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Legal Ethics
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July 11, 2024
Attys Say Milberg Must Pay For Fraud In Visa, Mastercard MDL
Class counsel representing plaintiffs in long-running multidistrict litigation accusing Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees have called for sanctions against Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman LLC, laying out arguments for a fee reimbursement after the firm admitted to mistakenly registering fraudulent clients.
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July 11, 2024
IP Forecast: Napa Winery's Ex-Atty Wants Another Trial
A Texas lawyer plans to tell an appeals court why he should receive another trial in a trademark case from a Napa Valley winery, a former client that he claims sold off a "wildly successful California cult wine" out from under him.
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July 11, 2024
Media Matters Fights Texas AG's Bid To Revive X Probe
Media Matters for America is urging the D.C. Circuit to keep intact a court order prohibiting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating the media watchdog over its reporting about the social media platform X, asserting that the D.C. courts are the correct place to litigate the "retaliatory" probe.
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July 11, 2024
Conn. Justices Say Law Firm's Ex Parte Sanctions Were Error
The law firm Brignole Bush & Lewis LLC cannot be sanctioned for engaging in ex parte talks with an expert witness previously disclosed by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., the opposing party in a car accident case, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
'Bridgegate' Defense Offers Road Map For NJ RICO Case
Counsel for the powerful New Jersey mogul and Democratic operatives facing explosive racketeering charges are likely to justify their actions as just business, experts told Law360, describing defense tactics similar to the ones that absolved defendants in "Bridgegate," New Jersey's most notorious politics-fueled crime in recent history.
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July 11, 2024
Top NC Legal Industry Legislation Of 2024: A Midyear Report
North Carolina lawmakers have instituted a streamlined process for state business court filings and are eying controls on attorney fees for debt collection lawsuits. Another closely watched measure eases the discipline process for attorneys with the expansion of records access and the ability to expunge certain ethics transgressions.
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July 11, 2024
Atty's Suit Against Aircraft Cos., Blank Rome Attys Survives
A federal judge ruled in favor of a lawyer who alleges that aircraft companies and attorneys with Blank Rome LLP brought a baseless lawsuit against her in retaliation for switching from corporate defense to the plaintiffs bar, denying a motion to dismiss and allowing her lawsuit to continue.
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July 11, 2024
Fla. Ex-Judge Who Inflated Campaign Finances Disbarred
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday disbarred a former county court judge for various ethical violations, including inflating campaign finances, making misrepresentations in his application for a judicial nominating commission seat and misconduct during the disciplinary proceedings.
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July 11, 2024
Cruise Ship Co. Sanctioned With Fees In Sexual Assault Suit
Carnival Corp. will have to pay fees related to a discovery dispute stemming from a $10.2 million sexual assault personal injury lawsuit, a Florida federal judge has ruled in a sanctions order, finding that the cruise company must pay a portion of the legal bills of a female passenger after "clear" discovery violations occurred.
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July 11, 2024
Atty's Missteps Conflicted Her At Trial, Mass. Justices Say
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday ruled that a man convicted of murder should get a new trial because his lawyer would have had to deride her own performance during her client's police interview in order to provide the best possible defense.
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July 11, 2024
NJ Atty Pushes To End Seton Hall Ex-Prez's Whistleblower Suit
Former Seton Hall University board chair and prominent defense attorney Kevin H. Marino has joined the school in asking a New Jersey court to dismiss a rancorous lawsuit brought by the school's ex-president, saying a new report proves the suit is built on lies.
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July 11, 2024
YSL Prosecutors Oppose Judge's Recusal Amid Mistrial Bid
Prosecutors on Wednesday argued there is no reason Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville should stop overseeing the ongoing racketeering trial against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his associates, approximately an hour after the rapper moved for a mistrial.
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July 11, 2024
Talc Law Firms Beat J&J Subpoenas Seeking Funding Info
The Beasley Allen Law Firm, another plaintiffs law firm and a litigation funder defeated subpoenas from Johnson & Johnson in talc litigation, with a special master reasoning that the broad swath of discovery permitted in federal courts still has limits.
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July 11, 2024
2 Of Alaska's 3 District Judge Seats Listed As 'Emergencies'
Two of the three district judgeships on the District of Alaska have been listed as "judicial emergencies" following the recent resignation of Judge Joshua Kindred over findings of sexual misconduct.
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July 11, 2024
Atty Fined For Missing 'Every Deadline' Since Feb. In Bias Suit
A Philadelphia-based attorney has missed so many deadlines in a federal race bias lawsuit against a Penn State University branch campus that the senior circuit judge assigned to his case issued sanctions and a stern warning that a large caseload is no excuse on Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
Judge Warns Fake-Atty Suspect Not To Blow Off Court Dates
A convicted fraudster from Long Island pled not guilty Thursday in New York federal court to charges that he earned hefty fees while posing as a lawyer in a scam targeting inmates — and also was warned not to "sick out" of court dates.
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July 11, 2024
Ex-Bankruptcy Judge Says Immunity Bars Atty Romance Suit
A former U.S. bankruptcy judge being sued over a secret romantic relationship he had with a former Jackson Walker LLP lawyer who practiced in his court urged a Texas federal court on Thursday to toss the case, arguing that he enjoys "absolute immunity" from civil lawsuits over "judicial acts" even if he engaged in misconduct.
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July 11, 2024
Ga. Dem Helps Block NY Judge's Nomination From Advancing
President Joe Biden's nomination of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn for the Southern District of New York failed to advance out the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, after a key Democrat joined Republicans in opposition over her recommendation in a case that an inmate be transferred to a female facility.
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July 11, 2024
House Fails To Pass Inherent Contempt Resolution For AG
The House on Thursday failed to pass a Republican-led inherent contempt resolution for Attorney General Merrick Garland in hopes of obtaining audiotapes of President Joe Biden's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents investigation, but the measure's sponsor promised to try again.
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July 10, 2024
Ex-Kasowitz IP Pro Says Firm Gave Him Boot, Withheld Pay
Former Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP partner Jay Deshmukh filed a lawsuit in New York state court against his former firm Tuesday, saying the firm "deliberately" fired him weeks before his one-year anniversary so it could hold back more than half his annual pay.
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July 10, 2024
Acquitted Fla. Atty's Bankruptcy Case Converted To Ch. 7
A Florida federal bankruptcy judge denied a request Wednesday by an attorney who was acquitted last year in a billion-dollar medical fraud scheme to dismiss his Chapter 11 case and instead converted it to Chapter 7 proceedings, saying the debtor has no job and no way to pay creditors.
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July 10, 2024
Houston Attys Escape Defamation Suit Over Sex Assault Case
A Texas appeals court said a group of Houston attorneys could escape a defamation suit brought by a man accused of sexual assault by one of their clients, writing that he did "not even raise a scintilla of evidence" that the attorneys knew statements they made to the media about their client's case were false.
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July 10, 2024
Judge Newman Faces More Hurdles In Bid To End Suspension
With the dismissal of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's lawsuit against her colleagues over her suspension, experts say she faces significant challenges in securing a different outcome on appeal or persuading the court's other judges to let her hear cases again.
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July 10, 2024
Attys Bolt In Groups 'All The Time,' Colo. Judge Says
A Colorado judge hearing the appeal of an attorney who lost a jury trial in which she was accused of trying to lure colleagues away from a well-known regional personal injury firm noted Wednesday that lawyers commonly leave their firms in groups.
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July 10, 2024
Proof Of Ozy Media CEO's Fraud Is Overwhelming, Jury Told
A New York federal prosecutor on Wednesday told the jury weighing the fate of Carlos Watson that the evidence presented at trial clearly shows that the former Ozy Media CEO was at the helm of a scheme to deceive investors into backing the struggling news and entertainment startup, by falsely inflating its financials and lying about the company's prospects in order to keep it afloat.
Expert Analysis
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Opinion
NY Should Pass Litigation Funding Bill To Protect Plaintiffs
New York state should embrace the regulatory framework proposed in the Consumer Litigation Funding Act, which would suppress the unregulated predatory lenders that currently prey on vulnerable litigants but preserve a funding option that helps personal injury plaintiffs stand up to deep-pocketed corporate defendants, says Alan Ripka at Alan Ripka & Associates.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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High Court Injunction Case Could Shake Up Fee-Shifting Rules
In agreeing to review a Virginia case rendered statutorily moot before final judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court could finally settle the question of if — and when — a preliminary injunction can win attorney fees for a prevailing party, but all possible answers could disrupt fee-shifting schemes written into major laws, says Laurens Wilkes at Winston & Strawn.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea
Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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As Arbitrator Bias Claims Rise, Disclosure Standards Evolve
The growth in post-award challenges based on arbitrators' alleged conflicts of interest has led to the release of new guidance and new case law on the topic — both supporting the view that professional familiarity alone does not translate to a lack of impartiality, say attorneys at Skadden.