Legal Ethics

  • March 10, 2025

    GOP Sens. Escalate Fight With ABA Over 'Leftist' Statements

    A group of Senate Republicans are once again going after the American Bar Association, which they claim has become a "leftist" organization, and announced Monday they will disregard ABA ratings on judicial nominees and encouraged the Trump administration and their colleagues to do the same.

  • March 10, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. Vacates Death Sentence Over Brady Violations

    A split Fifth Circuit has reversed and vacated a Texas woman's murder conviction and death sentence after 27 years, having determined that prosecutors failed to properly disclose evidence in accordance with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and remanded the case to Amarillo, Texas, federal court.

  • March 10, 2025

    Accused Fraudster An Innocent 'Jailhouse Lawyer,' Jury Told

    A Long Island man charged with posing as an attorney to defraud families of inmates is really an innocent "jailhouse lawyer" who continued to help people after serving his own fraud sentence, his counsel told a Manhattan federal jury Monday.

  • March 10, 2025

    2 Firms Sued After Cyber Thief Steals $442K From Estate

    Law firms SutterWilliams LLC and Allender & Allender PA were hit with a negligence and malpractice suit after a cybercriminal allegedly used spoofed email accounts to trick an attorney at the latter firm into handing over $442,600 from the sale of a late Pennsylvania sheriff's deputy's house in Florida.

  • March 10, 2025

    DC Ethics Hearing Over Anti-Trump Protest Arrests To Kick Off

    A former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., is set to face an attorney ethics panel Tuesday in disciplinary proceedings that could shed new light on how the government handled key evidence in cases against hundreds of people arrested at protests of President Donald Trump's first inauguration in 2017.

  • March 10, 2025

    Hagens Berman Comms With Ghosting Client Kept Privileged

    Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP doesn't have to turn over texts and emails with a client who disappeared from a putative class action against Apple and Amazon, a Washington federal judge has ruled, despite the tech giants' accusations that the firm lied about those communications.

  • March 10, 2025

    Texas Atty Wants Allstate Sanctioned Over 'Dead' Expert Claim

    A prominent Houston lawyer has denied filing a document purportedly signed by a long-dead expert witness and urged a Texas federal judge to sanction Allstate for accusing him of doing so, saying the signature actually belonged to the deceased expert's similarly named son.

  • March 10, 2025

    Patent Exec Seeks Defamation Win Over Atty's Statements

    A patent-licensing company executive has asked a Florida federal court to rule in his favor on a defamation claim against a Baker Botts LLP attorney representing Starbucks in a Texas patent case and toss a counterclaim from the attorney, saying her abuse-of-process allegation "reads like a failed exercise in ontological gymnastics."

  • March 10, 2025

    Fla. Judge Won't Exit DaBaby Suit Over Sanctions, Comments

    A Florida federal judge will not step aside from a lawsuit against rapper DaBaby over an altercation before a scheduled performance, saying his imposition of sanctions on the plaintiffs' attorney and statements during trial do not amount to bias.

  • March 10, 2025

    Clerks May Seek Political Jobs On 'Case-By-Case Basis'

    Individual federal judges may determine whether their clerks may seek political posts while employed by the judiciary, the Judicial Conference of the United States' Committee on Codes of Conduct now recommends, months after issuing guidance advising clerks to hold off seeking such roles until their clerkships end.

  • March 10, 2025

    NJ Judge Ousted For Clerk Thigh Touch On Boozy Beach Day

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday ordered the removal of a municipal judge accused of inappropriately touching the thigh of a law clerk in a day of drinking at his summer home, saying his ouster is warranted due to the "blatant and serious" nature of the misconduct. 

  • March 07, 2025

    Photographer Sanctioned For Skipping Deposition In IP Case

    A federal judge in the Southern District of New York has issued sanctions over skipped depositions, among other conduct, by the plaintiff in a copyright lawsuit over a photo of actor Jonah Hill that appeared on a fashion retail website. 

  • March 07, 2025

    ByteDance Wants Sanctions For Attys After Client's Perjury

    TikTok's parent company ByteDance has urged a California court to sanction Nassiri & Jung LLP attorneys it says "enabled" a former engineer's perjury in a suit alleging he was wrongly fired, arguing that the lawyers should've prevented their client's "abuse of the justice system."

  • March 07, 2025

    Feds Say NJ Atty Smuggled Drugs, Phone To Pa. Prison Inmate

    A New Jersey criminal defense attorney allegedly snuck drugs and a cell phone into a federal detention center during a purported legal visit to an inmate, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • March 07, 2025

    Ga. PFAS Liability, DEI Bills Among Those To Not 'Crossover'

    Georgia lawmakers failed to push forward legislation that would have reduced corporate liability for PFAS contamination, would have given voters a say on whether to legalize sports betting and curbed diversity initiatives in schools, after having previously passed bills to advance the governor's tort reform agenda.

  • March 07, 2025

    Ex-Kirkland IP Atty Can't Fire Her Bias Suit Atty 'For Cause'

    A former Kirkland & Ellis LLP intellectual property associate suing the firm over bias claims cannot fire her counsel at Filippatos PLLC over professional misconduct allegations, a California federal judge ruled Thursday while allowing Filippatos to withdraw as her counsel.

  • March 07, 2025

    MGM Scraps Suit After FTC Withdraws Cybersecurity Probe

    MGM Resorts International on Friday dismissed its D.C. federal court lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission after the agency dropped its investigation into the hospitality giant's data security practices.

  • March 07, 2025

    DOJ Cites SDNY Prosecutors' Texts In Bid To End Adams Case

    President Donald Trump's Justice Department doubled down Friday on its bid to toss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, citing newly released internal correspondence showing "troubling conduct" by Southern District of New York prosecutors the agency criticized as "careerist" and insubordinate.

  • March 07, 2025

    'Exhausted' Jury To Deliberate 3rd Week In Judge Murder Trial

    A California state jury was told to come back Monday for a third calendar week of deliberations over whether Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson intentionally shot his wife in 2023, after reporting that they were "exhausted" but had "further movement" toward a verdict.

  • March 07, 2025

    Judicial Impeachment Calls Could Drive Anger At Bench

    Twenty-nine years ago, then-U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist laid out a cautionary tale on impeachments of judges.

  • March 07, 2025

    Calif. Atty, Reality TV Hopeful Gets 5 Years For Client Theft

    A California lawyer who claimed to be developing a Bravo TV show about himself has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for looting his firm's client trust accounts, an offense that appears to be only one tentacle of "a larger criminal scheme."

  • March 07, 2025

    Ex-Client Wants $150K To End Estate Suit Against Conn. Atty

    A Connecticut woman who sued her attorney alleging the lawyer failed to communicate with her, neglected to file documents and delayed the sale of her home amid in the handling of her late husband's estate has asked the lawyer for $150,000 to settle the matter.

  • March 07, 2025

    Judge Slams 'Unreasonable' Atty Fee Request in FOIA Case

    A D.C. federal judge rejected an asylum-seeker's request for more than $130,000 in attorney fees in a successful Freedom of Information Act case against the federal government, saying "serious deficiencies" in her attorney's billing practices render the request "patently unreasonable."

  • March 07, 2025

    Atty Fights $190K Demand After Malicious Litigation Trial Loss

    A lawyer who recently lost her malicious prosecution lawsuit against three Blank Rome attorneys and an aviation parts company is fighting their demand that she pay $190,000 in costs stemming from the litigation, arguing the amount is excessive and otherwise unrecoverable.

  • March 07, 2025

    Greenspoon Marder Beats Fla. Suit After Missed Arbitration

    Greenspoon Marder LLP has secured a Florida state appellate decision that upheld the dismissal of a malpractice suit against the firm over its representation of a luxury concierge service because the business failed to comply with a court order to engage in arbitration.

Expert Analysis

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • What Lawyers Can Learn From High School AI Suit

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    A pending Massachusetts lawsuit regarding artificial intelligence use in an academic setting underscores the need for attorneys to educate themselves on AI technology and tools that affect their clients so they can advise on establishing clear expectations and limits around the permissible use of AI, say attorneys at Hinckley Allen.

  • Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks

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    A lawsuit recently filed in an Illinois federal court against marketing agency Publicis over its work for opioid manufacturers highlights an uptick in litigation against professional service providers hired by clients that engaged in alleged misconduct — so potential targets of such suits should be sure to conduct proper risk analysis and mitigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • Mitigating Defamation Liability Risks Of AI-Generated Content

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    Until Congress and the courts provide clear guidance about defamation liability stemming from generative artificial intelligence tools, companies should begin building controls to prevent the creation of defamatory content, says Michael Gerrity at Accenture.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • When Investigating An Adversary, Be Wary Of Forged Records

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    Warnings against the use of investigators who tout their ability to find an adversary’s private documents generally emphasize the risk of illegal activity and attorney discipline, but a string of recent cases shows an additional danger — investigators might be fabricating records altogether, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • Opinion

    Why States Should Adopt ABA's 'Duty To Inquire'

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    State bars should codify the American Bar Association's proposed rule on a lawyer's duty to scrutinize each representation as it provides guardrails for lawyers, supports self-regulation of the profession, and helps avert money laundering and other crimes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Trump Faces Uphill Battle If He Tries To Target Prosecutors

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    On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump promised to go after the state and federal prosecutors who had investigated and prosecuted him, but few criminal statutes would be applicable — to say nothing of the evidence required to substantiate any charges against prosecutors, says William Johnston at Bird Marella.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

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