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Legal Ethics
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June 03, 2024
Trump's NY Gag Orders Likely Lifted With Verdict
Despite claims by former President Donald Trump that he is still limited in what he can say about jurors and witnesses following his guilty verdict, the gag orders imposed on him likely evaporated at the end of the Manhattan trial, lifting a threat of further contempt if he goes on the attack ahead of his sentencing this summer.
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June 03, 2024
4 Mass. Rulings You Might Have Missed In May
Massachusetts state court judges rejected a law firm's effort to fight malpractice claims by pointing the finger at a Rhode Island judge, and ruled that an online booking platform can boot the owner of Bali vacation villas from its site, among other under-the-radar decisions handed down in May.
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June 03, 2024
Title Insurer Says Ga. Firm Must Repay $158K For Deed Error
A title insurance company said a Georgia law firm must reimburse it $158,000 for negligently issuing a title insurance policy on a real estate closing, telling a Georgia federal court that it is entitled to contractual and common law indemnity for its losses.
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June 03, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Delaware's Court of Chancery pushed out tons of decisions last week, along with a second round of new rules and letters of concern over pending changes to the state's corporate law code. The court's docket was as busy as ever, with new cases involving Tesla CEO Elon Musk, FTX cryptocurrency claims, and more. In case you missed it, here's the latest from Delaware's Chancery Court.
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June 03, 2024
Lawyer Sues Ex, Attys After $30K Law School Loan Judgment
A Florida employment lawyer's onetime romantic partner and her attorneys conspired with a Wells Fargo consultant to concoct a phony and vexatious lawsuit against him amid a fight over his student loan payments and child visitation rights, according to a lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court.
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June 03, 2024
Bid To Disqualify Firm In Hawaii Warehouse Suit Denied
A Hawaii federal magistrate judge has denied a bid to disqualify McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP from representing Schulte Building Systems in litigation accusing the manufacturer of producing shoddy steel components for certain agricultural warehouses in Oahu.
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June 03, 2024
Standards Are Murky As Legal Employers Vet Protesters
As violence in Gaza rages on, law firms have vowed not to employ lawyers whose activism for Palestinian rights they deem unacceptable. But "unacceptable" is in the eye of the beholder, and that makes it difficult for law students and lawyers who advocate for a ceasefire to navigate the workplace and the job market.
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June 03, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court May Hear Trump-Willis DQ Fight On Oct. 4
The Georgia Court of Appeals has set a tentative date of Oct. 4 to hear arguments from former President Donald Trump's lawyers that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from his election interference case over her personal relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
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June 03, 2024
Tubi Accuses Keller Postman Of Filing Frivolous Arbitrations
Streaming service company Tubi Inc. is going after a plaintiffs firm in Washington, D.C., federal court, alleging it has engaged in a mass arbitration scheme in which the firm has filed more than 23,000 allegedly frivolous or fraudulent demands for arbitration in attempts to force the company to settle.
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June 03, 2024
3rd Circ. Backs Bad Subpoena Sanction In Race, Sex Bias Suit
The Third Circuit has upheld a $6,720 fee sanction against a New Jersey attorney for serving an intentionally misleading subpoena while representing a Garden State management company against federal race and sex bias claims.
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June 03, 2024
Law Firm Faces Sanctions Bid For Happy Meal 'Extortion' Suit
McDonald's has urged a Florida federal court to sanction Fischer Redavid PLLC and its clients for bringing a recently dismissed lawsuit seeking a warning on Happy Meal containers, accusing them of trying to extort the company for a bigger payout after securing an $800,000 jury verdict in a related case for the second-degree burns suffered by a girl from a dangerously hot Chicken McNugget.
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June 03, 2024
Tax Crime Lacked 'Meeting Of Minds' With Atty, 5th Circ. Told
A Houston personal injury attorney told the Fifth Circuit on Monday that prosecutors didn't provide enough evidence at trial to show that he intentionally planned to help another lawyer evade federal income taxes as he pushed the court to vacate his conviction for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar ambulance-chasing kickback scheme.
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June 03, 2024
Atty May Face Suspension In State Street Billing Row
A Massachusetts disciplinary committee has recommended a six-month suspension for the former managing partner of Thornton Law Firm LLP for his alleged neglect in signing an inflated attorney fees declaration in a class action against State Street.
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June 01, 2024
Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide
As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.
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May 31, 2024
Girardi Not Famous Like Avenatti, Feds Say In Panning Jury Form
Prosecutors pushed back Friday on Tom Girardi's request to ask prospective jurors in his California federal fraud trial if they have seen his wife's television show or reports about his law firm's scandal, saying Girardi's fame is not similar to convicted attorney Michael Avenatti's, whose case included a written juror questionnaire.
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May 31, 2024
NY Trump Verdict May Make Finding Ga. Jurors Harder
Former President Donald Trump's felony conviction in New York could make the already daunting task of finding fair and impartial jurors to serve on the jury in the Georgia election interference case even more difficult when it reaches trial, legal experts told Law360 on Friday.
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May 31, 2024
Orrick's $8M Deal To End Data Breach Claims Nears Prelim OK
A California federal judge indicated Friday that she'll preliminarily approve Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's $8 million deal to end putative class claims over a 2023 data breach that purportedly exposed personal information for 638,000 individuals, but said the "very broad" scope of the settlement's release "raised my eyebrows."
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May 31, 2024
Class Wants Holland & Hart Deposed Over Discovery Lapses
A Washington consumer bringing a class action against High 5 Games is seeking to depose the company's defense team, accusing its employees and attorneys of a "years-long campaign of discovery misconduct" that hid records showing the game seller targeted gambling addicts for profit on its social casino apps deceptively marketed as free-to-play.
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May 31, 2024
Venezuela Can't DQ Special Master As Citgo Auction Looms
Venezuela has again fallen short in its efforts to disqualify the special master overseeing the auction of Citgo's parent company to satisfy billions of dollars worth of the country's debt, after a Delaware judge ruled on Friday afternoon that its motivations behind the motion are "suspect."
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May 31, 2024
Ore. Watchdog Says Open Discipline Makes 'Stronger' Attys
An Oregon attorney watchdog group said Friday that the state's radical transparency in attorney disciplinary proceedings makes for "stronger lawyers," arguing largely open access to records and trials has combated misconceptions that regulators are there to protect lawyers.
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May 31, 2024
Edelson Calls Coach's Attack On Abuse Suit 'Meritless'
Edelson PC is urging a Cook County judge to toss a lawsuit from youth volleyball coach Rick Butler and his volleyball club looking to hold the firm liable for lodging allegedly "bogus" sex-abuse claims against the coach, calling it a "meritless" attempt to rehash their failed federal sanctions bid.
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May 31, 2024
How Trump's Hush Money Sentencing Could Get 'Dicey'
Now convicted of nearly three dozen felonies, former President Donald Trump must move through the machinery of the New York state court system's sentencing process, which involves sitting down for an interview with a probation officer and a chance to directly address a judge he's called biased and "corrupt."
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May 31, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA Transfers Freed, Atty Plays Cards Right
In this week's Off the Bench, the NCAA agrees to more historic rule changes while experts examine its post-House settlement future, and a patent lawyer looks back at his transformation into a poker champion.
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May 31, 2024
Trump's New York Prosecutors Called To House Hearing
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, demanded on Friday that Manhattan prosecutors appear for a hearing on June 13 on the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, who was convicted on Thursday of 34 felonies.
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May 31, 2024
Mich. Atty Used Carhartt Heiress As 'ATM,' Jury Told
A Michigan attorney never intended to pay back millions of dollars that he lent himself from his wealthy client's irrevocable trust, state prosecutors told a Detroit jury Friday, and instead used the Carhartt heiress's failing health to create his own business empire.
Expert Analysis
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Thorny Legal Issues Surround NY Prosecutor's Trump Tell-All
As the Manhattan district attorney's office empanels a grand jury in its ongoing Donald Trump investigation, it is seeking to pause publication of a book by former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz that focuses on Trump's indictment — an unusual situation that raises issues of prejudice, contractual responsibility and legal ethics, says John Harris at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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5 Ways Attorneys Can Use Emotion In Client Pitches
Lawyers are skilled at using their high emotional intelligence to build rapport with clients, so when planning your next pitch, consider how you can create some emotional peaks, personal connections and moments of magic that might help you stick in prospective clients' minds and seal the deal, says consultant Diana Kander.
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5 Keys To A Productive Mediation
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Cortney Young at ADR Partners discusses factors that can help to foster success in mediation, including scheduling, preparation, managing client expectations and more.
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Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion
Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.
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Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Highlight Attorney Ethics Issues
Recently released transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee demonstrate that there is always a lurking conflict when someone other than the client is paying the fee, and that disclosure must therefore be painstaking and extensive, says Steven Lubet at Northwestern University.
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7 Tips To Increase Your Law Firm's DEI Efforts In 2023
Law firms looking to advance their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts should consider implementing new practices and initiatives this year, including some that require nominal additional effort or expense, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Gina Rubel at Furia Rubel.
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Series
Keys To A 9-0 High Court Win: Get Back To Home Base
When I argued for the petitioner in Morgan v. Sundance before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, I made the idea of consistency the cornerstone of my case and built a road map for my argument to ensure I could always return to that home-base theme, says Karla Gilbride at Public Justice.
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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5 Gen X Characteristics That Can Boost Legal Leadership
As Generation X attorneys rise to fill top roles in law firms and corporations left by retiring baby boomers, they should embrace generational characteristics that will allow them to become better legal leaders, says Meredith Kahan at Whiteford Taylor.
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6 Questions For Boutique Firms Considering Mergers
To prepare for discussions with potential merger partners, boutique law firms should first consider the challenges they hope to address with a merger and the qualities they prioritize in possible partner firms, say Howard Cohl and Ron Nye at Major Lindsey.
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Del. Justices' Reversal Of Boardwalk Award May Apply Widely
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Boardwalk Pipeline v. Bandera Master Fund decision that a general partner wasn't liable for willful misconduct is likely to have wide applicability for noncorporate entities, which courts are unlikely to view as entitled to more protection than Boardwalk's public unit holders, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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5 Tips For Adding Value To Legal Clients' Experience In 2023
Faced with a potential economic downturn this year, attorneys should look to strengthen client relationships now by focusing on key ways to improve the client experience, starting with a check-in call to discuss client needs and priorities for the coming year, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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6 Ways To Avoid Compounding Errors When Practicing Law
For lawyers and law firms, inevitable human error can lead to claims of malpractice or ethical violations, but the key is to avoid exacerbating mistakes by adding communication failures, conflicts of interest or insurance coverage losses, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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What Will Keep Legal Talent Professionals Up At Night In 2023
Hybrid work environments, high demand for lateral hires and a potential slowdown of the economy defined 2022 in the always-busy marketplace for legal talent, and as BigLaw looks at the year ahead, there are five major sources of concern for the teams charged with securing and retaining that talent, say advisers at Baretz+Brunelle.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from the "great resignation" to potential expansion of attorney-client privilege.