Legal Ethics

  • June 10, 2024

    YSL Atty Jailed For Contempt Ruling Over 'Sacrosanct' Convo

    The defense counsel for Atlanta rapper Young Thug was ordered to spend the next 10 weekends in jail after being held in contempt Monday afternoon for refusing to divulge how the attorney learned of a purported conversation behind closed doors between prosecutors, a witness and the judge presiding over the case.

  • June 10, 2024

    Aircraft Engine Co. Avco Wants Ex-Atty Sanctions Bid Cut

    A dispute over deposition scheduling in a sanctions case filed in Pennsylvania federal court by a lawyer who formerly represented an aircraft company has led to accusations of attorneys acting in bad faith to obstruct the case and complaints of a lack of professional courtesy.

  • June 10, 2024

    Amid FBI Probe, Troubled Law Firm Gets Fees Win At 5th Circ.

    An embattled Texas law firm has won another shot to secure fees for its work on hurricane-related cases in Louisiana, the Fifth Circuit ruled, one day after the FBI revealed it was investigating the firm over its client solicitation practices.

  • June 10, 2024

    Kirkland Faces Class Claims Over Breach Of File Transfer Tool

    A proposed class of victims of a data breach has sued Kirkland & Ellis LLP and various other entities in a Massachusetts federal court, accusing them of failing to "properly secure and safeguard [the] plaintiff's and other similarly situated individuals' private information" in the lead-up to the massive 2023 MOVEit data breach.

  • June 10, 2024

    Lin Wood's Ex-Colleagues Push To Keep Fraud Claims In Trial

    Former law partners of controversial attorney Lin Wood have urged a Georgia federal court to block Wood's request to exclude unadjudicated allegations he committed fraud and contract breach, arguing that the details are relevant in an upcoming trial over the ex-colleagues' claims that Wood defamed them.

  • June 10, 2024

    Ga. Judge's Call To Atty Friend Among Ethics Charges

    A Georgia state judge is facing a host of ethics charges, including that she improperly dialed up an attorney friend and later gave her preferential scheduling in a child custody case and, in another case, took more than two years to issue an order to change custody of minor children.

  • June 10, 2024

    Cozen O'Connor Booted From Pa. Equal Pay Case

    Cozen O'Connor has been booted off a Pennsylvania school district's equal-pay lawsuit that was being overseen by a judge with personal ties to the firm, according to an order the judge issued Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Tampa-Area Doctor May Sue Attorney, Appeals Court Says

    A doctor's lawsuit over a medical bill dispute with a personal injury lawyer involving one of the lawyer's injured clients may proceed, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

  • June 11, 2024

    UPDATED: Court Says Eastman Disbarment Order Filed In Error

    A California federal court has nixed an order disbarring former Donald Trump lawyer John C. Eastman from the venue, saying in a notice filed Tuesday that the document was filed by mistake.

  • June 10, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Big players and big moves dominated much of the past week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, as Tesla in particular and big corporations in general showed their pique over rulings that went toward stockholders or against conventional expectations.

  • June 10, 2024

    Senate Judiciary Panel Urged To Investigate High Court Ethics

    The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter on Monday urging the "full power" of the Senate Judiciary Committee be used to investigate the latest "ethics crisis" at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • June 07, 2024

    Blank Rome Escapes 'Lamentable Saga' In 'Killer Nurse' Case

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel, in what it dubbed "the final chapter in this lamentable saga," affirmed Friday a lower court's order dismissing an attorney's defamation claims against Blank Rome LLP and a hospital that once employed a now-infamous "killer nurse" who pleaded guilty to murdering his patients.

  • June 07, 2024

    Speech Pathologists Say BakerHostetler Bungled Biz Deal

    A trio of Los Angeles-based speech pathologists have filed a malpractice suit against their former BakerHostetler counsel in California state court, accusing the firm and an Ohio-based partner of negligence in failing to properly advise them amid a business deal, allegedly resulting in the therapists losing their successful practice and more than $1 million.

  • June 07, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Revives LA Schools Vaccine Policy Row

    A split Ninth Circuit panel on Friday reversed a California federal court's dismissal of a proposed class action challenging a recently rescinded Los Angeles Unified School District policy requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their jobs, ruling that the district still has the potential to reinstate it.

  • June 07, 2024

    Susman Attys Can Exit IP Suit Amid Arigna's Row With Funder

    New York boutique firm Susman Godfrey LLP has persuaded a D.C. federal judge to let the firm out of having to represent patent litigation business Arigna Technology Ltd. following a breakdown in the firm's arrangement with the business's litigation funder.

  • June 07, 2024

    Trump Can Bring Atty To Presentence Interview

    A New York judge ruled Friday that Donald Trump can bring his attorney with him when he sits down with a New York City probation officer for a presentence interview, granting an unusual accommodation to the former president before he is sentenced for his criminal conviction next month.

  • June 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Revives Investors' Suit Over Leech Tishman Advice

    A Sixth Circuit panel has revived a group of investors' claims that Pittsburgh-based Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl's lawyers gave fraudulent and negligent advice about clean energy investments that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, reasoning that a one-year statute of limitations had been tolled for some claims and didn't apply to others.

  • June 07, 2024

    Contractor Claims No Bad Intentions In Talking To Juror

    A general contractor has doubled down on his bid to throw out a contempt conviction for talking to a juror before his suit was officially settled, telling a North Carolina appeals court he genuinely believed the case was over and didn't intend to disrupt the court or violate any order.

  • June 07, 2024

    'Deceit On Deceit': 7th Circ. OKs Atty's Asset-Hiding Sentence

    The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Chicago-area lawyer's three-year sentence for hiding over $350,000 in her brother's bankruptcy, finding two sentence enhancements were properly applied since she "layered deceit upon deceit" to try to conceal assets and cover her tracks.

  • June 07, 2024

    Justices Report Old Trips, Beyoncé Tickets And Royalties

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed Friday two trips he took in 2019 paid for by a Republican billionaire donor that were the subject of bombshell reporting last year, while his colleagues divulged more than $1.5 million in book-related income and several gifts, including Beyoncé tickets, in their annual financial reports.

  • June 07, 2024

    Ga. Appeals Seat Win Certified Amid Residency Challenge

    A former state bar leader who won a Georgia Court of Appeals seat escaped a challenge alleging he lied about living in Atlanta, with a state judge finding that the challenge was moot on Friday because the election had already occurred and the results were certified.

  • June 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Finds Ethical Lapses Justify Bar On Firm's Outreach

    The Sixth Circuit said Thursday a Michigan federal judge shouldn't have faulted a law firm for attacking a proposed tax foreclosure class-action settlement in solicitation letters, but nevertheless upheld the judge's order barring contact with certain class members because of the firm's actual ethical lapses.

  • June 07, 2024

    Judge Agrees To DQ Houston Firm In Fight Over MMA Law

    A Texas bankruptcy judge sided with troubled Houston firm MMA Law and agreed this week that another Houston firm, Okin Adams Bartlett Curry LLP, had received confidential information from MMA Law and should be disqualified from representing its creditors.

  • June 07, 2024

    Arizona GOP Fights Claims of Ethical Issues In Voting Dispute

    The Arizona Republican Party has every right to intervene in a challenge to a 2022 voting rights law that is headed to the Ninth Circuit, the party told a federal court, arguing that ethical concerns about its counsel raised by the state and its attorney general are "baseless" and "procedurally deficient."

  • June 07, 2024

    Mich. Atty Convicted Of Client's Murder Gets License Pulled

    The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has suspended the license of a lawyer recently convicted of plotting to kill two of his clients, a jeweler and his wife, and of killing the jeweler, allegedly to gain access to their trust.

Expert Analysis

  • Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip

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    After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Indemnification In Exec Separation Deals: Read The Fine Print

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision denying the former CEO of space infrastructure company Momentus the advancement of legal fees highlights the importance of considering post-employment indemnification and advancement rights in executive separation agreements, says Daniel Morgan at Blank Rome.

  • 5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving

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    Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.

  • Rethinking In-Office Attendance For Associate Retention

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    The hybrid office attendance model doesn't work for all employees, but it does for many — and balancing these two groups is important for associate retention and maintaining a BigLaw firm culture that supports all attorneys, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

  • The Crucial Privilege Exception At Play In Trump Indictment

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    Following Donald Trump’s recent indictment for retaining classified documents, Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG explains how his attorney’s notes of their conversations became admissible in the case, what it means for the attorney's representation of Trump, and what obligations lawyers have in similar circumstances.

  • Murdaugh Trials Offer Law Firms Fraud Prevention Reminders

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    As the fraud case against Alex Murdaugh continues to play out, the evidence and narrative presented at his murder trial earlier this year may provide lessons for law firms on implementing robust internal controls that can detect and prevent similar kinds of fraud, say Travis Casner and Helga Zauner at Weaver and Tidwell.

  • Firm Tips For Helping New Lawyers Succeed Post-Pandemic

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    Ten steps can help firms significantly enhance the experience of attorneys who started their careers in the coronavirus pandemic era, including facilitating opportunities for cross-firm connection, which can ultimately help build momentum for business development, says Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners.

  • What To Know About Recent Trends In PTAB Sanctions

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    Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG discusses recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board trends in sanctioning and how to handle a discipline complaint from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the wake of the PTAB's recent cancellation of multiple biological specimen collection patents.

  • Tackling Judge-Shopping Concerns While Honoring Localism

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    As the debate continues over judge-shopping and case assignments in federal court, policymakers should look to a hybrid model that preserves the benefits of localism for those cases that warrant it, while preventing the appearance of judge-shopping for cases of a more national or widespread character, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • Perspectives

    How Attorneys Can Help Combat Anti-Asian Hate

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    Amid an exponential increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, unique obstacles stand in the way of accountability and justice — but lawyers can effect powerful change by raising awareness, offering legal representation, advocating for victims’ rights and more, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute

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    Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model

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    Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.

  • A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery

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    The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.

  • Opinion

    High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law

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    The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.

  • Opinion

    Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts

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    As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.

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