Legal Ethics

  • March 28, 2025

    Shutts & Bowen Accused Of Sinking Florida Country Club Sale

    A real estate corporation is suing Florida firm Shutts & Bowen LLP and one of its partners for malpractice, alleging that as part of a fee dispute, they scuttled a deal for the sale of a country club that the business had been negotiating.

  • March 28, 2025

    3rd Circ. Preview: April Arguments Feature Class Action Rows

    The Third Circuit's April argument lineup springs into action with securities litigation brought by Walmart investors claiming they were misled about the government's opioid investigation into the company, and a bid to upend an attorney fee award stemming from the settlement of data breach litigation against convenience store chain Wawa.

  • March 28, 2025

    NC Atty Can't Shield Bank Docs From Tycoon In Hacking Suit

    A North Carolina attorney and former FBI agent can't stop aviation tycoon Farhad Azima from parsing through his bank records as part of an international hacking conspiracy case, a federal judge said Friday, though he did limit the scope of the records Azima sought.

  • March 28, 2025

    NJ Law Firm Beats DQ Bid Over Atty's Indictment

    The indictment of Brown & Connery LLP senior partner William Tambussi on since-dismissed racketeering charges does not create a conflict of interest that would require the firm to stop representing New Jersey in an employee retaliation lawsuit, a state appellate court has ruled.

  • March 28, 2025

    Ohio Judge Admits To Steering Receivership Work To Friend

    Ohio's judicial disciplinary panel on Friday tossed objections to an ethics grievance filed against a family court judge, after the judge admitted she jockeyed for divorce cases in other judges' courts and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work to her friend, a court-appointed receiver with whom she said she had fallen in love.

  • March 28, 2025

    Attorney Accused Of Tax Scam Wants Opposing Counsel Cut

    An attorney accused by a precious metals dealer's partnership of selling it a tax scam asked a Colorado federal court to disqualify the partnership's attorney from the case, saying the lawyer has a conflict because he formerly represented her.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judges Block Trump's Jenner & Block, WilmerHale Orders

    Jenner & Block LLP and WilmerHale both won temporary restraining orders late Friday blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the firms, with two Washington, D.C., federal judges determining the firms have shown the orders are likely retaliation for their representation of certain clients.

  • March 27, 2025

    Trade Court Skewers ITC Over Secretive Redaction Policy

    The U.S. Court of International Trade issued a stinging rebuke of the U.S. International Trade Commission Thursday, clarifying disclosure laws and accusing the quasi-judicial agency of being too protective of information it deems "confidential" in violation of basic transparency rules.

  • March 27, 2025

    Trump Targets WilmerHale In 5th BigLaw Executive Order

    WilmerHale became the fifth large law firm to be on the receiving end of an executive order restricting its ability to practice law, with President Donald Trump on Thursday targeting the firm over its ties to former special counsel Robert Mueller as well as its immigration pro bono work and diversity practices.

  • March 27, 2025

    Illinois Atty Faces Indefinite Suspension For Ignoring Appeal

    A relatively new lawyer in Illinois who failed to meet appellate briefing deadlines and ignored an order to explain why should be suspended until the state high court can assess her fitness to practice, an attorney conduct watchdog panel recommended.  

  • March 27, 2025

    Fitch Even Sues Ex-IP Client In Effort To End Malpractice Case

    Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP has launched a lawsuit asking an Illinois federal court to declare that the co-founder of a former client isn't the inventor behind a prenatal test patent, which the firm said would put a stop to a malpractice case against it in state court.

  • March 27, 2025

    Ex-Atty Ran $840M Tax Evasion Scheme, DOJ Says

    A former tax and real estate attorney ran a nationwide scheme that helped his customers avoid paying taxes on as much as $840 million in capital gains, the federal government told an Idaho federal court Thursday.

  • March 27, 2025

    Full 7th Circ. Urged To Review Law Prof's Retaliation Suit

    The full Seventh Circuit was asked on Thursday to revisit a panel's ruling reviving a retaliation claim from a law school professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago who was disciplined for including a redacted racist slur on an exam, saying the opinion "raises, without answering, questions of exceptional importance that will have sweeping implications for university officials."

  • March 27, 2025

    Texas IP Attys Get $60K Sanction For Unauthorized Practice

    A San Francisco federal magistrate judge has leveled more than $60,000 in personal sanctions against Texas intellectual property lawyer William Ramey III and two other attorneys from his high-volume patent firm, saying two of them practiced law without a California license in numerous cases to escape paying out-of-state admission fees of $328 per lawyer.

  • March 27, 2025

    Texas Law Firm Must Face 2nd Firm's Paxil Fees Suit

    A Texas appellate court affirmed Thursday that a law firm battling its former co-counsel over the proceeds of lawsuits concerning the antidepressant drug Paxil can't use the state's anti-SLAPP statute to avoid a breach of contract claim but tossed an award of $100,000 in attorney fees.

  • March 27, 2025

    Ex-Troutman Atty Says Racial Bias Suit Should Go To Trial

    A former Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP associate who says she was fired for calling out racial bias told a Washington, D.C., federal judge that the firm's own documents and testimony show it saw her as a valuable attorney, despite saying she was let go over performance.

  • March 27, 2025

    Dutch Software Co. Tells 4th Circ. To Pause Trial After Atty DQ

    A Dutch software company is taking another stab at delaying its impending trademark trial with an American rival, telling the Fourth Circuit that it should not be forced to proceed after the district court held one of its attorneys in contempt and essentially disqualified him.

  • March 27, 2025

    McCarter & English Faces DQ Bid In NJ Food Biz Dispute

    A food industry executive has asked a New Jersey federal court to remove McCarter & English LLP as counsel for his opponents in a business dispute, arguing that the firm previously represented him in negotiating the contract at issue.

  • March 27, 2025

    Eletson, Levona Ask 2nd Circ. To Not Delay Atty Removal

    The new owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson and a creditor-turned-affiliate have urged the Second Circuit to nix Reed Smith LLP's emergency motion for a stay in a lawsuit seeking to enforce a $102 million arbitral award, as the law firm fights to continue representing the shipping company's pre-bankruptcy shareholders.

  • March 27, 2025

    Panera Franchisee Blames Insurer For Slip-And-Fall Payout

    A Massachusetts Panera franchisee said Travelers and its counsel botched a minor slip-and-fall claim, eventually leaving it on the hook for its full $250,000 deductible to cover an "inflated" settlement and legal fees in the case.

  • March 26, 2025

    Tesla Can't DQ Calif. Judge Over His Old Firm's Prior Work

    A California federal judge has rejected Tesla Inc.'s bid to disqualify him from an accident case over his prior law firm's work on employment cases against the automaker, saying that aside from that the motion was not brought in time.

  • March 26, 2025

    Atty's Falsehoods In Key Docs Aided $23M Fraud, Suit Says

    A pair of investment funds and two investors have hit a lawyer with professional malpractice and misrepresentation claims in Illinois federal court, accusing him of making false statements in solicitation documents to help their since-convicted managing member carry out a $23 million fraud.  

  • March 26, 2025

    Ramey Slams BlackBerry's IP Fee Win As 'Manifest Injustice'

    Ramey LLP and its client Silent Communications LLC urged U.S. District Judge Alan Albright Thursday to amend his finding that Ramey is liable for covering BlackBerry's attorney fees, estimated to be nearly $900,000, after filing a patent lawsuit in bad faith, arguing that the judgment is a "manifest injustice."

  • March 26, 2025

    Judge Knocks Amazon For Mislabeled Docs In Antitrust Suits

    Amazon.com Inc. must hand over dozens of records previously flagged as confidential to the consumers in a series of class actions alleging antitrust violations, a Washington federal judge has ruled, concluding that the e-commerce giant wrongly marked the documents as "attorney-client communications or attorney-work product."

  • March 26, 2025

    Ex-Aides Say AG Paxton Acted Like 'Pro Se Litigant' In Fee Fight

    Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's former deputies told a judge on Wednesday that litigating against their ex-boss was "like litigating against a pro se litigant," while defending their bid for hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Ethical Issues For Gov't Attys Moving To Private Practice

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    Transitioning from government service to private practice presents complex ethical challenges for attorneys, including navigating conflicts of interest, confidential information rules and post-employment restrictions, say attorneys at HWG.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys

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    Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • How White Collar Defense Attys Can Use Summary Witnesses

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    Few criminal defense attorneys have successfully utilized summary witnesses in the past, but several recent success stories show that it can be a worthwhile trial tactic to help juries understand the complex decision-making at issue, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

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