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.

Nominations for two awards recognizing outstanding lawyers in the Memphis Bar Association are due Nov. 11. The Sam A. Myar, Jr. Memorial Award is presented to an MBA member who is 40 years of age or younger and has rendered outstanding personal service to the local legal profession and community. Access the nomination form or see past recipients. The Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer’s Lawyer Award is given to an MBA member who has practiced for at least 15 years and exemplifies the aims and aspirations embodied in the Guidelines for Professional Courtesy and Conduct. Submit a nomination or see past recipients of the award.

Six Nashville children born addicted to opioids are being represented by Nashville law firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings in a suit targeting opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies. The suit also names several individuals and local companies, including some who face federal charges, the Tennessean reports. The children, now between two and eight years old, were born dependent to opioids and suffered extreme withdrawal symptoms. The case was originally filed in Davidson County Circuit Court but recently was moved to federal court. Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings has been at the forefront of Tennessee litigation related to the opioid crisis. Lead attorney Tricia Herzfeld said it is the firm’s first suit to be filed in Davidson County.

Butler Snow LLP announces that former Tennessee Chancellor Gadson William "Will" Perry has rejoined the firm in its Memphis office and will practice with the Commercial Litigation and Appellate practice groups. Perry will also focus his practice on alternative dispute resolution. Perry previously served on the 30th Judicial District Chancery Court, which covers Memphis and Shelby County, after being appointed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to finish the term of a retired chancellor. He became, at 38, the youngest African-American judge and second youngest judge in Tennessee's largest county. Perry presided over a civil docket of more than 2,000 business, governmental, tax, divorce and child custody cases, reviewed civil service and state agency appeals and mediated commercial cases referred by other judges.

Sumner County Commissioners voted 20-4 to include language affirming "Judeo-Christian values" in their Standing Rules and Procedures, a document that governs how they conduct their meetings. NewsChannel5 reports that "among the changes, the commission added a preamble, saying the commission is adopting the rules 'to ensure that [the county government] is ... most importantly, reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent in our nation's founding,' among other reasons." Interim Law Director Ben Allen warned the group that they could be setting the county up for discrimination lawsuits. Nashville attorney David Raybin says that the inclusion of the language is a clear violation of the First Amendment's ban against the government endorsing religion.

The Times News reports that the Tennessee State Building Commission has approved a plan to lease the now-closed Northeast Correctional Complex annex in Carter County to a group developing the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center. The facility will have 45 beds ready to begin treating state inmates for addiction by March. First Judicial District Criminal Court Judges Stacy Street and Lisa Nidiffer Rice have raised more than $10.4 million for the facility, which will serve a nine-county region stretching from Mountain City to Morristown, and its operations will be managed by judges from the first, second and third judicial districts. The judges say the inpatient program is modeled on their current drug-free Recovery Court structure and will rely on Families Free to provide intensive counseling and treatment services.