Legal Ethics

  • February 14, 2025

    Adams Case Careens Toward 'Messy' Hearing, Experts Say

    The Manhattan federal judge overseeing the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is unlikely to rubber stamp a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to toss the case and may instead hold a hearing on the matter, which could get "messy" and "embarrassing," experts say.

  • February 14, 2025

    Adams Case Fiasco 'Unparalleled' In Modern US History

    The mass resignation of federal prosecutors refusing to obey a Trump administration directive to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is "unprecedented," "crazy" and "very troubling," according to law professors and former prosecutors.

  • February 14, 2025

    Off The Bench: Trans EO, Cards Arbitration, NASCAR Revs Up

    In this week's Off The Bench, litigation begins over President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender individuals from competing in women's sports, a former Arizona Cardinals executive's defamation suit against the team is shuffled to arbitration, and NASCAR asks an appeals panel to reverse wins handed to two teams in their antitrust suit.

  • February 14, 2025

    BakerHostetler Can't Keep Ga. Malpractice Suit In Fed. Court

    BakerHostetler lost its bid Friday to keep a former client's suit alleging the firm botched its legal representation of its patent applications for a smart wardrobe system in federal court, with a Georgia federal judge rejecting the firm's argument that the claims involve patent law.

  • February 14, 2025

    Pashman Stein Gets Arbitration Award Against Atty Confirmed

    Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC on Friday won confirmation for an $88,000 award against an intellectual property attorney and former client it sued over unpaid legal fees in New Jersey state court.

  • February 14, 2025

    Fla. Atty Disbarred After 'Serious Pattern Of Neglect'

    The Florida Supreme Court has permanently yanked the law license of former Sunshine State attorney Danialle Riggins for demonstrating a "serious pattern of neglect" with clients and other misconduct, including yelling at a judge during court.

  • February 14, 2025

    Rewarding Ex-Atty For Killing Wife Is Unjust, Ga. Court Told

    The administrator of the estate of the wife of a former BigLaw attorney urged a Georgia state court to block the husband's bid to designate the settlement proceeds of a wrongful death suit, arguing that it "does not seem just to reward" him after he "did, in fact, shoot and kill his wife."

  • February 14, 2025

    Texas Justices End Election Ethics Suit Against AG Paxton

    Texas justices on Friday granted the state Commission for Lawyer Discipline's motion to drop the commission's ethics complaint against Attorney General Ken Paxton, citing its decision last month in a "nearly identical" suit against Paxton's first assistant.

  • February 14, 2025

    DOJ Files Motion To Drop Adams Case After Prosecutors Exit

    The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, following a flood of resignations by government lawyers who defied a top DOJ official's orders to drop the charges for political reasons.

  • February 14, 2025

    Ex-JPMorgan Atty Pleads Guilty To NYC Housing Fraud

    A one-time Bronx, New York, prosecutor and former JPMorgan Chase & Co. assistant general counsel pled guilty along with two relatives to a scheme to fraudulently obtain affordable housing units and benefits, state investigators announced Friday.

  • February 13, 2025

    After Winning $18M, ASUSTek Foe Asks For New Patent Trial

    A patent litigation company that obtained a nearly $18 million award from a federal jury in Waco, Texas, against Taiwanese computer manufacturer ASUSTeK says it wants to try winning some more money at a new trial, though the company admitted it "recognizes the extraordinary nature of the relief it is requesting."

  • February 13, 2025

    PQA Loses Bid To Fight VLSI's Extortion Claims In Fed. Court

    Patent Quality Assurance LLC must return to state court to face a suit claiming it had extortionary intent when challenging VLSI Technology's chip patent, a Virginia federal judge held Thursday.

  • February 13, 2025

    Lawsuit Trimmed Over Holland & Knight Atty's File Access

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday trimmed most of a lawsuit that one Philadelphia law firm had filed against another over an attorney's alleged unauthorized access to confidential files as part of his divorce.

  • February 13, 2025

    Madigan Verdict Caps Stunning Fall For Powerful Chicago Pol

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's conviction Wednesday on bribery and wire fraud charges marked a stunning fall from grace for a man who was the longest-serving legislative leader in the country and who wielded considerable influence in the state and the city of Chicago for decades.

  • February 13, 2025

    Trump Ally Seeks To Limit Judges' Sway Over White House

    A conservative legal group run by an ally of President Donald Trump is working on legislation to restrain judges that it deems politicized, in the wake of rulings against the Trump administration's actions.

  • February 13, 2025

    SoCal Judge Admonished For 'Demeaning' Female Lawyers

    A Southern California judge was publicly reprimanded by the state's judicial discipline agency Thursday for a yearslong "pattern of discourteous, undignified and impatient behavior" toward female attorneys, including the use of profanities and inappropriate gestures meant to convey the act of pumping breast milk. 

  • February 13, 2025

    Atty Can Keep Fees In Foreclosure Row, Mich. Panel Rules

    A trial court shouldn't have ordered an attorney to refund fees for representing a condominium association in its failed attempt to foreclose on unit owners because the attorney was not a party to the action or accused of conversion, a Michigan appellate panel found Wednesday.

  • February 13, 2025

    Ga. House Speaker Sued Over State Senator's Ban And Arrest

    Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns has been hit with a lawsuit from constituents of a lawmaker who was barred from the chamber last month after he called Burns' predecessor "one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we'll ever see in our lifetimes."

  • February 13, 2025

    Family Ties Could DQ Judge From Hawaii Wildfire Litigation

    The federal judge overseeing a proposed class action brought against Maui County, Hawaii, departments by Lahaina residents whose homes were destroyed in a devastating August 2023 wildfire has indicated she is "inclined" to grant a recusal bid.

  • February 13, 2025

    Lowenstein Sandler Accuses Dispensary Of 'Bad Faith' Move

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP has accused a cannabis dispensary it is suing for unpaid legal fees of effectively asking a New Jersey Superior Court judge to overturn another judge's partial denial of the dispensary's motion to dismiss the case.

  • February 13, 2025

    Landscape Workers Seek Sanctions Over Lacking Class Lists

    U.S. citizens and H-2B landscape workers have called on a Kansas federal judge to sanction a company accused of cheating them out of overtime pay, saying it supplied "woefully incomplete" class lists that were not in compliance with court orders.

  • February 13, 2025

    Ga. Plant Boss Accused Of Trying To Bribe Opposing Counsel

    The director of a Georgia plastics manufacturing plant has been accused of offering to pay the attorney representing a brother and sister in a federal discrimination lawsuit in exchange for a quick settlement, with the siblings claiming the defendant's "assertions are tantamount to bribery and fraud."

  • February 13, 2025

    SDNY US Atty Resigns, Alleging Trump-Adams 'Quid Pro Quo'

    Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned Thursday after she refused an order by U.S. Department of Justice officials to drop the federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and expressed concern the move was part of an improper quid pro quo with President Donald Trump.

  • February 13, 2025

    Ex-Angels Staffer Says Attys Botched Skaggs Overdose Case

    A former Los Angeles Angels press officer asked a Texas federal judge to undo the 22-year prison sentence he's currently serving after being convicted of giving pitcher Tyler Skaggs fentanyl-laced pills that caused his fatal overdose in 2019.

  • February 13, 2025

    Judge's Bias Justifies Reviving Insurance Row, Fla. Panel Says

    A man whose legal counsel was disbarred while his insurance suit was pending will have another chance to pursue his claims, a Florida state appeals court has determined, reversing a lower court order that threw out the suit for delays and moving the case to another judge after finding evidence of potential "bias or prejudice."

Expert Analysis

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

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