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Legal Ethics
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August 13, 2024
Kaufman Dolowich Slams Ex-Associate's Bias Claims
A former Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP associate's claim that the firm's Philadelphia office terminated him after he asked for accommodations for his hearing impairment is contradicted by a separate lawsuit in which he blames a legal recruiter for costing him his job, according to a recent filing by the firm.
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August 13, 2024
Colo. Atty Says Prior Firm Took Clients, Retained Funds
A lawyer has sued a small law office in Colorado state court, alleging it asked his clients to switch counsel right before the attorney was set to leave the firm and that the law office is trying to get around a provision of his employment agreement that said he could take the clients, as well as their retainer, upon his departure.
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August 13, 2024
'Clever' Scheme Is Concealing Talc Litigation Funding, J&J Says
The Beasley Allen Law Firm needs to disclose alleged litigation funding fueling its litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder even if that funding was not given directly to the firm since the disclosure rules apply to "parties" and not "law firms," J&J has told a New Jersey federal court.
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August 13, 2024
Federal Judge Can't Shake Discipline For Handcuffing Girl
A review panel on Tuesday agreed with a unanimous Ninth Circuit Judicial Council finding that a federal judge in California engaged in misconduct when he ordered that a tearful 13-year-old girl be handcuffed during a criminal hearing for her father, upholding a public reprimand and three-year pause on criminal case assignments for the jurist.
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August 13, 2024
Ex-McCarter & English Client Wants To Undo Malpractice Loss
A New Jersey pharmaceutical business is urging a New Jersey state court to reconsider its decision to throw out the company's malpractice case against McCarter & English LLP, saying the firm "brazenly" misstated part of the timeline of the case's lengthy history.
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August 13, 2024
Conn. Trial Attys Back McCarter's Bid For Punitive Award
The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association has asked the state Supreme Court for permission to file a friend-of-court brief supporting McCarter & English LLP's bid for a punitive payout after winning multimillion-dollar judgments in a contract dispute with a former client.
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August 13, 2024
Firms In State Street Case See $400K Slashed From Fee Bid
A Massachusetts federal judge known for scrutinizing attorney fees in class action suits trimmed more than $400,000 from a requested award for two firms who led a $4.3 million settlement with State Street Corp. over its employees' 401(k) plans.
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August 12, 2024
Circle K 'Sandbagged' By Late Docs In Death Suit, Court Told
Circle K told a Florida state court Monday it should have a chance to depose several expert witnesses in a lawsuit stemming from a woman's death at a gas pump, saying attorneys representing family members "sandbagged" the company after providing dozens of new files that were demanded earlier this year.
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August 12, 2024
Ogborn Mihm Says Ex-Clients Won't Pay Fees On $2M Win
Ogborn Mihm LLP accused two former clients Friday of refusing to pay the full $800,000 contingency fee for their $2 million personal injury suit settlement.
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August 12, 2024
Girardi Wasn't Confused But Tried 'To Confuse Me,' Atty Says
An attorney who sued Tom Girardi on behalf of a woman seeking withheld settlement funds testified Monday in the disbarred lawyer's criminal fraud trial, telling a Los Angeles jury he didn't think Girardi was in cognitive decline but rather was deliberately trying to confuse him with strange excuses.
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August 12, 2024
'All Hell Broke Loose,' Wood's Ex-Partner Says Of Social Posts
A former law partner of controversial ex-attorney L. Lin Wood on Monday told a Georgia federal jury that social media posts Wood made accusing her and two other former partners of defamation led to widespread online harassment, damage to her professional reputation and threats.
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August 12, 2024
Judge Won't DQ Asst. US Atty In Standard Chartered FCA Case
A New York federal judge on Monday declined to disqualify an assistant United States attorney from a long-dismissed False Claims Act suit against Standard Chartered Bank, calling the whistleblower's arguments for disqualification meritless "to the point where they verge on vexatious and frivolous."
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August 12, 2024
Young Thug Jury Returns, Told Not To Fret About New Judge
After weeks away from court, jurors weighing racketeering charges against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his alleged Young Slime Life gang were instructed Monday "not to concern yourselves" with the switch to a new judge and to "disregard" any "disparaging" comments made by the jurist who previously presided over the marathon trial.
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August 12, 2024
Morgan Lewis Escapes DQ Over Dual Rep. In HSBC OT Case
A New York federal judge on Monday refused to disqualify Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP counsel from representing a former HSBC branch manager and key witness in an overtime class action against the bank, which the attorneys also defend, ruling the supposed conflict of interest is speculative and could be corrected if needed with informed consent.
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August 12, 2024
Convicted Fla. Atty Says Bogus Threat Testimony Tainted Trial
A Florida attorney has urged the Eleventh Circuit to toss her criminal wire fraud conviction and six-year prison sentence, because she said the trial court wrongly let prosecutors "throw a loaded grenade" at her by allowing testimony about an "unsubstantiated and uncorroborated claim" that the attorney threatened a co-defendant.
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August 12, 2024
NJ Bar Aims To Nix Opinion Allowing Atty Keyword Search
The New Jersey State Bar Association is urging the state Supreme Court to overturn an ethics advisory opinion allowing attorneys to purchase other attorneys' names to use as keywords in online searches in order to redirect web traffic to their website.
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August 12, 2024
Ex-Seton Hall Prez Fights Amicus Brief In Whistleblower Suit
The former president of Seton Hall University who launched a whistleblower suit against the school in New Jersey state court is opposing a bid by a former university board chair and prominent defense attorney to file an amicus curiae brief, saying he has no "special interest" in the "contract dispute."
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August 12, 2024
Texas Firm Says Recordings Show Call Center Deception
A Texas personal injury law firm asked a federal judge to impose a preliminary injunction on a lawyer referral service, arguing that newly obtained audio recordings from the referral service's call center show the other company deliberately tries to trick the firm's potential clients into signing up with other lawyers.
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August 12, 2024
NJ Atty Beats Malpractice Claims Over Real Estate Dispute
A suspended New Jersey attorney has prevailed over a malpractice complaint from another attorney accusing him of providing bad legal advice on a real estate matter and exposing her to her own malpractice case, according to an order made available Monday.
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August 12, 2024
Court Observers Offer Their Wish Lists For A Judiciary FOIA
Government transparency advocates and court watchers think a recently introduced bill to subject the judiciary to the Freedom of Information Act would increase trust and transparency in the courts, and they have some ideas already of what they'd like to obtain from them.
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August 09, 2024
Judge Won't DQ Prosecutors In Young Thug Trial
In a pair of orders on Thursday, the new judge overseeing Atlanta rapper Young Thug's racketeering and gang conspiracy trial denied motions for a mistrial and to disqualify two Fulton County prosecutors but ordered the "entire prosecution team" to watch a training video in response to alleged evidence violations.
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August 09, 2024
Trump Again Appeals Merchan's Gag Order To NY High Court
Former President Donald Trump is again seeking dismissal of a gag order in his criminal hush money case barring him from threatening court and district attorney staff, telling New York's highest court on Thursday that he disagreed with "each and every part" of a recent intermediate appellate court ruling that found threats remained imminent.
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August 09, 2024
Judge Slams Justices For 'Eschewing' History In Trump Case
The U.S. Supreme Court spurned historical analysis and "fundamentally" changed the presidency when it granted Donald Trump broad criminal immunity from federal charges that he interfered with the 2020 presidential election while in office, a Massachusetts federal judge wrote in a ruling Friday that ended an ex-public defender's sexual harassment lawsuit.
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August 09, 2024
Vidal Can't Be Used Against Ex-Client At PTAB, Fed. Circ. Says
The Federal Circuit said Friday that the initial involvement of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal in a handful of patent challenges during her private practice days at Winston & Strawn LLP isn't enough to prevent the patent board from ever deciding on those petitions.
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August 09, 2024
Wood's Ex-Partner Says Social Posts Threatened His Family
One of three attorneys accusing their former law partner, controversial ex-attorney L. Lin Wood, of defamation took the stand Friday, telling a Georgia federal jury that a payment demand they sent Wood after his firm's dissolution wasn't extortion but was instead an attempt to protect themselves and their families.
Expert Analysis
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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Opinion
Animal Rights Are About Saving Nature, And Our Own Future
The climate crisis makes it clear that animal law — conceived of as an ecocentric approach to protecting the most vulnerable nonhumans who depend on the natural environment — is essential to restoring the Earth and safeguarding the future of humanity, says Carter Dillard at the Fair Start Movement.
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The Ethics Of Accepting Advanced Legal Fees In Crypto
State and local bar associations have been weighing in on whether attorneys may accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment in advance of providing legal services, but the answer is frequently a fact-specific inquiry that demands close reading of the rules of professional conduct, say Matthew Feinberg and Jeffrey Cunningham at Goldberg Segalla.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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5 Gifts That May Run Afoul Of Government Ethics Rules
As the holiday season ramps up, it’s essential to keep in mind that government officials and employees are all subject to specific gift rules, and related violations can lead to consequences far worse than coal in one’s stocking, say Mark Renaud and Rob Walker at Wiley.
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3 Defense Takeaways From The Bankman-Fried Trial
FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction offers several key lessons for future white collar defendants, from the changing nature of cross-examination to the continued risks of taking the stand, say Jonathan Porter and Gregg Sofer at Husch Blackwell.
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Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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The Basics Of Law Firm Cyber Liability Insurance Applications
Cyber liability insurance has become a common consideration for law firms as cyber threats have escalated, but these insurance forms can be quite complicated given the nature of the industry and associated risks, so simply filling out the form won't necessarily result in an ideal policy for your firm, says Kevin Haight at WAMS.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.