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Legal Ethics
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July 09, 2024
Disbarred Ohio Atty Cops To Landing Law Jobs With Fake IDs
A disbarred Ohio attorney admitted Tuesday to using false identities — including information belonging to his father, girlfriend and a dead man — to snag high-paying gigs or job offers from at least seven different law firms, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
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July 09, 2024
NY Judge In Trump Case OKs Narrow Subpoena For Atty
An attorney who told reporters he held an impromptu hallway conversation with a New York state judge in the lead-up to February's $464.6 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump must turn over any communications he had with the court regarding the underlying action, according to a Tuesday ruling.
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July 09, 2024
FTC Is Denied Amazon's Instructions On Signal Use, For Now
A Washington federal judge refused Tuesday to give the Federal Trade Commission a peek into what it contends is the extensive use of Signal by Jeff Bezos and other top Amazon.com executives to hide communications relevant to a monopolization lawsuit, preferring to order deposition testimony on that use first.
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July 09, 2024
Dems Request Special Counsel To Probe Justice Thomas Gifts
Two Democratic senators have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' failure to disclose various gifts received during his tenure on the high court amounts to chargeable ethics violations or tax crimes.
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July 09, 2024
Amazon Judge Offers To Quit COVID Pay Case
A Colorado federal judge urged Amazon and workers suing the company over unpaid COVID-19 screenings to file briefs on whether he should recuse himself from the case, disclosing that his son works for what he believes is an Amazon affiliate.
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July 09, 2024
No Conflict For Ballard Spahr In Ex-Union Leader's Bribe Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday rejected a claim by former Philadelphia union leader and convicted felon John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty that his Ballard Spahr LLP defense team marred its representation of him in a bribery prosecution because of a conflict of interest with Comcast.
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July 09, 2024
Ex-DOJ Atty Tells Guo Jury Of Illicit Extradition Campaign
Prominent Chinese Communist Party critic Miles Guo capped off his defense to $1 billion fraud charges Tuesday with testimony from a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, who admitted to participating in a plot to lobby the U.S. government for Guo's extradition to China.
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July 09, 2024
Judge Calls Cost Of DOJ's Assa Abloy Market Study 'Insane'
A D.C. federal judge took the U.S. Department of Justice and its monitoring trustee to task Tuesday for their pursuit of an open-ended look at Assa Abloy's books to check for anticompetitive harms from a 2023 merger, excoriating budget estimates pricing the investigation at a minimum of $1.7 million.
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July 09, 2024
Meet Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' Shooting Defense Team
Facing a high-profile trial this week on involuntary manslaughter charges and the possibility of prison time, Alec Baldwin has turned to an eclectic group of defense attorneys who have represented Jay-Z and Elon Musk, recovered the art of Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, and last year secured an acquittal in another shooting case.
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July 09, 2024
NJ Atty Must Face Claims Over Not Reviving Malpractice Suit
The New Jersey state appeals court reversed a trial court decision Tuesday and reinstated a malpractice case against a solo practitioner who allegedly blew a filing deadline and caused his clients to lose a separate malpractice suit.
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July 09, 2024
Tampa Atty Accused Of Fraud In Long-Running House Dispute
A Tampa-area estate lawyer has been accused of fraud conspiracy in a state court lawsuit brought by a former tax attorney who alleges that her house was taken to collect fees stemming from a false guardianship case, saying a court order that revoked possession of the property violated the Florida Constitution.
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July 09, 2024
Young Thug Wants To DQ Prosecutors Over Secret Meeting
Atlanta rapper Young Thug has called for the removal of two Fulton County prosecutors from his racketeering trial, arguing that a transcript of a secret meeting involving those prosecutors, a Georgia state judge and a key witness has revealed they unethically persuaded the witness to reconsider and testify against the rapper.
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July 09, 2024
Ousted Fla. Atty Pushes 11th Circ. To Speed Up Review
Suspended Florida prosecutor Andrew Warren is once again asking the Eleventh Circuit to expedite a mandate to a lower court to reconsider his case against Gov. Ron DeSantis, arguing that a single judge has stopped it from moving forward for nearly six months.
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July 09, 2024
Alaska Senators Condemn District Judge After Resignation
Alaska's two Republican senators reprimanded the federal judge from their state who was found by a special committee to have created a hostile work environment and had an "inappropriately sexualized relationship" with one of his clerks, and has resigned.
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July 09, 2024
Davis Malm, Partner Dropped From Investor Suit
Davis Malm & D'Agostine PC and one of its partners have been dropped from a suit alleging a former client of the firm convinced a group of investors to back a startup, then misused their funds.
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July 09, 2024
Texas Judge Gets Warning For Sexually Harassing Colleague
A Fort Worth trial judge has been issued a public warning and ordered to attend demeanor and sexual harassment instruction over findings that he "engaged in a pattern of sexually harassing conduct" toward a fellow judge, according to a decision by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
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July 09, 2024
Estate Atty Settles Claims She Stole From Incarcerated Man
A previously incarcerated man has dismissed malpractice claims he filed in Michigan federal court against an attorney, alleging she skimmed money he received from his mother's estate.
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July 09, 2024
Newman Loses Suit Against Fed. Circ. Over Suspension
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman filed against her colleagues over her suspension for refusing to undergo medical tests, saying she failed to prove the judicial conduct law at issue is unconstitutional.
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July 09, 2024
NJ Power Broker, Firm CEO Deny Racketeering Charges
Powerful New Jersey businessman George E. Norcross III, his prominent attorney brother and others on Tuesday denied that they schemed to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden by threatening to ruin the business reputations and finances of key stakeholders.
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July 08, 2024
Resigning US Judge Had 'Sexualized Relationship' With Clerk
U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred of the District of Alaska, who abruptly announced his resignation last week, had a "sexualized relationship" with his clerk, including sexual encounters with her shortly after she left her clerkship and joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to an order issued Monday by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit.
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July 08, 2024
Holland & Hart Dodges Deposition Order In Discovery Spat
A Washington federal judge said from the bench Monday that she would not order the deposition of High 5 Games LLC's defense team for alleged discovery misconduct in a class action accusing the company of targeting gambling addicts, ruling the depositions were not crucial to make a case for sanctions.
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July 08, 2024
Judge's Error Reverses Med Mal Atty Sanctions, Panel Rules
A Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled Monday that a Philadelphia trial court erred by imposing sanctions on counsel in a long-running medical malpractice suit against a hospital, saying sanctions can't be based on a broad courtwide policy attempting to speed up medical malpractice cases.
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July 08, 2024
Fla. Judge Facing Reprimand For Spreading Campaign Gossip
A Florida judge has agreed to a public reprimand for disseminating unreliable allegations about her opponent for a judicial seat that insinuated the opponent fraudulently obtained money from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to documents filed Monday.
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July 08, 2024
Biotech Co. Alleges Arbitrator Conflict In Patent Award Fight
Pennsylvania-based biotechnology company Renmatix Inc. is urging the Delaware Court of Chancery to nix an arbitral award favoring Finnish company UPM-Kymmene Corp. in a long-running patent dispute, pointing to an allegedly undisclosed conflict of interest involving the Finnish company's counsel at DLA Piper.
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July 08, 2024
3rd Circ. Doubts SEC Properly Served Ponzi Scheme Suspect
The Third Circuit on Monday appeared skeptical of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's bid to maintain a default judgment against a Swiss resident accused of operating a $1.4 million Ponzi scheme, peppering the agency with questions about how the complaint was served.
Expert Analysis
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Opinion
NY Should Pass Litigation Funding Bill To Protect Plaintiffs
New York state should embrace the regulatory framework proposed in the Consumer Litigation Funding Act, which would suppress the unregulated predatory lenders that currently prey on vulnerable litigants but preserve a funding option that helps personal injury plaintiffs stand up to deep-pocketed corporate defendants, says Alan Ripka at Alan Ripka & Associates.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.