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Legal Ethics
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February 13, 2025
Trump Ally Seeks To Limit Judges' Sway Over White House
A conservative legal group run by an ally of President Donald Trump is working on legislation to restrain judges that it deems politicized, in the wake of rulings against the Trump administration's actions.
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February 13, 2025
SoCal Judge Admonished For 'Demeaning' Female Lawyers
A Southern California judge was publicly reprimanded by the state's judicial discipline agency Thursday for a yearslong "pattern of discourteous, undignified and impatient behavior" toward female attorneys, including the use of profanities and inappropriate gestures meant to convey the act of pumping breast milk.
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February 13, 2025
Atty Can Keep Fees In Foreclosure Row, Mich. Panel Rules
A trial court shouldn't have ordered an attorney to refund fees for representing a condominium association in its failed attempt to foreclose on unit owners because the attorney was not a party to the action or accused of conversion, a Michigan appellate panel found Wednesday.
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February 13, 2025
Ga. House Speaker Sued Over State Senator's Ban And Arrest
Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns has been hit with a lawsuit from constituents of a lawmaker who was barred from the chamber last month after he called Burns' predecessor "one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we'll ever see in our lifetimes."
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February 13, 2025
Family Ties Could DQ Judge From Hawaii Wildfire Litigation
The federal judge overseeing a proposed class action brought against Maui County, Hawaii, departments by Lahaina residents whose homes were destroyed in a devastating August 2023 wildfire has indicated she is "inclined" to grant a recusal bid.
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February 13, 2025
Lowenstein Sandler Accuses Dispensary Of 'Bad Faith' Move
Lowenstein Sandler LLP has accused a cannabis dispensary it is suing for unpaid legal fees of effectively asking a New Jersey Superior Court judge to overturn another judge's partial denial of the dispensary's motion to dismiss the case.
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February 13, 2025
Landscape Workers Seek Sanctions Over Lacking Class Lists
U.S. citizens and H-2B landscape workers have called on a Kansas federal judge to sanction a company accused of cheating them out of overtime pay, saying it supplied "woefully incomplete" class lists that were not in compliance with court orders.
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February 13, 2025
Ga. Plant Boss Accused Of Trying To Bribe Opposing Counsel
The director of a Georgia plastics manufacturing plant has been accused of offering to pay the attorney representing a brother and sister in a federal discrimination lawsuit in exchange for a quick settlement, with the siblings claiming the defendant's "assertions are tantamount to bribery and fraud."
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February 13, 2025
SDNY US Atty Resigns, Alleging Trump-Adams 'Quid Pro Quo'
Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned Thursday after she refused an order by U.S. Department of Justice officials to drop the federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and expressed concern the move was part of an improper quid pro quo with President Donald Trump.
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February 13, 2025
Ex-Angels Staffer Says Attys Botched Skaggs Overdose Case
A former Los Angeles Angels press officer asked a Texas federal judge to undo the 22-year prison sentence he's currently serving after being convicted of giving pitcher Tyler Skaggs fentanyl-laced pills that caused his fatal overdose in 2019.
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February 13, 2025
Judge's Bias Justifies Reviving Insurance Row, Fla. Panel Says
A man whose legal counsel was disbarred while his insurance suit was pending will have another chance to pursue his claims, a Florida state appeals court has determined, reversing a lower court order that threw out the suit for delays and moving the case to another judge after finding evidence of potential "bias or prejudice."
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February 12, 2025
Elon Musk Wants Judges Removed For DOGE Court Losses
Elon Musk on Wednesday posted a number of tweets calling for "an immediate wave of judicial impeachments," specifically targeting federal judges who have recently blocked his DOGE Service Temporary Organization from freezing federal funds and accessing U.S. Department of the Treasury payment systems.
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February 12, 2025
Social Media MDL Judge Rips Google, Snap Quick Appeal Bid
A California federal judge indicated Wednesday she likely won't let Google and Snap file interlocutory appeals in multidistrict litigation over social media's allegedly addictive designs, saying the appeals requests make "no sense," and she slammed Meta insurers' unnecessary motion to expedite its coverage dispute with Meta as "unprofessional."
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February 12, 2025
Feds Cleared Of Intentional Intrusion Over Diddy's Jail Notes
Prosecutors did not intentionally invade Sean "Diddy" Combs' attorney-client privilege when they received photographs of his handwritten notes that were taken during a security sweep of the prison, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting the music mogul's request for relief in his sex-trafficking case.
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February 12, 2025
Estate Of Wife Killed By Ex-BigLaw Atty Opposes Consolidation
The administrator of the estate of the wife of former BigLaw attorney Claud "Tex" McIver has called on a state court to not consolidate an action regarding the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement and a separate probate case involving her will.
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February 12, 2025
Willkie DQ'd Out Of Franchise Group Ch. 11
A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday denied retail chain operator Franchise Group Inc.'s request to retain Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in its Chapter 11, saying issues stemming from a transaction it worked on before the bankruptcy are too central to the company's reorganization plans.
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February 12, 2025
Foley Hoag Must Face Bulk Of Worker's Bias, Wage Suit
A New York federal judge largely denied Foley Hoag LLP's bid to partially escape a Moldovan former employee's lawsuit, saying Wednesday he put forward enough information to back up his claims that the firm discriminated against him because of his Russian heritage and disability.
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February 12, 2025
Client Says Seattle Firm's Bad Advice Cost Him Millions
A former client has targeted Karr Tuttle Campbell in a legal malpractice complaint alleging the Seattle law firm gave him bad advice on the policy limits of related insurance coverage in an underlying case against another law firm, costing the client millions of dollars in a settlement.
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February 12, 2025
Fried Frank Faces Sanctions Bid Over RICO Suit
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP and its client, Tristar Products Inc., are facing a sanctions bid for bringing a RICO lawsuit against Telebrands Corp., with the defendant saying the complaint makes the company and its attorney seem like "alleged criminal masterminds."
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February 12, 2025
Houston Firm Pushes For $30K Sanctions In Back Wages Case
A Houston law firm has urged an appellate court to sanction its former associate for his conduct during a back wages trial, saying that the trial court declined to decide the firm's motion despite having power over the case four months after the verdict.
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February 12, 2025
Connell Foley Can't Refute DQ Bid, NJ Investment Firm Says
A Black-owned investment firm suing New Jersey for discrimination in federal court said the court must disqualify Connell Foley LLP from representing the state because of a conflict of interest, even though the supposedly conflicted attorney has denied any ethical breach.
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February 12, 2025
Texas Bar Suggests Limit On Atty Nondisparagement Clauses
A proposed ethics opinion from the State Bar of Texas says lawyers licensed in the state cannot be bound by nondisparagement clauses that touch on the practice of law but that provisions dealing with their personal speech would be fair game.
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February 12, 2025
Ex-Client Slams Buzbee's Sanctions Bid In Fraud Suit
A former client suing prominent Houston attorney Tony Buzbee for fraud has hit back against Buzbee's attempt to sanction him, claiming he's well within his rights to mention other instances in which Buzbee allegedly stole from clients.
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February 12, 2025
Morgan Lewis, Patent Specialist End Age, Race Bias Suit
A discrimination complaint filed by a former patent prosecution specialist against her former employer, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, has been dismissed from Washington, D.C., federal court after both sides reached a settlement agreement.
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February 12, 2025
California Judge Chided For Entering Other Jurists' Chambers
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has been publicly admonished for entering other jurists' chambers after hours and without permission to access confidential files and computers, in what the state's Commission on Judicial Performance called a "serious breach of the expected trust shared among judicial colleagues."
Expert Analysis
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How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources
Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
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Opinion
Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits
With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.
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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program
During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.
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Opinion
Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.