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Legal Ethics
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December 06, 2024
Justices To Consider Easing Rules On Revising Habeas Petitions
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case that could make it easier for prisoners to amend their habeas corpus petitions, brought by a man who claims his drunken attorney never pointed out that key evidence in his child pornography trial was marked as "not child porn" by investigators.
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December 06, 2024
11th Circ. Finds Last-Minute Evidence Was Correctly Barred
The Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that a lower court did not err when it prevented the defense in a criminal trial over drug charges to play video evidence for the first time during closing arguments, saying the last-minute maneuver would have prevented the government from examining a witness about it.
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December 06, 2024
Ga. Poll Workers Want 'Severe' Sanctions Against Giuliani
The two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation verdict against Rudy Giuliani have asked a federal judge to hold the former Donald Trump attorney in civil contempt and impose "severe" sanctions for his "willful flouting" and "blatant disregard" of court orders.
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December 06, 2024
House Poised To Take Up JUDGES Act As Some Dems Balk
A bipartisan bill to create more federal judgeships to meet increasing caseloads is on the House's schedule for next week, but its support from some Democrats appears to be waning.
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December 06, 2024
Patent Litigation Funders 'Fleeing' Del. Court, Study Says
Patent cases in Delaware federal court have dropped by 41% since Delaware's Chief U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly issued disclosure rules in 2022, and litigation-funded cases there "have virtually dried up," according to a Utah law professor's study.
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December 06, 2024
NY Judge Sanctioned For Ex Parte Convo In Divorce Case
A second state court judge has been sanctioned in an ethics flap over improper out-of-court communications in a contested divorce case involving a law firm run by a friend of his, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced this week.
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December 06, 2024
Ex-City Officials In California Cop To Cannabis Permit Bribes
Two former officials of Los Angeles County cities have pled guilty to bribing another local politician in an attempt to influence his votes for cannabis dispensary permits.
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December 06, 2024
Atty Tells Jury She's 'Furious' Over Aircraft Co.'s Suit
An attorney suing an aviation company she formerly represented and three Blank Rome LLP lawyers told a Pennsylvania federal jury on Friday that she was "furious" to learn that the company accused her of misusing confidential information after she left to pursue plaintiffs work.
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December 06, 2024
Wash. Judge Rips Attys' 'Expletive-Laden' Calls, 'Petty' Fights
A federal judge in Washington state this week scolded counsel for both parties in a lawsuit against State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, stating that their barbs in briefs and arguments, expletive-laden phone calls and other behavior will no longer be tolerated.
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December 06, 2024
Mandelbaum Barrett Beats DQ Bid Appeal In Pharmacy Fight
Mandelbaum Barrett PC defeated a disqualification motion Friday in a pharmacy ownership dispute, with a New Jersey state appeals court ruling that a former Mandelbaum Barrett attorney's previous work for the pharmacies was not relevant to the current case.
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December 06, 2024
Fox Rothschild Can't Escape Malpractice Suit Over Land Row
A New Jersey judge on Friday denied Fox Rothschild LLP's bid to exit a malpractice suit in which two sisters alleged that a lawyer now at the firm bungled a 1984 property deed and 1993 trust belonging to their late stepfather, depriving them of a lucrative land parcel, reasoning that disputed facts keep the suit alive.
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December 06, 2024
Firm Can't Strike Settlement Talks From Ex-Receptionist's Suit
Arizona-based personal injury firm Rafi Law Group PLLC's counterclaim against a former receptionist and its motion to strike a portion of her retaliation complaint have both been rejected by a federal judge who said the firm did not sufficiently support its motions.
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December 06, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs $25K Sanction In Stun Device Design IP Suit
The Federal Circuit said Friday that a lower court did nothing wrong in ordering stun device maker PS Products Inc. to pay $25,000 as a sanction for filing what the circuit court said was a "nuisance" patent infringement lawsuit against a rival manufacturer.
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December 06, 2024
Conn. Panel Pares $150M From $1.44B Alex Jones Verdict
The Connecticut Appellate Court on Friday sliced $150 million from a $1.44 billion trial court judgment against Infowars host Alex Jones over his claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, holding the state's consumer protection laws did not allow the massacre's survivors to recover for alleged harms connected to Jones' ancillary product sales.
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December 05, 2024
Judge Newman Brings Fight To End Her Suspension To DC Circ.
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman asked the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to rule that a suspension her colleagues have imposed on her for refusing to participate in an investigation into her fitness to serve as a Federal Circuit judge violates the U.S. Constitution.
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December 05, 2024
Apple To Appeal Epic's Atty-Client Privilege Challenge Win
Apple and Epic Games told a California federal judge Thursday that they've agreed on a protocol for a special master to re-review 57,000 documents that Apple claims are attorney-client privileged in their antitrust fight, while Apple added that it plans to appeal his finding that its privilege assertions over a sample were overbroad.
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December 05, 2024
DOJ Is Eyeing Foreign Patent Litigation Funding, GAO Says
The U.S. Department of Justice is examining the role foreign countries might be playing in funding patent litigation in the U.S., the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday exploring the benefits and pitfalls of the proliferation of third-party intellectual property litigation financing.
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December 05, 2024
Sanctioned VLSI Patent Challenger Must ID Members In Va.
VLSI Technology LLC won a major victory Thursday in litigation where it's looking for compensation from a mysterious company it claims tried to "extort" it at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with a Virginia federal judge ordering that company to disclose its members.
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December 05, 2024
Basketball Fan's Race Bias Suit Tossed Over Delays
A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday dismissed without prejudice a basketball fan's lawsuit claiming employees of the Denver Nuggets racially profiled him during a game, finding it was the appropriate course after the man's lawyer repeatedly failed to follow through on the case.
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December 05, 2024
Fed. Circ. Unlikely To Help Realtek Pursue ITC Sanctions
A Federal Circuit panel seemed baffled Thursday as a K&L Gates attorney argued that the U.S. International Trade Commission wrongly stopped his client from pursuing sanctions, with the panel repeatedly noting that the semiconductor company wasn't even a party in the import dispute.
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December 05, 2024
Ex-Posner Staffer Asks Court To Allow Salary Suit To Proceed
A former staffer suing retired U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner for $170,000 in back pay has rejected Judge Posner's claim that the suit is untimely, arguing the onetime Seventh Circuit jurist's conduct was so egregious that it's exempt from otherwise relevant statutes of limitations.
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December 05, 2024
Colo. Panel Sides With Cannabis Atty In Former Client's Suit
The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that a cannabis attorney cannot be held liable for a former marijuana cultivator client's business failing when they violated land use rules because the attorney was no longer representing them at the time.
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December 05, 2024
Lowenstein Sandler Suit Gets New NJ Judge After DQ Request
Lowenstein Sandler LLP has persuaded an Essex County Superior Court judge to recuse himself from the firm's $800,000 fee suit against a cannabis dispensary over social connections to the litigants and their counsel and had the case assigned to a new judge this week.
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December 05, 2024
Gossip, Not Pregnancy, Got Secretary Fired, Court Told In Ga.
A Georgia county and the chief judge of its juvenile court are asking a Georgia federal court for an early dismissal of a suit alleging they fired a secretary because she became pregnant, arguing she was instead fired for spreading a false rumor after being reprimanded.
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December 05, 2024
Combs Demands Court Inquiry Into Copied Jail Notes
Sean "Diddy" Combs urged a Manhattan federal judge to hold a special hearing and consider dismissing his sex-trafficking indictment after staff at the Metropolitan Detention Center photographed his allegedly privileged, handwritten notes during a sweep of the prison and sent them to prosecutors, who he says used the information to argue against bail.
Expert Analysis
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Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice
The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28
Because the Federal Circuit does not often issue a sua sponte precedential order emphasizing an important rule of practice, it is useful to look at how the court applied the restrictions of appellate procedure Rule 28 in Promptu v. Comcast last month, and in cases that preceded it, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.
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Opinion
DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs’ apparent practice of issuing press releases when someone is indicted or convicted, but not when a defendant prevails, undermines its stated mission to disseminate “current, complete and accurate” information, and has negative real-world ramifications, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards
Third-party litigation funding can provide litigants with access to the legal system, but, as recent cases show, the funding agreements carry the potential for exploitation and may conflict with core aspects of the attorney-client relationship, making the need for a balanced regulation self-evident, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.