Legal Ethics

  • January 08, 2025

    Reed Smith Accused Of 'Causing Chaos' In $102M Award Fight

    The new owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings are continuing their battle with the company's former owners and their counsel at Reed Smith in litigation over a $102 million arbitral award, alleging the BigLaw firm's "obstructionist conduct" is "causing chaos."

  • January 08, 2025

    Madigan Denies Extorting Developers For Law Firm Business

    Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan testified Wednesday that he never wanted a Chicago alderman to leverage his chairmanship of a powerful city council committee to steer business to Madigan's law firm, saying he merely asked for introductions to developers and felt "surprise and concern" when the alderman referenced a quid pro quo deal.

  • January 08, 2025

    Feds Ask To Release Report On Trump's DC Case, But Not Fla.

    Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to deny Donald Trump's request to block the publication of a report on the now-abandoned federal election-meddling case against the president-elect in D.C. federal court, but said the Justice Department will hold off on releasing a report regarding the classified-documents case in Florida, where two co-defendants remain under indictment.

  • January 08, 2025

    Jay-Z Wants Sanctions Against Buzbee In Diddy Rape Suit

    Rapper Jay-Z asked Wednesday that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee be sanctioned for filing a lawsuit accusing him and embattled rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl, claiming inconsistencies in the girl's story show Buzbee "knowingly filed a false complaint."

  • January 08, 2025

    Fla. Atty Can't Beat Contempt Ruling Over Failed Apology

    A Florida state appeals panel on Wednesday agreed that an attorney was in indirect criminal contempt when he failed to post an apology on a consumer reporting website as part of a settlement in his former counsel's suit against him over disparaging and allegedly defamatory comments made on the site.

  • January 08, 2025

    Colo. Criminal Atty Censured For Harassing Comments

    A Colorado criminal lawyer has been censured for sexual comments he allegedly made to two female student lawyers working for a local prosecutor.

  • January 08, 2025

    Judge Laments Atty's $32K Sanctions Saga In Tasty Bias Case

    A Pennsylvania judge expressed disappointment Wednesday about the need for a $32,000 sanction against an attorney accused of flouting deadlines in his client's employment discrimination claims against Tasty Baking Co., noting that "it didn't have to be this way."

  • January 08, 2025

    Ohio Judge's License Reinstated Days After Retirement News

    A former Cleveland judge's license to practice was reinstated Wednesday following a one-year suspension on ethics charges stating he pushed plea deals on defendants, made racially insensitive comments to them and ordered excessive contempt sentences for relatively minor infractions, days after the judge announced his retirement.

  • January 08, 2025

    Arbitrator In Virus Coverage Case Wasn't Biased, Panel Says

    A New York state appeals panel affirmed a trial court's decision refusing to disqualify a Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP partner as an arbitrator in proceedings between a Zurich unit and the operator of Saks Fifth Avenue over coverage for COVID-19 losses.

  • January 08, 2025

    Court Won't Hear Atty's Challenge To Fee Dispute Loss

    A Connecticut appeals court has turned away an attorney's challenge to his loss at a trial that pitted him against another lawyer in a dispute over the sharing of settlement funds, finding that Donald M. Brown blew past a deadline to follow a court order.

  • January 08, 2025

    Feds Want 2 Years In Prison For Atty In Payroll Tax Fraud

    A former Ohio attorney who managed his wife's dental practice should spend at least two years in prison for causing $750,000 in federal tax losses and failing to pay employment taxes, prosecutors urged Wednesday, saying he used the business as a personal piggy bank.

  • January 08, 2025

    Feds Again Deny Leaks In NYC Mayor's Corruption Case

    Federal prosecutors again rejected the claim that they had leaked classified information about New York City Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case to the press, telling a judge that they were not the source that allowed the New York Times to identify a grand jury witness and that Adams hadn't shown how he was prejudiced by the disclosure.

  • January 08, 2025

    Republican AGs Rebuke Proposed ABA Diversity Rule Change

    Republican state attorneys general representing 21 states are pushing back against proposed changes to the American Bar Association's diversity and inclusion standards for law schools, cautioning that they run afoul of precedent the U.S. Supreme Court established when it struck down affirmative action in 2023.

  • January 08, 2025

    Trump Asks Supreme Court To Stop NY Sentencing

    Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to halt proceedings in his New York criminal hush money case, including a sentencing hearing scheduled for Friday, as the president-elect seeks to throw out the charges and the jury's conviction.

  • January 07, 2025

    DOJ Watchdog Criticizes Trump Officials For COVID Leaks

    The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General has found that senior Justice Department officials under the first Trump administration improperly leaked information about investigations into COVID-19 deaths in states run by Democrats shortly before the 2020 presidential election, according to a report posted Tuesday.

  • January 07, 2025

    Feds Say Adams' Bid For Indictment Info Would Hinder Probe

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams is not entitled to more details about the charges in his corruption and bribery case, including the identities of alleged co-conspirators, federal prosecutors told a Manhattan federal court Monday, arguing that such information would prejudice the ongoing investigation and potentially lead to witness tampering.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Prosecutor Disbarred For Fabricating Harassing Texts

    A former Denver prosecutor will be disbarred after a Colorado disciplinary panel found she fabricated text messages in order to falsely accuse a coworker of sexual harassment.

  • January 07, 2025

    Judge Sanctions Match For Glitch Ahead Of FTC Ad Trial

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday sanctioned Match Group after the company failed to turn over sensitive emails to the Federal Trade Commission on time in a suit over alleged shady business practices, saying that the mistake was honest, but that the company still had not surrendered the documents in a timely manner.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Testifies In His Racketeering Trial

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan took the stand in his own defense Tuesday, testifying that he neither traded his public office for private gain nor demanded or accepted anything valuable in exchange for his official action, adding that he was "very angry" to learn that people who he'd recommended for jobs did little to no work.

  • January 07, 2025

    Calif. Justices Urged To Rescue Malicious Prosecution Claims

    A fugitive recovery agent urged the California Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive malicious prosecution claims that a lower court struck under the attorney-malpractice law's one-year statute-of-limitations, arguing that he never had an attorney-client relationship with the defendant and so the two-year statute-of-limitations for tort claims must apply.

  • January 07, 2025

    Keller Postman Drops Suit Against Jenner & Block, For Now

    Keller Postman LLC has dismissed its suit accusing Jenner & Block LLP of using unethical tactics to gain leverage in mass arbitration against the streaming service Tubi but requested the complaint be dismissed without prejudice.

  • January 07, 2025

    Google Avoids Data Destruction Sanctions In Ad Privacy Suit

    A California federal judge has declined to sanction and hold Google in contempt for purportedly intentionally destroying key evidence in a putative class action claiming the company's ad auction practices violate privacy rights, saying the consumers' motion came too late after fact discovery closed.

  • January 07, 2025

    Biotech Co. Urges NC Panel To Revive Legal Malpractice Suit

    A biotech company that lost a $22 million libel suit brought by a pharmaceutical executive has asked a North Carolina appeals panel for another shot at legal malpractice claims against its former legal counsel, arguing that a savings provision expands the statute of repose for the voluntarily dismissed claim to be revived.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Knick, Ex-MSG Security Head Spar Over Deposition

    Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley and the former chief of security for Madison Square Garden have reached an "impasse" over a subpoena for the ex-chief's documents and deposition in a suit over Oakley's ejection from a February 2017 NBA game.

  • January 07, 2025

    Law Firm Sought To Collect Expired Debts, 3rd Circ. Told

    A New Jersey woman has urged the Third Circuit to revive her proposed class action against Garden State law firm Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP over its debt collection practices, arguing a lower court was too loose with its standard for the timeliness of the two lawsuits involved.

Expert Analysis

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    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.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    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.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    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.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    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.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    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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