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Legal Ethics
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November 04, 2024
NJ Justice Vexed By Judge's Stance On Thigh Touch Claim
New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner grilled a municipal judge Monday about apparently contradictory positions he took in response to accusations that he inappropriately touched the thigh of a law clerk during an alcohol-fueled day at his home — an action the jurist characterized as a "pat" despite previously appearing to agree that it was a "rub."
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November 04, 2024
Colo. Justices Say Expert Testimony OK Without Formalities
The Colorado Supreme Court held Monday that the formal offer and acceptance of an expert isn't required for that expert's testimony to be admissible, finding in a published opinion that there's no actual state requirement for courts to use such a practice.
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November 04, 2024
Judge Cites Tesla Stock, Friendship In SpaceX Firing Recusal
A California federal judge on Monday recused herself from a hostile work environment and retaliation suit brought by a group of former SpaceX employees, saying she owns Tesla stock and is friends with a SpaceX human resource executive's mother-in-law.
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November 04, 2024
Justices Remand Atty Privilege Case After Judge Admits Gaffe
The Colorado Supreme Court has remanded a case over whether communications between an insurance company's outside lawyer and the experts it hired to study an alleged construction defect are privileged, after some justices said the appeal was "half-baked" because the trial judge had already admitted she was wrong.
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November 04, 2024
Tesla Fights Sanctions Bid Over Atty's Mediation Appearance
Tesla Inc. has pushed back against a widow's sanctions bid over allegations a company in-house attorney appeared at a mediation in her wrongful death case despite lacking settlement authority, saying her attorneys improperly disclosed the contents of confidential mediation communications.
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November 04, 2024
Suspended Fla. Atty Seeks Leniency Over Missing Precedent
A suspended Florida attorney has urged the Florida Supreme Court to reduce the punishment it doled out last month, including a one-year suspension of his law license, arguing that the state Supreme Court's decision "cites no precedent," so it should use its discretion to hand out lesser sanctions.
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November 04, 2024
Atty Moves To Oust DA Who Cleared Cops In Brother's Death
A Littler Mendelson PC shareholder's effort to remove the Massachusetts district attorney who absolved officers in the 2021 fatal shooting of his brother left justices on the state's highest court grappling with the reach of a seldom-used state statute allowing them to oust government officials for "the public good."
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November 04, 2024
Mortgage Co. Accused Of 'Bad Faith' In Settlement With Atty
A former staff attorney with a mortgage company has accused the business of "bad faith" for purportedly trying to renegotiate the terms of a settlement to resolve her Texas state lawsuit alleging she was fired after she witnessed inappropriate sexual behavior by a deputy general counsel.
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November 04, 2024
Ford Gets New Trial In $1.7B Rollover Case In Georgia
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a new trial in a record-setting $1.7 billion rollover case against Ford Motor Co., saying it was "reluctantly" vacating the jury's verdict after finding that a trial court wrongly imposed issue preclusion sanctions that "almost completely prevented Ford from presenting a defense as to liability."
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November 04, 2024
Feds Slam Ozy Media CEO's 'Last-Ditch' Effort To DQ Judge
Prosecutors have pushed back against Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson's "last-ditch effort" to get his fraud and identity theft convictions undone, insisting that investments owned by the New York federal judge overseeing his case are in hedge funds and not in Watson's victims, and are too small to matter.
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November 04, 2024
Georgia Bar Forms 23-Person AI Special Committee
The State Bar of Georgia has announced the formation of a special committee that will explore and make recommendations on how the state's professional conduct rules cover developments in legal technology, particularly tools involving artificial intelligence.
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November 01, 2024
Manufacturer Says Atty Turned Tiff Into 'Slow Motion Disaster'
A Colorado electronics manufacturer says a law firm turned a minor dispute into a "slow motion disaster," resulting in a $1 million bill that threatens to sink the business, filing a malpractice suit one day before seeking bankruptcy protections.
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November 01, 2024
Atty Suing Ex-Partner Asks Judges For 'Fairly Nominal' Bond
An attorney suing his ex-CEO over the breakup of their law firm has asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to clear up two orders from different jurists by explaining how much bond he'll be required to post, saying a "fairly nominal" bond would ensure he keeps the case on track.
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November 01, 2024
Fitbit Knocks Out Cellspin Litigation Campaign At Fed. Circ.
Fitbit and others defeated a pair of appeals on Friday in patent litigation over ideas involving programming automatic social media posts, with the Federal Circuit ruling to reject arguments that a California federal judge should have decided patent suits differently and should have recused herself anyway because of her husband's ties to Fitbit parent Google.
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November 01, 2024
Judge Skeptical Of NYC Mayor's Bid To Dismiss Bribery Count
A Manhattan federal judge on Friday voiced skepticism of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' motion to dismiss his bribery charge, and set an April trial date in a case accusing the mayor of taking travel perks from Turkish officials in exchange for official favors.
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November 01, 2024
GRSM50 Won't Be Disqualified In Detroit Hotel Firing Suit
A Michigan federal judge has refused to disqualify Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP from representing an upscale Detroit hotel in a retaliation suit filed by three fired employees, but flagged the firm for being "negligent" in its handling of discovery in the case.
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November 01, 2024
What Happens To Ga. Election Case If Trump Wins?
The fate of the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump is on the ballot this November, according to legal experts, who told Law360 that a Trump victory would likely mean any trial would have to wait until he completes his term in office.
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November 01, 2024
Ex-Mohawk IT Exec Cops To $1.8M Ripoff Of Flooring Co.
Days before he was set to face trial, flooring giant Mohawk's former head of information technology pled guilty Friday to eight wire fraud and conspiracy charges for running a third-party vendor scheme that ripped off his employer to the tune of $1.8 million.
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November 01, 2024
Judge In Philly Inquirer Data Sharing Case Won't Join Class
The Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing a consolidated action accusing the Philadelphia Inquirer of sharing subscribers' video viewing habits with Meta is eligible to join the class, but has decided to renounce his right to class membership in order to continue being the judge.
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November 01, 2024
How 2024 Election Litigation May Look Different From 2020
Courts are fielding a flood of lawsuits over the 2024 presidential election, with more certainly to come, but those suits may have some significant differences from the ones that played out in 2020, according to experts.
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November 01, 2024
Jackson Walker Rips Trustee's Judge Romance Fee Clawback
The U.S. Trustee's Office is exceeding its authority as a "watchdog" in seeking to claw back money paid to Jackson Walker LLP in bankruptcy cases because the judge presiding over those cases was having a secret relationship with a firm partner, the firm told a Texas federal bankruptcy court.
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November 01, 2024
Dentons, Boies Schiller Want Out Of 'Absurd' $300M RICO Suit
Dentons and Boies Schiller Flexner LLP have asked a Manhattan federal court to toss a $300 million racketeering lawsuit brought against them by a former client and his companies following what they called a botched power plant contract in Senegal, with Dentons further requesting Rule 11 sanctions against the plaintiffs and their counsel for bringing "frivolous" claims.
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November 01, 2024
Danish Tax Agency To Settle With Atty In $2.1B Tax Fraud Suit
Denmark's tax authority has agreed to settle with an attorney whom it has accused of helping clients claim fraudulent tax refunds in a sprawling $2.1 billion case, according to a letter by its attorney in New York federal court.
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November 01, 2024
Conn. Judge Hacks Up Ex-Town Atty's Defamation Suit
A Connecticut state court judge has dismissed all claims against the town of Newington and most claims against its tax assessor from a wide-ranging lawsuit brought by a group of former officials, including the former town attorney, who alleged that they were disparaged in a series of "false" ethics complaints and public comments.
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October 31, 2024
Judge 'Duped' By BigLaw Attys Urged To Preserve Sanctions
Guardant Health urged a California federal judge Thursday to reject a request from Natera's Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP attorneys to lessen sanctions barring clinical trial evidence in Guardant's false advertising case, noting the court said it had been "duped" by false and misleading statements from Natera's expert and counsel.
Expert Analysis
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Series
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.
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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Lawyers Must Be Careful When Using Listservs
The American Bar Association's formal opinion from May correctly states that attorneys must obtain clients' consent before posing related questions to listservs, but potential risks and drawbacks of using listservs go beyond those highlighted by the ABA, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.