The General Assembly ratified and approved amendments and revisions to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure with Senate Resolution No. 141 and House Resolution No. 236, both adopted before the legislature adjourned earlier this year. These amendments to the Rules became effective July 1. The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted the amendments on Jan. 16.

Clio Roundtable: Virtual Law Firms - A New Model for Modern Legal Practices is a free one-hour virtual discussion happening on Aug. 12 from 1 to 2 p.m. CDT. Nefra MacDonald, Clio’s Affinity Program manager, will lead the discussion on what a virtual law firm is, how it works, why you should consider starting a virtual practice and how you might get started doing so. RSVP for the program by 11 a.m. CDT on Aug. 12 in order to receive access to the even via Zoom. This roundtable is free and open to all members of the TBA.

The TBA will celebrate the upcoming 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage by examining Tennessee’s role in the ratification of the 19th Amendment. On Aug. 18 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT, catch a rebroadcast of a presentation from award-winning journalist and author Elaine Weiss, given during the TBA’s 2020 Virtual Convention. Weiss will take viewers through the story of Tennessee and its monumental role in the ratification of the 19th amendment during the centennial anniversary, honor the key players and celebrate this moment in history and its impact on the legal profession. Register for the program.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted nearly 60 new policies at its virtual two-day meeting yesterday and today. Among the resolutions adopted as policy are several aimed at improving police-community relations and attacking racial injustice, including a measure urging the curtailment of the defense of qualified immunity in civil suits brought against law enforcement officer and another that urges governments to track police deadly force data. Several COVID-19-related new policies were adopted, including Resolution 10H that recommends governmental policies that minimize evictions and assist both landlords and renters faced with hardship because of the pandemic. Also, Resolution 117 recommends, among other aspects, that individual parties in court cases be offered a safe “in person hearing or delay” if the health crisis continues. Read a summary of the meeting and other adopted resolutions on the ABA’s website.

More than 70 minors, through their parents, have filed a class action lawsuit against video-sharing platform TikTok, alleging the app is stealing their data and sending it to China, NPR reports. The suit claims TikTok collects information on the minors’ facial characteristics, locations and close contacts and then quietly sends that data to servers in China. Twenty separate but similar federal lawsuits that were filed in California and Illinois have been merged into one and, on Wednesday, were set to be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. TikTok denies the allegations, but its legal team argues that the company can transfer data to Beijing without breaking any laws. The Trump administration considers the app a national security threat because its parent company is based in China. President Donald Trump said Monday that TikTok must be sold to an American suitor by Sept. 15 or “close down.” Microsoft has acknowledged that it is exploring a bid.

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Friday denied an attempt by the Campaign Legal Center that would have allowed some out-of-state felons to vote in the upcoming Aug. 6 primary election, the Associated Press reports. CLC sought a temporary injunction that would have allowed those felons to vote in the primary if they had their voting rights restored in the same state as their conviction. Lyle argued Friday that the plaintiffs had not “demonstrated that their construction of the statutes is substantially likely to prevail.” The ruling comes as election officials are warning voters and candidates that Thursday’s election results could be delayed due to a record number of Tennesseans requesting absentee ballots in recent weeks. The surge in mail-in ballots is the result of Lyle’s June ruling to expand absentee voting for those concerned about the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  

Need a quick update in the areas of law you deal with every day? The TBA’s 2020 Summer FastTrack program will be held virtually via live webcast with sessions specifically designed for practitioners in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville. The Memphis program will take place this Friday and feature sessions on labor and employment, mediation, ethics, criminal law and family law. Speakers include Shelby County Criminal Court judges Christopher Craft and W. Mark Ward; Circuit Court judges Rhynette Hurd and Mary Wagner; and Working Boomer Advocate Dan Norwood. An informal lunchtime Zoom mixer also will be offered so attendees and presenters can connect and discuss topics in more detail.

Gov. Bill Lee has called on state lawmakers to return to Nashville for a special session on Aug. 10 to take up COVID-19 related bills that fell by the wayside during the final hours of the regular session in June. Among the measures to be considered are proposals to provide legal immunity from COVID-19 lawsuits, establish reimbursement rates for telemedicine appointments and increase penalties for property damaged in protests. Read more about the governor's call in the official proclamation.

The Law School Admission Council said last week that a technical issue resulted in the loss of scores for 140 law school hopefuls who took the test online in July. The company said that the answers of those test takers did not transmit into its system, Law.com reports. “We have tried multiple ways to recover the answers and are continuing to investigate the issue in hopes that we can recover answers and provide scores for at least some of the affected candidates,” the council said in a statement. Those impacted will receive a full refund, four free law school reports and the opportunity to take the test again.

A regional director with the Federal Labor Relations Authority turned down an effort by the U.S. Department of Justice to dissolve a union of immigration judges, Law.com reports. The labor official, Jessica Bartlett, agreed with the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) that the judges are not “management officials” and do not make new policy, which would have barred them from joining unions. The move is a win for the judges, who are in a series of legal battles with the department.