Legal Ethics

  • May 30, 2024

    Judge Rejects 'Audacity' Of Suspended Jurist's Reelection Bid

    A Michigan state judge said Thursday he was surprised election officials hadn't already disqualified a suspended Detroit judge who had the "audacity" to run again despite being barred from the bench for six years, saying he intended to end her candidacy.

  • May 30, 2024

    Here's What Comes Next After Trump's Conviction

    Donald Trump's forthcoming appeal of his historic conviction Thursday in the New York hush money case could include challenges to the state's evidence and jury instructions, but it's unlikely the case will be resolved before Election Day.

  • May 30, 2024

    Donald Trump Convicted Of All 34 Counts In NY Trial

    Former President Donald Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury Thursday of 34 felonies over a plot to illegally sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor by concealing hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

  • May 30, 2024

    Troutman Pepper Fights Kwok Trustee's $2M Clawback Claim

    Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP has defended its legal work for three entities connected to Ho Wan Kwok, saying the Chinese exile and alleged criminal fraudster's Chapter 11 trustee cannot avoid $2 million in payments to the firm because it earned its fees in good faith.

  • May 30, 2024

    NJ Atty Gets 5½ Years For $2M Theft, Impersonating Counsel

    A New Jersey federal judge sentenced Garden State attorney James Lisa to 66 months in prison Thursday for bilking clients out of more than $2 million and then impersonating his own defense counsel in the course of pursuing a loan while he was out on pretrial release.

  • May 30, 2024

    The 'Not-Postings' Of A Delaware Chancery Court Judge

    Close observers of Delaware's Court of Chancery have recently gotten a new window into the First State's preeminent court of equity: Delaware Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, one of seven judges on the court's bench, has recently rejoined LinkedIn.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ga. Aims To Sink Challenge To Prosecutor Discipline Panel

    The state of Georgia says a bipartisan group of district attorneys has no standing to pursue its lawsuits against the state and its Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission members, arguing that the injuries that the attorneys claim are just hypothetical.

  • May 30, 2024

    Mich. Judge Refers Atty To Calif. Bar Over Flint PR Stunt

    A Michigan federal judge overseeing contaminated drinking water litigation in Flint, Michigan, referred a California attorney to that state's bar on Thursday after the lawyer refused to provide more details, or submit to the court's jurisdiction, over her involvement in an alleged smear campaign targeting a lawyer for Flint children.

  • May 30, 2024

    NYU Law Review Beats Bias Claims Over Diversity Efforts

    A New York federal court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit from a self-described straight white male, first-year law student at New York University claiming the NYU Law Review is discriminatory.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ballard Spahr Faces Claim It Fired Worker Over Sick Husband

    A former legal assistant at Ballard Spahr LLP claims the firm fired her in retaliation for using the Family and Medical Leave Act to take time away from work to care for her cancer-stricken husband, according to a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • May 30, 2024

    Atty Who Missed Depo Amid Eclipse Trip Slams AAA's Fee Bid

    A lawyer sanctioned for missing a client's deposition in Florida when the attorney was viewing the solar eclipse in Arkansas has slammed the AAA organization's related fees request as "hyperinflated" and cited a popular job-hunting website to back up his argument.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ga. Lawyer Wants Atty Brother Held In Contempt

    One half of a disbanded partnership between two attorney brothers asked a Georgia business judge Thursday to hold his brother in contempt for reportedly refusing to hand over control of their old firm's social media accounts to a court-appointed receiver.

  • May 30, 2024

    Chief Justice Roberts Declines Senate Democrats Meeting

    Chief Justice John Roberts declined the invitation from two top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the high court's ethics in light of the controversy surrounding the flags flown outside Justice Samuel Alito's homes.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ex-Fox Rothschild Corporate Chief Accuses Firm Of Age Bias

    The former head of Fox Rothschild LLP's corporate department sued the firm for age discrimination Wednesday in New Jersey state court, saying it slashed his pay to below that of a first-year associate and then forced him out after nearly 30 years of employment there.

  • May 30, 2024

    Morgan & Morgan Settles Ex-Paralegal's FMLA Suit

    Morgan & Morgan PA reached a deal with a former paralegal ending her suit accusing the firm of interference and retaliation when she was unlawfully fired, she said, after requesting time off afforded by the Family and Medical Leave Act, the firm told a Florida federal judge Thursday.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Fights 10-Year Sentence In OneCoin Case

    A former Locke Lord LLP partner urged the Second Circuit Wednesday to ax his 10-year prison sentence and conviction for laundering around $400 million in proceeds from the global OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, saying the case was contaminated by perjury and errors at the trial court level.

  • May 30, 2024

    Calif. Judge Censured For Mid-Trial Text To Prosecutor

    A Los Angeles judge has received a severe public censure for sending a text message to a prosecutor during a murder retrial in order to influence her decision to call a rebuttal witness, then trying to minimize the ex parte communication by making misleading statements after the fact.

  • May 30, 2024

    What The Trump Verdict Was Like From Inside The Courtroom

    Law360 reporters were providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as a jury found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records. Here's a blow-by-blow of the historic verdict.

  • May 30, 2024

    Conn. Atty Avoids Default In $1.4M Transfer Scam Suit

    A Connecticut attorney has won the right to defend herself against accusations she knowingly participated in an email transfer scam that stole more than $1.4 million from a New Jersey-based real estate development company last year.

  • May 29, 2024

    Foley & Lardner Sued For Axing Pro-Palestinian Atty's Offer

    A former Foley & Lardner LLP summer associate on Wednesday lodged discrimination claims against the firm for pulling its job offer after she made comments supporting Palestine, alleging that the firm let her go because of her religion and ethnicity, according to the suit lodged in Illinois federal court.

  • May 29, 2024

    Meta's Policy On Threats List 'Sounds Nefarious,' Judge Says

    The California federal judge overseeing claims Meta blacklists certain adult performers questioned the social media giant's practice of keeping its list of dangerous organizations and individuals as a "living document" that changes constantly and isn't archived, saying the policy appears to destroy evidence and "sounds nefarious."

  • May 29, 2024

    Malaysia Plans Suits Over $14.9B Award To Sulu Claimants

    Units of Malaysia's national natural gas company are planning to file litigation in Europe against claimants awarded $14.9 billion and their litigation funder following a high-stakes arbitration with the Southeast Asian country over a 19th-century land deal, according to newly filed documents in New York.

  • May 29, 2024

    Carhartt Heiress Atty Says He Wanted To Pay Back $15M Loan

    A Michigan attorney accused of exploiting his wealthy Carhartt heiress client as trustee testified Wednesday that he intended to repay the roughly $15 million he had loaned himself from her trust, as he took the stand during the second week of a jury trial.

  • May 29, 2024

    NY Jury Eyes Trump Tower 'Conspiracy' As Deliberations Start

    Jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial ended their first day of deliberations Wednesday without a verdict, as the panel appeared to home in on testimony about a key 2015 meeting where the alleged scheme was hatched.

  • May 29, 2024

    9th Circ. Rejects Objections To $23M Monsanto Roundup Deal

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a district court's approval of a $23 million MDL settlement to resolve claims that Monsanto failed to warn buyers of the carcinogens in its Roundup weed killer, finding there was no indication of collusion as argued by Missouri-based objectors.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Keys To A Productive Mediation

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Cortney Young at ADR Partners discusses factors that can help to foster success in mediation, including scheduling, preparation, managing client expectations and more.

  • Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion

    Author Photo

    Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.

  • Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Highlight Attorney Ethics Issues

    Author Photo

    Recently released transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee demonstrate that there is always a lurking conflict when someone other than the client is paying the fee, and that disclosure must therefore be painstaking and extensive, says Steven Lubet at Northwestern University.

  • 7 Tips To Increase Your Law Firm's DEI Efforts In 2023

    Author Photo

    Law firms looking to advance their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts should consider implementing new practices and initiatives this year, including some that require nominal additional effort or expense, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Gina Rubel at Furia Rubel.

  • Series

    Keys To A 9-0 High Court Win: Get Back To Home Base

    Author Photo

    When I argued for the petitioner in Morgan v. Sundance before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, I made the idea of consistency the cornerstone of my case and built a road map for my argument to ensure I could always return to that home-base theme, says Karla Gilbride at Public Justice.

  • Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target

    Author Photo

    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

  • 5 Gen X Characteristics That Can Boost Legal Leadership

    Author Photo

    As Generation X attorneys rise to fill top roles in law firms and corporations left by retiring baby boomers, they should embrace generational characteristics that will allow them to become better legal leaders, says Meredith Kahan at Whiteford Taylor.

  • 6 Questions For Boutique Firms Considering Mergers

    Author Photo

    To prepare for discussions with potential merger partners, boutique law firms should first consider the challenges they hope to address with a merger and the qualities they prioritize in possible partner firms, say Howard Cohl and Ron Nye at Major Lindsey.

  • Del. Justices' Reversal Of Boardwalk Award May Apply Widely

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Boardwalk Pipeline v. Bandera Master Fund decision that a general partner wasn't liable for willful misconduct is likely to have wide applicability for noncorporate entities, which courts are unlikely to view as entitled to more protection than Boardwalk's public unit holders, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 5 Tips For Adding Value To Legal Clients' Experience In 2023

    Author Photo

    Faced with a potential economic downturn this year, attorneys should look to strengthen client relationships now by focusing on key ways to improve the client experience, starting with a check-in call to discuss client needs and priorities for the coming year, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • 6 Ways To Avoid Compounding Errors When Practicing Law

    Author Photo

    For lawyers and law firms, inevitable human error can lead to claims of malpractice or ethical violations, but the key is to avoid exacerbating mistakes by adding communication failures, conflicts of interest or insurance coverage losses, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.

  • What Will Keep Legal Talent Professionals Up At Night In 2023

    Author Photo

    Hybrid work environments, high demand for lateral hires and a potential slowdown of the economy defined 2022 in the always-busy marketplace for legal talent, and as BigLaw looks at the year ahead, there are five major sources of concern for the teams charged with securing and retaining that talent, say advisers at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022

    Author Photo

    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from the "great resignation" to potential expansion of attorney-client privilege.

  • What 3 Legal Industry Trends From 2022 Mean For Next Year

    Author Photo

    Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey & Africa looks back on the year in legal recruiting, including practice areas that saw the most movement, which regions seemed most ripe for new office openings and who was promoted to partner, and makes some look-ahead predictions for 2023.

  • Learning From This Year's Legal Industry Discrimination Suits

    Author Photo

    To limit the risk of lawsuits and make the workplace a more welcoming environment for female attorneys, it is important to reflect on lawyers' recent discrimination and sexual harassment claims against law firms and public employers, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Legal Ethics archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!