The 2020 Virtual TBA Convention will take place entirely online during the week of June 15. The event, free for TBA members, will provide up to eight hours of CLE. Join us Monday for two legislative update sessions; on Tuesday for the Better Right Now wellness program; on Wednesday for the Bill and Phil Show from Law Tech 2020; and on Thursday morning for our 19th Amendment Centennial Program and in the afternoon for a choice between pro bono training or Fastcase training. Check out all of the free CLE offerings here. Make sure to register to take advantage of all these great programs. 

In the new online CLE video, LIFEtime Management: An Approach to Lawyer Time Management, lawyer Stuart Teicher will help viewers avoid the “Evil Triology” of bad lawyering habits: procrastination, distraction and neglect. Teicher will provide guidance on conquering those problems and offer solutions to problems involving time management. View the entire CLE course catalog here.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will continue its weekly Facebook Live Q&A Wednesday at noon CDT. LAS attorney Mary Gillum will host this week’s show, which will cover economic impact payments, holds on tax collection and tax payment relief. LAS launched the show earlier this month to answer frequently asked questions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Samuel Tipton Jones II who practiced law in Chattanooga for more than four decades, died Friday at his home. He was 72. After fighting – and beating – cancer several years ago, the disease recently reemerged. As a young man, Jones was an officer in the U.S. Army. After attending law school at the University of Tennessee and passing the bar exam, he displayed his “convention-defying nature” by leaving for a lengthy skiing hiatus and work as a casino dealer in Lake Tahoe. Jones later returned to Chattanooga to establish a law practice, specializing in medical malpractice. A celebration of life will be held at a date to be announced. Memorial gifts may be given to the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1505 North Moore Rd., Chattanooga 37411 or to the YMCA of Chattanooga, 301 West 6th St., Chattanooga 37402.

When lawmakers return to Nashville on June 1 to grapple with the state budget, they will not have much to work with other than the obvious reality that revenues are way down, the Daily Memphian reports. The legislature also is facing conflicting opinions on how much work it should undertake. The Senate reportedly is set to concentrate on budget and virus-related legislation, while the House is open to considering other legislation. The leaders also have not agreed on whether the general public should be allowed to return to the Cordell Hull Building and the House and Senate chambers, though Gov. Bill Lee says he plans to continue keeping the general public out of public spaces in the Capitol “through the foreseeable future.” News broke last week that state revenues collected in March were $693.8 million less than budgeted because of the COVID-19 crisis, while general fund revenues were down by $651 million and sales tax collections were down $61.2 million. The June session will start with House committee hearings the final week of May. In related news, TN Journal reports that the State Funding Board has canceled a meeting for this week to assess the impact the pandemic is having on state finances. 

Knox County Chancellor Michael W. Moyers will resign his seat on the bench and join the law firm of Bernstein, Stair & McAdams on Jan. 22, 2021, the firm announced today. Moyers has served on the bench for more than 14 years. Prior to being elected in 2006, Moyers was law director for Knox County government for six years. Moyers will practice in the areas of mediation and arbitration, general civil litigation, appellate advocacy, family law, and zoning and municipal law. Until he joins the firm, he will recuse himself from all cases involving attorneys from the firm.

Don't forget to submit a nomination for the TBA's third annual Fourth Estate Award, which honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Prior winners include the WSMV Channel 4 I-Team in Nashville for its reporting on Judge Casey Moreland, and Steven Hale of the Nashville Scene for his coverage of the executions of Billy Ray Irick, David Earl Miller and Edmund Zagorski, and capital punishment more generally in Tennessee. Learn more about the award or make a nomination now. The deadline for entries is May 29.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in three cases via livestream video conferencing today. The docket includes three cases: Carolyn Coffman et al. v. Armstrong International, Inc. et al.; Clarissa Bidwell ex rel James Bidwell et al. v. Timothy Strait MD et al.; and Scott Trent et al. v. Mountain Commerce Bank et al. The court said the move is aimed at continuing to protect the health of those involved. All three cases will be live-streamed to the TNCourts.gov YouTube channel.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III filed a complaint under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act last Friday against The Rustic Flag Company (RFC) and its owner Justin Scott for engaging in deceptive and unfair trade practices. The suit alleges the company received payments from thousands of customers for products that were never provided, failed to respond to customers’ inquiries related to the manufacturing and shipping of the products, and misrepresented the amount of time it would take for customers to receive their orders. Read more in this release from the Slatery’s office.

The ACLU of Tennessee and Dechert LLP filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to make absentee voting available to all eligible Tennessee voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group says the state should allow any eligible voter to cast an absentee ballot in the statewide election on Aug. 6 and the general election on Nov. 3. Current law requires voters to provide an approved reason for requesting an absentee ballot. Practicing social distancing and/or self-quarantining are not valid reasons. The case was brought on behalf of several Tennesseans whose health would be at risk if forced to vote in person while COVID-19 is spreading, the group said. Read more in a release.