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Legal Ethics
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May 29, 2024
Foley & Lardner Sued For Axing Pro-Palestinian Atty's Offer
A former Foley & Lardner LLP summer associate on Wednesday lodged discrimination claims against the firm for pulling its job offer after she made comments supporting Palestine, alleging that the firm let her go because of her religion and ethnicity, according to the suit lodged in Illinois federal court.
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May 29, 2024
Meta's Policy On Threats List 'Sounds Nefarious,' Judge Says
The California federal judge overseeing claims Meta blacklists certain adult performers questioned the social media giant's practice of keeping its list of dangerous organizations and individuals as a "living document" that changes constantly and isn't archived, saying the policy appears to destroy evidence and "sounds nefarious."
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May 29, 2024
Malaysia Plans Suits Over $14.9B Award To Sulu Claimants
Units of Malaysia's national natural gas company are planning to file litigation in Europe against claimants awarded $14.9 billion and their litigation funder following a high-stakes arbitration with the Southeast Asian country over a 19th-century land deal, according to newly filed documents in New York.
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May 29, 2024
Carhartt Heiress Atty Says He Wanted To Pay Back $15M Loan
A Michigan attorney accused of exploiting his wealthy Carhartt heiress client as trustee testified Wednesday that he intended to repay the roughly $15 million he had loaned himself from her trust, as he took the stand during the second week of a jury trial.
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May 29, 2024
NY Jury Eyes Trump Tower 'Conspiracy' As Deliberations Start
Jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial ended their first day of deliberations Wednesday without a verdict, as the panel appeared to home in on testimony about a key 2015 meeting where the alleged scheme was hatched.
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May 29, 2024
9th Circ. Rejects Objections To $23M Monsanto Roundup Deal
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a district court's approval of a $23 million MDL settlement to resolve claims that Monsanto failed to warn buyers of the carcinogens in its Roundup weed killer, finding there was no indication of collusion as argued by Missouri-based objectors.
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May 29, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Atty Ducks Sanctions Over Musk Deposition
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro beat an attempt to sanction him for alleged "astonishingly unprofessional" conduct at a deposition while defending billionaire and investor Elon Musk from a defamation suit in Texas state court, but the suit survived a motion to dismiss, according to an order signed Wednesday.
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May 29, 2024
Atty Says SEC Waited Too Long To Secure Civil Penalties
An attorney and her husband have told a Florida federal judge that it's too late for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reopen its case against them and seek civil penalties over a microcap scheme after almost four years of doing nothing to prosecute the case.
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May 29, 2024
Chicago IP Firm Accused Of Botching Fetal Biotech Patent
A company that makes technology that can detect fetal asphyxia and distress has alleged in Illinois state court that Chicago law firm Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP cost it millions when it registered the company's patents under one of its former employees, who then used its intellectual property to launch a competing company.
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May 29, 2024
Law Firm Says Atty Can't Elude Malpractice Claims In RE Case
Chaitman LLP has urged a New Jersey state court to preserve its malpractice claims against a suspended solo attorney, arguing that discovery so far has shown that the attorney was deeply involved in guiding a case that ended in failure for its clients and exposed Chaitman to its own malpractice suit.
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May 29, 2024
Colo. Suspends Ex-Trump Atty For Aiding Ga. Election Lies
A Colorado disciplinary judge has suspended Jenna Lynn Ellis from practicing law in the state for three years over her guilty plea in a Georgia election interference case, after the former attorney and legal adviser to Donald Trump disavowed her actions in a letter that admitted, "I was wrong."
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May 29, 2024
Ga. Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over Racial Profiling, Death Suit
A Georgia city has urged a federal court to sanction opposing counsel and their client, a mother who sued its police department for allegedly racially profiling and fatally shooting her son, calling the case "an abuse of the judicial process" because counsel and the plaintiff should have known their claims were false.
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May 29, 2024
Non-Atty Advice To Debtors Is Unprotected, 2nd Circ. Told
New York urged the Second Circuit on Wednesday to find that stopping a nonprofit focused on bankruptcy education and the South Bronx pastor it's working with from advising low-income debtors represents a content-neutral regulation on who can practice law that does not violate the First Amendment.
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May 29, 2024
Ex-Calif. Atty Cops To Role In $9.5M Crypto Ponzi Scheme
A disbarred California attorney has pled guilty in federal court to his role in promoting a $9.5 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
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May 29, 2024
BakerHostetler, Crowell On Verge Of Settling Client Scam Suit
BakerHostetler and Crowell & Moring LLP appear close to settling a malpractice suit claiming the firms aided and abetted a network of predatory websites, just days after a Florida federal judge authorized discovery into the former client's Slack messages.
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May 29, 2024
Israeli Atty Cops To Aiding Convicted Ponzi Schemer In NJ
An Israeli attorney has admitted to conspiring to commit securities fraud, launder money and obstruct justice to aid alleged serial fraudster Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein, who is facing new fraud charges just two years after then-President Donald Trump commuted Weinstein's 24-year prison sentence for previous fraud convictions amid a flood of last-minute pardons in January 2021.
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May 29, 2024
Weinstein Could Face Added Assault Charges In Retrial
New York prosecutors planning to retry Harvey Weinstein this fall after his rape conviction was overturned said Wednesday they may file an expanded indictment after hearing from new sexual assault claimants.
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May 29, 2024
NC House Advances Bill To Let Attys Expunge Ethics Records
The North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill that would allow attorneys to clear certain disciplinary records, putting the proposal one step closer to becoming law.
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May 29, 2024
Contractor Talking To Juror Warrants Contempt, NC Panel Told
A general contractor interfered with the court when he spoke to a juror during a civil trial involving his company, state prosecutors told a North Carolina appellate court in seeking to have the contractor's contempt conviction upheld.
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May 29, 2024
Ga. Justices Reprimand Atty Over Flubbed Settlement
A Georgia solo practitioner was hit with a public reprimand by the state's highest court Wednesday after admitting that he bungled a personal injury settlement by delegating the negotiations to his assistant.
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May 29, 2024
Menendez Trial Judge Sticks With Order Barring Texts
The federal judge presiding over the corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez announced Wednesday that he is holding firm to his decision barring prosecutors from using text messages to bolster their claims that the New Jersey Democrat took bribes in exchange for authorizing millions of dollars in aid for Egypt.
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May 29, 2024
Alito Won't Recuse From Jan. 6 Cases Over Flag Controversy
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito announced Wednesday that he will not recuse himself from deciding cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol or former President Donald Trump's criminal immunity following reports that two flags used by protesters of Trump's 2020 election loss were flown outside his houses.
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May 29, 2024
Whistleblower Counsel Can't Get 'Exorbitant' $11.5M Fee
A Boston federal judge slashed an "exorbitant" $11.5 million fee request made by counsel for a False Claims Act whistleblower in a case involving lab testing company Fresenius Medical Care, hammering the attorneys for inflated hourly rates, inflated time entries and a host of questionable billing practices.
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May 29, 2024
Coverage Recap: Day 1 Of Deliberations In Trump's NY Trial
Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from the first day of deliberations Wednesday.
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May 28, 2024
Wash. Justices Doubt Atty's Response In Disbarment Case
Washington State justices were skeptical Tuesday of an appeal from an attorney facing disbarment who asserts that he did nothing wrong in response to misconduct allegations including that he embezzled from investors in a failed venture to build a cannabis industrial park.
Expert Analysis
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Nimitz Patent Fight Offers Peek Behind NPE Liability Curtain
Nimitz's patent assertion campaign against BuzzFeed and others inadvertently provides unprecedented insight into how nonpracticing entities shield themselves from penalties of bad faith litigation, reminding litigants to consider pressing for disclosure of entities that control a litigation but aren't the named plaintiff, says Aakash Patel at Flaster Greenberg.
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Atty Conflict Discussions In Idaho Murder Case And Beyond
A public defender's representation of the accused University of Idaho murderer after prior representation of a victim's parent doesn't constitute a violation of conflict of interest rules, but the case prompts ethical questions about navigating client conflicts in small-town criminal defense and big-city corporate law alike, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Charles Loeser at HWG.
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Opinion
Dobbs Leak Highlights Need For High Court Ethics Code
While a recent investigation failed to identify who leaked the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the situation underscores the need for the justices to bind themselves to the same ethics rules that constrain other federal judges, says Scott Gerber at Ohio Northern University.
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Why The Original 'Rocket Docket' Will Likely Resume Its Pace
Though the Eastern District of Virginia, for decades the fastest federal trial court in the country, experienced significant pandemic-related slowdowns, several factors unique to the district suggest that it will soon return to its speedy pace, say Dabney Carr and Robert Angle at Troutman Pepper.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage
Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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The Discipline George Santos Would Face If He Were A Lawyer
Rep. George Santos, who has become a national punchline for his alleged lies, hasn't faced many consequences yet, but if he were a lawyer, even his nonwork behavior would be regulated by the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and violations in the past have led to sanctions and even disbarment, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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Why FERC's Proposed Duty Of Candor Rule Is Problematic
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering adopting a new regulation that would prohibit the submission of any inaccurate or false information when communicating with the agency, which would raise significant due process and First Amendment concerns, say attorneys at Skadden.
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A Litigation Move That Could Conserve Discovery Resources
Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben proposes the preliminary legal opinion procedure — seeking a court's opinion on a disputed legal standard at the outset, rather than the close, of discovery — as a useful resource-preservation tool for legally complex, discovery-intensive litigation.
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Litigators Should Approach AI Tools With Caution
Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT hold potential to streamline various aspects of the litigation process, resulting in improved efficiency and outcomes, but should be carefully double-checked for confidentiality, plagiarism and accuracy concerns, say Zachary Foster and Melanie Kalmanson at Quarles & Brady.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability
The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.
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Thorny Legal Issues Surround NY Prosecutor's Trump Tell-All
As the Manhattan district attorney's office empanels a grand jury in its ongoing Donald Trump investigation, it is seeking to pause publication of a book by former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz that focuses on Trump's indictment — an unusual situation that raises issues of prejudice, contractual responsibility and legal ethics, says John Harris at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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5 Ways Attorneys Can Use Emotion In Client Pitches
Lawyers are skilled at using their high emotional intelligence to build rapport with clients, so when planning your next pitch, consider how you can create some emotional peaks, personal connections and moments of magic that might help you stick in prospective clients' minds and seal the deal, says consultant Diana Kander.
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5 Keys To A Productive Mediation
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Cortney Young at ADR Partners discusses factors that can help to foster success in mediation, including scheduling, preparation, managing client expectations and more.
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Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion
Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.
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Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Highlight Attorney Ethics Issues
Recently released transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee demonstrate that there is always a lurking conflict when someone other than the client is paying the fee, and that disclosure must therefore be painstaking and extensive, says Steven Lubet at Northwestern University.