in your new workspace. Email a pic of yourself in your work environs to Suzanne Robertson and you might be featured in a future issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) will host a public briefing via Zoom on April 20 from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT. LSC Briefing: The COVID-19 Health Crisis, Civil Legal Needs and State Courts will feature panels of experts from across the nation who will discuss the effects COVID-19 is having on state courts, access to justice and legal services organizations and their clients. Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins is set to speak on a panel with justices from California, Texas and Michigan. The briefing is open to the public and dial-in information and a link to join by computer can be found on the event’s invitation.

The TBA has a wide range of distance learning opportunities to fulfill your CLE needs. Cybersecurity and Protection from the Ransomware Attacks for your Law Firm addresses timely cybersecurity issues in light of recent Ransomware attacks on law firms. FFCRA: What Employers Need to Know  provides an overview of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and its impact on employers. Both programs are part of the TBA’s on-demand webcast series Navigating the Pandemic and available now on the TBA’s website.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold its April 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. Phone clinics planned for this week will take place Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. CDT each day.