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Legal Ethics
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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.
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October 02, 2024
Houston Firm Says DQ Bid Is Attempt To Duck MDL Penalties
Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing PLLC hit back Wednesday at Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify it from Hurricane Zeta litigation, saying Arnold & Itkin's claim that a former law clerk took information for the defense team is an "illegitimate attempt" to "avoid legitimate merits discovery that goes to the heart of the case."
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October 02, 2024
Gordon Rees Atty Asks Judge To Rethink Malpractice Ruling
A Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent ruling denying the dismissal of legal malpractice claims brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer, saying the assignment and subrogation of professional liability claims is improper.
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October 02, 2024
Defense Atty Escapes DQ In $3M Transaction Row, For Now
An attorney representing a businessman facing a $3 million fraud suit over a botched business transaction will not be forced to step away from the case, a South Dakota federal judge determined Wednesday, denying a motion seeking to disqualify the lawyer because he worked on the deal at issue in the suit.
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October 02, 2024
State Farm's Sanctions Bid Nixed In Driver Tech Patent Tangle
Noting that both parties had unclean hands, a Texas federal judge denied State Farm's request for sanctions in consolidated patent infringement cases brought by an inventor who patented driver monitoring technology that he claims the insurer and automakers Mercedes-Benz and Honda used without permission.
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October 02, 2024
Game Artist's Discovery Violations Doom Gen Con Suit
A Washington state appeals court has refused to revive a role-playing game illustrator's defamation suit against the gaming convention Gen Con, concluding he deliberately violated discovery rules and court orders by failing to respond to defense attorneys' information requests.
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October 02, 2024
Madigan Can't Duck Bribery Claims After High Court Ruling
An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss bribery charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, while also refusing to sever his case from his co-defendant's.
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October 02, 2024
FisherBroyles Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Stem Cell Case
A Southern California stem cell treatment center hit FisherBroyles LLP with a $10 million malpractice suit in state court over the law firm's work defending it in a patent infringement case that settled, claiming the defense was so incompetently handled that it had to hire WilmerHale as the case approached trial.
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October 02, 2024
Ex-NJ Judge Wants Rethink Of Discovery Delay Bid Rebuff
A former New Jersey workers' compensation judge challenging her removal from the bench has asked a judge for more time to make her case, arguing that the matter is plagued by voluminous written discovery that leaves little time for depositions.
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October 02, 2024
Trump 'Resorted To Crimes' To Cling To Power, Feds Say
Donald Trump's alleged scheme to subvert the 2020 election results was "fundamentally a private one," special counsel Jack Smith told a D.C. federal judge in a newly unsealed brief that vies to prove that the former president is not immune from charges of election interference.
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October 02, 2024
Texas High Court Skeptical Of Atty Solicitation Law Overreach
The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical that an anti-solicitation statute should apply to lawyers licensed in the state who used "case runners" to attract personal injury clients who live out of state for lawsuits filed and decided beyond the borders of the Lone Star State.
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October 02, 2024
Wells Fargo Says Atty Can't Blame It For Getting Scammed
Wells Fargo has asked a Colorado state judge to dismiss claims brought by an attorney and conservative political figure alleging the bank failed to cancel his wire transfer from a client's account to what ended up being a scammer's Hong Kong account.
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October 02, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Can't Ignore Past Oro Negro Ties, Oil Co. Says
Oro Negro Drilling Pte. Ltd. said former counsel Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP must produce confidential information in a discovery bid to disqualify its attorneys in Mexican proceedings.
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October 02, 2024
Fla. Atty Disbarred For Abandoning Pharma Biz Before USPTO
The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday disbarred an attorney for taking on intellectual property work for a pharmaceutical company only to later cease communications and keep the business in the dark about maintenance fees, causing its patents to expire.
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October 02, 2024
Ahmuty Demers Booted Off NJ Fatal Crash Case Over Conflict
A New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Wednesday that Ahmuty Demers & McManus is not allowed to represent both a paving company and one of its employees at the same time in a case in which the employee allegedly caused a fatal car crash.
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October 02, 2024
4th Circ. Says Murdaugh Can't Appeal Fraud Sentence
Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murder, was denied an appeal of a separate 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients by a Fourth Circuit panel that said he'd waived his right to appeal.
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October 02, 2024
Morgan & Morgan Says Ex-Client 'Flat Wrong' Over Arbitration
Morgan & Morgan PA and one of its attorneys told a Georgia federal court on Tuesday that an ex-client is "flat wrong" in arguing that his legal malpractice proposed class action should stay out of arbitration, saying that Georgia's case law clearly allows arbitration clauses between attorneys and clients.
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October 02, 2024
Auto Biz Must Hand Emails Over To EEOC In Harassment Case
A Michigan federal magistrate judge has ordered an automotive services company to turn over certain emails sought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a sexual harassment suit, saying only portions can be redacted due to attorney-client privilege.
Expert Analysis
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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What Panama Canal Award Ruling Means For Int'l Arbitration
As the prevalence of international arbitration grows, the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Grupo Unidos v. Canal de Panama may change how practitioners decide what remedies to seek and where to raise them if claims are rejected, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats
Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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Alleged $636M Deal Error Highlights Ethics Considerations
Adelman v. Proskauer, a malpractice suit that allegedly arose from a cut-and-paste error resulting in potential damages of $636 million, presents an intriguing juxtaposition of facts and legal issues — and practical ethical considerations for transactions attorneys, says Richard Leisner at Trenam Law.
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5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices
The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.