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Legal Ethics
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October 04, 2024
Colo. Attys May Release Files Without Waiving Lien On Clients
A Colorado appellate panel has found that attorneys who hold liens on documents due to unpaid client bills will not waive their rights to enforcement if they release certain files, issuing a precedential opinion designed to help trial courts determine when such liens are enforceable and when they might be lifted.
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October 04, 2024
Justices Accept Ex-Chicago Alderman's False Statement Case
The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it would review the conviction of an ex-Burke Warren MacKay & Serritella PC attorney and former Chicago alderman under a federal statute that prohibits making false statements to influence certain financial institutions.
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October 03, 2024
Trump Says Justices' Jan. 6 Ruling Shields Him From Charges
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday told a Washington, D.C., federal judge that charges accusing him of scheming to subvert the 2020 election results cannot stand after the U.S. Supreme Court limited prosecutors' use of an obstruction statute against defendants accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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October 03, 2024
WilmerHale Hired For DHS IG's Retaliatory Probe, Report Says
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari at one point tapped WilmerHale to conduct a retaliatory investigation into three staffers who complained about him, an abuse of his authority and waste of funds, a watchdog alleged in a report Wednesday.
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October 03, 2024
Counties Say Foreclosure Attys Trying To Quash Competition
Michigan counties facing a proposed class action over profits they kept from foreclosures of tax-delinquent properties questioned Wednesday the aim and legality of their opposing counsel's quest to rein in a previous rival's outreach to people who have experienced foreclosures.
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October 03, 2024
Colo. Billionaire's Brief Sparks Call For Gorsuch Recusal
A Colorado billionaire once hired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as a budding young lawyer, later campaigned for the future justice's first judicial appointment and subsequently urged the court to loosen requirements for federal environmental reviews — all of which has sparked a call for the justice to bow out of one of the upcoming term's key cases.
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October 03, 2024
Del. Vice Chancellor Slams Fee Terms In Advancement Case
A Delaware vice chancellor balked Thursday at "success fee" terms in a fee advancement case that she suggested made the clients a "human shield" in litigation over attorney expenses in connection with a New Jersey legal malpractice case.
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October 03, 2024
Wash. AG Wants Albertsons Sanctioned In Opioid Suit
Washington state's attorney general has accused Albertsons of using a state-court-ordered stay to shield itself from discovery in a consumer protection suit that accuses Rite Aid and grocery store pharmacies of exacerbating the opioid epidemic, seeking the appointment of a "discovery referee" in a new sanctions motion.
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October 03, 2024
Fla. Judge Facing Discipline For 'Intemperate' Conduct
A Florida state judge is facing disciplinary action for his behavior in multiple matters, including occasions when he allegedly acted "intemperately" and lacked "the patience, dignity, and courtesy required by the Code of Judicial Conduct," a judicial ethics panel said.
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October 03, 2024
Conn. Justices OK Bar Input On Banking Probe Into Lawyers
The Connecticut Supreme Court will allow the National Creditors Bar Association and the Connecticut Creditors Bar Association to weigh in on a case that questions whether the state banking commissioner violated the constitution's separation of powers doctrine by launching a probe into a law firm and its associated debt negotiation group.
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October 03, 2024
Cos. Want Federal Rule On Litigation Funding Disclosure
The federal courts should adopt a uniform process for the disclosure of third-party litigation funding in federal cases, a host of companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Google, told the judiciary's Rules Committee.
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October 03, 2024
Allred Feud With Ex-Tenant Over 'Large Rodent' Puzzles Judge
Gloria Allred's long-running dispute with a former tenant — who said he fled rats in her Manhattan apartment eight years ago — spilled into New York federal court Monday, leaving the judge to wonder aloud why the celebrity attorney was still suing the man over a $25,000 claim as he sought bankruptcy protection.
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October 03, 2024
NJ Mogul's Brother Says Lawyering Isn't Racketeering
Parker McCay PA shareholder Philip A. Norcross is urging a New Jersey state judge to toss the sweeping indictment against him, his power broker brother and others over an alleged extortion scheme to acquire riverfront property in a distressed city, arguing that none of the targeted conduct is criminal.
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October 03, 2024
Jones Day Parental Leave Bias Claims Must Go To Jury
Jones Day will have to defend its family leave policy at trial against claims from married ex-associates who say it is discriminatory and violates District of Columbia law, a D.C. federal judge said Thursday in concluding such bias allegations were a close call.
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October 03, 2024
Brokerage Made 'Mockery' Of Courts, Texas Justices Told
A Dallas law firm urged the Texas Supreme Court at a hearing Thursday to uphold an appellate court's ruling that tossed a $22 million malpractice verdict against the firm in a dispute with a real estate brokerage, accusing the company of changing positions "depending on where the money lies."
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October 03, 2024
Sham Law Firm Employee Gets 5 Years For Foreclosure Fraud
A Virginia man was sentenced to five years in prison and hit with a $159,000 fine for what a D.C. federal judge called Thursday the "horrendous" crime of using a Manassas law firm to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure.
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October 03, 2024
Judicial Picks From 3 States Remain Hearing-Less
With a dwindling number of days left on the Senate's 2024 calendar, Democrats are pushing to confirm more judges so President Joe Biden can meet or exceed former President Donald Trump's record.
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October 03, 2024
Newest High Court Reform Bill Would Cap Gifts At $50
A group of Democratic senators has introduced new legislation that would place price caps and other restrictions on gifts received by U.S. Supreme Court justices in an effort to bring the court's ethical rules closer in line with those followed by federal employees and members of Congress.
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October 03, 2024
Conn. Atty May Face Discipline, Again, Over Probate Case
A Connecticut attorney with an extensive disciplinary history is again in hot water with ethics regulators by failing to file a case in probate court following the death of a woman whose relatives he represented.
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October 03, 2024
Western Pa. DA Accused Of Abusing Power To Attack Rivals
A former district attorney and the chief detective for Greene County, Pennsylvania, have been accused by the state attorney general of abusing their office by investigating political rivals, circumventing county officials' guidelines and attempting to create their own SWAT team.
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October 03, 2024
Giuliani's Fla. Condo Is Not Off Limits, Ga. Poll Workers Say
Two Georgia women who Rudy Giuliani accused of committing ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election say his $3.5 million Florida condominium should be sold to help cover their $148 million defamation win against him, arguing he never established a "homestead" there before they brought a lien.
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October 02, 2024
Kirkland Accuses Ex-IP Atty Of Delaying Bias Suit Discovery
Kirkland & Ellis LLP told a California federal magistrate judge Wednesday that a former Kirkland intellectual property associate has delayed discovery production in her discrimination lawsuit against the firm, arguing that her discovery responses cite an erroneous legal standard, are non-committal and are "not even close to being proper."
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October 02, 2024
Atty 'Malfeasance' Upends NY Manslaughter Conviction
A New York state judge reversed a manslaughter conviction against a man who says he mistakenly killed his friend, ordering a retrial after it was revealed his then-attorney concealed information he obtained about the trial judge's concerns with the defense's case.
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October 02, 2024
Ex-Federal Judge's Sex Misconduct Spurs New Criminal Trial
The sexual misconduct scandal that toppled a federal judge in Alaska has now caused a criminal conviction to be overturned, despite prosecutors' insistence that the judge's "out-of-court judicial misconduct" had no effect on the trial.
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October 02, 2024
Convicted Judge Owes Feds Retirement Funds, 7th Circ. Says
A former Illinois judge convicted of running a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme must cough up assets from her retirement accounts to cover her restitution obligations, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, agreeing with a Chicago district court that the government can access her retirement savings to satisfy that debt.
Expert Analysis
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How Judicial Privilege Shields Attys Facing Wiretap Violations
A recent ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, as well as past rulings across the country, indicates that the judicial privilege is applicable to alleged violations of wiretapping laws, so attorneys presented with audio evidence beneficial to their case should not fear being sued, says David Scott at Kang Haggerty.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Noncompetes Hold Atty Privilege Pitfalls For Health Industry
Providers negotiating with medical professionals bound by enforceable restrictive covenants must tread carefully due to not only risk of breaching physicians' covenants but also risk of wrongful conduct that pierces attorney-client privilege, says Scott O'Connell at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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Opinion
Guardrails Needed Against Politically Motivated Atty Discipline
As illustrated by revelations about disbarred attorney Tom Girardi’s influence, there is a need to revamp attorney discipline to protect the public, but any reforms to misconduct rules must also consider how bar-directed disciplinary hearings are increasingly used as a political weapon, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Groundbreaking Nev. Law May Alter Insurance Landscape
The Nevada Legislature recently passed a law prohibiting insurers from issuing liability policies with eroding limits provisions that has the potential to create massive shifts in the marketplace — and specifically in areas like professional liability, cyber, and directors and officers insurance, says Will Bennett at Saxe Doernberger.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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Durham Hearing Shows Common Cross-Examination Errors
Trial attorneys can glean several key cross-examination lessons from the mistakes made by several members of the U.S. House of Representatives during a recent hearing on special counsel John Durham’s FBI probe, say Luke Andrews and Asha Laskar at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
When Corporate Self-Disclosure Threatens Individuals' Rights
The prosecution of former Cognizant executives in New Jersey federal court demonstrates how the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate enforcement policy can contravene the constitutional rights of individual defendants who are employed by cooperating companies, says Gideon Mark at the University of Maryland.
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Pitfalls Of Attorney AI Use In Brief Prep Has Judges On Alert
Some lawyers are attempting to leverage generative artificial intelligence as a brief drafting tool, which may serve to greatly reduce the burden of motion practice, but several recent cases show that generative AI is not perfect and blind reliance on this tool can be very risky, say Matthew Nigriny and John Gary Maynard at Hunton.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.