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Legal Ethics
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August 08, 2024
Judge Won't Fully Seal Atty's Trial Transcript In Contempt Bid
A group of families that secured a $42 million settlement against a North Carolina county over coercive child custody agreements can't have state trial transcripts sealed that allegedly reveal how much money certain minors got — at least not in their entirety, a federal judge has ruled.
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August 08, 2024
Calif. Atty Says Lending Groups Illegally Threatened Fee Suit
A California attorney is accusing his former clients of illegally threatening a lawsuit over a $91,000 invoice, according to a suit filed in a Texas federal court.
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August 08, 2024
Suspension Recommended For Ex-Calif. Bar Prosecutor
A California State Bar Court judge this week has recommended suspension for a former State Bar prosecutor who failed to disclose that he was moonlighting in private practice alongside disgraced attorney Tom Girardi's son-in-law.
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August 08, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court Candidate Loses Election Challenge
A Georgia superior court judge has rejected an attorney's bid to overturn the results of a state appeals court election she lost, saying her claims were already resolved when the secretary of state made a preelection decision that her opponent was qualified to run and her subsequent appeal of that ruling was denied.
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August 08, 2024
Wood's Ex-Partners Seek 'Judgment Day' For 'Lin Almighty'
Thursday, as counsel for the former law partners of controversial ex-attorney Lin Wood put it to a Georgia federal jury, was an auspicious day, as it was a "judgment day" and a chance to "bring down a judgment on a monster" who slandered the three attorneys who for years helped him build a successful law practice.
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August 08, 2024
Ex-Morgan & Morgan Client Wants Malpractice Case In Court
A Georgia deputy sheriff suing Morgan & Morgan PA's office in Jacksonville, Florida, for malpractice has urged a Georgia federal court not to send his case to arbitration, as he claimed the firm effectively bullied him into signing a contract with an arbitration clause.
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August 08, 2024
Atty Accuses NYC Agency Of Bias, EEOC Charge Retaliation
A staff attorney accused the New York City Administration for Children Services of abruptly revoking his years-old disability accommodations while he was recovering from heart surgery, alleging in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that the administration tried to force him to quit after he filed a state court action and a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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August 08, 2024
Willis Defends Staying On Trump's Ga. Election Case
Georgia prosecutors have pushed back against former President Donald Trump's request for appellate intervention in his election interference case, arguing District Attorney Fani T. Willis doesn't have a conflict of interest and Trump failed to persuade the trial court that she had a conflict due to a relationship with a former outside counsel.
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August 08, 2024
NJ Chief Justice Escapes Depo In Ex-Jurist's Pension Suit
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court will not have to sit for a deposition in a suit brought by a former Superior Court judge over the denial of her disability pension application, a Garden State judge ruled Thursday.
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August 08, 2024
Former In-House Atty Says Mortgage Co. Was 'Oppressive'
A former staff attorney for mortgage company Newrez LLC alleges in a Texas state court lawsuit made public this week that she was terminated last year after witnessing a deputy general counsel engage in sexually inappropriate conduct with an intoxicated subordinate attorney at a work-related gathering.
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August 08, 2024
50 Cent Beats Liquor Consultant's 'Ridiculous' Wiretap Claim
A frustrated New York state judge on Thursday tossed a former Beam Suntory Inc. sales contractor's reworked wiretapping allegations against rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in a $3 million embezzlement dispute, calling the claims "ridiculous" and an "obvious" delay tactic.
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August 08, 2024
LegalZoom Seeks Arbitration Of Unauthorized Practice Claims
LegalZoom has asked a New Jersey federal court to force arbitration of proposed class claims that the company engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, arguing the named plaintiff entered into a binding arbitration agreement by clicking "agree and pay now" when he purchased services from the online platform.
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August 08, 2024
Calif. Attorney Beats DQ Bid Despite Being Potential Witness
A California state appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision not to disqualify a San Diego lawyer from representing a client in a malpractice suit against a Pasadena law firm, saying the attorney can be counsel and provide witness testimony at the trial.
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August 07, 2024
Ex-Mayer Brown Atty Says Firm Retaliated After Her Cancer
A former Mayer Brown LLP attorney has accused the firm of refusing to accommodate her breast cancer diagnosis and instead retaliating against and eventually firing her, according to a suit filed in New York state court.
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August 07, 2024
10th Circ. Won't Undo Atty Fees In $1.5B Syngenta Corn Deal
The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday backed a Kansas federal judge's allocations of attorney fees to three law firms representing individual claimants in multidistrict litigation over Syngenta's genetically modified corn that was resolved by a $1.5 billion class settlement, finding that the firms' arguments strayed from the issue at hand.
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August 07, 2024
'Something Sketchy Was Going On,' Girardi Client Tells Jury
A man horribly injured in a gas explosion told a Los Angeles federal jury Wednesday that Tom Girardi lied to him for years about the true details of his civil settlement and withheld millions he was owed, but it took him years to figure out "something sketchy was going on."
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August 07, 2024
Judge's Pharma Comments Could Decide Ineligibility Appeal
A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday was willing to explore Astellas Pharma's argument that a Nebraska federal judge should be taken off its infringement case over the bladder medication Myrbetriq, given statements that showed a potential bias against the pharmaceutical industry, but also made clear that such reassignments are rare and difficult.
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August 07, 2024
Shuttered Firm Partner Pulls $9.5M Fee Fight Out Of Arbitration
An Illinois appeals court has reversed the transfer to partial arbitration of a suit accusing a personal injury firm name partner of defrauding the other name partner by collecting $9.5 million in fees shortly before the firm's dissolution, saying the firm's operating agreement with an arbitration clause was superseded by the dissolution agreement.
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August 07, 2024
Google 'May Not Be So Lucky' Next Time Over Chat Deletions
Google's stunning antitrust loss in D.C. federal court Monday dealt another blow against its policies of letting internal chats delete automatically, and it came with a callout of its practice of training employees to avoid competition law "buzzwords."
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August 07, 2024
6th Circ. Voids Man's Death Penalty Over 'Judicial Malfunction'
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday granted a capital defendant's habeas petition based on a trial court's decision to recruit the prosecutor to ghostwrite a "corrupt opinion" issuing the death penalty and refusing to allow the defendant to proffer relevant mitigating evidence at his re-sentencing, in violation of his constitutional rights.
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August 07, 2024
Bid For Ex-Judge's Phone Records Halted At Texas Hearing
A Texas bankruptcy judge shut down a bid from JCPenney's bankruptcy administrator to subpoena former Judge David R. Jones' cellphone records in a partially sealed hearing Wednesday in connection with Jones' secret romance with a onetime lawyer at Jackson Walker LLP.
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August 07, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle
A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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August 07, 2024
5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration
A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.
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August 07, 2024
7th Circ. Says Atty Inadequacy ID'ed Too Late In Asylum Case
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to reopen a Mexican family's asylum proceedings despite finding that the family's attorney cost them their case by arriving unprepared at their immigration hearing, saying the family should have flagged the lawyer's ineffectiveness earlier.
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August 07, 2024
'Herculean' Efforts Warrant Max Fee, Debt Firm Trustee Says
A California bankruptcy trustee overseeing the failed debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group has told the court he deserves the maximum fee amount and possibly a bonus due to the "herculean" efforts of himself and his colleagues — a statement that comes at a time when the bankruptcy estate appears to have little money to pay more than 2,500 creditors.
Expert Analysis
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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Opinion
Animal Rights Are About Saving Nature, And Our Own Future
The climate crisis makes it clear that animal law — conceived of as an ecocentric approach to protecting the most vulnerable nonhumans who depend on the natural environment — is essential to restoring the Earth and safeguarding the future of humanity, says Carter Dillard at the Fair Start Movement.
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The Ethics Of Accepting Advanced Legal Fees In Crypto
State and local bar associations have been weighing in on whether attorneys may accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment in advance of providing legal services, but the answer is frequently a fact-specific inquiry that demands close reading of the rules of professional conduct, say Matthew Feinberg and Jeffrey Cunningham at Goldberg Segalla.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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5 Gifts That May Run Afoul Of Government Ethics Rules
As the holiday season ramps up, it’s essential to keep in mind that government officials and employees are all subject to specific gift rules, and related violations can lead to consequences far worse than coal in one’s stocking, say Mark Renaud and Rob Walker at Wiley.
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3 Defense Takeaways From The Bankman-Fried Trial
FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction offers several key lessons for future white collar defendants, from the changing nature of cross-examination to the continued risks of taking the stand, say Jonathan Porter and Gregg Sofer at Husch Blackwell.
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Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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The Basics Of Law Firm Cyber Liability Insurance Applications
Cyber liability insurance has become a common consideration for law firms as cyber threats have escalated, but these insurance forms can be quite complicated given the nature of the industry and associated risks, so simply filling out the form won't necessarily result in an ideal policy for your firm, says Kevin Haight at WAMS.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.