Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division visited more than 30 students at the Nashville School of Law (NSL) last night. YLD Vice President Sean Aiello shared his thoughts on being active in the YLD and how beneficial it has been. He also stressed the importance of finding a mentor and attending TBA’s continuing legal education programs, which are offered free to law student members and provide exposure to different areas of the law. Billy Leslie, immediate past president of the YLD and a graduate of NSL, spoke of the significance of participating in the Diversity Leadership Institute when he was a law student. Both leaders stressed the importance of networking and getting involved with the TBA early in their careers. See a photo from the visit.

Shaterra Marion was yesterday sworn in as Tennessee’s newest Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims judge. Chief Judge Kenneth M. Switzer administered the judicial oath to Marion, who will sit in the Memphis office. Marion thanked her family for teaching her the value of hard work and acknowledged “standing on the shoulders of others.” Her first settlement approvals took place today. The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims has more.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon and District Attorney General Steve Mulroy are asking the state to reestablish a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab in the county, the Commercial Appeal reports. The ask comes after the issue of backlogged rape kits fell under fresh scrutiny after the suspect in the killing of Eliza Fletcher was linked to a 2021 rape via a kit that was untested for nearly a year. Shelby County must send its sex offense evidence to a TBI lab in Jackson for testing. That lab was staffed by just three scientists this summer and the average turnaround time was nearly 49 weeks in July and August. Officials also asked the state to pass a blended sentencing solution to allow Shelby County leaders to expand juvenile supervision.

The TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) Alumni Association this week concluded its annual statewide fall reception series. TBALL is a six-month leadership training program for attorneys with five to 15 years of practice experience. The receptions allow new nominees of the program to mix and mingle with alumni members to get an inside track on the benefits of the program. The series kicked off last week in Nashville at Baker Donelson and continued this week with stops on Monday at Butler Snow in Memphis, Tuesday at Best and Brock in Chattanooga and Wednesday at Egerton McAfee in Knoxville. More than 200 Tennessee attorneys have been nominated for the 2023 program and a class of 35 will be selected in the coming weeks. This year’s program is co-chaired by attorneys Terica Smith of Jackson and Jeffrey Maddux of Chattanooga.

Andrew Delke, a former Nashville police officer convicted of manslaughter after fatally shooting Daniel Hambrick in 2018, was released from jail today, the Tennessean reports. Delke, who is white, fatally shot Hambrick, who is Black, in the back three times as he ran away during a traffic stop. Delke was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting. Under a plea agreement, he was sentenced to three years in prison in July 2021. The agreement allowed him to serve his time in a facility run by the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and allowed him to be released in less time with standard jail credits. His release date was previously set for Dec. 3. Delke’s attorney, David Raybin, said his client was released today due to earning jail credits.  

State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and his legal team have filed a motion to change his plea of not guilty in his federal campaign finance case, the Tennessean reports. The motion doesn’t say what plea Kelsey would like instead, but the move could signal he’s reached an agreement to avoid his upcoming trial. Kelsey and Nashville club owner Joshua Smith were indicted after federal prosecutors said they illegally shuffled money from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign to his authorized federal campaign committee. Smith last week pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in June. Kelsey is not seeking reelection.

A legal tech company founded by Siskind Susser co-founder Greg Siskind and several of his colleagues was recently featured in the Memphis Business Journal’s MemphisInno. The company, Visalaw.AI, began as an effort by staffers of the Memphis-based immigration law firm to standardize processes across the business and is now its own separate company with significant growth potential. “The products we’re developing are specifically looking for pain points immigration lawyers face in the work they do,” Siskind says. The business has several products on the market, including public access file manager that helps with the complicated process of H-1B visa filings. That tool is currently being used by 400 companies. Visalaw.AI is also working on a 50-state tool to help rural and inner-city employers recruit foreign doctors to underserved areas.

Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) students recently prevailed at two national high school mock trial competitions. The team defended its 2021 first-place win at the Empire Eclipse Virtual Mock Trial Competition last week with a win over United World College (UWC) of Changshu, China. The online field consisted of 24 teams from the United States, Canada, South Korea and China. This week, the team took first place in the Empire Chicago Mock Trial Competition, which involved 32 teams from the United States and Canada. The championship round was held at the Chicago-Kent Law School. MBA student Frank Pierce was recognized as an outstanding witness for the defense while team co-captain Chanden Climaco was recognized as an outstanding attorney for both the prosecution and defense. See photos of the team.

The U.S. Postal Service will honor the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “an icon of American culture” with a stamp in the new year, the Associated Press reports. The design, unveiled this week, is a painted portrait based on a photo of Ginsburg in a black robe with an intricate white collar. The postal service did not say when the stamp would be available for purchase. Ginsburg died in 2020 at the age of 87.

Average annual pay for U.S. law firm partners reached new heights in 2021, as increased client demand buoyed firm profits, according to a report by Major, Lindsey & Africa. But a gender pay gap persists. Male partners reported average compensation of $1.21 million in 2021, while female partners said they received an average of $905,000. The 34% gap has narrowed from 44% in 2020. The survey also looked at pay by practice area. Among the seven areas studied, corporate partners reported the highest average total compensation, followed by litigation partners. Labor and employment partners reported the lowest average total compensation. Tax partners reported the only decline from 2020. Read more from Reuters or access the full report.