Legal Ethics

  • May 12, 2025

    Ex-California Court Commissioner Scolded For Texting Parties

    A former California state court commissioner has been publicly reprimanded for engaging in unsolicited communications with several of the litigants who appeared before him, both in person and by text, according to an order Friday.

  • May 12, 2025

    Police Can't Axe Game Co. Subpoena In Eckert Seamans Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday rejected the Pennsylvania State Police's bid to completely avoid a subpoena from a skill games company suing Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC for an alleged conflict of interest, but noted that the department raised legitimate concerns about the subpoena's scope.

  • May 12, 2025

    Bradley Arant Faces DQ Bid In Georgia Mall Rent Dispute

    A mall has urged a Georgia federal judge to disqualify Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP from representing a tenant in an unpaid rent dispute, arguing that the law firm has a conflict of interest because it has represented the mall's sister corporation in similar litigation.

  • May 12, 2025

    Lowenstein Wins Bid To Combine Dispensary Suits In NJ

    A New Jersey state judge agreed Monday to Lowenstein Sandler LLP's request to have a pair of cases related to a dispute between the firm and a local cannabis dispensary consolidated.

  • May 12, 2025

    MSG Blames Microsoft Glitch For Missing Emails In Court

    Madison Square Garden has urged a New York federal judge to reject former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley's motion for spoliation sanctions amid his assault suit, arguing missing emails were lost due to a Microsoft glitch, and that Oakley did not suffer prejudice because key evidence had been preserved through other sources.

  • May 12, 2025

    Texas Justices Say Nursing Home Can Appeal $7.1M Verdict

    The Texas Supreme Court has revived a nursing home's appeal of a $7.1 million injury verdict in favor of one of its employees, saying the nursing home has shown that it did not have actual notice of the judgment and is entitled to an extension to the filing deadline.

  • May 09, 2025

    Fla. Judge Facing Ethics Charges For Sharing Fake Recording

    A judge in Broward County, Florida, has been charged for publicly sharing a fabricated, "likely" artificial intelligence-generated recording of a chief judge disparaging another judge in the midst of her 2024 campaign for reelection, according to a notice filed Friday.

  • May 09, 2025

    Diddy Wasn't Targeted Due To His Race, NY Judge Rules

    A New York federal judge refused Friday to toss charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs, rejecting the hip-hop mogul's contention that federal prosecutors targeted him in a racketeering and sex trafficking suit for being Black.

  • May 09, 2025

    FTC Says Amazon Hid Doc Calling Bezos 'Dark Arts Officer'

    The Federal Trade Commission has urged a Seattle federal court to impose punitive sanctions on Amazon in the commission's lawsuit accusing the e-commerce giant of trapping consumers into Prime subscriptions, saying Amazon withheld tens of thousands of documents in bad faith by baselessly claiming the documents were privileged.

  • May 09, 2025

    IP Atty Referred To Disciplinary Panel For Paralegal's Error

    A California federal magistrate judge referred beleaguered patent attorney William Ramey to a disciplinary committee for potential sanctions over his alleged "pattern" of filing pro hac vice requests with inaccuracies, even after a paralegal swore under oath that she misread the pro hac vice form and repeatedly made the mistake.

  • May 09, 2025

    Pa. Top Court Snapshot: Cap & Trade, Prosecutor Power

    The scope of powers held by the Pennsylvania governor, the attorney general, and state and local utility authorities will take center stage in Harrisburg when the state Supreme Court convenes for its May session.

  • May 09, 2025

    Feds Rebut Disclosure Delay Claims In Crypto Mixer Case

    Federal prosecutors on Friday fired back at claims they suppressed evidence from the indicted co-founder of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet, arguing they went beyond what was required when they recently disclosed an "informal conversation" where Treasury employees cast doubt on one of the subsequent charges.

  • May 09, 2025

    Calif. Bar Seeks Provisional Licenses And More For Exam Snafu

    California Bar trustees voted on Friday to ask the state Supreme Court to grant provisional licenses to the hundreds of applicants who did not pass the tumultuous February bar exam, which was rife with technical, proctoring and procedural issues.

  • May 09, 2025

    Motive Pushes Back At New-Trial Bid In Fleet Monitoring IP Fight

    A fleet management company has hit back at arguments that it relied on making "improper religious and racial insinuations" to a jury to beat a rival's infringement claims, saying nothing that happened in the case warrants a new trial.

  • May 09, 2025

    Florida Atty Loses Law School Loan Appeal In Connecticut

    A Connecticut state appeals court backed a lower court decision on Friday that said a Florida attorney must repay $30,000 to his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, a woman whom a state trial court said "unwisely cosigned" on his law school loans and made payments on them.

  • May 09, 2025

    Denver Injury Firm Sued Over Losses In Car Accident Suit

    A Colorado woman is suing a Denver personal injury firm in state court, alleging one of its former lawyers missed deadlines and failed to keep her informed in a car accident lawsuit, resulting in the judge striking all of her claims for ongoing and future medical costs.

  • May 09, 2025

    Souter's Clerks Remember Him As Humble, Kind And Caring

    Former clerks of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter are heartbroken over the death of a man many of them remember more for his conscientiousness, humility, kindness and disdain for the spotlight than for his undeniable brilliance as a jurist.

  • May 09, 2025

    AG Fights Ex-Immigration Judge's Disability Bias Claim In Fla.

    U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Friday on a former immigration judge's bid for a disability discrimination ruling in her favor, telling a Florida federal court that her requested transfer wasn't approved since there were no vacancies in her desired Orlando court during her tenure.

  • May 09, 2025

    More BigLaw Partners Back Jenner & Block In EO Suit

    The number of BigLaw partners publicly backing litigation against the federal government over executive orders targeting firms continues to grow, as a group representing more than 800 partners and members of major U.S. law firms has filed an amicus brief in support of Jenner & Block.

  • May 09, 2025

    Law Firms Sued For Malpractice In NJ Over Ice Cream Venture

    A Florida doctor has launched a legal malpractice suit against Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP, Fox Rothschild LLP and a number of attorneys, including one described as a "lifelong trusted friend," in New Jersey state court alleging they cost him over $3 million by mishandling an ice cream business project.

  • May 09, 2025

    Lucosky Brookman Faces Malpractice Suit Over NYC Site Sale

    Lucosky Brookman LLP, a boutique corporate finance and securities firm, was hit with a malpractice suit in New Jersey state court by a former client alleging the firm failed to warn it about a decades-old agreement that would restrict its ability to build on a New York City site.

  • May 09, 2025

    Chicago Firm Converted $500K Owed To Creditor, Suit Says

    Chicago-based Johnson & Bell LLP has been sued in Illinois federal court by a New York creditor who says the firm illegally "paid itself" with a client's $500,000 settlement even though it knew he held a $2.2 million priority interest in that client's assets.

  • May 09, 2025

    Hiker And 'Raconteur': Atty Recalls 50-Year Bond With Souter

    Behind a towering legal legacy was a man who loved to hike mountains, could recall details of things he read decades ago and was always there for those he cared about, a New Hampshire attorney said as he reflected on a lifelong friendship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

  • May 09, 2025

    Shutts & Bowen Eyes Sanctions Over Country Club Sale Suit

    Florida firm Shutts & Bowen LLP is continuing its pushback against a real estate corporation's malpractice lawsuit alleging it sank the sale of a country club, this time serving a motion for sanctions in the state court.

  • May 09, 2025

    Split Texas High Court Nixes Barratry Claims Against Attys

    A split Texas Supreme Court said Friday that anti-solicitation claims fail against Texas lawyers who allegedly used "case runners" to pursue car accident clients in Arkansas and Louisiana because the conduct occurred outside the Lone Star State.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases

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    Evidence issues in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents cases involving former President Donald Trump offer an opportunity to restudy elements and implications of the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, noting the courts' careful scrutiny of these matters, say Robert Hoff and Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

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