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Legal Ethics
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August 05, 2024
Nondisclosure Led To 'Apparent Bias' In Nigeria Oil Case
A London court has ordered a tribunal to reconsider an arbitral award issued in a $2 billion case over a funding deal for Nigerian oil fields, ruling that a since-replaced arbitrator had wrongly failed to reveal the total extent of her relationship with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
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August 05, 2024
New Colo. Chief Justice Angles For More Judges
Colorado Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez said Monday she is preparing to ask state lawmakers for more money to expand the state court bench, including possible additions to the intermediate court of appeals, which a National Center for State Courts report found is understaffed.
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August 05, 2024
Trustee Seeks Quick Clawback From Guo Ch. 11 Attys
The Chapter 11 trustee for the bankruptcy of Chinese exile Miles Guo has asked a Connecticut bankruptcy judge to issue an early judgment in an adversary proceeding that seeks to recover nearly $243,000 in legal fees paid by Guo to attorneys with Zeisler & Zeisler PC, the firm that represents Guo and his daughter.
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August 05, 2024
Deficient Defense Warrants New Trial, Mich. Panel Says
A split Michigan appellate panel has given a second chance at trial to a man accused of evading and resisting arrest, with judges finding his defense counsel was deficient in his first trial — failing to object to prosecutors' presentation of an unredacted warrant and assertion he is "a criminal."
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August 05, 2024
Girardi's Defense May Stand On His Deteriorating Mind
Although a federal judge ruled disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi mentally competent to stand trial this month for wire fraud, the 85-year-old's defense team may use his dementia diagnosis to attack prosecutors' allegations he knowingly and intentionally stole millions of dollars from his clients, experts said.
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August 05, 2024
NJ Firm Wants Fees Award To 2nd Firm Tossed In Crash Case
Nagel Rice LLP is hoping to toss an arbitration award of $56,250 in attorney fees to its clients' former lawyers at Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari for their work related to a fatal school bus crash, saying the arbitrator didn't comply with New Jersey law in making his decision.
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August 05, 2024
Dems Unearth Another Thomas Trip Paid For By Harlan Crow
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took a previously undisclosed trip between Hawaii and New Zealand on a billionaire Republican donor's private jet in 2010, lawmakers revealed in a letter Monday that offered the donor a "final opportunity" to explain how that trip and others don't constitute a tax fraud scheme.
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August 05, 2024
Jackson Walker, Ex-Judge Could Face Sanctions Over Chat
A Texas bankruptcy court is demanding answers and threatening sanctions over an "off-the-record" interview between former bankruptcy judge David R. Jones and attorneys for Jackson Walker LLP, in the midst of a federal investigation into Jones' secret romantic relationship with a onetime Jackson Walker attorney.
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August 05, 2024
Ex-GC Says Steakhouse Chain Can't Ax Or Arbitrate Bias Suit
A former general counsel at steakhouse chain Palm Management is asking a New York federal judge not to toss her lawsuit or force her into arbitration, calling the arbitration clause in her employment agreement "unenforceable due to unconscionability based on the content of the clause."
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August 05, 2024
Meet The Attorneys In Tom Girardi's Criminal Fraud Trial
When Tom Girardi's criminal fraud trial gets underway this week, the notorious disbarred attorney will be facing a team of seasoned federal prosecutors who've convicted several former Los Angeles City Council members, a sitting U.S. congressman, insider traders, Ponzi schemers and con artists who bilked millions from their victims.
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August 05, 2024
The 'No Nonsense' Calif. Judge Overseeing Girardi's Trial
The California federal judge who will preside over the closely watched criminal trial of disgraced attorney Tom Girardi is a veteran jurist who runs a tight ship, but is also known for being extraordinarily thorough and thoughtful.
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August 05, 2024
What To Watch Out For During Girardi's Trial
With evidence of allegedly stolen millions and attempted escapes to the Bahamas taking center stage, disgraced attorney Tom Girardi's criminal trial is set to begin Tuesday at the murky intersection of client theft and TV celebrity, where attorneys will grapple with novel legal issues like the use of evidence from a bankruptcy trustee.
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August 04, 2024
DOD Yanks Plea Deals With 9/11 'Mastermind,' 2 Accomplices
U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has killed plea agreements reached last week that would have spared the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. and two other defendants the death penalty.
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August 02, 2024
Split 2nd Circ. Orders Partial Redo In Docs', Attys' Injury Scam
A divided Second Circuit panel on Friday upheld the convictions of three men who recruited patients for a more than $31 million trip-and-fall fraud scam that personal injury lawyers and doctors orchestrated, but remanded the case for further findings on the number of bogus accidents involved in the scheme.
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August 02, 2024
Wolverine, Travelers Drop Coverage Claims Over PFAS Suits
Footwear company Wolverine and various Travelers units have agreed to end their coverage battle over underlying lawsuits accusing the company of injuring individuals through its leather tannery operations and exposing individuals to so-called forever chemicals, the parties told a Michigan federal court.
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August 02, 2024
Bid To Get Ex-Judge Jones' Phone Records Blocked, For Now
A Texas judge has temporarily barred JCPenney's bankruptcy administrator from accessing former Judge David R. Jones' cellphone records amid the scandal involving his concealed romantic relationship with an ex-Jackson Walker LLP partner and firm fees he approved in various cases, including JCPenney's bankruptcy.
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August 02, 2024
Fla. Atty Cops To Attempted DC Bombing, Explosion In Texas
A Florida criminal defense attorney pled guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from an attempted bombing outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., in 2023 and the bombing of a satirical sculpture of communist leaders in San Antonio, Texas, in 2022.
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August 02, 2024
Cognizant Bribery Trial Delayed Again — Until 2025
Trial in a five-year-old case alleging two former Cognizant executives authorized a bribe to a government official in India has been delayed again, this time by six months, so prosecutors can complete necessary depositions in that country, according to a federal court order handed down Friday.
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August 02, 2024
Mich. Judge DQ'd Over 'Disdain' Of Ineffective-Counsel Claims
A Michigan state judge showed bias in favoring a criminal defendant's trial counsel who had previously clerked for the court, a state appeals court found Thursday, disqualifying the judge from presiding over the defendant's ineffective-assistance of counsel hearing.
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August 02, 2024
St. Louis Attys Can't Get Acquittal In $4M Tax Avoidance Case
Two Missouri-based attorneys, a father and daughter duo found guilty of participating in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme, will not be granted a new trial or an acquittal, despite their assertions that a number of errors tainted their trial, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Friday.
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August 02, 2024
Defamation, Assault Suit Among Ex-Atty Colleagues Trimmed
A Pennsylvania federal judge this week tossed part of a former Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP attorney's defamation suit against two former colleagues, saying the statements the colleagues made about his actions were found credible by a Delaware court when it confirmed a protection for abuse order.
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August 02, 2024
Manhattan DA Slams Trump's 'Regurgitated' Recusal Bid
The Manhattan district attorney pilloried Donald Trump's renewed request for the judge overseeing his hush money case to recuse himself, branding it a "regurgitated" attempt to rehash issues the court already decided without any new facts — besides Kamala Harris' presidential bid.
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August 02, 2024
Ex-Lewis Brisbois Partner's Pay Bias Suit Sent To Arbitration
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP can arbitrate its former partner's gender discrimination suit claiming she was retaliated against for raising concerns about the firm's "unethical billing practices," a California state court judge ruled Friday, staying the entire case pending arbitration.
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August 02, 2024
Prosecutors To Remain On Young Thug Trial, Judge Rules
Two of the prosecutors in the long-running gang trial of rapper Young Thug will be allowed to stay on the case over defense attorneys' objections that they should be disqualified for their role in a secret meeting with the trial's former judge, the case's new presider ruled Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Lewis Brisbois Slams RICO Claims Alleging 'Sham' Suits
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has urged a California federal judge Tuesday to toss Chinese investors' accusations that its attorneys filed lawsuits to cover their failure to read "draconian" contract terms that led the investors to lose their $92.5 million stake in a $2.5 billion Los Angeles mixed-used development.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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What Panama Canal Award Ruling Means For Int'l Arbitration
As the prevalence of international arbitration grows, the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Grupo Unidos v. Canal de Panama may change how practitioners decide what remedies to seek and where to raise them if claims are rejected, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats
Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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Alleged $636M Deal Error Highlights Ethics Considerations
Adelman v. Proskauer, a malpractice suit that allegedly arose from a cut-and-paste error resulting in potential damages of $636 million, presents an intriguing juxtaposition of facts and legal issues — and practical ethical considerations for transactions attorneys, says Richard Leisner at Trenam Law.
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5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices
The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.
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Alleged $636M Deal Error Shows Value Of Old-School Methods
Though Proskauer Rose has now settled claims involving a copy-paste error in deal documents that could have resulted in $636 million in damages, the debacle reminds attorneys that classic revision methods using paper copies can help avoid drafting errors and actually save time in the long run, says Richard Leisner at Trenam.
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Twitter Sanction Highlights Privacy Law's Complexity
The D.C. Circuit's recent decision to uphold a sanction against X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, for failing to produce account records in response to a subpoena highlights the importance of understanding the Stored Communications Act, particularly when deciding to produce or not produce data, says Cary Aronovitz at Holland & Knight.
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Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees
The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.