Legal Ethics

  • August 07, 2024

    Mortgage Banker Says Experian Can't Tie Him To 'Sham' Suits

    A New Jersey-based licensed mortgage banker is urging a California federal judge to let him escape Experian's suit alleging that he helped credit reporting law firms identify clients and created false evidence of a mortgage denial in a nationwide scheme to "extort" the credit reporting agency into settling "sham" lawsuits.

  • August 07, 2024

    Air Force Says Sanctions Bid In Contract Dispute Unwarranted

    The U.S. Air Force has hit back at a contractor's bid for sanctions over alleged late document production and document destruction in a contract dispute, saying the motion was unexpectedly sprung on it while the parties were negotiating discovery issues.

  • August 07, 2024

    Calif. Judges Cautioned About Recall, Election Comments

    The California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions is cautioning judges about making comments concerning pending proceedings or decisions that come under fire during a campaign or recall effort, saying such comments can impact the public's perception of judicial integrity.

  • August 07, 2024

    BP Malpractice Deal Needs Work, 5th Circ. Says

    The Fifth Circuit scrapped a legal malpractice settlement in a consolidated lawsuit alleging attorneys were negligent in representing plaintiffs seeking compensation following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with a panel finding the terms were not mutually agreed upon.

  • August 07, 2024

    Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme

    The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.

  • August 06, 2024

    Thompson Hine Says Ex-Atty's Harassment Claims Lack Teeth

    A former Thompson Hine LLP attorney's sex harassment suit should be dismissed for failing to show that gender bias had anything to do with the workplace conflicts that arose during her tenure, the firm argued in a New York federal court filing.

  • August 06, 2024

    Girardi Used Client Funds As 'Personal Piggy Bank,' Jury Told

    The prosecution and defense painted starkly different portraits of Tom Girardi during opening statements Tuesday in the disbarred attorney's criminal fraud trial, with a California federal prosecutor saying Girardi stole millions from vulnerable clients while his lawyer described him as an "old man" losing his memory and exploited by an underling.

  • August 06, 2024

    Possible Juror Naps Don't Tank Conviction, Conn. Justices Rule

    A man's murder conviction and 65-year prison sentence will stand despite his protests that the trial judge should have intervened more strongly when a juror seemed to fall asleep several times on the first day of testimony, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

  • August 06, 2024

    Powell, Trump Attys Seek To Halt Mich. Bar Discipline Cases

    Sidney Powell and other attorneys behind a legal challenge to Michigan's 2020 presidential election results want bar discipline proceedings paused while they ask the Michigan Supreme Court to step in and dismiss the professional misconduct complaints.

  • August 06, 2024

    39 Law Firms Call On 6th Circ. To Reverse FirstEnergy Ruling

    Dozens of law firms have signed on to an amicus curiae brief urging the Sixth Circuit to reverse a decision in a FirstEnergy shareholder litigation, the latest voices in the legal, insurance and business communities to call on the appellate court to reverse an Ohio federal judge's ruling they warn will threaten attorney-client privilege.

  • August 06, 2024

    Jones Day Slams Ex-Client's Bid To Exit $2M Fee Fight

    Jones Day wants to prevent former client Soverain Software LLC from exiting a decade-long spat over $2 million in unpaid legal fees, telling an Illinois state court that Soverain's bid to bring the litigation to a close "is a house of cards that collapses with the slightest breeze."

  • August 06, 2024

    Plaintiff Drops Atty Malpractice Suit Filed After Appeal Loss

    A woman who filed a malpractice lawsuit against her lawyer that Colorado justices found was untimely in a personal injury case has dropped the suit.

  • August 06, 2024

    Former Judge's Misconduct May Spark Fights Over Conflicts

    Many of the defendants in criminal cases presided over by disgraced District of Alaska Judge Joshua Kindred could try to have their convictions or sentences overturned due to the judge's allegedly inappropriate relationships with attorneys, with ethics experts saying such attempts could prove successful but also challenging.

  • August 06, 2024

    Legal Service Co.'s Template Misused Identity Of Fla. Atty

    Tampa Bay attorney Matthew Weidner has shared his work online before to help self-represented litigants, but a copy-paste error following a legal service company using his old pleading as a template recently led to his identity being misused in a Sixth Circuit case.

  • August 06, 2024

    Fla. Judicial Ethics Panel Sets Parameters For Elections

    Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has handed down a pair of opinions for judges navigating elections involving a judicial assistant and a judge's spouse.

  • August 06, 2024

    ABA Tells States To Nix Rape Disclosures For Bar Applicants

    The American Bar Association unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that calls on state admission authorities to stop asking would-be lawyers to disclose their experiences of sexual violence and harassment during the attorney licensure process.

  • August 06, 2024

    Atty Rips Lawyer's Suit Over $30K Law School Loan Judgment

    A Florida employment lawyer's "absurdly long" federal complaint alleging his onetime romantic partner and her attorneys conspired with a Wells Fargo consultant to concoct a vexatious lawsuit against him should be trimmed, one defendant argued Tuesday, noting that an underlying judgment was entered against the plaintiff.

  • August 06, 2024

    Texas Justices Look To Non-Attys To Narrow 'Justice Gap'

    In seeking to make legal help accessible to low-income residents of the Lone Star State, the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday laid the groundwork for allowing nonattorneys to provide limited legal services, while remaining silent on the issue of nonlawyer ownership in organizations that provide legal services.

  • August 06, 2024

    NJ Firm Wants Sanctions In Dispute With Ex-Employees

    Davis Saperstein & Salomon PC said eight former employees and the attorney representing them should be sanctioned for filing a pair of lawsuits in New Jersey state court alleging the firm violated wage and discrimination laws.

  • August 06, 2024

    Feds Say Marathon Bomber Can't Oust Judge Amid Retrial Bid

    Federal prosecutors said lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev misconstrued a local rule in seeking a different judge to consider his bid for a new sentencing trial.

  • August 06, 2024

    Defense Contractor Wants Maynard Nexsen DQed In Bias Case

    Defense contractor Parsons Corp. urged an Alabama federal judge to disqualify Maynard Nexsen PC from representing a former engineer in his unlawful termination case against the company, saying the firm was also representing Parsons when he filed his case.

  • August 05, 2024

    Ex-Trump Atty Ellis To Cooperate In Ariz. Fake Electors Case

    Jenna Ellis, former legal adviser to Donald Trump, has agreed to cooperate with Arizona prosecutors' case alleging allies of the former president made efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Monday.

  • August 05, 2024

    5th Circ. Finds No Misconduct In Judges' Columbia Boycott

    Eight federal judges did not violate ethical rules or standards when they decided earlier this year not to hire alumni of Columbia University or its law school as clerks in response to its handling of student protests over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council decided Friday.

  • August 05, 2024

    Nondisclosure Led To 'Apparent Bias' In Nigeria Oil Case

    A London court has ordered a tribunal to reconsider an arbitral award issued in a $2 billion case over a funding deal for Nigerian oil fields, ruling that a since-replaced arbitrator had wrongly failed to reveal the total extent of her relationship with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

  • August 05, 2024

    New Colo. Chief Justice Angles For More Judges

    Colorado Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez said Monday she is preparing to ask state lawmakers for more money to expand the state court bench, including possible additions to the intermediate court of appeals, which a National Center for State Courts report found is understaffed.

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials

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    As illustrated by the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, defense attorneys in securities trials might consider arguing that counsel had some involvement in the conduct at issue — if the more formal advice-of-counsel defense is unavailable and circumstances allow for a privilege waiver, say Joseph Dever and Matthew Elkin at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's Recent FARA Advisory Opinions

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    The U.S. Department of Justice recently published several redacted advisory opinions on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, clarifying its current thinking on when a person or entity is required to register as a foreign agent under the statute, and when they may qualify for an exemption, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley Rein.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS

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    After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys

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    Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.

  • Series

    Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.

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