Greg Perry was sworn in as a new general sessions judge for Coffee County this week, the Manchester Times reports. General Sessions Judge Jere Ledsinger administered the oath at the Coffee County Justice Center General Session’s Courtroom. Perry's family was in attendance, along with Court Clerk Heather Duncan and Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott.

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.

Memphis Area Legal Services reports that it has received many requests for wills and powers of attorney and needs lawyers to help with these cases. Volunteer attorneys also are needed to provide legal advice over the phone for cases involving conservatorships, landlord/tenant, employment and divorce. Those who can help should contact Danielle Woods.

A Vanderbilt University law student is among those recognized with a Margaret Cuninggim Award from school's Women’s Center. Third-year law student Hannah Martins Miller began law school after serving as a platoon leader, executive officer and battalion plans officer with the Army. Her nominator said she “excels in pushing through barriers that remain for women as leaders in this country," and that she "does so with courage, self-confidence and humility.”

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.

The Administrative Office of the Courts is now accepting grant applications for two grant programs: the Parent Education and Mediation Fund (PEMF) and the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP). Funds should be used from July 1 to June 30, 2021. Grant applications are available online and must be received via email to grants@tncourts.gov by 4:30 p.m. CDT on May 15. Successful applicants will be notified in late May. The AOC is hosting a webinar on April 27 from 2 to 3 p.m. CDT to review changes that have been made to the application. Register here for that presentation.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings has awarded a 2020 Diversity Scholarships to Bria Smith at Vanderbilt University Law School. Along with receiving the scholarship, Smith will clerk in the firm’s Nashville office this summer. As a law student, Smith has been a member of the Black Law Students Association, an OUTLaw 1L Representative and a volunteer with the Immigrant Legal Clinic, a project of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Faith leaders, judicial branch members and community partners from across Tennessee will gather online on April 21 for the 2020 Tennessee Faith and Justice Summit. Participants will consider the ways faith and justice intersect, learn about free legal resources and build bridges locally and statewide for a better future. This is the second year the summit is being held as part of Help4TNDay. The event is sponsored by the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission, Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance, University of the South Office of Civic Engagement and School of Theology Beecken Center. Registration is free but is required.

Nashville lawyer Jason Daniel Holleman was censured yesterday by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court took the action after determining that Holleman placed a concealed tracking device on the vehicle of an ex-girlfriend and traced her whereabouts without her consent for six months. The court noted that Holleman’s actions were prohibited by law and violated Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(a), (b), and (c).