Legal Ethics

  • August 13, 2024

    Texas Judge Exits X's 'Boycott' Suit Against Ads Group, Unilever

    A Texas federal judge overseeing litigation filed by Elon Musk's X Corp. accusing the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever and others of conspiring to withhold advertising revenue from the company recused himself from the case Tuesday, following news reports that he owns stock in Tesla, another Musk-owned company.

  • August 13, 2024

    Lin Wood Says Social Posts Were Defense, Not Offense

    Controversial ex-attorney Lin Wood took the stand Tuesday in a defamation case brought against him by three of his former law partners over social media posts in which Wood claimed they tried to criminally extort him after his firm's dissolution, telling jurors he only took to social media to defend himself. 

  • August 13, 2024

    Va. Atty Held In Contempt, Jailed Overnight Loses Appeal

    A Virginia appeals court on Tuesday tossed a false imprisonment suit accusing a sheriff of wrongly detaining a divorce attorney after she was held in civil contempt for arguing with a judge and jailed overnight, saying the sheriff acted under the auspices of the judge's legal authority.

  • August 13, 2024

    Girardi's Ex-Accountant Testifies He Wasn't Always 'All There'

    A former in-house accountant for Tom Girardi's law firm broke down in tears on the witness stand under cross-examination in Girardi's California federal criminal trial Tuesday, first saying he always seemed "lucid" before describing him in the month before Girardi Keese filed for bankruptcy as slipping mentally.

  • August 13, 2024

    Former In-House Atty Says Healthcare Co. Can't Duck Suit

    A onetime assistant general counsel for Panoramic Health told a Colorado federal judge on Tuesday that her former employer could not escape the wrongful-termination suit she filed in May, arguing that a bid to dismiss the case must fail because she had plausibly alleged that her firing was a result of having reported compliance issues.

  • August 13, 2024

    'Delusional' Ex-Atty Gets 25 Years For Bank Embezzlement

    An Illinois federal judge blasted a former attorney and real estate developer Tuesday as she handed him 25 years in prison for misappropriating a bank's embezzled money, saying he was "delusional" to assert he's a victim in the case.  

  • August 13, 2024

    Ga. Justices To Weigh Arbitrator's Closed-Door Discussions

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to weigh if an arbitrator's ex parte communications with BioTek Services LLC in an allergy testing payment dispute warranted vacating BioTek's $1.7 million arbitration award over compensation for its testing of patients from Docs of CT LLC.

  • August 13, 2024

    Tax Court Design Violates US Law, Widow Tells 11th Circ.

    The widow of a grocery store butcher fighting a tax liability upheld by the U.S. Tax Court has told the Eleventh Circuit that the decision should be sent back for reconsideration, arguing that a provision restricting the president's power to remove Tax Court judges is unconstitutional.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ex-Prosecutors Back Willis In Trump's Appeal Of DQ Ruling

    Former federal prosecutors and others have thrown their support behind the State of Georgia, arguing that a trial court was right to let Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis continue prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others after a former outside counsel with whom she had a relationship resigned.

  • August 13, 2024

    Jackson Walker Slams 'Draconian' Judge Romance Fees Bid

    Jackson Walker LLP is pushing back on a U.S. Trustee Office's attempt to roll back at least $13 million in fees and reimbursements awards, saying the firm is just the latest bystander to become "collateral damage" from a concealed romance between an ex-firm partner and a former federal bankruptcy judge.

  • August 13, 2024

    Contractor Can't DQ Maynard Nexsen From Bias Case

    An Alabama federal judge won't disqualify Maynard Nexsen PC from representing a former Parsons Corp. engineer in his discrimination suit against the company for allegedly representing both parties at the same time, saying Parsons' disqualification motion was "unmeritorious."

  • August 13, 2024

    Kaufman Dolowich Slams Ex-Associate's Bias Claims

    A former Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP associate's claim that the firm's Philadelphia office terminated him after he asked for accommodations for his hearing impairment is contradicted by a separate lawsuit in which he blames a legal recruiter for costing him his job, according to a recent filing by the firm.

  • August 13, 2024

    Colo. Atty Says Prior Firm Took Clients, Retained Funds

    A lawyer has sued a small law office in Colorado state court, alleging it asked his clients to switch counsel right before the attorney was set to leave the firm and that the law office is trying to get around a provision of his employment agreement that said he could take the clients, as well as their retainer, upon his departure.

  • August 13, 2024

    'Clever' Scheme Is Concealing Talc Litigation Funding, J&J Says

    The Beasley Allen Law Firm needs to disclose alleged litigation funding fueling its litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder even if that funding was not given directly to the firm since the disclosure rules apply to "parties" and not "law firms," J&J has told a New Jersey federal court.

  • August 13, 2024

    Federal Judge Can't Shake Discipline For Handcuffing Girl

    A review panel on Tuesday agreed with a unanimous Ninth Circuit Judicial Council finding that a federal judge in California engaged in misconduct when he ordered that a tearful 13-year-old girl be handcuffed during a criminal hearing for her father, upholding a public reprimand and three-year pause on criminal case assignments for the jurist.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ex-McCarter & English Client Wants To Undo Malpractice Loss

    A New Jersey pharmaceutical business is urging a New Jersey state court to reconsider its decision to throw out the company's malpractice case against McCarter & English LLP, saying the firm "brazenly" misstated part of the timeline of the case's lengthy history.

  • August 13, 2024

    Conn. Trial Attys Back McCarter's Bid For Punitive Award

    The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association has asked the state Supreme Court for permission to file a friend-of-court brief supporting McCarter & English LLP's bid for a punitive payout after winning multimillion-dollar judgments in a contract dispute with a former client.

  • August 13, 2024

    Firms In State Street Case See $400K Slashed From Fee Bid

    A Massachusetts federal judge known for scrutinizing attorney fees in class action suits trimmed more than $400,000 from a requested award for two firms who led a $4.3 million settlement with State Street Corp. over its employees' 401(k) plans.

  • August 12, 2024

    Circle K 'Sandbagged' By Late Docs In Death Suit, Court Told

    Circle K told a Florida state court Monday it should have a chance to depose several expert witnesses in a lawsuit stemming from a woman's death at a gas pump, saying attorneys representing family members "sandbagged" the company after providing dozens of new files that were demanded earlier this year.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ogborn Mihm Says Ex-Clients Won't Pay Fees On $2M Win

    Ogborn Mihm LLP accused two former clients Friday of refusing to pay the full $800,000 contingency fee for their $2 million personal injury suit settlement.

  • August 12, 2024

    Girardi Wasn't Confused But Tried 'To Confuse Me,' Atty Says

    An attorney who sued Tom Girardi on behalf of a woman seeking withheld settlement funds testified Monday in the disbarred lawyer's criminal fraud trial, telling a Los Angeles jury he didn't think Girardi was in cognitive decline but rather was deliberately trying to confuse him with strange excuses.

  • August 12, 2024

    'All Hell Broke Loose,' Wood's Ex-Partner Says Of Social Posts

    A former law partner of controversial ex-attorney L. Lin Wood on Monday told a Georgia federal jury that social media posts Wood made accusing her and two other former partners of defamation led to widespread online harassment, damage to her professional reputation and threats. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Judge Won't DQ Asst. US Atty In Standard Chartered FCA Case

    A New York federal judge on Monday declined to disqualify an assistant United States attorney from a long-dismissed False Claims Act suit against Standard Chartered Bank, calling the whistleblower's arguments for disqualification meritless "to the point where they verge on vexatious and frivolous."

  • August 12, 2024

    Young Thug Jury Returns, Told Not To Fret About New Judge

    After weeks away from court, jurors weighing racketeering charges against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his alleged Young Slime Life gang were instructed Monday "not to concern yourselves" with the switch to a new judge and to "disregard" any "disparaging" comments made by the jurist who previously presided over the marathon trial.

  • August 12, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Escapes DQ Over Dual Rep. In HSBC OT Case

    A New York federal judge on Monday refused to disqualify Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP counsel from representing a former HSBC branch manager and key witness in an overtime class action against the bank, which the attorneys also defend, ruling the supposed conflict of interest is speculative and could be corrected if needed with informed consent.

Expert Analysis

  • Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave

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    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.

  • Series

    Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance

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    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.

  • Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories

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    The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials

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    As illustrated by the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, defense attorneys in securities trials might consider arguing that counsel had some involvement in the conduct at issue — if the more formal advice-of-counsel defense is unavailable and circumstances allow for a privilege waiver, say Joseph Dever and Matthew Elkin at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's Recent FARA Advisory Opinions

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    The U.S. Department of Justice recently published several redacted advisory opinions on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, clarifying its current thinking on when a person or entity is required to register as a foreign agent under the statute, and when they may qualify for an exemption, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley Rein.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

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