Legal Ethics

  • August 08, 2024

    Former In-House Atty Says Mortgage Co. Was 'Oppressive'

    A former staff attorney for mortgage company Newrez LLC alleges in a Texas state court lawsuit made public this week that she was terminated last year after witnessing a deputy general counsel engage in sexually inappropriate conduct with an intoxicated subordinate attorney at a work-related gathering.

  • August 08, 2024

    50 Cent Beats Liquor Consultant's 'Ridiculous' Wiretap Claim

    A frustrated New York state judge on Thursday tossed a former Beam Suntory Inc. sales contractor's reworked wiretapping allegations against rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in a $3 million embezzlement dispute, calling the claims "ridiculous" and an "obvious" delay tactic.

  • August 08, 2024

    LegalZoom Seeks Arbitration Of Unauthorized Practice Claims

    LegalZoom has asked a New Jersey federal court to force arbitration of proposed class claims that the company engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, arguing the named plaintiff entered into a binding arbitration agreement by clicking "agree and pay now" when he purchased services from the online platform.

  • August 08, 2024

    Jenner & Block Atty Takes Leave To Join Harris Campaign

    Josh Hsu of Jenner & Block, who has worked with Vice President Kamala Harris in various capacities over the years, has joined her presidential campaign as a senior counsel and liaison to the vice president's team, the campaign told Law360.

  • August 08, 2024

    Calif. Attorney Beats DQ Bid Despite Being Potential Witness

    A California state appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision not to disqualify a San Diego lawyer from representing a client in a malpractice suit against a Pasadena law firm, saying the attorney can be counsel and provide witness testimony at the trial.  

  • August 07, 2024

    Ex-Mayer Brown Atty Says Firm Retaliated After Her Cancer

    A former Mayer Brown LLP attorney has accused the firm of refusing to accommodate her breast cancer diagnosis and instead retaliating against and eventually firing her, according to a suit filed in New York state court.

  • August 07, 2024

    10th Circ. Won't Undo Atty Fees In $1.5B Syngenta Corn Deal

    The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday backed a Kansas federal judge's allocations of attorney fees to three law firms representing individual claimants in multidistrict litigation over Syngenta's genetically modified corn that was resolved by a $1.5 billion class settlement, finding that the firms' arguments strayed from the issue at hand.

  • August 07, 2024

    'Something Sketchy Was Going On,' Girardi Client Tells Jury

    A man horribly injured in a gas explosion told a Los Angeles federal jury Wednesday that Tom Girardi lied to him for years about the true details of his civil settlement and withheld millions he was owed, but it took him years to figure out "something sketchy was going on."

  • August 07, 2024

    Judge's Pharma Comments Could Decide Ineligibility Appeal

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday was willing to explore Astellas Pharma's argument that a Nebraska federal judge should be taken off its infringement case over the bladder medication Myrbetriq, given statements that showed a potential bias against the pharmaceutical industry, but also made clear that such reassignments are rare and difficult.

  • August 07, 2024

    Shuttered Firm Partner Pulls $9.5M Fee Fight Out Of Arbitration

    An Illinois appeals court has reversed the transfer to partial arbitration of a suit accusing a personal injury firm name partner of defrauding the other name partner by collecting $9.5 million in fees shortly before the firm's dissolution, saying the firm's operating agreement with an arbitration clause was superseded by the dissolution agreement.

  • August 07, 2024

    Google 'May Not Be So Lucky' Next Time Over Chat Deletions

    Google's stunning antitrust loss in D.C. federal court Monday dealt another blow against its policies of letting internal chats delete automatically, and it came with a callout of its practice of training employees to avoid competition law "buzzwords."

  • August 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Voids Man's Death Penalty Over 'Judicial Malfunction'

    The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday granted a capital defendant's habeas petition based on a trial court's decision to recruit the prosecutor to ghostwrite a "corrupt opinion" issuing the death penalty and refusing to allow the defendant to proffer relevant mitigating evidence at his re-sentencing, in violation of his constitutional rights.

  • August 07, 2024

    Bid For Ex-Judge's Phone Records Halted At Texas Hearing

    A Texas bankruptcy judge shut down a bid from JCPenney's bankruptcy administrator to subpoena former Judge David R. Jones' cellphone records in a partially sealed hearing Wednesday in connection with Jones' secret romance with a onetime lawyer at Jackson Walker LLP.

  • August 07, 2024

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle

    A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.

  • August 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration

    A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.

  • August 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Says Atty Inadequacy ID'ed Too Late In Asylum Case

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to reopen a Mexican family's asylum proceedings despite finding that the family's attorney cost them their case by arriving unprepared at their immigration hearing, saying the family should have flagged the lawyer's ineffectiveness earlier.

  • August 07, 2024

    'Herculean' Efforts Warrant Max Fee, Debt Firm Trustee Says

    A California bankruptcy trustee overseeing the failed debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group has told the court he deserves the maximum fee amount and possibly a bonus due to the "herculean" efforts of himself and his colleagues — a statement that comes at a time when the bankruptcy estate appears to have little money to pay more than 2,500 creditors.

  • August 07, 2024

    Law Firms Fight J&J Bid To Revive Talc Subpoenas

    The Beasley Allen Law Firm, the steering committee of talc plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson, and a third-party law firm urged the New Jersey federal court this week to reject a bid from the pharmaceutical company to reinstate subpoenas seeking evidence of alleged third-party litigation funding.

  • August 07, 2024

    Young Thug Decries 'Horror' Of Working With Prosecutors

    Atlanta rapper Young Thug launched another bid to boot prosecutors from his long-running gang trial, citing various episodes of alleged misconduct and arguing that prosecutors' inability to provide "the simplest and most basic fundamental fairness" requires their disqualification.

  • August 07, 2024

    Mortgage Banker Says Experian Can't Tie Him To 'Sham' Suits

    A New Jersey-based licensed mortgage banker is urging a California federal judge to let him escape Experian's suit alleging that he helped credit reporting law firms identify clients and created false evidence of a mortgage denial in a nationwide scheme to "extort" the credit reporting agency into settling "sham" lawsuits.

  • August 07, 2024

    Air Force Says Sanctions Bid In Contract Dispute Unwarranted

    The U.S. Air Force has hit back at a contractor's bid for sanctions over alleged late document production and document destruction in a contract dispute, saying the motion was unexpectedly sprung on it while the parties were negotiating discovery issues.

  • August 07, 2024

    Calif. Judges Cautioned About Recall, Election Comments

    The California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions is cautioning judges about making comments concerning pending proceedings or decisions that come under fire during a campaign or recall effort, saying such comments can impact the public's perception of judicial integrity.

  • August 07, 2024

    BP Malpractice Deal Needs Work, 5th Circ. Says

    The Fifth Circuit scrapped a legal malpractice settlement in a consolidated lawsuit alleging attorneys were negligent in representing plaintiffs seeking compensation following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with a panel finding the terms were not mutually agreed upon.

  • August 07, 2024

    Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme

    The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.

  • August 06, 2024

    Thompson Hine Says Ex-Atty's Harassment Claims Lack Teeth

    A former Thompson Hine LLP attorney's sex harassment suit should be dismissed for failing to show that gender bias had anything to do with the workplace conflicts that arose during her tenure, the firm argued in a New York federal court filing.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    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.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    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.

  • Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings

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    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.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    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.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    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.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Lawyers Must Be Careful When Using Listservs

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    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.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    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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