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Legal Ethics
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October 17, 2024
Atty Who Repped Rodney King To Plead Guilty To Tax Evasion
An attorney who represented Rodney King in a civil case against the city of Los Angeles after King was severely beaten by police agreed Thursday to plead guilty to tax evasion in return for the government dropping other charges.
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October 17, 2024
Fla. Supreme Court Suspends Atty Over 'Punitive' Fee Hike
A Florida attorney has been suspended from practicing law for a year after he lashed out at a client by sending a new bill for $126,650 — a figure derived by retroactively jacking up his rates more than fourfold for a year of legal work, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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October 17, 2024
No Privilege For Drug Discount Co. Accused Of Faking Deal
A Colorado federal judge held Wednesday that he saw probable cause that a drug discounter hired an attorney with the intent to commit fraud, ordering that company to disclose privileged documents in a lawsuit alleging it faked an acquisition to dupe an Illinois-based pharmacy benefit company into paying higher commissions.
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October 17, 2024
Health Co. Must Face State Farm Settlement Interpretation Suit
An automobile-accident-focused healthcare company can't escape State Farm's lawsuit claiming the facility breached a settlement agreement by failing to drop hundreds of personal injury protection suits, a Florida federal court ruled.
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October 17, 2024
Ex-Posner Staffer Can't DQ Magistrate Judge In Salary Suit
A former staffer for retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner's now-defunct pro se clinic can't disqualify the magistrate judge on his $170,000 suit because disagreements over the judge's orders aren't enough to prove bias and favoritism, an Indiana federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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October 17, 2024
DQ'd Atty Says It Was Wrong To Boot Her From Dominion Suit
An attorney barred from defending former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in a defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems implored a D.C. federal judge during a Thursday hearing to allow her back on the case, insisting that a magistrate judge was wrong to disqualify her.
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October 17, 2024
Firm, Nonprofits Say Free Speech Bars Ex-Yale Student's Suit
An expelled Yale University student's defamation claims against a Michigan law firm and nonprofit organizations over a rejected amicus brief suggesting he committed rape must be axed because the contents are constitutionally protected, the defendants told a Connecticut state court Wednesday.
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October 17, 2024
Seyfarth Hit With $8M Suit For Botched Wage Class Settlement
Seyfarth Shaw LLP owes a physician practice almost $8 million for negligently removing hundreds of the practice's employees from a list of those entitled to part of a $4.9 million wage and hour settlement, costing the practice another $3.6 million to correct the mistake, according to a California suit.
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October 17, 2024
Philly Atty Gets 4-Year Ban Over Botched Civil Rights Case
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has suspended a Philadelphia-based solo practitioner for four years after determining he spent 10 years communicating with a client about a civil rights case despite having failed to ever file a complaint in the matter.
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October 17, 2024
Ex-Defender Returns To 4th Circ. With Sex Bias Case
A former North Carolina public defender appealed her bias case against the judiciary to the Fourth Circuit for a second time after a North Carolina federal judge refused to reconsider his ruling that she did not provide adequate notice to her ex-employer before filing suit.
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October 17, 2024
NJ Atty Disbarred On Charges Of Stealing Over $600K
A New Jersey attorney accused of stealing over $600,000 from several clients through fraudulent real estate transactions over the last 10 years has been disbarred in New Jersey state and federal court.
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October 17, 2024
NJ Judge Shakes Ethics Charges Over Aide's Remote Work
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed ethics charges against a judge accused of improperly letting his secretary work remotely, a move he called an "honest mistake" rooted in his belief that he was authorized to make that kind of working arrangement.
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October 16, 2024
NH Justice Indicted For Interfering With Criminal Probe
The New Hampshire Department of Justice announced Wednesday that New Hampshire Supreme Court Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi has been indicted on charges she tried to interfere with a criminal investigation focusing on her husband, the director of the New Hampshire Division of Ports and Harbors.
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October 16, 2024
Garth Brooks Says Rape Accuser Already Revealed Herself
Country music star Garth Brooks on Wednesday urged a Mississippi federal court to reject a hair and makeup artist's request that he be sanctioned for publicly revealing her identity out of spite after she accused him of rape, arguing that she already agreed to use her name in the litigation.
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October 16, 2024
Nike Still Owes Fees In 'Cool Compression' TM Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday ruled for a second time that Nike is on the hook for legal fees in a trademark lawsuit after the Third Circuit ordered him to take a closer look at the details of the case to determine if the outcome was truly "exceptional."
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October 16, 2024
Ex-Davis Polk Atty Drops Appeal Of Bias Verdict Loss
A former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP associate on Tuesday dropped his appeal of a jury verdict clearing the firm and two lawyers of liability in a suit alleging he was fired in retaliation for airing concerns about racial bias and diversity.
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October 16, 2024
NY State Judge Says He's Immune In Tribe's Eviction Suit
A New York state judge has urged a federal court to throw out a Cayuga Nation lawsuit accusing him of interfering with the tribe's sovereign authority as it looks to evict two tribal members from properties on reservation land, saying he is immune from the suit.
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October 16, 2024
Record Labels Seek Sanctions For Claim They Aided Combs
Music companies on Wednesday urged a Manhattan federal judge to sanction an attorney for pursuing what they called "outrageous" claims that they supported Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex- and drug-fueled "freak offs."
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October 16, 2024
Mich. Panel Sinks Inventor's Atty Malpractice Appeal
A Michigan appellate panel has held that the inventor of a swim training device did not prove he would have built a successful custom swim paddle business had his attorney secured him a patent, affirming the dismissal of a legal malpractice suit against the inventor's patent attorney and firm.
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October 16, 2024
Justices Won't Review Tax Scam Co-Conspirator's Sentence
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the more than eight-year prison sentence for one of the men who conspired with a Canfield, Ohio defense attorney to perpetrate a tax refund scam that defrauded the U.S. Internal Revenue Service out of $1.3 million.
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October 16, 2024
Ex-Alderman Can't End Supervised Release For Tax Crime
A former Chicago alderman and attorney who was convicted of tax evasion cannot terminate his court-ordered supervised release, an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday.
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October 16, 2024
Trump Mostly Denied 'Speculative' Jan. 6 Document Bids
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday largely denied Donald Trump's request for documents from a slew of federal agencies as he defends against election interference charges, calling the motion mostly "speculation."
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October 16, 2024
Giuliani Says Ga. Poll Workers Can't Go After His Fla. Condo
Disgraced ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani told a New York federal court Wednesday that two Georgia poll workers cannot force a sale of his Florida condominium to help cover their $148 million defamation award against him because the property is his permanent residence and thus is shielded under a "homestead" exemption.
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October 16, 2024
Ex-Jones Day Attys' Parental Leave Suit Gets 2025 Trial Date
Two former Jones Day associates challenging the firm's family leave policy will go to trial in late 2025 after a D.C. federal judge allowed certain claims in the lawsuit to move forward.
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October 16, 2024
Ex-Judge Aims To Shield Bank Records In Romance Probe
A former U.S. bankruptcy judge is hoping to sink a subpoena from the U.S. Trustee's Office for his banking records in connection with its inquiry into his concealed romantic relationship with a former Jackson Walker LLP partner who appeared before him in a number of cases.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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Opinion
Guardrails Needed Against Politically Motivated Atty Discipline
As illustrated by revelations about disbarred attorney Tom Girardi’s influence, there is a need to revamp attorney discipline to protect the public, but any reforms to misconduct rules must also consider how bar-directed disciplinary hearings are increasingly used as a political weapon, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Groundbreaking Nev. Law May Alter Insurance Landscape
The Nevada Legislature recently passed a law prohibiting insurers from issuing liability policies with eroding limits provisions that has the potential to create massive shifts in the marketplace — and specifically in areas like professional liability, cyber, and directors and officers insurance, says Will Bennett at Saxe Doernberger.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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Durham Hearing Shows Common Cross-Examination Errors
Trial attorneys can glean several key cross-examination lessons from the mistakes made by several members of the U.S. House of Representatives during a recent hearing on special counsel John Durham’s FBI probe, say Luke Andrews and Asha Laskar at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
When Corporate Self-Disclosure Threatens Individuals' Rights
The prosecution of former Cognizant executives in New Jersey federal court demonstrates how the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate enforcement policy can contravene the constitutional rights of individual defendants who are employed by cooperating companies, says Gideon Mark at the University of Maryland.
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Pitfalls Of Attorney AI Use In Brief Prep Has Judges On Alert
Some lawyers are attempting to leverage generative artificial intelligence as a brief drafting tool, which may serve to greatly reduce the burden of motion practice, but several recent cases show that generative AI is not perfect and blind reliance on this tool can be very risky, say Matthew Nigriny and John Gary Maynard at Hunton.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.
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Insurance Coverage For ChatGPT Legal Fiasco: A Hypothetical
William Passannante at Anderson Kill draws on the recent case of an attorney sanctioned by the Southern District of New York for submitting a ChatGPT-authored brief to discuss what the insurance coverage for the attorney's hypothetical claim might look like.
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Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification
With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.
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Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled
In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.
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Handling Hostile Depositions: Keep Calm And Make A Record
When depositions turn contentious, attorneys should, among other strategies, maintain a professional demeanor and note any objectionable conduct on the record, thereby increasing chances of a favorable outcome for the client while preserving the integrity of the legal process, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.
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5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World
As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.