The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims has announced that telephonic settlement approvals will continue through the month of August. Read more about those procedures here. The court also recently highlighted amendments to the workers’ compensation law enacted during this year’s legislative session.

The Trump administration announced this week that it will undertake a substantive legal and policy review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and allow those whose protections would expire during the review to renew for one year. But it will not accept new applications despite a court directive to do so, Knoxnews reports. The review, according to White House officials, is intended to ensure that the legal justifications for rescinding DACA comply with the Administration Procedures Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court recently said was not properly considered in a previous attempt to end DACA.

Gov. Bill Lee this week announced the state’s recommendations to reopen schools this fall, TN Journal reports. The plan includes a decision tree to help local educators make decisions about opening or closing schools, and advice for when to test or quarantine students, use contact tracing and restart contact sports. The plan also includes resources for parents, a plan to provide free protective gear for teachers, free professional development for teachers and principals, a $50 million grant initiative to support school technology purchases, a $11 million grant program to bolster programmatic supports, a grant program to make sure each school has a special education teacher, and a job board to help schools quickly fill teacher vacancies. In announcing the plan, Lee said the state “is doing everything we can to work with local school districts and ensure that in-person learning is made available in a way that protects the health and safety of our students and educators.”

Nashville lawyer William Wayne LeRoy died July 25 after a struggle with cancer. Raised in Jasper, LeRoy studied journalism at the University of Tennessee and first explored careers in sports reporting, patent medicine sales and insurance before deciding to pursue law. He earned his law degree in 1966 from the YMCA Law School (now the Nashville School of Law) and joined McCarley, Hollins & Pride. He later was named senior partner at Schulman, LeRoy and Bennett. LeRoy was local counsel for Allstate Insurance Company and general counsel for Exchange Insurance Company. He was a lobbyist for Insuror's of Tennessee and was actively involved in legislative issues and governmental relations for 30 years. He also handled surety bond work and represented a number of general contractors. His three daughters all followed in his professional footsteps, with two becoming attorneys and one a lobbyist. A service will be held at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Endowment Fund in Memory of Wayne LeRoy, 85 Fairway Drive, Nashville, TN 37214 or the charity of the donor’s choice.

The TBA's Summer 2020 CLE Blast continues this week with a session planned on Friday from noon to 3 p.m. CDT on persuasive legal writing. Distilling legal documents to their most basic elements is the key to creating an effective persuasive legal writing. Join the "CLE Performer" Stuart Teicher as he shares how to make legal writing clear, concise and direct, and provides practical tips for reducing long sentences and mastering punctuation. Buy the full 15-hour Summer Blast package or this persuasive writing session.

A newly formed congressional subcommittee today asked Gov. Bill Lee for information about the state’s plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commercial Appeal reports. The letter, written by U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, comes just days after the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended the state implement stricter restrictions to control spread of the virus. The subcommittee’s request includes all documents and communications from the White House Task Force aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in Tennessee; a "detailed description of any decision made or public health measures" that have been implemented or halted as a result of communication from the task force; and a description of the state's current plans to implement additional public health measures. The 12-member panel, created in April, includes Rep. Mark Green of Clarksville.

The Chattanooga Bar Association will hold its annual Law Day event virtually from the Tennessee State Capitol, the Hamilton Herald reports. The event, scheduled for Aug. 18, will honor the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and include a reenactment of the vote in Tennessee, a proclamation from area legislators and keynote speeches by Paula Casey, founder of the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail, and Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian Linda Moss Mines. In addition, Memphis attorney Bill Haltom will talk about his book Why Can't Mother Vote? and the association will present its 2020 Liberty Bell Award. The program will be live streamed beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT. To register for the event, email CBA Executive Director Lynda Hood.

The U.S. House seems ready to grant the U.S. Marshals Service request for a $4.8 million bump in funding for judicial protection operations and intelligence initiatives, Law.com reports. The funding, the first directly requested increase in appropriations for judicial protections in five years, will be used for adding 19 new positions, including 13 agents. A House report accompanying an appropriations bill for the U.S. Justice Department shows a $19.2 million increase from the amount dedicated overall to the topic in the previous fiscal year, which the Appropriations Committee noted would provide an increase for the Marshals Service. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear one part of Graceland’s appeal of a December 2019 ruling upholding the dismissal of its case against the City of Memphis, the Daily Memphian reports. Graceland is arguing that it should be allowed to seek public financing for a 6,200-seat arena in Whitehaven. Plans were announced for that arena in 2017, with the first phase including a tax increment financing incentive involving the use of property taxes and approved by the Economic Development Growth Engine board. But, the part of the Memphis Grizzlies organization that operates the FedEx Forum objected to that financing, arguing it violated a noncompete clause they have with Memphis and Shelby County. Specifically, that clause forbids local government from providing economic or tax incentives to any new indoor arena with seating capacity of more than 5,000 or fewer than 50,000. Graceland has since filed two lawsuits that were both dismissed for lack of standing. The appeals court upheld the dismissal and that dismissal is what will go before the Supreme Court. A date for oral arguments has not yet been set.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will host a Facebook Live event tomorrow to answer questions on the impact of COVID-19 school closures on children in special education programs. LAS attorneys Shelby Dodson and Rachel Moses will field those questions tomorrow at 11 a.m. CDT. Catch the livestream on the LAS Facebook page here.