Legal Ethics

  • November 05, 2024

    Colo. Voters OK Overhaul Of Judicial Discipline Process

    Colorado voters on Tuesday approved a series of constitutional changes aimed at limiting the state judiciary's influence over the judicial discipline process.

  • November 05, 2024

    'Fat Leonard' Gets 15 Years For Navy Bribery Scheme

    Leonard Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive known as "Fat Leonard" who led a sprawling bribery scheme that authorities say caused over $20 million in losses for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced Tuesday in California federal court to 15 years behind bars, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

  • November 05, 2024

    Feds Say Girardi's Behavior At Trial Shows He Is Competent

    Prosecutors told a California federal judge on Tuesday that Tom Girardi should not receive a new trial following his conviction for misappropriating $15 million in client settlement funds, saying the disbarred attorney's arguments that he was not competent to stand trial are completely undercut by his behavior during the trial.

  • November 05, 2024

    Father, Daughter Attys Ask To Avoid Prison For Tax Scheme

    Father and daughter attorneys convicted of participating in a multimillion-dollar tax avoidance scheme asked a North Carolina federal court to spare them prison sentences, with the daughter saying her father should have protected her and the father highlighting his mental illness.

  • November 05, 2024

    Hagens Berman Defends Bid To Ditch AWOL Apple Suit Client

    A Washington federal judge expressed skepticism on Tuesday that Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP was within its rights to substitute a proposed class representative in an antitrust case against Amazon and Apple earlier this year when the lead plaintiff stopped communicating with the firm.

  • November 05, 2024

    Paxton Seeks Sanctions In Immigration Nonprofit Row

    The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked an El Paso federal judge to sanction an immigrant rights nonprofit, claiming that it resisted a civil investigation by making misrepresentations to the court.

  • November 05, 2024

    Connecticut High Court Will Hear Atty's Suspension Appeal

    The Connecticut Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a personal injury and workers' compensation attorney's 90-day suspension for misconduct and consider whether he gave up his ability to argue that long delays in the proceedings violated his due process rights.

  • November 05, 2024

    Trustee Seeks Jackson Walker Docs In Judge Romance Probe

    Arguing that the issue "presents a matter of national importance" with implications for the integrity of the judicial system, a U.S. bankruptcy trustee has urged a Texas federal court to force Jackson Walker LLP to turn over documents related to a former firm attorney's secret romance with a onetime judge.

  • November 05, 2024

    Lab Owner's Atty DQ'd After Repping Doctor In Fraud Inquiry

    New Jersey prosecutors succeeded in disqualifying the lawyer for a lab owner accused of paying kickbacks to a New York City doctor in a $20.7 million fraud scheme because the attorney previously represented the doctor.

  • November 05, 2024

    Firm Alleges Damage From Holland & Knight's File Breach

    Hitting back at arguments that it had suffered no harm as a result of an ex-Holland & Knight LLP attorney's alleged unauthorized accessing of a client's confidential files, a Philadelphia personal injury firm countered Monday that it had been saddled with litigation costs and increased cybersecurity insurance premiums.

  • November 05, 2024

    Fla. Agency's Election Fraud Power Needs Review, Court Told

    A man accused of election fraud is asking the Florida Supreme Court to consider whether the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution has the authority to pursue the claims against him.

  • November 05, 2024

    NJ Atty Must Face Malpractice Suit Over Real Estate Deal

    A New Jersey state appeals court on Monday said a Clifton-based attorney must face part of a legal malpractice action over his handling of a real estate transaction.

  • November 05, 2024

    Georgia Atty Disbarred After Theft Conviction

    A Waco, Georgia, attorney was disbarred Tuesday after he was convicted of "theft by conversion" for taking advantage of an elderly client.

  • November 05, 2024

    On Election Eve, Trump Fights Reviving Nixed Charges In Ga.

    With voters set to decide on his bid to return to the White House, former President Donald Trump has urged a Georgia state appeals court to reject an attempt by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office to reinstate six criminal charges against him and five of his co-defendants in an election interference case.

  • November 05, 2024

    Fla. Judge Blames Lack Of Training In Fighting Ethics Charges

    A Florida state judge facing ethics charges on allegations she improperly held people in contempt, acted unprofessionally and handcuffed a victim admitted Monday to making mistakes, but attributed many of those mistakes to a lack of training and experience.

  • November 05, 2024

    NC Justices' Ruling Invites Judicial Bias, Former Clerk Argues

    A former county clerk of courts is trying to undo a recent North Carolina Supreme Court decision that she argues means that only one judge per county has authority to preside over court clerk removal petitions and that specified judges can't recuse themselves when there is a conflict.

  • November 05, 2024

    Ex-Fabiani Cohen Atty Fights To Preserve Discrimination Suit

    A Black female insurance and construction law attorney is urging a Manhattan federal judge not to toss her suit against her former firm, Fabiani Cohen & Hall LLP, arguing that though she was an equity owner, she was still an employee who could bring claims.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    Adams Loses Bid To Sanction Feds Over Alleged Leaks

    A Manhattan federal judge Monday rejected New York City Mayor Eric Adams' bid to sanction the prosecutors handling his bribery and corruption case for allegedly leaking secret grand jury information to journalists, saying he hasn't shown the news articles contain protected information or that prosecutors were behind any leaks.

  • November 04, 2024

    Paralegal Loses ADA Suit Over Firm's Vax Status Disclosure

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday freed a personal injury firm from a former paralegal's claims that it unlawfully publicized her COVID-19 vaccination status, saying the paralegal herself made her vaccination status public when she opposed the vaccine outside the confines of an employer-initiated medical inquiry.

  • November 04, 2024

    Turkish Co. Asks To End Sanctions As Kyrgyzstan Settles Suit

    Kyrgyzstan has agreed to a settlement deal that resolves a Turkish company's suit to confirm an $11.6 million arbitral award it won after being forcibly ejected from its hotel project in the capital city of Bishkek, the company has told a New York federal judge.

  • November 04, 2024

    Sanctions Lessened Against Testing Co. That 'Duped' Judge

    A California federal judge Monday lessened sanctions imposed on Natera Inc. in a false advertising case first brought by rival Guardant Health Inc., allowing some clinical cancer study evidence to be presented at a trial starting Tuesday despite his earlier finding that Natera's expert and counsel had "duped" the court.

  • November 04, 2024

    Firm Says 3D Printer Biz Owes $7.2M For Patent Trial Win

    Less than a year after obtaining a $17.3 million verdict from a Delaware federal jury in a patent case over 3D printing technology, one of the firms behind the win says its erstwhile client hasn't paid it over $7 million in legal fees.

  • November 04, 2024

    Ex-Dentons Atty Botched $54M Currency Deal, Jury Told

    A Venezuelan lawyer blamed a former Dentons US LLP attorney Monday for a $54 million loss in a bolivar-to-dollars currency swap, telling a Miami jury that the attorney never communicated that the buyer of the bolivars had not agreed to deposit the U.S. dollars into escrow and instead proceeded with a doomed transaction.

  • November 04, 2024

    Hurricane Zeta MDL Judge Orders Mediation Amid DQ Battle

    A Houston judge overseeing a multidistrict litigation created to handle claims from crew members who say they were injured while weathering Hurricane Zeta on a Transocean drilling rig ordered the parties to mediation Friday in the midst of a bitter disqualification battle between their feuding firms.

Expert Analysis

  • Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement

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    Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • 5 Defense Lessons From Prosecutors' Recent Evidence Flubs

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    The recent dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges, and the filing of an ethics complaint against a former D.C. prosecutor, both provide takeaways for white collar defense counsel who suspect that prosecutors may be withholding or misrepresenting evidence, say Anden Chow at MoloLamken and Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases

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    The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

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