Legal Ethics

  • May 27, 2026

    Pierce Atwood Rips Billionaire's 'Absurd' Suit Over Asset Sale

    Pierce Atwood and two attorneys urged a Massachusetts federal judge to reject a Ukrainian billionaire's suit blaming them for a $1.8 million damages order in investor litigation over the billionaire's failed biotech company, saying his own wrongdoing led to the judgment.

  • May 26, 2026

    SPLC Says DOJ Indictment Is Baseless 'Retributive Campaign'

    The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday asked an Alabama federal court to throw out the Trump administration's indictment claiming it paid extremist group informants to "stoke racial hatred," arguing that it's a "top-down, retributive campaign" that constitutes vindictive prosecution.

  • May 26, 2026

    NY Lawyer Gets A Year After $20M Emigrant Bank Fraud Trial

    A compliance lawyer convicted at trial for allegedly conning an Emigrant Bank unit out of $20 million by lying about his investment firm's tax lien collateral was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to a year and a day in prison for what prosecutors say was a straight-up scheme to steal from a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured bank. 

  • May 26, 2026

    Judge Says Ex-City Prosecutor's Bias Suit Should Be Tossed

    A Texas federal judge recommended Tuesday that a bias and retaliation suit against the city of Corpus Christi by a former assistant city attorney be tossed because he failed to show that comparable workers were treated better or that the city's performance-based reasons for firing him were false.

  • May 26, 2026

    Houston Firm Wired Cali Man's $1.3M To Criminals, Per Suit

    A California man and a real estate company told a Texas federal judge that a Houston-based law firm improperly distributed money meant to pay off a loan to criminal elements, saying Tuesday that the law firm owes $1.3 million.

  • May 26, 2026

    3rd Circ. Disapproves Of Judge's Quips In Fatal Crash Case

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday scolded a Pennsylvania federal judge for his "inappropriate attempted witticisms" while presiding over a lawsuit in which a parent blamed transportation companies for the deaths of his two children in a highway collision, saying the judge's "ill-conceived attempts at levity" in a fatal injury case could be misinterpreted by the public.

  • May 26, 2026

    Schools Fight New Lead Counsel, Cert. In Aid-Fixing Suit

    Five private universities that have yet to settle with students over the alleged fixing of financial aid offerings argued Tuesday that an Illinois federal judge should deny them class certification rather than allow them to tap different lead counsel after misrepresentations regarding one firm's purportedly contingent casework have come to light.

  • May 26, 2026

    Trump Wants Magistrate Judge Off $10B Defamation Suit

    President Donald Trump wants a Florida federal magistrate judge to recuse herself from overseeing discovery in his $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC because she previously represented a U.K.-based company Trump sued over the dissemination of the Steele dossier, a controversial intelligence document claiming Trump had ties to Russia.

  • May 26, 2026

    Copyright Suits Against Jan. 6 Attys Won't Be Tossed

    Attorneys who represented Jan. 6 defendants will have to face a consultant's claims that they copied her jury-attitude report without permission after a D.C. federal judge rejected their arguments that their conduct fell under fair use and the public's right to access court records.

  • May 26, 2026

    Fenwick Reaches $54M Deal To Exit FTX Litigation

    Fenwick & West LLP will pay $54 million to resolve claims from spurned FTX Trading Ltd. investors, according to a new set of settlements that will also end investors' disputes with the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange's former auditor and a former NBA star who promoted the platform.

  • May 26, 2026

    Wiley Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

    Wiley Rein LLP has been hit with a proposed class action accusing the Washington, D.C., firm of negligence after the firm said a group that may be affiliated with the Chinese government accessed emails of firm personnel.

  • May 26, 2026

    NY Murder Conviction Stands Despite 'Blah Blah' Transcript

    New York's highest court has affirmed the murder conviction of a man who, along with his wife, killed a neighbor, finding on Tuesday that though his trial transcript was "utterly inexcusable" — frequently containing "blah blah blah," "omitted" or "undecipherable characters instead of the words actually spoken" — it was sufficiently reconstructed.

  • May 26, 2026

    Fla. Panel Orders Atty To Explain AI Citations In Roofing Case

    A Florida state appeals court has thrown out a breach of contract dispute following the parties' agreement to dismiss it, but ordered an attorney representing a roofing company to explain why he shouldn't be penalized after his brief apparently contained artificial-intelligence-generated legal citations.

  • May 26, 2026

    Beasley Allen Fails To Overturn J&J Talc Disqualification

    A New Jersey federal judge affirmed the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder on Tuesday, determining that the firm has failed to provide a valid reason to back its attempt at a stay and temporary reinstatement into the matter.

  • May 26, 2026

    Mintz Gets Patent Malpractice Suit Sent From Texas To Mass.

    A former Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC client's professional negligence suit against the firm over its handling of a patent case belongs in Massachusetts rather than Texas federal court, according to a Tuesday order.

  • May 26, 2026

    Justices To Consider Taking Judge Newman Case On June 11

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to take up U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's petition seeking to overturn her suspension from the Federal Circuit on June 11, according to a notice posted Tuesday.

  • May 26, 2026

    Diversion Plan Ordered For Pa. Judge With 'Book of Grudges'

    A Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, magisterial judge has entered a judicial diversion program to resolve a disciplinary investigation into reports that she kept a "book of grudges" with detailed and profane personal complaints about people she encountered in her courtroom.

  • May 26, 2026

    DHS Pauses ICE Home Entries Under Administrative Warrants

    Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Democratic senator earlier this month he's paused immigration agents' use of administrative warrants to enter private property, but has not officially revoked the controversial policy issued last year.

  • May 26, 2026

    Pirro, Blanche Fight DQ Bid In Attempted Assassination Case

    U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are fighting a bid from the California man accused of an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner to disqualify them from handling the case.

  • May 26, 2026

    2nd Circ. Eyes Bail For Bribe Case Cooperator: 'Why Not?'

    A Second Circuit judge on Tuesday questioned a Manhattan federal judge's decision to deny bail to prolific cooperator Jona Rechnitz while he appeals a five-month sentence for facilitating bribery inside the New York Police Department and in a law enforcement union, saying the lower court appeared "annoyed" when bail was mentioned.

  • May 22, 2026

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, 10 lawyers across the country at plaintiffs' firms big and small helped secure millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for their clients, going up against powerful defendants like Google, Monsanto and the Trump administration, earning the attorneys recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2026.

  • May 22, 2026

    PFAS Judge Wary Of Bid To Sanction Town For 'About-Face'

    A Montana federal judge on Friday seemed slightly reluctant to sanction Connecticut municipalities for moving firefighter turnout gear PFAS claims to his jurisdiction after roughly two years of litigation on the East Coast, suggesting the process of shipping purchaser claims across the nation is typical when complex cases arise.

  • May 22, 2026

    Attys Hijacked 1,000 Storm Cases In 'Shakedown,' Suit Says

    Two Louisiana law firms and a group of politically connected attorneys engaged in a "shakedown" to steal about 1,000 cases filed by hurricane survivors who had hired and built cases with a different firm, alleged a RICO suit filed Thursday in Houston federal court.

  • May 22, 2026

    Mich. Panel Upholds $20M Verdict Despite Improper Closing

    The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a $20.6 million verdict for a man who was severely injured when a van struck him while he was snow-blowing his driveway, ruling that the defense could not challenge plaintiff counsel's inflammatory closing arguments because it failed to object at trial.

  • May 22, 2026

    Ala. Atty Suspended Over 'Atrocious' Bid To Cover Up AI Use

    A federal judge has suspended an attorney from practicing in the Northern District of Alabama after the attorney deleted his ChatGPT account in a bid to cover up his use of the chatbot to write an erroneous brief, saying the court never imagined having to deal with such "atrocious conduct."

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

    Author Photo

    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Reel Justice: 'One Battle After Another' And The Limits Of Zeal

    Author Photo

    The political thriller “One Battle After Another,” following a former revolutionary who became a recluse, offers a potent metaphor for attorneys on diligence and the ethical boundaries of zealous advocacy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

    Author Photo

    The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

    Author Photo

    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Legal Ethics archive.