Legal Ethics

  • November 14, 2024

    Chinese Amazon Sellers Say Firm Botched Settlement Talks

    A group of Chinese electronics sellers have slapped a small New York law firm with a $6.4 million malpractice lawsuit, saying the firm torpedoed a potential settlement with Amazon after the online behemoth deactivated their seller accounts and withheld millions of dollars of their profits.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judge Vows Atty Fee Trims For Handling Of $90M Google Deal

    A California federal judge overseeing Google's $90 million antitrust deal with Play Store developers on Thursday blasted counsel representing smaller developer plaintiffs and the administration company handling the settlement, criticizing the administrator's work as "the worst performance I've seen" and vowing to trim the attorney fees "substantially."

  • November 14, 2024

    Defense Attys Urge Justices To Narrow False Statement Law

    The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is supporting ex-Burke Warren MacKay & Serritella PC attorney and former Chicago alderman Patrick Thompson's bid to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his conviction for lying to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., arguing that the government's "broad" reading of the relevant statute infringes on constitutional rights.

  • November 14, 2024

    Insurer Says Mich. Lawyers Lying About Its Auto Coverage

    A no-fault auto insurer alleged in a new complaint Wednesday that Michigan personal injury attorneys and their law firms are engaging in a smear campaign to drive the insurer out of the state, accusing the attorneys and firms of posting lies that the company discourages drivers from selecting adequate policies and overcharges its customers.

  • November 14, 2024

    5th Circ. Judge Pummels Judicial Integrity Critics

    Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones co-opted a panel discussion Thursday to denounce the rise in criticism over purported judge shopping, especially in relation to Texas judges who handled a large portion of lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies, and called on legal groups to do more to defend the judiciary's integrity.

  • November 14, 2024

    Giuliani Can't End Dominion Exec's Suit Over Election Lies

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday ruled Rudy Giuliani can't dismiss a former Dominion Voting executive's defamation suit under anti-SLAPP law, largely carrying over the reasoning of its prior decision on a similar appeal by the Trump campaign and other defendants in the same case.

  • November 14, 2024

    Legal Aid Groups Accuse NYC Of Payment Delays

    The nonprofits that provide legal aid to low-income tenants and immigrants in New York City say that due to city delays, they haven't been able to submit invoices for five months, threatening the groups' ability to pay workers and continue operating.

  • November 14, 2024

    Houston Back Wages Trial Was 'Circus,' Atty Tells Court

    A California attorney who lost his bid for back wages from a Houston commercial litigation firm where he was formerly an associate asked a Texas appeals court to order a new trial, writing that his former law firm's attorneys "turned the trial into a circus" about his personal life.

  • November 14, 2024

    Gaetz's Slim Legal Resume Raises Concerns Over AG Role

    Having never served as a prosecutor and with minimal experience practicing law, Matt Gaetz would have the thinnest legal resume of any attorney general in recent history and would face a steep learning curve, including daunting leadership challenges, if he were to take up the reins of the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

  • November 14, 2024

    Seton Hall Says No Impropriety, No Whistleblower Case Move

    Counsel for Seton Hall University urged a New Jersey judge Thursday to return a whistleblower suit by the school's former president to the court where it was originally filed, arguing that its transfer from Essex County to Hudson County to avoid a potential conflict was a waste of time and resources.

  • November 14, 2024

    Chipmaker's 'Bounty' Lawsuit Was 'Nonsensical,' Court Told

    A pair of litigation businesses want a California federal court to punish a Taiwanese chipmaker for responding to a patent lawsuit with "frivolous," "meritless" and "nonsensical" antitrust allegations surrounding using a "bounty" to encourage litigation.

  • November 14, 2024

    Pierson Ferdinand Atty Accused Of Helping Defraud Client

    The co-owner of an esports gaming platform has accused a Pierson Ferdinand attorney in Philadelphia, his firm and several other BigLaw shops where he has worked in recent years of assisting his former partner in a scheme to funnel millions of dollars out of the company they formed into new entities controlled by the ex-partner.

  • November 14, 2024

    Giuliani Attys Signal Impasse In Bid To Exit Collection Cases

    Attorneys representing disgraced ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani asked a New York federal court to allow them to withdraw from representing him in a pair of cases from former Georgia poll workers seeking to collect a $148 million defamation award against him, indicating they are at odds with the onetime New York City mayor.

  • November 14, 2024

    Conn. Atty Must Pay $282K Default In Estate's Home Sale Suit

    A Connecticut attorney must pay a $282,000 default judgment for distributing real estate proceeds to at least one "unknown party" and writing a bad check to a trust beneficiary after a $1.2 million home sale, a state trial court judge has ruled.

  • November 14, 2024

    Ex-Jones Day Attys Say Firm Can't Hide Family Leave Memo

    Two married ex-associates suing Jones Day over its allegedly discriminatory family leave policy want the firm to hand over a memo from 1994, which they claim could be key to the bitterly contested case.

  • November 14, 2024

    NJ Law Firm Faces Depo Sanctions Bid In Crypto Scam Suit

    A plaintiff has alleged New Jersey law firm McCarthy & Soriero LLC enabled a defendant to repeatedly cancel his deposition at the last minute for an undocumented health reason in her federal suit alleging she was the victim of a nearly $200,000 cryptocurrency fraud.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judiciary Chair Calls For Release Of Gaetz Ethics Report

    A day after President-elect Donald Trump announced former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, questions linger on whether the potentially damaging House Ethics Committee report on his alleged sexual misconduct will see the light of day now that he resigned.

  • November 14, 2024

    Texas Bar Eyes Ban On Lawyers Partnering With Non-Attys

    A proposed ethics opinion from the State Bar of Texas says lawyers practicing in the Lone Star State cannot partner with law firms offering legal services in other jurisdictions if the partnership includes a non-lawyer, even if such arrangements are permitted in the jurisdiction where the law firm is based.

  • November 14, 2024

    Attys Want To Drop Baby's Dad As Client In Conn. Death Suit

    The father of the victim at the center of a product liability lawsuit against Target Corp. and a baby lounger manufacturer has stopped communicating with counsel and apparently wants nothing more to do with the case, his attorneys told a Connecticut federal judge in seeking to drop him as a client.

  • November 14, 2024

    Texas Judge Recuses Himself From Microsoft Patent Case

    Chief U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas has recused himself, without stating a reason, from a patent infringement case that German company ParTec AG has lodged against Microsoft over the tech giant's artificial intelligence supercomputer.

  • November 14, 2024

    Ex-Kline & Specter Atty Says Firm Tried To Stop Departure

    Philadelphia-based personal injury firm Kline & Specter PC and its namesake partners have been hit with another lawsuit filed by a former associate alleging mistreatment at the firm.

  • November 14, 2024

    Settlement Reached In Ga. Data Breach Class Action

    The companies behind high-interest loan products TitleMax, TitleBucks and InstaLoan have reached a tentative settlement with customers who alleged the companies failed to protect their personal information, leading to a data breach that affected an estimated 4.8 million people.

  • November 13, 2024

    Judge Cites 'Deterrence' In Attys' Tax Scheme Prison Sentence

    Two St. Louis tax attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent's pleas for leniency were largely ignored Wednesday by a federal judge sentencing them for their role in a multimillion-dollar tax avoidance scheme, with the judge declaring that the need for public deterrence was too great to let them off the hook without prison time.

  • November 13, 2024

    Panel Says Ex-Atty's ADA Claim Doesn't Apply To Her Lawyers

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of a disbarred Colorado attorney's Americans With Disabilities Act claim against her former defense lawyers, according to an unpublished decision that said the law only applies to public entities.

  • November 13, 2024

    Menendez Prosecutors Admit Evidence Gaffe But Deny Harm

    Prosecutors in former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption case told a federal judge Wednesday they accidentally violated a court order when they gave jurors nine exhibits containing information that should have been redacted, but said the error played no part in the guilty verdict.

Expert Analysis

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    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.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    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.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    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.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    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.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    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.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    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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