During the pendency of a divorce, Wife was convicted of one count of criminal contempt. Wife filed a notice of appeal subsequent to this conviction. Before Wife’s initial appeal was heard, the trial court entered its order granting the parties a divorce. Wife filed another notice of appeal challenging the outcome of the divorce. We consolidated the respective appeals, and now, upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court in both the contempt and divorce proceedings.

Employee Patrece Edwards-Bradford tiled a petition for benefit determination seeking permanent disability benefits for an alleged back injury. The Court of Workers' Compensation Claims denied Employee's claim, finding that she had not rebutted the presumption of correctness afforded to the causation and impairment opinions of her authorized treating physicians, and was therefore not entitled to permanent disability benefits. Employee has appealed, and the appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel for consideration and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm.

U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw has granted Brian Kelsey’s request to stay out of prison on bail while he appeals a 21-month sentence for directing a scheme to violate federal campaign finance laws, Tennessee Lookout reports. The former state Republican senator was to report to prison in mid-October. In a court hearing last week, Kelsey’s lawyer argued that federal prosecutors violated a plea agreement after Kelsey reneged on a guilty plea. Prosecutors countered that Kelsey broke the agreement first by trying to take back his guilty plea, which caused him to commit perjury. In November 2022, Kelsey pleaded guilty to directing a secret plan to funnel about $109,000 from his state campaign through two political action committees to the American Conservative Union, which bought ads for his failed 2016 congressional campaign.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved $3.5 million in federal grant money for Memphis and Shelby County, Action 5 News reports. The city of Memphis will receive $2 million to equip 2,200 sworn officers with body-worn cameras and to establish a comprehensive camera-use policy to enhance transparency and accountability in policing. Shelby County will receive $1.5 million to strengthen its rape kit initiative, including investigating the backlog in testing and using genealogy in John Doe cases. “The grants announced today will improve accountability in policing in Memphis and bring to justice perpetrators of sexual assault in our community,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, who announced the funding.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $230 million to resolve lawsuits by hundreds of local governments and school districts that accused the firm of fueling the opioid epidemic by advising drugmakers how to successfully sell the painkillers. According to the lawsuit, McKinsey provided sales analysis and marketing advice to manufacturers to help them sell the highly addictive drug and convince doctors to prescribe them. McKinsey already has paid out more than $640 million to resolve suits over its opioid work, including a suit brought by 50 state attorneys general. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco must approve the settlement. Read more from Fortune.

Make plans now to join colleagues on Nov. 30 for the second annual "Raising the Bar" program. Produced by the TBA Women in the Profession Committee, this year’s program will focus on advocating for one’s own and others’ career growth. Sessions will cover how to effectively solicit raises and project assignments, receive credit for work done, and make partner. A second session will explore the barriers impacting diverse women in the legal industry and best practices for overcoming those challenges. And for those on the back end of their career, the program will wrap up with a session on the financial aspects of preparing for retirement and maintaining work-life balance while transitioning to retirement. A networking reception will follow the program from 4:15-6 p.m. CST.

Keith Lane Edmiston, a South Carolina attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee, was censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court today. Edmiston accepted a $600 fee to defend a client against a lawsuit filed on a sworn account, but failed to appear at the hearing on the matter. Edmiston then accepted $1,125 to appeal the matter and filed no appeal and took no further action for the client. A few weeks later, Edmiston placed his license on disability inactive status. In another case, Edmiston accepted a filing fee of $335 for a client for whom he filed bankruptcy. Edmiston did not pay the filing fee to the court, did not place it in trust and did not return it to the client.

Retired Davidson County Judge Seth Norman has died at age 89, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Norman served as a criminal court judge from 1990 until his retirement in 2018. He was widely recognized for establishing the Davidson County Drug Court in 1996, one of the first recovery courts in the country. In 1998, the program started the first court-operated residential drug court in the United States. Norman also founded the 13th Judicial District Recovery Court in 2011 and the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court in 2013. Norman was a native of Nashville and had enrolled at Vanderbilt University before leaving college to enlist in the United States Air Force, where he served from 1953-1957. He continued his service in the Tennessee Air National Guard until 1965. He also continued his education, graduating from the Nashville School of Law in 1962.

Georgia lawyer Kara Elizabeth Phillips was reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee on Sept. 18. She had been on inactive status since May 15, 2015. Phillips filed a petition for reinstatement and the Board of Professional Responsibility found it to be satisfactory. The court issued the order today.

A federal judge in Atlanta has rejected a bid by an anti-affirmative activist group to bar a venture capital fund from awarding grants to businesses run by Black women, reports Reuters. U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash denied a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights for a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women. Blum's group was behind the U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down affirmative action in college admissions this July. The lawsuit is one of three that Blum's group had filed challenging grant and fellowship programs designed to help give Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups greater career opportunities.