Legal Ethics

  • June 01, 2026

    Plaintiffs' Counsel In Tylenol MDL Agree To $50K Donation

    A plaintiffs' attorney and law firm sanctioned in multidistrict litigation alleging prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism agreed to donate $50,000 to maternal health organization March of Dimes in lieu of paying attorney fees, according to a letter filed Monday in New York federal court. 

  • June 01, 2026

    Mich. Judges Seek Sanctions Over Ex-Defender's Discovery

    Two Michigan state district judges accused of discriminating and retaliating against a former public defender told a federal court Monday that she still has not produced any discovery despite a court order compelling her to do so, arguing her conduct presents an obvious need for sanctions, including the dismissal of the case.

  • June 01, 2026

    Ramey Takes Fight Against $162K Fee To Supreme Court

    Prolific patent attorney William Ramey has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to look at a case in which his client was ordered to pay the attorney fees of a rival litigant after the case was tossed for asserting expired patents, saying the case had seen the standard for attorney fee awards "rewritten."

  • June 01, 2026

    $226K Atty Fund Seizure Stands On Shaky Ground, Panel Told

    A Connecticut attorney who successfully challenged his 90-day suspension told an appellate panel Monday that a related order forfeiting the contents of his trust account rests on an unstable legal foundation and should be relitigated.

  • June 01, 2026

    DOJ Will Obey Order Freezing $1.8B 'Slush Fund'

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday it will abide by a federal judge's decision to temporarily pause the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, adding that it disagreed with the ruling.

  • June 01, 2026

    DOJ Seeks Judge's Recusal Over Attending Political Event

    The U.S. Department of Justice has called for a Georgia federal judge to recuse herself from its suit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over not providing election records, arguing that the judge has been identified in the news as being privately reprimanded for misconduct, including attending a Democratic district attorney's election victory event.

  • June 01, 2026

    Insurer Wants Law Firm's Subpoena Nixed In Malpractice Suit

    New Jersey state court lacks jurisdiction to unilaterally enforce a subpoena a U.S.-based law firm filed against a Canadian insurance company, the insurer has argued, seeking to avoid what it called an overly broad demand for information amid a policyholder's negligence suit against a trio of American law firms.

  • June 01, 2026

    Mich. Panel Backs Conversion Ruling Against Disbarred Atty

    A Michigan appellate panel has said a disbarred northeastern Michigan attorney's decision not to back up her arguments sank her appeal arising from a lawsuit accusing her of converting or embezzling trust funds, affirming summary disposition against the attorney and saying she "simply failed to brief the issue."

  • June 01, 2026

    1st Circ. Says BIA Botched Reopening Bid Over Late Brief

    A First Circuit panel said the Board of Immigration Appeals abused its discretion when rejecting a Colombian woman's attempts to continue her fight against deportation, finding she was likely prejudiced by ineffective counsel.

  • June 01, 2026

    Suspended Fla. Lawyer's Bankruptcy Case Thrown Out

    A Florida bankruptcy court judge has dismissed the Chapter 13 case of a suspended lawyer facing state bar disciplinary charges over allegations that he defrauded dozens of clients by charging them legal fees for cases that he abandoned.

  • June 01, 2026

    As Judicial AI Use Gains Steam, Training Lags

    Court systems around the country are emerging bullish on the use of generative artificial intelligence by judicial officers, but implementation, training, resources and overall regulations remain scattershot, giving rise to concerns that a learning gap could lead to missteps.

  • June 01, 2026

    Fla. Judge Again Loses Bid To Dismiss Ethics Charges

    A Florida judicial panel has for a second time denied a Florida appellate judge's bid to dismiss an ethics case accusing her of attempting to influence lower court proceedings for an incarcerated man formerly on death row.

  • June 01, 2026

    Okla. Firm Wants Malpractice Suit Over $92M Verdict Tossed

    An Oklahoma-based law firm is urging a federal court to toss a suit alleging its negligence in representing a Munich Re unit in a coverage dispute over an apartment fire is to blame for a $92 million judgment, saying the suit fails to show an actual malpractice claim.

  • May 29, 2026

    Calif. Panel Reverses Order For Citing Atty's Bogus Case Law

    A California appellate panel on Thursday reversed a judgment in favor of a man accused of abusing his son, finding that "without doubt" the trial judge abused her discretion by incorporating the man's bogus legal citations into her ruling, despite being alerted to the mistakes in advance.

  • May 29, 2026

    NC Prosecutors Oppose Criminal Contempt For Witness

    A woman who was allegedly punched in the face by an attorney should not have been held in criminal contempt for giving too much hearsay testimony, North Carolina prosecutors told a state appeals court.

  • May 29, 2026

    Akin Gump Owes Fees For Winebow's 'Self-Indulgent' Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered an importer's Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to pay a European winemaker fees for having to defend against the importer's "spurious objections" to the winemaker's valid arbitral award, ruling that the importer's "self-indulgent" appeal warrants sanctions in the form of fees.

  • May 29, 2026

    Lockheed Beats Families' Birth Defects Suit At Trial

    A Florida federal jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Lockheed Martin Corp. after finding the company's chemical handling practices at an Orlando weapons manufacturing facility did not cause birth defects.

  • May 29, 2026

    Telecom Shareholders Seek Fees Over 'Frivolous' Stay Bid

    Minority shareholders of a telecommunications infrastructure company have pressed a New York federal judge to order the majority shareholders to pay attorney fees incurred while defending against what the judge called one of the most "frivolous" stay requests he has ever seen.

  • May 29, 2026

    NY Judge Doubts Nussbaum-Linked Firms Belong In Ch. 11

    A New York bankruptcy judge on Friday questioned whether his court was the proper venue to wind down two commercial real estate law firms headed by Mark J. Nussbaum as the debtors sought to ditch an assignment for the benefit of creditors process in New York state court.

  • May 29, 2026

    Fed. Judge Rips Altice, Touchstream For Patent Case Delays

    A New York federal judge denied broadband and video provider Altice's request for judgment on the pleadings in patent litigation brought by Touchstream Technologies, calling it "a delayed, misfiled, hyper-technical and largely meritless motion," while criticizing Touchstream as "also responsible for tactical decisions which led to significant delays."

  • May 29, 2026

    Texas Justices To Weigh Attys' $126K Sanction In Horse Row

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear a petition from two law firms and a veterinary center in which they dispute a roughly $126,000 sanction imposed on counsel after alleged violations of a limine agreement, leading to a mistrial.

  • May 29, 2026

    Fla. Panel Revives Firm's Suit Over Tobacco Case Referrals

    A Florida state appellate court revived a law firm's complaint alleging tortious interference against a widow over a contingency fee agreement involving tobacco injury case referrals, finding that the lower court wrongly tossed the lawsuit based on extraneous information even though there was sufficient evidence to support a claim.

  • May 29, 2026

    Calif. Supreme Court OKs Challenges To Blanket Judge DQs

    The California Supreme Court has opened the door to challenges to blanket judicial disqualifications across the largest state court system in the country, partially overturning a precedent established nearly 50 years ago.

  • May 29, 2026

    Georgia Lawyer Again Seeks To DQ Judge Over Bar Referral

    A Georgia attorney has launched at least the second attempt to disqualify a federal judge from presiding over a case he is handling because the judge previously referred him to the state bar, alleging ethics violations.

  • May 29, 2026

    Ex-Judge's Move To Firm Earns DQ In Fla. Divorce Case

    A Florida appeals court ruled Friday that a Daytona Beach law firm should have been disqualified from representing a man in a divorce proceeding for failing to provide proper notice that a judge who previously oversaw the case had joined the firm as a partner.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • DOJ Faces Potential Discovery Pitfalls In Comey Prosecution

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    The unusual circumstances surrounding the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey increase the odds of a discovery misstep for the U.S. Department of Justice, offering important reminders for defense counsel on how to ensure the government fulfills its obligations, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Arbitrator's Conviction Upheld

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    The Supreme Court of Spain recently upheld the criminal conviction of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa for grave disobedience to judicial authority, rejecting the proposition that an arbitrator's independence can prevail over a court order retroactively disabling the very judicial act conferring arbitral jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

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