Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Legal Ethics
-
July 26, 2024
Ex-Calif. Bar Exec Misrepresented Bar Funds Use, Judge Says
A California State Bar Court judge on Wednesday recommended a one-year stayed suspension and one-year probationary period for a former California state senator and state bar executive director accused of using thousands of dollars from bar funds for a 2014 trip to Mongolia — a lesser penalty than the presumed professional sanctions.
-
July 26, 2024
Hearing Set Over Bid To Recuse Judge In Philly Zantac Cases
A Philadelphia judge will hear arguments next month over a recusal motion filed by plaintiffs' counsel in the city's Zantac mass tort program that argues the judge should remove himself from the proceedings after he disclosed his wife is a partner at Reed Smith, which represents GlaxoSmithKline, a manufacturer of the drug.
-
July 26, 2024
5th Circ. Can't Shake Remand Order In Firm Poaching Dispute
The Fifth Circuit is powerless to review a remand order issued by a Texas district court in a Houston law firm's poaching suit against a former associate, with a panel finding that, although "intuition and basic legal principles" suggest the circuit court holds appellate jurisdiction to weigh in, precedent forbids it.
-
July 26, 2024
Ex-Thompson Hine Atty Says Firm Can't Oppose NY Jurisdiction
Former Thompson Hine LLP income partner Rebecca Brazzano fired back at efforts by two firm partners to dismiss her lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, contending among other arguments that they waived their right to contest personal jurisdiction by filing another motion that attempts to force arbitration that didn't raise the jurisdiction issue.
-
July 26, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Settles Ex-Paralegal's Sex Harassment Suit
Florida-based insurance law firm Property Litigation Group PLLC has reached a settlement with a former paralegal who alleged she was fired after reporting unwanted sexual advances and case mismanagement by a senior attorney.
-
July 26, 2024
Rutgers Fights Contempt Bid By Student Who Filed Bias Suit
Rutgers University wants a New Jersey state court to reject a bid by a law school student who filed a discrimination suit against it to hold the school in contempt for moving ahead with disciplinary measures against him, arguing there is "no basis" to grant the request.
-
July 26, 2024
Bad Online Security Botched $800K Home Sale, Suit Says
A five-attorney Connecticut law firm's "archaic" email and computer systems allowed hackers to infiltrate an approximately $800,000 home sale and divert cash to fake accounts, a new federal lawsuit against Hastings Cohan & Walsh LLP and one of its attorneys alleges.
-
July 26, 2024
NJ Justices Won't Discipline Ex-Judge Twice For Estate Work
The New Jersey Supreme Court has thrown out an ethics complaint against a retired state judge for continuing to administer a deceased client's estate for 13 years after being appointed to the bench.
-
July 26, 2024
Wait For Depositions May Delay Cognizant Bribe Trial Again
Trial in a five-year-old case alleging two former Cognizant executives authorized a bribe to a government official in India could be delayed again after New Jersey federal prosecutors said on Friday that the current Sept. 9 date is too soon to complete necessary depositions in that country.
-
July 25, 2024
DOJ Watchdog Criticizes Barr But Clears Him Of Wrongdoing
The U.S. Department of Justice's watchdog on Thursday chided former Attorney General William Barr for violating DOJ policies via his handling of information regarding an election fraud investigation in Pennsylvania during the 2020 presidential election, though it said he didn't technically commit misconduct.
-
July 25, 2024
Girardi Can't Block Firm's Chapter 7 Evidence In Fraud Trial
Tom Girardi can't exclude evidence from his upcoming trial that he claims prosecutors illegally obtained from his firm's bankruptcy trustee, after a California federal judge said Thursday no constitutional rights were violated since the evidence was the bankruptcy estate's property and in the trustee's possession.
-
July 25, 2024
Justice Kagan Floats Committee To Enforce High Court Ethics
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Thursday that the high court "should" and "could" create a mechanism like a committee of lower-court judges to enforce a code of conduct, while acknowledging the "complications" in deciding who should be the enforcers.
-
July 25, 2024
Blue Bottle Won't Be Sanctioned Or Pay Atty Fees In TM Row
Blue Bottle won't be sanctioned nor ordered to pay $1.15 million in fees for losing its trademark suit against a company selling "Blue Brew" brand accessories, with a California federal judge ruling Wednesday that its infringement claims weren't frivolous and that its likelihood of confusion argument was "rooted in good faith."
-
July 25, 2024
Trump Judge Won't Exit Over 'Nothingburger' Atty Encounter
The New York judge who ordered Donald Trump to pay $465 million in penalties in his civil fraud case Thursday rejected the former president's demand that he step down from the case, saying a brief hallway encounter with an attorney acquaintance was a "nothingburger" that did not influence his decision.
-
July 25, 2024
Embattled Texas Law Firm Wants More Time For Ch. 11 Plan
Troubled Houston law firm MMA Law asked a Texas bankruptcy court to extend the exclusivity period to file a Chapter 11 plan for 120 more days, with a current filing exclusivity period set to end in early August.
-
July 25, 2024
Defense Teams' Solidarity Key In Hawaii DA's Acquittal
California federal prosecutors' bribery case against a prosecutor, a businessman and an outside counsel collapsed after no defendant turned state's evidence and one even testified for the defense, showing the value of presenting a unified front, the winning lawyers said.
-
July 25, 2024
DA Says Trump Immunity Ruling Doesn't Affect NY Convictions
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a New York judge Thursday that the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling has no bearing on Donald Trump's conviction in his hush-money case since the charges relate to unofficial acts.
-
July 25, 2024
The 5 Biggest Mass. Top Court Rulings Of 2024 So Far
It was an eventful first half of 2024 for Massachusetts' top appellate panel, which issued a landmark sentencing ruling, weighed in on time limits in civil cases and addressed whether an attorney falling asleep mid-trial is grounds for a successful appeal.
-
July 25, 2024
Conn. Firm Accused Of Maliciously Pressing Fraud Suit
A Connecticut woman is accusing personal injury law firm Carter Mario PC of maliciously filing a lawsuit demanding she turn over her house in an effort to harass her after her ex-husband was unable to satisfy a $500,000 judgment in a separate case alleging voyeurism.
-
July 25, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec's Counsel Accused Of Reading Stolen Emails
A New Jersey pharmaceutical startup wants to disqualify the "tainted" attorneys of a former executive who was allegedly caught spying on the CEO, claiming the attorneys should have immediately shielded their eyes when they realized their client was using stolen, privileged emails to carry out an "attempted shakedown."
-
July 25, 2024
Dems, And Now Biden, Contemplate Supreme Court Reform
On the heels of President Joe Biden saying he will push for U.S. Supreme Court reform in the final months of his presidency, two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday rallied to promote a bill that would increase the number of seats on the court from nine to 13.
-
July 25, 2024
Ex-Conn. Tax Official Cites 'Just Cause' To Challenge Firing
A former high-level legal director at the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services has asked the state's intermediate appellate court to reverse her termination, saying the agency, an employment review board and a state trial court judge all failed to apply "just cause" standards to her firing as a managerial worker.
-
July 25, 2024
Loeb & Loeb Says Ex-GC's Sanctions Motion Is Bogus
Loeb & Loeb LLP urged a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to reject a former general counsel's allegations that it deliberately sent a thumb drive of documents that aren't text searchable, saying they are actually searchable and would have otherwise sent over 64,000 physical pages that weren't.
-
July 25, 2024
Ex-Defender Says Judiciary Reform Study Buoys Bias Suit
A former public defender who accused the federal judiciary of flubbing its investigation of her sexual harassment claim has doubled down on her request for the court to take notice of a recent study promoting judiciary workplace reforms, hitting back at her opponent's attempt to discredit the report's relevance.
-
July 25, 2024
Morgan & Morgan Pushes To Arbitrate Malpractice Claims
Morgan & Morgan PA's Jacksonville, Florida, unit wants a Georgia deputy sheriff's malpractice case sent to arbitration, saying he signed a representation agreement with the firm related to a back injury case that included an arbitration clause.
Expert Analysis
-
Insureds' Notice Pleading May Be Insufficient In Federal Court
A recent New Jersey federal court ruling in Bauman v. Hanover Insurance held that bare-bones notice pleading was insufficient and dismissed the policyholder's coverage complaint, a reminder that courts may require more than an expression of general disagreement with an insurance company's denial letter to proceed with the case, says Eugene Killian at The Killian Firm.
-
Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
-
Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas
Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.
-
Opinion
Ga. Needs To Resolve Cannabis Counsel Confusion
Georgia’s medical cannabis regulator finally adopted rules for low-THC oil last month, but a 2021 ethics ruling prohibits lawyers from advising participants in the state’s legal program and creates a confounding landscape that the state bar and courts must address, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruze at Bradley Arant.
-
Patent Litigants Should Be Vigilant After Rare Retrial Order
A California federal court's recent unusual order for a new trial for attorney misconduct in Pavemetrics v. Tetra Tech should remind patent litigants to be careful about arguments that frame an infringement case in a way that does not fairly reflect the dispute at hand, say Ranganath Sudarshan and Yuval Mor at Covington.
-
DOJ's Compensation Reforms Pit Cos. Against Their Execs
The U.S. Department of Justice’s new policy, incentivizing compliance-focused corporate compensation programs and prompt disclosures of misconduct, will complicate the relationship between companies and their executives, and create potential ethical conflicts for counsel, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.
-
Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
-
Opinion
Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
-
3 Reasons Why Congress Should Stay Out Of NY Trump Probe
Congress members should reconsider their investigation of the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump for several key reasons — and if they persist, future congressional leadership should adopt a rule prohibiting this kind of local interference, say Kenyen Brown and Kevin Carroll at Hughes Hubbard.
-
Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
-
Opinion
Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
-
Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
-
Opinion
Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.
-
Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts
With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
-
Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier
For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.