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Legal Ethics
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November 07, 2024
Valve Says Atty Ignoring, Threatening Gamers In Antitrust Row
Valve Corp. has urged a Washington federal judge to grant it permission to directly contact game buyers whom the gaming marketplace company is suing to block them from continuing to arbitrate their antitrust claims, saying some gamers want out of arbitration, but their counsel at Bucher Law PLLC is not responsive to their queries.
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November 07, 2024
Feds Accuse Miss. Mayor And Local DA Of Taking Bribes
An indictment unsealed Thursday in Mississippi federal court charges the Hinds County district attorney, Jackson's mayor and a member of the Jackson City Council with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for pushing through real estate developers' projects.
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November 07, 2024
Privilege Overruled In Firm's Suit Against Drinks Co. Founder
A Florida state court judge Thursday ordered the founder of the company that makes Bang Energy drinks to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit over unpaid fees brought by counsel who formerly represented him in a bankruptcy case, overruling attorney-client privilege asserted in a previous attempt to depose him.
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November 07, 2024
Firm That Took Hurricane Victim Cases Wants Out Of Fee Row
A Louisiana law firm that took over now-bankrupt Houston plaintiffs firm MMA Law's hurricane victim cases is appealing a Houston bankruptcy's court's decision not to free it from a lawsuit claiming that it cut MMA out of its share of settlement fees.
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November 07, 2024
'Where Have You Been?' Conn. Judge Asks About Late DQ Bid
A motion to remove a Shipman & Goodman LLP partner from a court battle over a garbage sorting facility permit because he is allegedly an important fact witness could have come much sooner, a Connecticut state court judge suggested Thursday while working to nail down why the plaintiff waited until a trial was imminent.
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November 07, 2024
NC Court Refuses Law Firm Sanctions In Bankruptcy Fee Fight
A North Carolina business bankruptcy law firm and its founder have escaped sanctions for allegedly lying to a trial court about its communications in a fee dispute, as a state appellate court said the former client's sanctions motion must fail as a matter of law because he "unreasonably delayed" filing it.
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November 07, 2024
Conn. Injury Atty Beats Referral Fee Claims At Jury Trial
A Connecticut jury has handed Milford attorney Jill M. McGoldrick a victory in a contract and consumer protection claim by Donald M. Brown, a lawyer who sought a cut of a settlement McGoldrick obtained for a personal injury client who originally hired Brown.
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November 07, 2024
Attys For Solar Co. Ex-CEO Should Be DQ'd, Plaintiffs Say
The lawyers representing the former CEO of a bankrupt solar energy company should be disqualified, attorneys for the plaintiffs in a suit against him said Wednesday, arguing that the firm had multiple conflicts of interest with its work as in-house counsel for the solar energy company and was intentionally delaying discovery because of its "obvious web of conflicting obligations."
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November 07, 2024
Two Cook Co. Judges Referred To Watchdog After Election
Cook County's top judge referred two Cook County judges to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board Wednesday, a month after a news report suggested they did not live in the county as required and one day after they appeared on the ballot for retention.
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November 07, 2024
Greenberg Glusker Wins Bid To Arbitrate Ex-Client's Suit
A judge in California state court on Thursday granted a motion by Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP and two partners to arbitrate an investor's allegations that they bungled his defense in an underlying civil suit, finding some of the ex-client's arguments against arbitration were "frivolous" and "not credible."
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November 07, 2024
NJ Atty Accused Of Ending Assault Suit Without Client's OK
A New Jersey lawyer has been slapped with a malpractice suit from a former client who alleges he not only mishandled her claims surrounding a supposed sexual assault she endured on a work trip to Atlantic City, but that he agreed to dismiss a lawsuit without informing her.
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November 07, 2024
Feds Say Fla. Atty Can't Shake COVID Relief Fraud Conviction
In a case involving a Florida lawyer serving a 75-month sentence for a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme, federal prosecutors are arguing that the trial judge was correct to allow a witness to testify that the defendant had talked about having another co-conspirator killed.
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November 07, 2024
Indicted Power Broker Says Civil Suit Repeats Earlier Claims
Indicted Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III and his attorney brother have urged a New Jersey state judge to toss the civil racketeering suit brought against them by a Philadelphia developer, arguing that the developer's claims are time-barred and should have been filed in previously litigated and resolved actions.
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November 07, 2024
Fla. Law Firms Accused Of Mishandling Brain Injury Case
Three Florida law firms are facing a malpractice suit by the victim of a car accident who claims his attorney blew his chance at a $2.5 million recovery by failing to respond to at least nine discovery requests and repeatedly missing court deadlines.
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November 07, 2024
Atty Says Ex-Colleague Can't Escape Assault Claim
A former Young Conaway attorney has argued that a onetime colleague he sued did not provide enough evidence to claim she was defending her friend when she allegedly assaulted him, urging a Pennsylvania federal court to toss the defendant's motion for summary judgment.
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November 07, 2024
Ex-Pa. Judge Censured Over Misconduct With 3 Teens
The Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline this week censured a former Allegheny County judge accused of misconduct with three teenage boys, ordering that the former judge's resignation and pledge to never again serve as a judge be binding and irrevocable.
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November 07, 2024
NC Panel Affirms Axing Sex Abuse Suit As Sanction For Delay
A North Carolina appeals panel found in a precedential ruling that a trial court was right to toss a man's sex abuse suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh as an appropriate sanction for his counsel having "deliberately and unreasonably delayed service of process."
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November 07, 2024
Boston Firm Says Atty Diverted Leads To Keches Law Group
Personal injury firm Keches Law Group has been hit with a Massachusetts state court complaint alleging it secretly worked with an associate at a smaller firm to obtain leads on potential cases.
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November 07, 2024
Trump's Victory Muddles NY Sentencing: 'No Playbook Here'
The fate of President-elect Donald Trump's criminal conviction in New York remains unclear following his resounding electoral victory Tuesday night, as last-minute motions, a pending decision on presidential immunity and appeals may derail or delay a punishment slated to be handed down before Thanksgiving.
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November 06, 2024
Chicago Pol Urges Narrow Reading Of False Statement Law
The U.S. Supreme Court should narrowly interpret the federal statute barring people from using false statements to influence certain financial institutions because backing the government's broad reading could expose borrowers to criminal liability that was never intended, former Chicago alderman Patrick Daley Thompson argued Wednesday.
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November 06, 2024
Seattle Judge Wants Plaintiff's Comms In IPad Antitrust Suit
A Seattle federal judge has ordered Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP to produce its communications with a client who allegedly ghosted the firm before determining if the attorneys may withdraw from representing the class representative in a proposed antitrust class action against Apple and Amazon.
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November 06, 2024
Ex-Ga. DA To Face Arbery Obstruction Charges In January
The former Georgia district attorney accused of obstructing the investigation of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery will stand trial in January, a state court judge said Tuesday, after her defense attorney was recently freed up by the conclusion of the prosecution of Atlanta rapper Young Thug.
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November 06, 2024
9th Circ. Revives Retaliation Suit By Ex-Santa Clara Deputy DA
The Ninth Circuit partially revived a lawsuit by a former Santa Clara County, California, deputy district attorney who alleged First Amendment retaliation when he was unlawfully transferred after publishing an op-ed that disagreed with the views of his boss, the district attorney.
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November 06, 2024
Tesla Defeats Sanctions Bid Over Atty's Mediation Appearance
A widow suing Tesla Inc. for the wrongful death of her late husband can't pursue sanctions against the automaker for allegedly wasting her time in mediation, a California federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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November 06, 2024
Lawyer's Suit Against Ex-Partner Can Proceed, NJ Panel Says
A New Jersey state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a lawyer who is suing a former law partner may continue pursuing the case in open court, because a contract signed years earlier between the lawyers doesn't require a private arbitration.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.
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Opinion
Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.
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Perspectives
Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases
Evidence issues in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents cases involving former President Donald Trump offer an opportunity to restudy elements and implications of the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, noting the courts' careful scrutiny of these matters, say Robert Hoff and Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.
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Series
Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.
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Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession
About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Opinion
AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Series
Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.