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Legal Ethics
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August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
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August 06, 2024
Thompson Hine Says Ex-Atty's Harassment Claims Lack Teeth
A former Thompson Hine LLP attorney's sex harassment suit should be dismissed for failing to show that gender bias had anything to do with the workplace conflicts that arose during her tenure, the firm argued in a New York federal court filing.
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August 06, 2024
Girardi Used Client Funds As 'Personal Piggy Bank,' Jury Told
The prosecution and defense painted starkly different portraits of Tom Girardi during opening statements Tuesday in the disbarred attorney's criminal fraud trial, with a California federal prosecutor saying Girardi stole millions from vulnerable clients while his lawyer described him as an "old man" losing his memory and exploited by an underling.
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August 06, 2024
Possible Juror Naps Don't Tank Conviction, Conn. Justices Rule
A man's murder conviction and 65-year prison sentence will stand despite his protests that the trial judge should have intervened more strongly when a juror seemed to fall asleep several times on the first day of testimony, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
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August 06, 2024
Powell, Trump Attys Seek To Halt Mich. Bar Discipline Cases
Sidney Powell and other attorneys behind a legal challenge to Michigan's 2020 presidential election results want bar discipline proceedings paused while they ask the Michigan Supreme Court to step in and dismiss the professional misconduct complaints.
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August 06, 2024
39 Law Firms Call On 6th Circ. To Reverse FirstEnergy Ruling
Dozens of law firms have signed on to an amicus curiae brief urging the Sixth Circuit to reverse a decision in a FirstEnergy shareholder litigation, the latest voices in the legal, insurance and business communities to call on the appellate court to reverse an Ohio federal judge's ruling they warn will threaten attorney-client privilege.
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August 06, 2024
Jones Day Slams Ex-Client's Bid To Exit $2M Fee Fight
Jones Day wants to prevent former client Soverain Software LLC from exiting a decade-long spat over $2 million in unpaid legal fees, telling an Illinois state court that Soverain's bid to bring the litigation to a close "is a house of cards that collapses with the slightest breeze."
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August 06, 2024
Plaintiff Drops Atty Malpractice Suit Filed After Appeal Loss
A woman who filed a malpractice lawsuit against her lawyer that Colorado justices found was untimely in a personal injury case has dropped the suit.
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August 06, 2024
Former Judge's Misconduct May Spark Fights Over Conflicts
Many of the defendants in criminal cases presided over by disgraced District of Alaska Judge Joshua Kindred could try to have their convictions or sentences overturned due to the judge's allegedly inappropriate relationships with attorneys, with ethics experts saying such attempts could prove successful but also challenging.
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August 06, 2024
Legal Service Co.'s Template Misused Identity Of Fla. Atty
Tampa Bay attorney Matthew Weidner has shared his work online before to help self-represented litigants, but a copy-paste error following a legal service company using his old pleading as a template recently led to his identity being misused in a Sixth Circuit case.
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August 06, 2024
Fla. Judicial Ethics Panel Sets Parameters For Elections
Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has handed down a pair of opinions for judges navigating elections involving a judicial assistant and a judge's spouse.
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August 06, 2024
ABA Tells States To Nix Rape Disclosures For Bar Applicants
The American Bar Association unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that calls on state admission authorities to stop asking would-be lawyers to disclose their experiences of sexual violence and harassment during the attorney licensure process.
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August 06, 2024
Atty Rips Lawyer's Suit Over $30K Law School Loan Judgment
A Florida employment lawyer's "absurdly long" federal complaint alleging his onetime romantic partner and her attorneys conspired with a Wells Fargo consultant to concoct a vexatious lawsuit against him should be trimmed, one defendant argued Tuesday, noting that an underlying judgment was entered against the plaintiff.
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August 06, 2024
Texas Justices Look To Non-Attys To Narrow 'Justice Gap'
In seeking to make legal help accessible to low-income residents of the Lone Star State, the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday laid the groundwork for allowing nonattorneys to provide limited legal services, while remaining silent on the issue of nonlawyer ownership in organizations that provide legal services.
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August 06, 2024
NJ Firm Wants Sanctions In Dispute With Ex-Employees
Davis Saperstein & Salomon PC said eight former employees and the attorney representing them should be sanctioned for filing a pair of lawsuits in New Jersey state court alleging the firm violated wage and discrimination laws.
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August 06, 2024
Feds Say Marathon Bomber Can't Oust Judge Amid Retrial Bid
Federal prosecutors said lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev misconstrued a local rule in seeking a different judge to consider his bid for a new sentencing trial.
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August 06, 2024
Defense Contractor Wants Maynard Nexsen DQed In Bias Case
Defense contractor Parsons Corp. urged an Alabama federal judge to disqualify Maynard Nexsen PC from representing a former engineer in his unlawful termination case against the company, saying the firm was also representing Parsons when he filed his case.
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August 05, 2024
Ex-Trump Atty Ellis To Cooperate In Ariz. Fake Electors Case
Jenna Ellis, former legal adviser to Donald Trump, has agreed to cooperate with Arizona prosecutors' case alleging allies of the former president made efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Monday.
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August 05, 2024
5th Circ. Finds No Misconduct In Judges' Columbia Boycott
Eight federal judges did not violate ethical rules or standards when they decided earlier this year not to hire alumni of Columbia University or its law school as clerks in response to its handling of student protests over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council decided Friday.
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August 05, 2024
Nondisclosure Led To 'Apparent Bias' In Nigeria Oil Case
A London court has ordered a tribunal to reconsider an arbitral award issued in a $2 billion case over a funding deal for Nigerian oil fields, ruling that a since-replaced arbitrator had wrongly failed to reveal the total extent of her relationship with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
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August 05, 2024
New Colo. Chief Justice Angles For More Judges
Colorado Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez said Monday she is preparing to ask state lawmakers for more money to expand the state court bench, including possible additions to the intermediate court of appeals, which a National Center for State Courts report found is understaffed.
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August 05, 2024
Trustee Seeks Quick Clawback From Guo Ch. 11 Attys
The Chapter 11 trustee for the bankruptcy of Chinese exile Miles Guo has asked a Connecticut bankruptcy judge to issue an early judgment in an adversary proceeding that seeks to recover nearly $243,000 in legal fees paid by Guo to attorneys with Zeisler & Zeisler PC, the firm that represents Guo and his daughter.
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August 05, 2024
Deficient Defense Warrants New Trial, Mich. Panel Says
A split Michigan appellate panel has given a second chance at trial to a man accused of evading and resisting arrest, with judges finding his defense counsel was deficient in his first trial — failing to object to prosecutors' presentation of an unredacted warrant and assertion he is "a criminal."
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August 05, 2024
Girardi's Defense May Stand On His Deteriorating Mind
Although a federal judge ruled disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi mentally competent to stand trial this month for wire fraud, the 85-year-old's defense team may use his dementia diagnosis to attack prosecutors' allegations he knowingly and intentionally stole millions of dollars from his clients, experts said.
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August 05, 2024
NJ Firm Wants Fees Award To 2nd Firm Tossed In Crash Case
Nagel Rice LLP is hoping to toss an arbitration award of $56,250 in attorney fees to its clients' former lawyers at Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari for their work related to a fatal school bus crash, saying the arbitrator didn't comply with New Jersey law in making his decision.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
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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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Series
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.
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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Lawyers Must Be Careful When Using Listservs
The American Bar Association's formal opinion from May correctly states that attorneys must obtain clients' consent before posing related questions to listservs, but potential risks and drawbacks of using listservs go beyond those highlighted by the ABA, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.