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Legal Ethics
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November 12, 2024
Trump's NY Case Paused As DA Weighs Impact Of Election
A New York state judge agreed to a joint motion to freeze the proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money case following his electoral victory last week, allowing the Manhattan district attorney time to brief the court on "appropriate steps going forward."
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November 12, 2024
Justices Won't Review Mark Meadows' Ga. Case Removal Bid
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' petition to review an Eleventh Circuit ruling that he couldn't move his Georgia election interference case to federal court because the federal officer removal statute doesn't apply to former federal officers.
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November 08, 2024
Combs Suggests $50M Bail As He Loses Bid For Gag Order
Sean "Diddy" Combs on Friday again asked a New York federal court to release him ahead of his trial, suggesting an updated, "far more robust" $50 million bail package the same day the court rejected the hip-hop mogul's push for a gag order forbidding his sexual assault accusers from speaking out.
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November 08, 2024
Judiciary Advisers Back Development Of AI Evidence Rules
The federal judiciary's advisory panel for evidentiary issues agreed Friday to develop rules aimed at strengthening scrutiny of testimony and materials derived from artificial intelligence systems, saying AI-generated information should meet the same reliability standards that apply to expert witnesses.
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November 08, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Gunster To Pay $8.5M Over 2022 Data Breach
Florida corporate law firm Gunster has agreed to shell out $8.5 million to resolve a proposed class action alleging it failed to properly safeguard the personal information of nearly 10,000 clients, employees, and other individuals from cybercriminals, according to a motion to preliminarily approve the deal filed in Florida federal court.
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November 08, 2024
Monsanto Judge Pushes Sanction 'Distraction' To After Trial
A Washington state judge is pausing an order for eight of Monsanto's attorneys to personally pay a total of $20,000 for late disclosure of expert reports in a toxic tort lawsuit, saying he believes the issue will distract from the upcoming trial and the court can revisit the defense lawyers' reconsideration request after the jury returns a verdict.
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November 08, 2024
Sullivan & Cromwell Fees Questioned In Kidde-Fenwal Ch. 11
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and the attorney general of California clashed in Delaware bankruptcy court over the firm's interim fee requests for its representation of debtor chemical company Kidde-Fenwal Inc., with the state alleging overbilling and Sullivan & Cromwell claiming California is seeking "payback" for the results of a recent mediation.
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November 08, 2024
Orrick Gets Final OK On $8M Deal To End Data Breach Case
A California federal judge granted final approval Friday to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's $8 million deal to end putative class claims over a data breach that purportedly exposed 638,000 individuals' information, praising the parties for their "efficiency" in handling the case and "good faith" approach to reaching a resolution.
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November 08, 2024
How Trump Could Turn The Government Against Jack Smith
Special counsel Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors could face politically motivated retribution by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies in the form of a congressional investigation, a U.S. Department of Justice probe and even criminal prosecution, according to experts.
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November 08, 2024
Florida Voters Fail To Show Injury From Prosecutor Suspension
A Florida good-government group's lawsuit challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis' suspension of a local prosecutor was dismissed on Friday, after a federal judge found that voters don't have a constitutional right to see elected officials serve out their full terms.
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November 08, 2024
Clifford Law Sues Ex-Partner For Allegedly Poaching Clients
An Illinois firm specializing in personal injury and wrongful death cases has accused a former partner of stealing clients when he left the firm in February and not making appropriate arrangements for his former firm to get fees for certain cases.
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November 08, 2024
Pa. Atty Suspended For Cocaine Use At Time Of Court Hearing
A former public defender in Erie County, Pennsylvania, who previously told the state disciplinary board that the use of cocaine made him a better lawyer has been suspended from practicing in Pennsylvania by the state Supreme Court.
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November 08, 2024
Gov't Union Continues Organizing Push For DOJ Attys
Attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights and environment divisions are stepping up their efforts to organize with the National Treasury Employees Union, the union confirmed Friday, as federal workers brace for coming changes under President-elect Donald Trump's new administration.
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November 08, 2024
GOP Reps. Tell Trump Special Counsel To Preserve Records
On the heels of former President Donald Trump's victory, House Republicans told Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday to preserve all his records on the Biden administration's "politicized prosecutions" into Trump.
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November 08, 2024
NJ Appeals Panel Rejects Convicted Ex-Atty's Bid For Relief
The New Jersey Appellate Division turned down on Friday a former attorney's bid for review of her conviction on participating in an $873,000 mortgage fraud scheme, in which she claimed she was barred from the full range of cross-examination at trial that she should have had the right to.
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November 08, 2024
Ex-NJ Judge Gets More Time To Make Discrimination Case
A New Jersey court gave a former state workers' compensation judge challenging her removal from the bench more time to make her case, according to a court order.
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November 08, 2024
DC Judge Freezes Election Subversion Case Against Trump
A D.C. federal judge on Friday wiped out the schedule in the case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, granting a postelection request from the special counsel's office prosecuting the case.
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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."
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Opinion
A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Roundup
After Chevron
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.