Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Legal Ethics
-
June 10, 2024
Split Mich. Panel Says Attorney-Free Confession OK For Court
A split Michigan appellate panel said a judge should have admitted a video of a defendant confessing to hitting someone with his truck because the defendant signed multiple documents waiving his right to have counsel present, although a dissenting judge said police "misled" the defendant and took advantage of his confusion.
-
June 10, 2024
2nd Circ. Remands Malpractice Suit Against DLA Piper
The Second Circuit on Monday sent back to state court a Chinese smart car technology company's malpractice suit against DLA Piper that accused the firm of mishandling a shareholder suit, with the appeals court panel saying federal court does not have jurisdiction over the suit.
-
June 10, 2024
YSL Atty Jailed For Contempt Ruling Over 'Sacrosanct' Convo
The defense counsel for Atlanta rapper Young Thug was ordered to spend the next 10 weekends in jail after being held in contempt Monday afternoon for refusing to divulge how the attorney learned of a purported conversation behind closed doors between prosecutors, a witness and the judge presiding over the case.
-
June 10, 2024
Aircraft Engine Co. Avco Wants Ex-Atty Sanctions Bid Cut
A dispute over deposition scheduling in a sanctions case filed in Pennsylvania federal court by a lawyer who formerly represented an aircraft company has led to accusations of attorneys acting in bad faith to obstruct the case and complaints of a lack of professional courtesy.
-
June 10, 2024
Amid FBI Probe, Troubled Law Firm Gets Fees Win At 5th Circ.
An embattled Texas law firm has won another shot to secure fees for its work on hurricane-related cases in Louisiana, the Fifth Circuit ruled, one day after the FBI revealed it was investigating the firm over its client solicitation practices.
-
June 10, 2024
Kirkland Faces Class Claims Over Breach Of File Transfer Tool
A proposed class of victims of a data breach has sued Kirkland & Ellis LLP and various other entities in a Massachusetts federal court, accusing them of failing to "properly secure and safeguard [the] plaintiff's and other similarly situated individuals' private information" in the lead-up to the massive 2023 MOVEit data breach.
-
June 10, 2024
Lin Wood's Ex-Colleagues Push To Keep Fraud Claims In Trial
Former law partners of controversial attorney Lin Wood have urged a Georgia federal court to block Wood's request to exclude unadjudicated allegations he committed fraud and contract breach, arguing that the details are relevant in an upcoming trial over the ex-colleagues' claims that Wood defamed them.
-
June 10, 2024
Ga. Judge's Call To Atty Friend Among Ethics Charges
A Georgia state judge is facing a host of ethics charges, including that she improperly dialed up an attorney friend and later gave her preferential scheduling in a child custody case and, in another case, took more than two years to issue an order to change custody of minor children.
-
June 10, 2024
Cozen O'Connor Booted From Pa. Equal Pay Case
Cozen O'Connor has been booted off a Pennsylvania school district's equal-pay lawsuit that was being overseen by a judge with personal ties to the firm, according to an order the judge issued Monday.
-
June 10, 2024
Tampa-Area Doctor May Sue Attorney, Appeals Court Says
A doctor's lawsuit over a medical bill dispute with a personal injury lawyer involving one of the lawyer's injured clients may proceed, a Florida appeals court has ruled.
-
June 11, 2024
UPDATED: Court Says Eastman Disbarment Order Filed In Error
A California federal court has nixed an order disbarring former Donald Trump lawyer John C. Eastman from the venue, saying in a notice filed Tuesday that the document was filed by mistake.
-
June 10, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Big players and big moves dominated much of the past week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, as Tesla in particular and big corporations in general showed their pique over rulings that went toward stockholders or against conventional expectations.
-
June 10, 2024
Senate Judiciary Panel Urged To Investigate High Court Ethics
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter on Monday urging the "full power" of the Senate Judiciary Committee be used to investigate the latest "ethics crisis" at the U.S. Supreme Court.
-
June 07, 2024
Blank Rome Escapes 'Lamentable Saga' In 'Killer Nurse' Case
A Pennsylvania appellate panel, in what it dubbed "the final chapter in this lamentable saga," affirmed Friday a lower court's order dismissing an attorney's defamation claims against Blank Rome LLP and a hospital that once employed a now-infamous "killer nurse" who pleaded guilty to murdering his patients.
-
June 07, 2024
Speech Pathologists Say BakerHostetler Bungled Biz Deal
A trio of Los Angeles-based speech pathologists have filed a malpractice suit against their former BakerHostetler counsel in California state court, accusing the firm and an Ohio-based partner of negligence in failing to properly advise them amid a business deal, allegedly resulting in the therapists losing their successful practice and more than $1 million.
-
June 07, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives LA Schools Vaccine Policy Row
A split Ninth Circuit panel on Friday reversed a California federal court's dismissal of a proposed class action challenging a recently rescinded Los Angeles Unified School District policy requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their jobs, ruling that the district still has the potential to reinstate it.
-
June 07, 2024
Susman Attys Can Exit IP Suit Amid Arigna's Row With Funder
New York boutique firm Susman Godfrey LLP has persuaded a D.C. federal judge to let the firm out of having to represent patent litigation business Arigna Technology Ltd. following a breakdown in the firm's arrangement with the business's litigation funder.
-
June 07, 2024
Trump Can Bring Atty To Presentence Interview
A New York judge ruled Friday that Donald Trump can bring his attorney with him when he sits down with a New York City probation officer for a presentence interview, granting an unusual accommodation to the former president before he is sentenced for his criminal conviction next month.
-
June 07, 2024
6th Circ. Revives Investors' Suit Over Leech Tishman Advice
A Sixth Circuit panel has revived a group of investors' claims that Pittsburgh-based Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl's lawyers gave fraudulent and negligent advice about clean energy investments that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, reasoning that a one-year statute of limitations had been tolled for some claims and didn't apply to others.
-
June 07, 2024
Contractor Claims No Bad Intentions In Talking To Juror
A general contractor has doubled down on his bid to throw out a contempt conviction for talking to a juror before his suit was officially settled, telling a North Carolina appeals court he genuinely believed the case was over and didn't intend to disrupt the court or violate any order.
-
June 07, 2024
'Deceit On Deceit': 7th Circ. OKs Atty's Asset-Hiding Sentence
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Chicago-area lawyer's three-year sentence for hiding over $350,000 in her brother's bankruptcy, finding two sentence enhancements were properly applied since she "layered deceit upon deceit" to try to conceal assets and cover her tracks.
-
June 07, 2024
Justices Report Old Trips, Beyoncé Tickets And Royalties
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed Friday two trips he took in 2019 paid for by a Republican billionaire donor that were the subject of bombshell reporting last year, while his colleagues divulged more than $1.5 million in book-related income and several gifts, including Beyoncé tickets, in their annual financial reports.
-
June 07, 2024
Ga. Appeals Seat Win Certified Amid Residency Challenge
A former state bar leader who won a Georgia Court of Appeals seat escaped a challenge alleging he lied about living in Atlanta, with a state judge finding that the challenge was moot on Friday because the election had already occurred and the results were certified.
-
June 07, 2024
6th Circ. Finds Ethical Lapses Justify Bar On Firm's Outreach
The Sixth Circuit said Thursday a Michigan federal judge shouldn't have faulted a law firm for attacking a proposed tax foreclosure class-action settlement in solicitation letters, but nevertheless upheld the judge's order barring contact with certain class members because of the firm's actual ethical lapses.
-
June 07, 2024
Judge Agrees To DQ Houston Firm In Fight Over MMA Law
A Texas bankruptcy judge sided with troubled Houston firm MMA Law and agreed this week that another Houston firm, Okin Adams Bartlett Curry LLP, had received confidential information from MMA Law and should be disqualified from representing its creditors.
Expert Analysis
-
Opinion
Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.
-
Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy
Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.
-
How Cognizant Bribery Case Could Shape DOJ Investigations
A case playing out in New Jersey federal court – U.S. v. Coburn, involving bribery charges against former Cognizant executives – will examine when a company’s cooperation becomes an outsourced investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, and could potentially limit the government’s use of certain evidence, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
-
SEC May Be Regulating By Enforcement With Atty Actions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent high-profile actions against Covington and Frost & Miller show the agency is taking "regulation by enforcement" to a new arena — attorney misconduct — despite having a never-used rule on the books at its disposal, say attorneys at Tarter Krinsky.
-
What Associates Need To Know Before Switching Law Firms
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The days of staying at the same firm for the duration of one's career are mostly a thing of the past as lateral moves by lawyers are commonplace, but there are several obstacles that associates should consider before making a move, say attorneys at HWG.
-
A Case For Sharing Mediation Statements With Counterparties
In light of a potential growing mediation trend of only submitting statements to the mediator, litigants should think critically about the pros and cons of exchanging statements with opposing parties as it could boost the chances of reaching a settlement, says Arthur Eidelhoch at Eidelhoch Mediation.
-
Ethics Lessons From Outside Counsel Plotline In 'Succession'
A Season 3 storyline from “Succession,” featuring an outside counsel's ham-handed missteps, provides ethics lessons for white collar defense lawyers, especially in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent corporate enforcement policy shifts, says Megan McDermott at the University of Wisconsin.
-
Preparing For Legal Scrutiny Of Data Retention Policies
Two recent cases involving Google and Meta should serve as a call to action for companies to ensure their data retention policies are updated and properly implemented to the degree of being able to withstand judicial scrutiny, especially as more data is generated by emerging technologies, say Jack Kallus and Labeed Choudhry at Kaufman Dolowich.
-
Opinion
Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI
National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.
-
Use Caution In Cases Involving Illegal Images Of Minors
In cases where underage victims of sexual assault and abuse have been coerced into sharing nude or sexual images, attorneys representing abuse survivors must understand the strict protocols that regulate the handling of such illegal images, while taking care to protect essential evidence, says Michelle Simpson Tuegel at Simpson Tuegel.
-
Data-Driven Insights Are Key To Attracting Today's Clients
As law firm growth slows and competition for clients increases, modern firms must rely on robust data analytics to develop the sector-based expertise and industry insights that clients increasingly prioritize in relationships with counsel, says Lavinia Calvert at Intapp.
-
Ghosting In BigLaw: Why Better Feedback Habits Are Needed
Not giving assignments or constructive criticism to junior associates can significantly affect their performance and hours, potentially leading them to leave the firm, but partners can prevent this by asking the right questions and creating a culture of feedback, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.
-
Calif. Ruling Adds Employer Considerations On Email Policies
Following a California appellate court's recent decision disqualifying an attorney in Militello v. VFarm 1509, companies should take steps to explicitly inform employees of email monitoring, as it could affect the admissibility of email evidence if a dispute arises, say Shawn Ogle and David Sarfati at Atkinson Andelson.
-
Rebuttal
Law Needs A Balance Between Humanism And Formalism
A recent Law360 guest article rightly questions the pretextual pseudo-originalism that permits ideology to masquerade as judicial philosophy, but the cure would kill the patient because directness, simplicity and humanness are achievable without renouncing form or sacrificing stare decisis, says Vanessa Kubota at the Arizona Court of Appeals.
-
How The Circuit Split Over CFPB Funding May Play Out
The Second Circuit created a circuit split last month when it found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution and clashed with the Fifth Circuit's holding that the CFPB itself is unconstitutional, but the U.S. Supreme Court may find a middle ground, say Andrew Braunstein and Casey Howard at Locke Lord.