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Legal Ethics
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March 24, 2025
Google Wins Sanctions For Ramey Firm's 'Baseless' IP Suit
A New York federal magistrate judge granted Google's request Monday for sanctions against Ramey LLP for filing an allegedly "baseless" suit on behalf of EscapeX IP accusing YouTube of infringing its social media chat-function patent, finding that counsel failed to conduct a presuit investigation and needlessly drew out litigation.
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March 24, 2025
DC Circ. Appears Divided In Venezuelan Deportation Appeal
A D.C. Circuit panel seemed split on Monday as the appellate judges contended with the Trump administration's bid to dissolve a trial court order blocking the deportations of some Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
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March 24, 2025
Visa Ducks Antitrust Suit Rife With 'Elementary Mistakes'
A California federal judge took a credit card transaction middleman to task Monday for "muddled" antitrust claims supported by "elementary mistakes" and tossing its proposed class action against Visa Inc.
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March 24, 2025
No New Trial For Alleged Embezzler Who Waffled On Testifying
The Second Circuit on Monday rejected a bid for a new trial from a former Long Island nonprofit executive who was convicted of embezzlement, rejecting her argument that she'd been denied a right to testify and saying the record showed that she'd chosen not to.
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March 24, 2025
Ill. County Must Face Public Defender's 1st Amendment Claim
An Illinois federal judge on Friday trimmed a public defender's constitutional claims against her county employer after she was disciplined for displaying a photograph in an office area of her holding a gun in front of an Israeli flag following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, dismissing her First Amendment prior restraint claim but otherwise allowing her suit to proceed.
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March 24, 2025
Ill. Law Firm Accused Of Suing Wrong Co., Lying About Error
A doctor who sought to pursue an employment discrimination claim against former employer Humana Inc. claims in an Illinois state court lawsuit that the law firm he hired to handle his case filed claims against Cigna instead, forged his signature and didn't fix its attorneys' errors before the statute of limitations ran out.
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March 24, 2025
Colo. Justices Say ABA Standards Don't Trump State's Rules
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday affirmed disciplinary sanctions against a lawyer who unloaded expletives at school staff in the presence of his minor client, finding in an opinion that the American Bar Association's standards for lawyer sanctions are "an important guiding authority" but don't override Colorado's own rules.
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March 24, 2025
Fla. Judge OKs $19.3M In Spinal Products Noncompete Suit
A Florida federal judge approved a $19.3 million judgment against the owner of a distributor and his affiliated companies, finding that he owes damages for breaching an exclusive sales agreement with a spinal products manufacturer in a case with a "tortured history" that lasted for more than six years.
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March 24, 2025
Lawyers Slam Trump Memo On 'Vexatious' Attys
BigLaw attorneys, immigration lawyers and legal advocacy organizations have been quick to blast President Donald Trump for what some of them call an "inexcusable and despicable" memo that is meant to intimidate attorneys out of challenging the administration.
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March 24, 2025
Ex-Girardi Lawyer Faces Ethics Charges For $53M Settlement
The State Bar of California has filed disciplinary charges against a former Girardi Keese attorney alleging he settled a family's claims for $53 million without permission and hid the firm's misappropriation of millions of dollars from the resulting settlement funds, among other ethical violations.
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March 24, 2025
Reed Smith Accused Of Interference In $102M Award Fight
The purported new owners of Eletson Holdings Inc., a reorganized international shipping group, have urged the Second Circuit to nix Reed Smith's appeal challenging the law firm's removal as counsel for the company's prebankruptcy shareholders in an enforcement action, saying the former owners declined the opportunity to intervene and that their counsel cannot intervene on their behalf.
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March 24, 2025
Sheppard Mullin, Others Accused Of Aiding Loan Fraud
An investor has hit Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, a former managing partner and multiple other individuals with a sprawling lawsuit in California state court, alleging they made a series of fraudulent transactions to dupe him out of his initial $650,000 loan, eventually costing him millions of dollars in lost profits and legal fees.
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March 24, 2025
NJ University Launches Malpractice Suit Over Forfeited Land
Rider University has sued a now-defunct New Jersey firm claiming it mishandled a land deal in the early 1990s, leading Rider to believe it owned a $42 million property only to later have its ownership rights challenged and defeated in court.
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March 24, 2025
Pa. Judge Largely OKs Schnader Harrison Overbilling Suit
A real estate company's lawsuit claiming that now-defunct law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP inflated its bills by more than $1 million will continue after a Philadelphia County judge overruled most of the firm's preliminary objections.
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March 24, 2025
Conn. Firms Sue For $175K Fee After 8-Year Estate Litigation
Two Connecticut law firms have sued a grandmother's estate to recoup $175,000 in attorney fees, saying they've spent eight years litigating four separate challenges to the woman's will and haven't been paid in more than five years.
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March 24, 2025
Paul Weiss Chair Defends Trump Deal Amid Outcry
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP Chairman Brad Karp explained to the law firm's personnel on Sunday his decision to strike a deal with the Trump administration to avoid retribution related to the firm's selection of clients and DEI practices, a decision that has prompted public outcry among legal industry pundits and firm alumni.
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March 21, 2025
Trump Tells AG To Seek Sanctions On 'Vexatious' Attys
President Donald Trump on Friday night directed the U.S. attorney general to seek sanctions against attorneys and firms who lodge "frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious" lawsuits against the federal government, focusing on immigration and BigLaw attorneys he claims "coach clients to conceal their past or lie" when seeking asylum.
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March 21, 2025
Attys Suing FIFA Say Humans, Not AI, Made Citation Errors
Attorneys accusing soccer's international governing body, its Puerto Rican affiliate and a regional soccer association of trying to block local rivals told a Puerto Rico federal judge Friday that it was simply human oversight — not the use of artificial intelligence — that led to citation inaccuracies in recent filings.
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March 21, 2025
Paul Weiss Stuns Legal Industry With Trump DEI Deal
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's decision to strike a deal with the Trump administration to defuse an executive order targeting the firm has drawn criticism across the legal industry and highlights the challenges preventing BigLaw firms from taking collective action against the White House.
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March 21, 2025
Jenner & Block Fights Sierra Leone's Fraud Claims In $8M Suit
Jenner & Block LLP on Thursday urged a D.C. federal judge to nix Sierra Leone's counterclaim accusing the firm of fraud as it looks to collect some $8 million from the country in unpaid legal fees, saying the claim is improper in a breach of contract suit.
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March 21, 2025
3rd Circ. Axes Ethics Claim Against Judge Critical Of Trump
A D.C. federal judge who criticized then-candidate Donald Trump in a CNN interview last spring has escaped judicial misconduct charges, with the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit finding that the judge had not violated judicial canons in his statements regarding Trump's social media posts amid a pending legal action.
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March 21, 2025
Colo. Disbars 'Unregulatable' NY Atty For Abandoning Clients
An immigration attorney licensed in New York may no longer practice in Colorado federal courts due to her track record of abandoning clients, disciplinary authorities have ruled, with the order set to be enacted next month.
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March 21, 2025
DOJ Seeks To DQ Judge From Perkins Coie's Exec Order Suit
The U.S. Department of Justice moved Friday to disqualify the D.C. federal judge presiding over Perkins Coie LLP's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its political representation.
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March 21, 2025
Wright Says Defamation Suit Did Not Violate Anti-SLAPP Law
Onetime Federal Trade Commission member and law professor Joshua Wright, who recently dropped a $108 million defamation suit against two attorneys who accused him of sexual misconduct, is now fighting a sanctions bid brought by one of the women, arguing it hinges on "selective — and largely misleading — presentation of evidence."
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March 21, 2025
No Suspension Pause For Ex-Alex Jones Atty, Ethics Boss Says
A former Alex Jones attorney's two-week suspension from practicing law in Connecticut should not be halted amid an impending appeal, but he should get credit for a previous weeklong suspension he served over the same mishandling of confidential information about family members of Sandy Hook shooting victims, the state's chief legal ethics official said in a new filing.
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.