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Legal Ethics
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August 08, 2024
Suspension Recommended For Ex-Calif. Bar Prosecutor
A California State Bar Court judge this week has recommended suspension for a former State Bar prosecutor who failed to disclose that he was moonlighting in private practice alongside disgraced attorney Tom Girardi's son-in-law.
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August 08, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court Candidate Loses Election Challenge
A Georgia superior court judge has rejected an attorney's bid to overturn the results of a state appeals court election she lost, saying her claims were already resolved when the secretary of state made a preelection decision that her opponent was qualified to run and her subsequent appeal of that ruling was denied.
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August 08, 2024
Wood's Ex-Partners Seek 'Judgment Day' For 'Lin Almighty'
Thursday, as counsel for the former law partners of controversial ex-attorney Lin Wood put it to a Georgia federal jury, was an auspicious day, as it was a "judgment day" and a chance to "bring down a judgment on a monster" who slandered the three attorneys who for years helped him build a successful law practice.
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August 08, 2024
Ex-Morgan & Morgan Client Wants Malpractice Case In Court
A Georgia deputy sheriff suing Morgan & Morgan PA's office in Jacksonville, Florida, for malpractice has urged a Georgia federal court not to send his case to arbitration, as he claimed the firm effectively bullied him into signing a contract with an arbitration clause.
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August 08, 2024
Atty Accuses NYC Agency Of Bias, EEOC Charge Retaliation
A staff attorney accused the New York City Administration for Children Services of abruptly revoking his years-old disability accommodations while he was recovering from heart surgery, alleging in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that the administration tried to force him to quit after he filed a state court action and a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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August 08, 2024
Willis Defends Staying On Trump's Ga. Election Case
Georgia prosecutors have pushed back against former President Donald Trump's request for appellate intervention in his election interference case, arguing District Attorney Fani T. Willis doesn't have a conflict of interest and Trump failed to persuade the trial court that she had a conflict due to a relationship with a former outside counsel.
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August 08, 2024
NJ Chief Justice Escapes Depo In Ex-Jurist's Pension Suit
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court will not have to sit for a deposition in a suit brought by a former Superior Court judge over the denial of her disability pension application, a Garden State judge ruled Thursday.
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August 08, 2024
Former In-House Atty Says Mortgage Co. Was 'Oppressive'
A former staff attorney for mortgage company Newrez LLC alleges in a Texas state court lawsuit made public this week that she was terminated last year after witnessing a deputy general counsel engage in sexually inappropriate conduct with an intoxicated subordinate attorney at a work-related gathering.
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August 08, 2024
50 Cent Beats Liquor Consultant's 'Ridiculous' Wiretap Claim
A frustrated New York state judge on Thursday tossed a former Beam Suntory Inc. sales contractor's reworked wiretapping allegations against rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in a $3 million embezzlement dispute, calling the claims "ridiculous" and an "obvious" delay tactic.
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August 08, 2024
LegalZoom Seeks Arbitration Of Unauthorized Practice Claims
LegalZoom has asked a New Jersey federal court to force arbitration of proposed class claims that the company engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, arguing the named plaintiff entered into a binding arbitration agreement by clicking "agree and pay now" when he purchased services from the online platform.
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August 08, 2024
Calif. Attorney Beats DQ Bid Despite Being Potential Witness
A California state appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision not to disqualify a San Diego lawyer from representing a client in a malpractice suit against a Pasadena law firm, saying the attorney can be counsel and provide witness testimony at the trial.
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August 07, 2024
Ex-Mayer Brown Atty Says Firm Retaliated After Her Cancer
A former Mayer Brown LLP attorney has accused the firm of refusing to accommodate her breast cancer diagnosis and instead retaliating against and eventually firing her, according to a suit filed in New York state court.
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August 07, 2024
10th Circ. Won't Undo Atty Fees In $1.5B Syngenta Corn Deal
The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday backed a Kansas federal judge's allocations of attorney fees to three law firms representing individual claimants in multidistrict litigation over Syngenta's genetically modified corn that was resolved by a $1.5 billion class settlement, finding that the firms' arguments strayed from the issue at hand.
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August 07, 2024
'Something Sketchy Was Going On,' Girardi Client Tells Jury
A man horribly injured in a gas explosion told a Los Angeles federal jury Wednesday that Tom Girardi lied to him for years about the true details of his civil settlement and withheld millions he was owed, but it took him years to figure out "something sketchy was going on."
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August 07, 2024
Judge's Pharma Comments Could Decide Ineligibility Appeal
A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday was willing to explore Astellas Pharma's argument that a Nebraska federal judge should be taken off its infringement case over the bladder medication Myrbetriq, given statements that showed a potential bias against the pharmaceutical industry, but also made clear that such reassignments are rare and difficult.
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August 07, 2024
Shuttered Firm Partner Pulls $9.5M Fee Fight Out Of Arbitration
An Illinois appeals court has reversed the transfer to partial arbitration of a suit accusing a personal injury firm name partner of defrauding the other name partner by collecting $9.5 million in fees shortly before the firm's dissolution, saying the firm's operating agreement with an arbitration clause was superseded by the dissolution agreement.
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August 07, 2024
Google 'May Not Be So Lucky' Next Time Over Chat Deletions
Google's stunning antitrust loss in D.C. federal court Monday dealt another blow against its policies of letting internal chats delete automatically, and it came with a callout of its practice of training employees to avoid competition law "buzzwords."
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August 07, 2024
6th Circ. Voids Man's Death Penalty Over 'Judicial Malfunction'
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday granted a capital defendant's habeas petition based on a trial court's decision to recruit the prosecutor to ghostwrite a "corrupt opinion" issuing the death penalty and refusing to allow the defendant to proffer relevant mitigating evidence at his re-sentencing, in violation of his constitutional rights.
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August 07, 2024
Bid For Ex-Judge's Phone Records Halted At Texas Hearing
A Texas bankruptcy judge shut down a bid from JCPenney's bankruptcy administrator to subpoena former Judge David R. Jones' cellphone records in a partially sealed hearing Wednesday in connection with Jones' secret romance with a onetime lawyer at Jackson Walker LLP.
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August 07, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle
A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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August 07, 2024
5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration
A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.
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August 07, 2024
7th Circ. Says Atty Inadequacy ID'ed Too Late In Asylum Case
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to reopen a Mexican family's asylum proceedings despite finding that the family's attorney cost them their case by arriving unprepared at their immigration hearing, saying the family should have flagged the lawyer's ineffectiveness earlier.
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August 07, 2024
'Herculean' Efforts Warrant Max Fee, Debt Firm Trustee Says
A California bankruptcy trustee overseeing the failed debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group has told the court he deserves the maximum fee amount and possibly a bonus due to the "herculean" efforts of himself and his colleagues — a statement that comes at a time when the bankruptcy estate appears to have little money to pay more than 2,500 creditors.
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August 07, 2024
Law Firms Fight J&J Bid To Revive Talc Subpoenas
The Beasley Allen Law Firm, the steering committee of talc plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson, and a third-party law firm urged the New Jersey federal court this week to reject a bid from the pharmaceutical company to reinstate subpoenas seeking evidence of alleged third-party litigation funding.
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August 07, 2024
Young Thug Decries 'Horror' Of Working With Prosecutors
Atlanta rapper Young Thug launched another bid to boot prosecutors from his long-running gang trial, citing various episodes of alleged misconduct and arguing that prosecutors' inability to provide "the simplest and most basic fundamental fairness" requires their disqualification.
Expert Analysis
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The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.
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To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation
Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.
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Ethics Issues For Mainland Firms Involved In Maui Fire Suits
Before law firms located outside of Hawaii represent clients affected by the Lahaina wildfires, they must be aware of local ethics rules and regulatory gray areas, as any any ethical missteps could have major ramifications for the firm's practice in its home jurisdiction, says Ryan Little at Klinedinst.
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Perspectives
More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap
Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.
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Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure
Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.
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Attorneys Using AI Shouldn't Worry About Waiving Privilege
As large language models become more advanced, attorneys may be concerned that sending confidential data to companies like OpenAI risks waiving attorney-client or work-product privilege, but there’s nothing about such tools that would negate the reasonable expectation of privacy, say John Tredennick and William Webber at Merlin.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'
Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
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NJ Justices Clarify Bribery Law Scope, But Questions Remain
The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent State v. O'Donnell decision clarified that the state’s bribery law unambiguously applies to candidates for public office, but there are still unresolved questions about how the ruling may affect lobbyists, undeclared candidates and political speech, says Scott Coffina at Pietragallo Gordon.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Opinion
3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point
The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
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Trump's 'I Thought I Won' Jan. 6 Defense Is Unlikely To Prevail
Since being indicted for his alleged attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump’s legal team has argued that because he genuinely believed he won, his actions were not fraudulent — but this so-called mistake of fact defense will face a steep uphill battle for several key reasons, says Elizabeth Roper at Baker McKenzie.
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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How Judicial Privilege Shields Attys Facing Wiretap Violations
A recent ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, as well as past rulings across the country, indicates that the judicial privilege is applicable to alleged violations of wiretapping laws, so attorneys presented with audio evidence beneficial to their case should not fear being sued, says David Scott at Kang Haggerty.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.