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Legal Ethics
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February 04, 2025
Ex-NY Real Estate Atty Gets 4½ Years For $3.3M Client Con
A former New York City attorney on Tuesday was sentenced to over four years in prison, following his admission to stealing $3.3 million in client funds for purported real estate deals.
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February 04, 2025
Colorado Atty Says She's Blameless For Divorce Money Hack
A Colorado divorce attorney wants out of a tangle of lawsuits that have sprung up since conservative radio personality and lawyer Randy Corporon mistakenly wired a client's $375,000 divorce settlement to Hong Kong, arguing that the claims are premature and statutorily barred, and that her malpractice insurer already covered damages.
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February 04, 2025
DLA Piper Partner To Testify At Cognizant Evidence Hearing
Prosecutors told a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday that the managing partner of DLA Piper's Houston office will testify at a Feb. 18 evidentiary hearing in a criminal bribery case against two former executives of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., which tapped the law firm for an internal investigation into the alleged corrupt scheme in India.
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February 04, 2025
SEC Receiver, Atty Agree To Settle Fraud Transfer Claims
A court-appointed receiver for a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case has reached a settlement with parties who allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of transfers from a fraudulent foreign exchange trading scheme, including the attorney and family of a convicted executive.
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February 04, 2025
Exploration Co. Wants Sanctions Over Atty DQ Attempt
An exploration company being sued by ocean salvage operation Maritime Research and Recovery LLC over a sunken Spanish galleon asked a Florida federal court on Tuesday to end the suit as a sanction for Maritime's "egregious misconduct," including trying to disqualify its counsel and filing frivolous motions.
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February 04, 2025
Guo Trustee Gets OK To Keep Law Firm Deal Sealed For Now
The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing convicted Chinese fraudster Miles Guo's bankruptcy estate can keep secret for 180 days an adversary proceeding settlement with a New York law firm because similar clawback cases should proceed without being impacted by the terms of the deal, a Connecticut bankruptcy judge has ruled.
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February 04, 2025
Philly Firm Seeks $1.5M Fee, Denies 'Explosive' Malpractice
Philadelphia firm Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC told a Philadelphia County jury on Tuesday that it was owed $1.5 million by metal fabricator M. Cohen & Sons Inc. for legal work, urging the jurors to reject allegations that the firm had a conflict of interest resulting in what the fabricator's lawyer called "explosive" consequences.
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February 04, 2025
Conn. Atty Sues Client, Lawyer Over State Farm Settlement
A small Connecticut personal injury firm has sued a Bloomfield personal injury attorney and a former client in state court for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, accusing them of failing to hand over a one-third fee from a $35,000 State Farm insurance settlement.
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February 04, 2025
'Is This A Joke?' Judge Denies Atty Fees For Grocery Patrons
A California federal judge had so little tolerance for shoppers claiming victory and seeking attorney fees from the abandoned Kroger-Albertsons merger that in tossing their motion and underlying lawsuit he noted with incredulity, "Plaintiffs are actually making these arguments."
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February 04, 2025
NJ Atty Avoids Disbarment After Bank Fraud Conviction
A New Jersey attorney who was disbarred in New York and Colorado after copping to participating in a bank fraud conspiracy in 2017 has been handed a three-year license suspension in the Garden State, retroactive to the date of her guilty plea.
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February 04, 2025
Javice's Texts About Elizabeth Holmes Not Fair Game For Trial
Frank founder Charlie Javice's sympathetic texts about healthcare-sector fraudster Elizabeth Holmes won't be seen by the jury hearing charges that the education startup executive faked data to dupe JPMorgan into a $175 million acquisition, a Manhattan federal judge said Tuesday.
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February 03, 2025
Gilstrap Tells Patent Atty To 'Relearn The Fundamentals'
U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has decided that a "public admonition" is a more appropriate punishment than legal fines for a lawyer whose client was called a "patent troll" by opponents, ordering the attorney to "relearn the fundamentals of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."
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February 03, 2025
Yacht Building Co. Faces Sanctions For Hiding Hoist Failure
A Washington federal judge has said yacht builder Delta Marine Industries owed sanctions over its failure to provide access to parts related to a boat hoist that failed during the launch of a yacht in a $3.4 million dispute between Lloyd's syndicates, underwriters and a Seattle boat builder.
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February 03, 2025
DC Circ. Rejects Newman's Bid To Unseal Suspension Docs
The D.C. Circuit on Monday denied U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's request to unseal documents about her suspension for refusing to participate in an investigation into her fitness, saying such documents are confidential unless both the judge under investigation and the chief judge agree to release them.
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February 03, 2025
Utah Court Urged To Preserve $8.3M In Messner Reeves Funds
Several companies from Florida, New York and Utah have urged a Utah federal court to order Messner Reeves LLP to preserve $8.3 million purportedly locked away in an escrow fund, saying the law firm appears to be breaking a business loan agreement by dissipating the funds to unknown entities.
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February 03, 2025
Jackson Walker Ethics Case Shelved Over Lack Of Authority
A Houston federal judge on Monday recommended closing an ethics case against Jackson Walker LLP over its supposed knowledge of a firm attorney's relationship with a judge, finding the court lacked the authority to pursue sanctions against a law firm.
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February 03, 2025
Tesla Says Judge DQ Bid In Crash Suit Arrived On Time
Tesla Inc. has doubled down on its bid to disqualify a California federal judge from an accident case over his prior law firm's work, rejecting the plaintiff's argument that the automaker filed the motion too late.
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February 03, 2025
ABA House Of Delegates Votes For Stricter High Court Ethics
The American Bar Association's policymaking body recommended Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court adopt a binding ethics code as strict as the code of conduct that other U.S. federal judges must follow.
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February 03, 2025
Panel Backs Sanctions For Frivolous Bid In Malpractice Case
A New Jersey appeals court said Monday that a New York attorney's motion to vacate an almost $450,000 judgment after a jury found him negligent in a divorce action could only be seen as frivolous, affirming the trial court's award of nearly $8,000 in attorney fees as a sanction.
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February 03, 2025
2nd Circ. Affirms Lawyer's Asylum Fraud Conviction
The Second Circuit on Monday affirmed the convictions of an immigration attorney and the former CEO of an immigration services firm for coaching asylum-seekers to lie about facing persecution in their home countries, rejecting the pair's arguments that there was insufficient evidence and that the jury was given improper instructions.
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February 03, 2025
Law Firm Involved In Talc Fee Fight Seeks To Arbitrate Claim
The Smith Law Firm PLLC is urging an Alabama federal judge to compel arbitration of a cross-claim that Porter Malouf brought against it amid a lawsuit over an agreement the two firms and the Beasley Allen Law Firm entered to represent plaintiffs in litigation over Johnson & Johnson's tainted talcum powder.
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February 03, 2025
Attys For Blake Lively, Baldoni Warned Over Media Statements
Lawyers representing feuding actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in their "It Ends With Us" damages litigation agreed Monday to rein in public statements, after a Manhattan federal judge cited their duty not to taint a potential future jury pool.
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February 03, 2025
Troutman Says Lawyer's Firing Due To Performance, Not Bias
A former Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP associate was let go from the firm due to under-performance, not racial bias, the firm told a D.C. federal judge in a bid to end the lawyer's racial discrimination suit, arguing undisputed facts show a diverse group of partners agreed she was not meeting expectations prior to her being dismissed.
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January 31, 2025
Trump Administration Fires Jan. 6 Prosecutors, Reports Say
The U.S. Department of Justice's new leadership on Friday terminated more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on criminal cases regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, and also began probing potentially thousands of FBI agents who worked on similar investigations, according to news reports.
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January 31, 2025
Gov't's Freeborn GC Interview May Spoil Ex-Partner's Retrial
The U.S. government's wire fraud retrial against a former Freeborn & Peters LLP partner may be halted after prosecutors let the firm's former general counsel touch on privileged topics without acknowledging or honoring the legal boundary during a preparatory interview.
Expert Analysis
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
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.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
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.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
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.
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
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.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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.
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Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials
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.
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Key Takeaways From DOJ's Recent FARA Advisory Opinions
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.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
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.
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Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary
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.
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AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier
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.
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
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.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
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.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
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.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
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.