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Legal Ethics
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January 22, 2025
'Unicorn Prosecution' Could Upend Legal Practice, Court Told
Brown & Connery LLP partner William Tambussi told a New Jersey state judge Wednesday that the entire practice of law in the Garden State rests on his impending decision on the charges against him in the state's sweeping racketeering case targeting power broker George E. Norcross III, arguing that a lawyer has never been prosecuted for routine legal work.
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January 22, 2025
Fla. Court Proposes $19M In Damages In Spinal Products Suit
A Florida federal judge has recommended that the principal of spine medical equipment companies pay $19.3 million in damages after allegedly breaching an agreement and forming a direct competitor to a business he previously contracted with for exclusive distribution of its products.
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January 22, 2025
Attorneys Botched Arbitration Win, Texas Property Cos. Claim
A group of property owners in Texas told a Harris County judge a law firm and five attorneys helped them secure a $1.7 million arbitration award but never took action when the award misidentified their names, making them unable to collect.
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January 22, 2025
Drug Co. Wants To Keep Judge On Alopecia IP Case
The developer behind an Eli Lilly & Co. alopecia drug has called allegations the company's lawyers deliberately hired a New Jersey federal judge's former law clerk both "low and baseless" and a "transparent attempt to remove the judge who decided against it."
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January 22, 2025
Reed Smith Rips Claim Firm Is 'Causing Chaos' In $102M Suit
Reed Smith fought back Tuesday against allegations by the purported new owners of Eletson Holdings that the BigLaw firm is "causing chaos" by refusing to withdraw as counsel of record in $102 million breach-of-contract litigation, arguing that ownership of the international shipping group is "hotly contested" and being litigated in multiple jurisdictions.
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January 22, 2025
Madigan Used ComEd As 'Personal Piggy Bank,' Jurors Told
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his devoted surrogate Michael McClain conspired to enhance and preserve Madigan's power and line his pockets, both by steering business to the ex-speaker's law firm and rewarding his political allies with do-nothing jobs, prosecutors told an Illinois federal jury during closing arguments Wednesday.
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January 22, 2025
Mich. Justices Doubt Boss Can 'Trap' Workers In Meeting
Michigan Supreme Court justices struggled with the proposition Wednesday that a supervisor has some ability to keep employees in a meeting by force, during oral arguments in a former assistant county prosecutor's whistleblower appeal.
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January 22, 2025
Colo. Judge 'Dumbfounded' Oil Co. Hasn't Disclosed Deal
A Colorado state judge on Wednesday said she was "totally dumbfounded" by an oil and gas exploration company's failure to disclose a deal that it appeared to have entered into while telling the court that it had no deals, in a suit brought by an Anschutz oil subsidiary alleging theft of trade secrets.
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January 22, 2025
#MeToo Claims Against Ex-Defender's Boss To Stay Sealed
A federal judge on Wednesday shot down a former assistant public defender's renewed attempt to lay bare certain #MeToo complaints against her one-time employer as part of a long-running case casting a spotlight on the judiciary's internal complaint process for workplace misconduct.
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January 22, 2025
Unum Unlawfully Cut Disability, Hughes Hubbard Worker Says
Insurance company First Unum Life Insurance unlawfully halted a Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP manager's long-term disability benefits and decided to solely follow in-house doctors' recommendations, a suit filed in New Jersey federal court claims.
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January 22, 2025
5th Circ. Sends Beck Redden Malpractice Suit To State Court
The malpractice suit a disbarred Texas attorney brought against his former counsel belongs in state court, the Fifth Circuit has determined, declining to reconsider a December ruling that remanded a Texas federal judge's order throwing out claims against Beck Redden LLP, finding the Southern District of Texas lacked jurisdiction.
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January 22, 2025
DC Judge Declines To DQ Jenner & Block In Casino Dispute
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid from three Native American tribes to disqualify Jenner & Block LLP from a lawsuit that seeks to block the operation of a new casino in Oregon.
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January 22, 2025
Feds Drop Case Against Atty's Accomplice In COVID Loan Fraud
A Savannah, Georgia, man who conspired with two attorneys to defraud the federal pandemic relief effort of $300,000 has had the charges against him in Georgia federal court dropped, after he completed a year of a pretrial diversion program.
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January 22, 2025
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds Slam Baldoni Atty's 'Media Blitz'
Counsel for celebrity couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds told a New York federal judge that Justin Baldoni's attorney from Liner Freedman Taitelman & Cooley LLP has violated ethical rules with an "all-out media blitz" during their thorny litigation over the movie "It Ends With Us."
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January 22, 2025
Connell Foley Fights DQ Bid In Investment Firm's Bias Suit
A group of current and former New Jersey state officials blasted a motion to disqualify their counsel at Connell Foley LLP in a discrimination suit from a Black-owned investment firm in New Jersey federal court, calling the move a frivolous and bad faith stalling tactic.
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January 22, 2025
Committee's Trump Probe Subpoenas Are Moot, Willis Says
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has urged a Georgia state court to quash a bid to enforce subpoenas from a state Senate committee investigating her handling of the prosecution of President Donald Trump, arguing the subpoenas are moot because "the old special committee no longer exists."
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January 22, 2025
Case Removal Rules Aimed At Fairness, Ex-Atty Tells 5th Circ.
Several Fifth Circuit judges seemed keen Wednesday to clarify what activity in state court would bar litigants from removing their cases to federal court, as the full appeals court reconsidered a remand order for a Houston firm's poaching suit.
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January 22, 2025
Captive Insurance Co. Head Seeks Tax-Shelter Fine Refund
A tax attorney who heads a business that creates captive insurance companies said the IRS wrongly accused him of promoting an abusive tax shelter, telling an Ohio federal court the agency owes him a refund of penalties he handed over.
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January 22, 2025
Fla. Attys Face Ethics Charges For Settling Dead Client's Suits
Two Boca Raton, Florida-based lawyers cannot escape ethics charges after they conditionally admitted to settling cases after their client had died, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled, denying their proposed consent judgments, which would have suspended them for a period of nine months.
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January 21, 2025
SEC Sues Ex-Investment Firm Reps, GC Over 'Sham' Energy Co.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused former representatives of a wealth management firm of selling shares of a "sham" oil and gas company, and separately accused the firm's general counsel and chief compliance officer of playing an "active role" in the alleged misconduct by drawing up liability releases for the firm.
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January 21, 2025
Ch. 11 Judge Slams Firm's 'Extraordinary' Lack Of Knowledge
A New York bankruptcy judge has refused a fee bid and ordered a debtor's firm to return a nearly $30,000 retainer in a scathing opinion that warns lawyers against tiptoeing into bankruptcy practice and slams counsel for having an "extraordinary lack of basic Chapter 11 understanding."
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January 21, 2025
Miner Wins Challenge Of Ghana's Arbitrator In $277M Claim
An Australian mining company said Tuesday it has successfully challenged the Republic of Ghana's choice of arbitrator in its $277 million breach of contract claim before an ad hoc arbitral tribunal seated in the West African country's capital city of Accra.
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January 21, 2025
Firm Tells Fed. Circ. It Was Wrongly Sanctioned In Patent Row
Moarbes LLP has urged the Federal Circuit to overturn over $23,000 in sanctions against it for not complying with discovery orders in a door manufacturing patent suit, saying the ruling wrongly relied on a letter from the firm's client criticizing its work.
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January 21, 2025
Wash. Panel Suspends Judge, Recommends Removal
A judicial board has said a Washington municipal court judge should be removed from office, finding that the judge's mistreatment of attorneys and staff drove away two sets of court employees and deterred lawyers from further practicing in her jurisdiction.
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January 21, 2025
4th Circ. Backs NASCAR Team Owner's $31M Ch. 11 Sanction
The Fourth Circuit has backed a $31 million default judgment entered against a former NASCAR team manager as a sanction after what the published opinion called "egregious behavior" during discovery and "willful disregard of the bankruptcy code and the orders of the bankruptcy court."
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
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An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025
As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
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Series
Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer
From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team
In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
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The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys
Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.
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When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US
As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.
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What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025
The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Series
Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.
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How White Collar Defense Attys Can Use Summary Witnesses
Few criminal defense attorneys have successfully utilized summary witnesses in the past, but several recent success stories show that it can be a worthwhile trial tactic to help juries understand the complex decision-making at issue, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Opinion
6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School
Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.
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Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware
Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Top 10 Legal Malpractice Defenses As Claims Tick Up
As legal malpractice claims and payouts increase, law firms should remember certain time-tested defenses, such as asserting no duty to nonclients, omissions beyond the scope of engagement or lack of proximate cause, say attorneys at Goulston & Storrs.
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Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out
In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Immigration Atty Tips For Avoiding Prosecution Under Trump
Under the incoming Trump administration, immigration attorneys may need to protect themselves from prosecution when advising clients who may not qualify for relief sought by choosing their words carefully and keeping other key factors in mind, says Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi.
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The Malpractice Perils Of Elder Abuse Liability
Recent cases show that the circumstances under which an attorney may be sued for financial elder abuse remain unsettled, but practitioners can avoid these malpractice claims altogether by taking proactive steps, like documenting the process of evaluating a client's directives under appropriate standards, says Edward Donohue at Hinshaw & Culbertson.