Legal Ethics

  • December 20, 2024

    Top North Carolina Cases Of 2024: Bias, Fraud And False Ads

    North Carolina saw a host of heavy-hitting civil trials in 2024, from back-to-back multimillion-dollar jury verdicts in suits over false advertising and employment discrimination, to a substantial bench ruling in a much-watched bias suit against the federal judiciary.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top NJ Cases Of 2024: COVID Test Kits And Political Favors

    After failed attempts in previous years, 2024 was the year prosecutors secured convictions in separate cases against a longtime New Jersey senator and a healthcare software executive. In another closely watched white collar matter, a Garden State law firm executive met his fate for stealing from his employer. 

  • December 19, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Seeks Denial Of Newman Bid To Unseal Documents

    The Federal Circuit judges asked the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to reject U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's request to unseal documents about her suspension for refusing to participate in an investigation into her fitness, saying they are of "questionable relevance" and will be released soon anyway.

  • December 19, 2024

    Texas Firm Beats Arnold & Itkin DQ Bid In Hurricane Zeta MDL

    A Texas state judge Thursday denied Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify the law firm defending a drilling rig owner in litigation stemming from Hurricane Zeta, finding that Arnold & Itkin hasn't established that a defense lawyer who had worked for the firm was involved in anything substantially related to the current litigation.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge Says Some Paraquat Plaintiffs Being Left In Dark

    Amid a hearing targeting fall 2025 for a first bellwether trial over the alleged link between the pesticide paraquat and Parkinson's disease, an Illinois federal judge told plaintiffs' lawyers to keep in better touch with their clients after her chambers received calls from plaintiffs wondering what's happening with their cases.

  • December 19, 2024

    VLSI Says PQA's Disclosure Fears Are Its Own Fault

    VLSI Technology LLC urged a Virginia federal judge Thursday to make Patent Quality Assurance LLC's ownership disclosure public, saying the company actively chose to remove the litigation to a forum where it knew those disclosures were required.

  • December 19, 2024

    Another Dispute Over Michael Avenatti's Jet Flies Into Court

    A California law firm is going after the incarcerated Michael Avenatti and others to get its hands on proceeds from the sale of a private jet the onetime attorney for Stormy Daniels purchased with money he stole from clients in the latest legal action over the seized plane.

  • December 19, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Temporary BIA Judges Can Be Reappointed

    Judges can be temporarily appointed to the Board of Immigration Appeals for a term "not to exceed six months," but they can also be reappointed as many times as the attorney general sees fit, the Fourth Circuit has ruled in a case that challenges the seating of such a judge.

  • December 19, 2024

    The Spiciest Quotes Heard In Mass. Courts In 2024

    Another year of hard-fought litigation was replete with quips, barbs, and both attorneys and defendants put on blast — plus one litigant who simply wished for the return of a nine-foot bedazzled grand piano.

  • December 19, 2024

    Ex-Knick Oakley Denies Scrapping Evidence In MSG Feud

    Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley testified to a federal judge Thursday that he never intentionally deleted text messages about his 2017 altercation with Madison Square Garden security, as the damages litigation in its eighth year meandered toward trial.

  • December 19, 2024

    Rival Firms End $2M Client Poaching Suit

    A lawsuit by Chicago law firm Loftus & Eisenberg Ltd. accusing an attorney with "a very limited skill set" of stealing clients while jumping to Good Law Group PC has been dismissed, after Good Law said the "venomous allegations" were not backed by hard evidence.

  • December 19, 2024

    Denmark Says $500M Recovered In Dividend Tax Fraud Suits

    Denmark's tax administration has recovered a total of 3.6 billion Danish kroner ($500 million) in money lost to suspected dividend tax refund fraud after entering settlements of civil cases in several countries in 2024, Denmark's tax minister announced.

  • December 19, 2024

    Girardi's Allies See Fallen Champion; Victims See Deceiver

    As Tom Girardi's sentencing loomed, his friends and relatives wrote letters to the judge envisioning a grim and undeserved death in prison for the 85-year-old former legal luminary. But former clients who accused him of steailng from them told the court that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

  • December 19, 2024

    Bain Capital Wants Out Of Bias Claims From Attorney

    Bain Capital has asked a New Jersey state court to toss discrimination claims brought by a former in-house attorney for a chemicals company it had acquired, alleging she was unlawfully dismissed after she discussed taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.

  • December 19, 2024

    New Jersey Power Broker Says RICO Case Isn't Fit For Jury

    Defendants dubbed the "Norcross Enterprise" are fighting back against New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's assertion that their bid to toss a criminal indictment accusing them of engaging in a sprawling racketeering scheme is out of place, claiming the state misunderstands the roles of judge and jury.

  • December 19, 2024

    The Year In Legal Ethics: AI, Judicial Scandal And More

    A number of legal ethics topics dominated the conversation in 2024, including artificial intelligence and the fallout of an undisclosed relationship between a Texas bankruptcy judge and an attorney whose firm appeared before him for years.

  • December 19, 2024

    Calif. Judge Accused Of Misconduct With Former Secretary

    A California state judge is accused of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and violating numerous ethics canons amid his relationship with his then-secretary, including misrepresenting himself as her lawyer, engaging in inappropriate conversations with her and using public resources for private purposes.

  • December 19, 2024

    Fani Willis DQ'd From Trump's Georgia Prosecution

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified Thursday from the prosecution of Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, as a split state appellate court found that "no other remedy" was enough to scrub away what a trial court had previously called an "odor of mendacity" about the prosecution.

  • December 19, 2024

    Del. Justices Affirm Toss Of Co.'s Suit Against Gusrae Kaplan

    Delaware's Supreme Court has affirmed a trial court's dismissal of an Applied Energetics Inc. suit accusing Gusrae Kaplan Nusbaum PLLC and a former partner of launching a frivolous securities fraud suit in order to hobble other litigation against the laser weapons maker's former CEO.

  • December 18, 2024

    Girardi Gets Sentencing Delayed For Dementia Probe

    A Los Angeles federal judge pushed back Tom Girardi's sentencing for his embezzlement conviction on Wednesday, ordering a psychiatric evaluation and special hearing to determine whether the 85-year-old disbarred attorney should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.

  • December 18, 2024

    Calif. Panel Splits On Judge's 'Little Chinese Woman' Remark

    A California appellate court has reversed itself and decided to publish an opinion in which a panel was divided over whether a trial judge's reference to a plaintiff as a "little Chinese woman" showed judicial bias and stereotyping.

  • December 18, 2024

    Pilgrim's Pride Gets Chicken Exit OK Under Contested Deal

    Pilgrim's Pride is able to formally duck Sysco chicken price-fixing claims picked up by a Burford Capital LLC unit after an Illinois federal judge once again ruled that the companies are bound by a settlement between Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco that the litigation funding giant contested as too small.

  • December 18, 2024

    Funding Bill Takes In Broadband, Ticketing, Privacy

    A congressional spending package that would fund the federal government through March is set to include a slew of bipartisan proposals aimed at digital security, online pricing transparency and rural broadband access.

  • December 18, 2024

    Destroyed Docs Merit Harsher Sanctions, Mich. Panel Says

    A Michigan appellate panel on Tuesday said fees awarded to the estate of a man who died after choking in an adult foster care facility were likely too low, finding a lower court erred by limiting the scope of available sanctions over the destruction of "copious amounts" of digital evidence.

  • December 18, 2024

    Jay-Z, Quinn Emanuel Accused Of Paying Ex-Buzbee Clients

    Texas personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee added a new front to his feud with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter on Wednesday, accusing the rapper's company Roc Nation and law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP of recruiting and paying former clients to bring malpractice claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Rank-And-File DOJ Attorneys Will Keep Calm And Carry On

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    Career prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice often pride themselves on their ability to remain apolitical in order to ensure consistency and keep the department’s mission afloat, and the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to upend this tradition, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • What Lawyers Can Learn From High School AI Suit

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    A pending Massachusetts lawsuit regarding artificial intelligence use in an academic setting underscores the need for attorneys to educate themselves on AI technology and tools that affect their clients so they can advise on establishing clear expectations and limits around the permissible use of AI, say attorneys at Hinckley Allen.

  • Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks

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    A lawsuit recently filed in an Illinois federal court against marketing agency Publicis over its work for opioid manufacturers highlights an uptick in litigation against professional service providers hired by clients that engaged in alleged misconduct — so potential targets of such suits should be sure to conduct proper risk analysis and mitigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • Mitigating Defamation Liability Risks Of AI-Generated Content

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    Until Congress and the courts provide clear guidance about defamation liability stemming from generative artificial intelligence tools, companies should begin building controls to prevent the creation of defamatory content, says Michael Gerrity at Accenture.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • When Investigating An Adversary, Be Wary Of Forged Records

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    Warnings against the use of investigators who tout their ability to find an adversary’s private documents generally emphasize the risk of illegal activity and attorney discipline, but a string of recent cases shows an additional danger — investigators might be fabricating records altogether, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • Opinion

    Why States Should Adopt ABA's 'Duty To Inquire'

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    State bars should codify the American Bar Association's proposed rule on a lawyer's duty to scrutinize each representation as it provides guardrails for lawyers, supports self-regulation of the profession, and helps avert money laundering and other crimes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Trump Faces Uphill Battle If He Tries To Target Prosecutors

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    On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump promised to go after the state and federal prosecutors who had investigated and prosecuted him, but few criminal statutes would be applicable — to say nothing of the evidence required to substantiate any charges against prosecutors, says William Johnston at Bird Marella.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

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