Legal Ethics

  • January 13, 2025

    Mich. AG Says She Is Immune From Flint Water Suit

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has told a federal court she is immune from allegations that she stripped due process rights from former Gov. Rick Snyder's aide when he was among the officials indicted in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis.

  • January 13, 2025

    Alex Jones Switches Conn. Attys In $1B Sandy Hook Appeal

    A Randazza Legal Group attorney will represent Alex Jones in a Connecticut Supreme Court bid to erase the remainder of a $1.44 billion defamation judgment for Sandy Hook shooting victims after the Infowars host's now-former lawyer raised unspecified conflict concerns about a third attorney representing Jones in the Connecticut appeal.

  • January 13, 2025

    Court, Not County, Was Worker's Employer, Ga. Judge Says

    A Georgia federal judge on Friday recommended freeing Fulton County from a lawsuit brought against it by a former juvenile court employee, who sued for age and disability discrimination after she was fired at 60 and had requested medical leave due to an upcoming knee surgery.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax-Lien Biz Atty Accused Of Duping Bank Can't Touch Money

    A Manhattan federal judge declined Monday to unfreeze assets on behalf of a former compliance lawyer accused of duping a bank into lending his tax-lien investment firm $20 million, complicating his plan to go to trial with private counsel.

  • January 13, 2025

    Fla. Justices To Weigh Scope Of Agency's Prosecution Power

    The Florida Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear the case of a man accused of election fraud who says the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution doesn't have the authority to pursue the claims against him.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ex-Sacks Weston Atty's Theft Supports Suspension, Court Told

    The severity of a suspended Philadelphia attorney's actions when he defrauded his former firm, Sacks Weston LLC, of almost $320,000 supports the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board's recommendation of a five-year suspension of his law license, the state's Office of Disciplinary Counsel has argued.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tesla Wants Judge DQ'd From Accident Suit Over Prior Work

    Tesla wants a California federal judge disqualified from hearing a woman's personal injury lawsuit against it over the judge's previous work for a law firm that had won a $3.2 million jury verdict against the electric carmaker.

  • January 13, 2025

    NJ Firm Agrees To Settle Client's Suit Over Ransomware Attack

    New Jersey law firm The Wacks Law Group LLC has reached a settlement agreement with a former client to end a proposed class action claiming that the firm's negligence in properly securing its data led to the theft of hundreds of clients' personal information in a March cyberattack.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ex-NJ Public Defender, Atlantic City End Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by a former municipal public defender against Atlantic City and her onetime supervisor after the parties settled.

  • January 13, 2025

    FedEx Drivers Rip Company's 'Desperate' Bid To Duck OT Suit

    FedEx drivers working for intermediate employers have pressed a Massachusetts federal judge to keep alive one of a handful of overtime lawsuits against the shipping giant, blasting the company's "desperate" bid to have the case kicked as a sanction to the drivers' lawyers.

  • January 13, 2025

    Proskauer Faces Revived DQ Bid In NJ Hospital Antitrust Fight

    CarePoint Health is once again pushing to have Proskauer Rose LLP disqualified as counsel for healthcare network RWJBarnabas Health Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, asserting that a magistrate judge erred in previously denying its request.

  • January 13, 2025

    Smith Gambrell Faces DQ Bid In Major Lindsey Suit

    A former Major Lindsey & Africa employee with a lengthy legal history with the recruiter is seeking to disqualify Smith Gambrell from representing Major Lindsey in her $75 million federal defamation suit, arguing three attorneys are key witnesses to help determine liability.

  • January 10, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Porn ID Check & Retiree Discrimination

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for a full argument session, in which the justices will debate whether a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify their visitors aren't minors violates the First Amendment and if retirees have the right to sue former employers for benefits discrimination. 

  • January 10, 2025

    Colorado Conduct Panel Dings Judges For Disclosure Lapses

    A Colorado judicial commission on Friday criticized 48 judges for failing to file state-mandated personal financial disclosure reports in 2023, saying the lapses "cast a shadow" over the state's judiciary but did not warrant public discipline because no judges were dishonest or improperly secretive.

  • January 10, 2025

    MSG Wants Ex-Knick's Assault Case Booted Over Lost Texts

    Madison Square Garden told a federal judge Thursday that longtime New York Knick Charles Oakley deserves to have his long-running assault case thrown out and his lawyers sanctioned because he allegedly discarded text messages, a day after Oakley's own spoliation claim.

  • January 10, 2025

    Disbarred Atty Hit With Third Judgment For Ghosting Client

    A Colorado state judge on Friday ordered a disbarred attorney to pay $650,000 in damages to a former client after he failed to appear in a legal malpractice suit, in the third default judgment against the former lawyer for missing key deadlines and failing to respond to clients.

  • January 10, 2025

    Feds Want 16 Mos. For Oath Keepers' Atty In Jan. 6 Case

    A former attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group should be sentenced to 16 months in prison for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors have told a D.C. federal judge, saying her conduct and lack of remorse warrants a significant sentence.

  • January 10, 2025

    SafeMoon CEO Wants 'Misleading' Reddit Post Explained

    The CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency asset company SafeMoon LLC asked a Brooklyn federal judge Friday to order the government to explain whether it had a role in a social media user's "misleading" post that promised to connect SafeMoon investors with the U.S. government.

  • January 10, 2025

    Abbott Taps Military Vets For Judicial Conduct Commission

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced two new appointments to the state's 13-member Commission on Judicial Conduct, an unpaid board that investigates claims of judicial misconduct and incapacity and recommends discipline for judges found to have committed wrongdoing.

  • January 10, 2025

    Fani Willis Seeks Return To Trump Election Interference Case

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate her in the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, arguing she was the first Georgia DA to be ejected from a case "without the existence of an actual conflict of interest."

  • January 10, 2025

    NJ Watchdog's New Chief Resigns Amid Residence Questions

    The new chief executive of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation resigned Friday after questions were raised in a news report about her residency and a second full-time job she holds out of state.

  • January 10, 2025

    Giuliani Held In Contempt Again, This Time In DC

    A D.C. federal judge Friday held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to repeat false claims that two Georgia poll workers meddled with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, marking the second time in a week the former New York City mayor has been found in civil contempt.

  • January 10, 2025

    Holland & Knight Balks At 'Tactical' DQ Bid In Benefits Fight

    Holland & Knight LLP urged a Georgia federal court to reject a "purely tactical move" seeking to disqualify the law firm from representing doctors accusing its former client, Polaris Spine and Neurosurgery PC, of botching the distribution of their retirement benefits, arguing its prior representation of Polaris isn't related to the suit.

  • January 10, 2025

    J&J Talc Claimants Seek Sanctions Over Morelli No-Show

    A group of attorneys representing talc claimants in Johnson & Johnson unit Red River Talc's Chapter 11 case has urged a Texas bankruptcy judge to sanction Morelli Law Firm PLLC's founding partner, Benedict Morelli, for allegedly failing to appear in person at a December hearing and falsely claiming to have resolved a dispute with the talc group.

  • January 10, 2025

    Ex-Yale Student's Suit Over Amici Remarks Is Tossed

    A Connecticut state court judge has dismissed claims brought by an expelled Yale University student against a Michigan law firm, an attorney and numerous nonprofit organizations over a rejected amicus brief that contained remarks about a sexual assault case that ended in his acquittal, finding that the litigation privilege shields all 16 defendants.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS

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    After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

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