Health care executive Caleb Hemmer has announced his candidacy for state House District 59, the Nashville Post reports. Hemmer works at American Health Partners and serves on the Metro Board of Fair Commissioners. He previously was an aide to former Gov. Phil Bredesen. He will face public defender Jeff Preptit in the Democratic primary. Michelle Foreman is the only Republican in the race so far. The seat is currently held by Rep. Jason Potts, D-Nashville, who is retiring. The district was altered during redistricting, and now encompasses some of the most affluent neighborhoods in Davidson County, including Belle Meade, Forest Hills and Oak Hill as well as communities along the southern border of the county. Hemmer said his priorities in office would be affordable health care, sound fiscal management and high-paying jobs.

Sponsored by the TBA's Young Lawyer's Division, this webcast will provide a unique look at implicit bias, how it impacts lawyers and why it matters. Cultural Competency and Implicit Bias: Why it Matters also will feature real life examples of how these issues impact work in the courtroom and with clients. Join Professor Sherley Cruz with the University of Tennessee College of Law and Brentwood lawyer Julie Bhattacharya Peak on Feb. 22 from noon to 1 p.m. CST. Participants also have the opportunity to submit anonymous questions for the speakers. Just complete this form to add to the discussion!

New data from Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions, a legal analytics company, shows that big billing rate increases last year often coincided with population gains, and ELM found “especially” high average billing rate increases in the following seven cities: Greenville, South Carolina (18%), Fresno, California (15%), Oklahoma City (13%), Seattle and Nashville (11% each), Phoenix (10%) and Miami (9%). Andrew Maloney writes in Law.com that population gains tied with billing rate increases indicate these cities could be among the next wave of markets for a Big Law boom.

Jonesborough attorney Michael Rasnake recently announced his candidacy for judge in Washington County General Sessions Court, Division III, the Johnson City Press reports. Rasnake attended the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and worked five years at the Public Defender’s Office in Jackson, followed by four years in private practice. He returned to Washington County in 2005 and joined the District Attorney’s Office. Rasnake is a founding member of the county’s Recovery Court, which he says will “ensure a smooth transition” when he transitions to Recovery Court judge. “My real dream is to take that same problem-solving model we use in Recovery Court and create a Family Treatment Court like other counties in our state,” Rasnake said.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, has asked Gov. Bill Lee to seek a federal disaster declaration for Memphis after last week’s ice storm, the Daily Memphian reports. Cohen, in a letter to Lee, wrote that an estimate from Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division shows $13 million in preliminary damage. That number is already more than the required minimum to qualify for federal disaster assistance. Cohen says several relief funds administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be of specific use, including the Public Assistance Grant Program for help with “debris removal, repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged and publicly owned facilities.”

Items belonging to late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are set to be donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., next month, The Hill reports. In a release, the Smithsonian said a “significant selection of artifacts” representing Ginsburg’s career will be given to the National Museum of American History in a March 30 ceremony. The ceremony will serve as the “first public reveal” of exactly which items will join the institution’s collections. Ginsburg will also be posthumously awarded the museum’s Great Americans medal, which recognizes “lifetime contributions embodying American ideas and ideals” and those who “have not only made a lasting impact in their fields, but whose philanthropic and humanitarian endeavors set them apart.”

The Law Tech 2022 series kicks off Thursday with two sessions and a chance to win some techy prizes. The Virtual Law Firm, is it Right For You? premieres at 10 a.m. CST and is a one-hour program that will explore the concept of virtual law firms. Registrants for the program could win a HidrateSpark STEEL Smart Water Bottle. Then at 1 p.m. CST, watch Drowning in Email - An Outlook Power Hour, which will provide a how-to on using Outlook’s feature set to efficiently store, organize email and attachments, and successfully deal with high email volume. One lucky registrant will win a set of Beats Studio Buds during that session. This year’s Law Tech CLE will be offered virtually in February with six sessions over three days – Feb. 10, Feb. 17 and Feb. 24. Find all Law Tech 2022 courses here.

Germantown resident Brandon Toney yesterday pulled a petition to challenge state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, in the Republican primary, the Daily Memphian reports. Toney says Kelsey’s federal indictment on campaign finance charges fueled his decision to run. “He is embarrassing our party,” Toney said. “He’s embarrassing our state legislature. He is embarrassing all of us.” Toney owns Collierville small business First Fruit Collection and is a nurse practitioner. He wants to see the state put a better emphasis on health, noting Tennessee is consistently ranked among the unhealthiest of states. Toney currently serves on Germantown’s Economic Development Commission. “I’m not a politician. I’m just an everyday guy that wants to go and serve his community,” he said.

Shelby County commissioners yesterday agreed to delay making decisions about filling the seat of former state Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, the Daily Memphian reports. The Senate last week expelled Robinson following her October conviction on four counts of federal wire fraud. U.S. Judge Sheryl Lipman later threw out two of those convictions. The county commission is responsible for appointing someone to finish Robinson’s term, but whether they will is an open question. Commissioner Van Turner said appointing someone would “give credence to what we think would be a grave injustice.” According to the Tennessee Lookout, federal prosecutors have asked a judge to impose a two-and-a-half-year sentence on Robinson, claiming she has shown a “defiant refusal to accept responsibility” for the convictions. They are also appealing Lipman’s decision to toss of the convictions. Robinson is appealing her conviction.

Free Legal Answers, the online virtual legal clinic that helps qualifying users get civil legal advice from volunteer attorneys, has surpassed 200,000 client questions, doubling the total number of its inquiries in less than two years. Free Legal Answers has experienced rapid growth since March 2020 when the program hit 100,000 questions. Nationwide, more than 43,400 hours of pro bono legal service were submitted with 10,288 volunteer attorneys registered to participate and 45 states committed to the program. More information is available in the most recent Free Legal Answers report. Sponsored by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Free Legal Answers was established a decade ago as a joint project of the TBA, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and Baker Donelson.