Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, last week pleaded guilty to two of five counts in his campaign fraud case: conspiracy to defraud the United States and accepting excessive campaign contributions. The Daily Memphian reports that he faces up of five years in prison and $250,000 fine on each count. Kelsey also gave up his right to a trial and prosecutors agreed not to try him on the other three charges. Kelsey is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9. Last year Kelsey pleaded not guilty to all five counts, calling the charges a “witch hunt” and blaming them on President Joe Biden. He recently requested a change of plea hearing after co-conspirator Joshua Smith pleaded guilty to helping him implement the scheme.

Six states last week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject President Joe Biden's bid to reinstate his plan to cancel billions of dollars in student debt the while constitutionality of the program is challenged in court, CNN reports. The Republican-led states argue that Biden’s executive order exceeded the administration's authority and should be paused while the merits of the case are decided. The administration had earlier asked the high court to lift the order pausing the program. In related news, the administration also last week extended a halt on loan repayments while the issue remains in litigation. Under the new order, payments will resume 60 days after the debt cancellation program is implemented, 60 days after lawsuits are resolved, or 60 days after June 30, 2023, if litigation fails. National Public Radio has more on that action.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments met recently to consider nine applicants for the Court of Criminal Appeals vacancy in the Western Section. After holding a public hearing and conducting public interviews, the council selected the following applicants to send to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration: Joshua B. Dougan, William Mark Ward and Matthew Joseph Wilson. Learn more about each candidate on the Administrative Office of the Courts’ website. The vacancy was created by the death of Judge John Everett Williams on Sept. 2.

The Tennessee Bar Association will be closed Nov. 21-25 in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. Offices will reopen on Nov. 28 at 8 a.m. CST. 

Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) Commissioner Margie Quin is seeking $156 million in new funding, including $15.8 million for caseworker salary increases, the Tennessean reports. In her department’s budget request, Quin noted that nearly half of all new caseworkers quit within their first year. Quin called the turnover rate "horrific" as the department faces a challenge of correcting years of systemic staffing woes and increased numbers of children in state foster care. "It is no secret that DCS has failed to hire and retain staff, and as a result has seen unusually high caseload averages throughout the state, especially in hard-hit staffing areas like Davidson County," Quin told Gov. Bill Lee and his budget staff.

The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar today advanced a proposal to make standardized admissions tests optional at accredited law schools. The council voted on the amendment to its testing mandate, Standard 503, at a hybrid meeting in Atlanta. The standard currently requires law schools to use a “valid and reliable” test to assess applicants. Historically, that has been the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). At today’s meeting, the council also voted to amend Standard 501 to include an annual review of admissions policies and practices. The proposals will now go to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration at its February 2023 meeting in New Orleans. If approved, the changes would not be implemented until the fall of 2025, the ABA Journal reports.

Following Yale Law School’s decision earlier this week to boycott law school rankings published by U.S. News, three additional law schools have announced they will do so as well. Harvard Law School, University of California Berkeley Law School and Georgetown University Law Center now say they will not participate in the rankings either. Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the rankings are “profoundly inconsistent” with the school’s “values and public mission” and penalize schools that help students launch careers in public service law. U.S. News & World Report said it has no plans to change its goals for the rankings. Reuters has more about Georgetown’s decision while Bloomberg looks at Berkeley’s move.

Jack Smith, a former HCA attorney and U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, has been named as a special counsel to oversee criminal investigations related to former President Donald Trump. Smith, appointed today by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, will oversee investigations into Trump’s actions related to the events of Jan. 6 and documents found at Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago. Smith served as acting U.S. attorney in Nashville during the Obama-Trump transition, stepping down in 2017. He then served in the legal role at HCA before moving to The Hague in 2018, where he has served as chief prosecutor for Kosovo war crimes cases. The Nashville Post reported on the Tennessee connection. The Hill has more on the appointment process.

The Biden Administration today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a lower court order that blocked the president’s student loan relief program, The Washington Post reports. That order, issued Monday, came in a suit brought by six Republican-led states. Implementation of the plan has been on hold since Oct. 21, when the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency stay. Last week, in yet another a case — this one brought by two borrowers — a federal judge in Texas struck down the plan as unlawful as well. In that case, the U.S. government already has asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the decision.

The downtown Nashville homeless shelter and recovery program Room in the Inn is the site of a free monthly legal clinic known as Project Homeless Experience Legal Protection (H.E.L.P.). The clinic offers assistance on civil matters such as disability benefits, and criminal matters, including expungements. Many struggle to exit homelessness because of issues navigating the legal system. That is where the H.E.L.P. clinic, started by Baker Donelson’s Nashville office 14 years ago, steps in. Shareholder Jonathan Cole says the firm recognized a need among the city’s homeless. “A lot of times there’s a legal issue that is an impediment or contributing factor that’s preventing them from getting more established, on their feet, into more permanent housing,” he said. “If we can remove some of those barriers, it’s a great help to them.” Initially launched in New Orleans, the clinic has now been implemented in over 25 cities. WKRN looks at some of the clients helped by the clinic.