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Legal Ethics
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February 19, 2025
Adams, DOJ Quizzed On Dismissal Bid By Wary Judge
A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday scrutinized the U.S. Department of Justice's motion to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, rankling attorneys on both sides as he declined to "shoot from the hip" and immediately rule.
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February 19, 2025
Jay-Z's Roc Nation Aims To Exit Buzbee Conspiracy Suits
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's company Roc Nation has asked a Texas federal court to let it escape two lawsuits against it and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP alleging that they recruited former clients to bring malpractice claims against the Buzbee Law Firm in retaliation for accusing the rap star of rape.
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February 19, 2025
Ex-Defender Again Tries To Revive Sex Bias Suit At 4th Circ.
A former assistant public defender in North Carolina is urging the Fourth Circuit to reverse a bench ruling that dashed her long-running bias suit against the federal judiciary, saying the indifference she allegedly endured after she reported being sexually harassed proves her case.
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February 19, 2025
Trump Media Co. Sues Brazilian Supreme Court Justice
President Donald Trump's media company and online video sharing platform Rumble Inc. filed suit Wednesday, accusing a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice of illegally suppressing political speech in the United States by ordering X and other social media platforms to block accounts spreading disinformation.
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February 18, 2025
Law Schools, Attys Defend Judiciary Amid Gov't Attacks
More alarm bells rang Tuesday over the Trump administration's recent remarks questioning the judiciary's authority to keep the executive branch's power in check, as more than 2,000 American lawyers and a group representing U.S. law schools voiced concern about the need to uphold the country's constitutional democracy.
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February 18, 2025
Jury Won't Tour Living Room Where Calif. Judge Shot Wife
A California state judge facing trial this week on charges of murdering his wife lost his bid to have jurors tour the living room of the house where she was shot to death, after a Los Angeles County judge ruled Tuesday that there's sufficient photographic evidence of the scene.
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February 18, 2025
Reed Smith Removed In $102M Shipping Group Award Fight
A New York federal judge granted a request by the purported new owners of Eletson Holdings Inc. and removed Reed Smith LLP as counsel in a $102 million breach of contract suit the firm brought on behalf of the international shipping group in 2023.
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February 18, 2025
Car Dealer Can't Depose Government In 'Deceptive' Price Suit
A Nissan dealer cannot depose the Federal Trade Commission or the state of Connecticut in a dual enforcement action alleging that it charged consumers "deceptive" price add-ons, a federal magistrate judge has ruled, agreeing that the government had already provided all relevant discovery or was planning to do so.
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February 18, 2025
Convicted Pharma Exec Seeks Trial Redo, Citing Feds' Error
A former pharmacy executive convicted on criminal charges over a healthcare scheme that defrauded the government of $160 million has urged a Texas federal court to grant him a new trial, arguing an admission of error by the federal government necessitates a redo.
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February 18, 2025
Judiciary Dems Denounce Ethics Watchdog Changes At DOJ
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday objected to what they said is a plan for political appointees at the Department of Justice to oversee agency ethics decisions instead of career officials.
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February 18, 2025
NY High Court Upholds Ethics Commission In Cuomo Case
New York's highest court on Tuesday affirmed the constitutionality of the state's recently revamped ethics commission in an order reversing a lower court ruling that sided with embattled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid an investigation related to his use of government employees to help him publish and promote a book.
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February 18, 2025
Ex-BigLaw Atty Who Killed Wife Joins Fray Over Deal Funds
The former BigLaw partner who fatally shot his wife has entered a Georgia state court dispute over the distribution of wrongful death proceeds related to her death, saying he was required to assign the proceeds to his wife's godson as part of his plea deal but took no position on the validity of that assignment.
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February 18, 2025
Georgia Justices Revive Defamation Suit Against Atty
An orthopedic surgeon in Georgia will get another chance to prove he was defamed by a defense attorney, after the Supreme Court of Georgia found a state appellate court mistakenly used the well-known "actual malice" standard to toss the case instead of the relevant state law standard.
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February 18, 2025
Baker Botts Partner Says Inventor's Atty Is Threatening Her
A Baker Botts LLP lawyer being sued over her comments in a news article about a patent suit against Starbucks Corp. accused opposing counsel of threatening her in an email exchange over the details of a deposition.
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February 18, 2025
Ga. Atty Chastised For Pasting Judge's Signature On Order
The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded an attorney who cut and pasted a judge's signature on a proposed order in a case, in a move the lawyer later claimed was done in the name of "increasing the efficiency" of his filings.
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February 18, 2025
NJ High Court Rejects Ban On Out-Of-State Atty Referral Fees
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state-certified attorneys are allowed to pay referral fees to out-of-state lawyers even if they are not licensed in the Garden State, overturning an ethics committee's advisory opinion that said the payments were forbidden.
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February 18, 2025
Adams, Feds Ordered To Explain Dismissal Bid At Hearing
A Manhattan federal judge demanded details Tuesday and scheduled a hearing after the Justice Department asked to dismiss criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, signaling that the court would not rubber-stamp the request following allegations of a corrupt bargain and mass resignations of prosecutors in protest.
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February 14, 2025
DaBaby Gets Fla. Atty Sanctioned For 'Frivolous' Claims
A Florida federal judge has sanctioned a Florida lawyer for "objectively frivolous" civil conspiracy claims brought against rapper DaBaby following an alleged altercation that happened before a scheduled performance, saying that his conduct "causes the court to question whether [he] should be appearing before any court in our district or state."
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February 14, 2025
Almost Everyone Hates The Judiciary's Amicus Rule Revamp
Policymakers for the federal judiciary Friday did what often seems impossible in a polarized nation, uniting powerful advocates for defense counsel, trial lawyers, corporations and consumers on a controversial issue. Unfortunately for the policymakers, those advocates were united by antipathy for major rule changes affecting amicus brief filers.
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February 14, 2025
FTC Political Appointees Told To Break Up With 'Leftist' ABA
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew N. Ferguson told agency staff in a letter that political appointees cannot hold leadership positions in the American Bar Association, attend its events or renew their memberships, citing the ABA's "leftist advocacy and its recent attacks" on the Trump administration's agenda.
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February 14, 2025
NJ Appeals Court Confirms Officials' Votes Were Conflicted
A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday ruled a trial court was right to find local officials were in conflict when they voted to terminate an attorney because the trio had defamed him during their campaigns.
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February 14, 2025
Pa. Injury Firm Botched Burger King Suit Service, Suit Says
A Pennsylvania woman has sued the law firm previously representing her in a slip-and-fall case against a local Burger King for legal malpractice after the state Supreme Court held that her former attorneys' attempts to have the complaint served were insufficient.
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February 14, 2025
Fla. Criminal Defense Atty Accused Of Bribing DEA Agent
New York federal prosecutors have charged a Florida criminal defense attorney with a scheme to bribe a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in exchange for nonpublic law enforcement information, which the lawyer used to recruit and represent clients, in an indictment unsealed on Friday.
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February 14, 2025
Diddy, Jay-Z Rape Lawsuit Dropped Amid Legal Ethics Battle
An anonymous woman dropped her New York federal court lawsuit accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter of raping a teenager together, claims that launched a bitter ethics feud between personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee and Jay-Z's lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
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February 14, 2025
House Dems Amplify ABA Decision On High Court Ethics
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee's courts panel urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to adopt a binding and enforceable code of ethics after the American Bar Association's policy-making body advocated for such.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
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.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
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.
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Opinion
A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
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.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
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.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
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.
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After Chevron
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.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
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.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
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.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
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.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
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.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
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.