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Legal Ethics
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July 12, 2024
More Attys Leave Suit Over WWE Fan's Fla. Fireworks Injuries
A boutique law firm that describes itself on its website as a "one stop shop" for the fireworks industry has stopped representing World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in a fan suit alleging injuries from a fireworks display at a WWE event, saying the attorney-client relationship "has deteriorated."
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July 12, 2024
AbbVie Brings Atty-Client Privilege Fight To Supreme Court
Drugmaker AbbVie has set its sights on the U.S. Supreme Court, asking justices to weigh in on a discovery battle over what it believes are privileged attorney-client communications relating to a "sham" Pennsylvania patent case.
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July 12, 2024
Lin Wood Wants Judge Disqualified In Ga. Defamation Case
Controversial retired Georgia attorney L. Lin Wood has asked that a Georgia federal judge be disqualified from presiding over a defamation case he's facing from his former law partners, arguing that the case involved two witnesses from Alston & Bird LLP, where the judge previously worked.
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July 12, 2024
Litigation Funding 'Abuses' Targeted By Federal Lawmakers
Federal lawmakers are seeking to put the reins on third-party investors bankrolling litigation, with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., introducing legislation that would require disclosure of third-party financing deals in civil lawsuits, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., asking Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday to have the Judicial Conference review the practice.
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July 12, 2024
Biggest Colorado Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report
The U.S. Supreme Court's quick reversal of Colorado justices' decision removing former President Donald Trump from the state's ballots and a Boulder County judge's ruling clearing the way for landmark climate litigation about major oil companies rank among the most important decisions affecting Colorado so far this year.
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July 12, 2024
Feds Seek 2 Years For Mass. Atty In Campaign Finance Scam
Boston federal prosecutors want a former BigLaw attorney to serve two years in prison for his conviction for a raft of campaign finance violations tied to his 2018 run for an open congressional seat in Massachusetts.
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July 12, 2024
Ex-DOJ Atty Clark Can't Move Ethics Case To Federal Court
A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday threw out a bid from former Trump administration lawyer Jeffrey Clark to transfer his attorney discipline case to federal court, saying the embattled attorney attempted to remove the ethics charges too late.
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July 12, 2024
Judge Nixes Fraud Suit, Slams Atty's Fox Rothschild Remarks
A New Jersey federal judge threw out a fraud and malpractice suit brought against Fox Rothschild by two men who said the firm was "knowingly and willfully robbing their immigration clients" and warned their attorney over prior comments he made to Law360 regarding the case.
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July 12, 2024
Ex-Magellan Execs Waive Conflicts Over Past Shared Counsel
Two former Magellan Diagnostics executives charged with conspiring to hide defects in the company's lead testing devices agreed on Friday to waive any potential conflict created by their prior joint representation by a Donnelly Conroy & Gelhaar LLP attorney.
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July 12, 2024
'Willful Withholding' Of Evidence Dooms Baldwin 'Rust' Case
Alec Baldwin wept and hugged his attorneys Friday after a New Mexico state judge threw out involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor in the "Rust" shooting case, finding that prosecutors willfully withheld key ammunition evidence from the defense.
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July 11, 2024
Trump Says Immunity Ruling Means Conviction Must Be Axed
Donald Trump has officially lodged his request for his conviction to be vacated in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision, arguing that prosecutors' evidence in the hush money case rests on official acts he took as president, according to a redacted motion made public Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Disbarred Atty's Prison Term For Fraud Plea
A disbarred California attorney can't reverse a Manhattan federal court's 5½-year prison sentence and $5.5 million restitution order that followed his guilty plea to wire fraud for a real estate and venture fraud scheme, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
8th Circ. OKs Toxic Gas Injury Win, But Cuts Award By $30M
The Eighth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a jury's finding that Dyno Nobel Inc.'s negligence in handling toxic gas emissions caused serious injuries to a man's larynx but slashed his $43.75 million award down to $13.75 million, saying the explosives company lacked the culpable mental state required for punitive damages.
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July 11, 2024
Ozy Media CEO Urges Jury To Reject 'Shady' Fraud Case
Counsel for Carlos Watson on Thursday told a Brooklyn federal jury not to trust prosecutors' "shady" claims that the Ozy Media founder and CEO defrauded lenders and investors by falsely inflating the news and entertainment startup's bottom line.
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July 11, 2024
VLSI Tells Fed. Circ. IPR Should Have Ended After Sanctions
VLSI Technology is urging the Federal Circuit to revive the patent it used to win a $1.5 billion infringement verdict against Intel, saying the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation was tainted by mishandled sanctions proceedings.
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July 11, 2024
Texas AG Claims He's About To Be Impeached Again
In a social media post about an upcoming Texas House committee meeting, Attorney General Ken Paxton said "weak-kneed" establishment Republicans and Democrats are conspiring on a second impeachment effort to try to remove him from office — a claim the committee chair called "farfetched fantasy."
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July 11, 2024
Attys Say Milberg Must Pay For Fraud In Visa, Mastercard MDL
Class counsel representing plaintiffs in long-running multidistrict litigation accusing Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees have called for sanctions against Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman LLC, laying out arguments for a fee reimbursement after the firm admitted to mistakenly registering fraudulent clients.
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July 11, 2024
IP Forecast: Napa Winery's Ex-Atty Wants Another Trial
A Texas lawyer plans to tell an appeals court why he should receive another trial in a trademark case from a Napa Valley winery, a former client that he claims sold off a "wildly successful California cult wine" out from under him.
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July 11, 2024
Media Matters Fights Texas AG's Bid To Revive X Probe
Media Matters for America is urging the D.C. Circuit to keep intact a court order prohibiting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating the media watchdog over its reporting about the social media platform X, asserting that the D.C. courts are the correct place to litigate the "retaliatory" probe.
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July 11, 2024
Conn. Justices Say Law Firm's Ex Parte Sanctions Were Error
The law firm Brignole Bush & Lewis LLC cannot be sanctioned for engaging in ex parte talks with an expert witness previously disclosed by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., the opposing party in a car accident case, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
'Bridgegate' Defense Offers Road Map For NJ RICO Case
Counsel for the powerful New Jersey mogul and Democratic operatives facing explosive racketeering charges are likely to justify their actions as just business, experts told Law360, describing defense tactics similar to the ones that absolved defendants in "Bridgegate," New Jersey's most notorious politics-fueled crime in recent history.
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July 11, 2024
Top NC Legal Industry Legislation Of 2024: A Midyear Report
North Carolina lawmakers have instituted a streamlined process for state business court filings and are eying controls on attorney fees for debt collection lawsuits. Another closely watched measure eases the discipline process for attorneys with the expansion of records access and the ability to expunge certain ethics transgressions.
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July 11, 2024
Atty's Suit Against Aircraft Cos., Blank Rome Attys Survives
A federal judge ruled in favor of a lawyer who alleges that aircraft companies and attorneys with Blank Rome LLP brought a baseless lawsuit against her in retaliation for switching from corporate defense to the plaintiffs bar, denying a motion to dismiss and allowing her lawsuit to continue.
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July 11, 2024
Fla. Ex-Judge Who Inflated Campaign Finances Disbarred
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday disbarred a former county court judge for various ethical violations, including inflating campaign finances, making misrepresentations in his application for a judicial nominating commission seat and misconduct during the disciplinary proceedings.
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July 11, 2024
Cruise Ship Co. Sanctioned With Fees In Sexual Assault Suit
Carnival Corp. will have to pay fees related to a discovery dispute stemming from a $10.2 million sexual assault personal injury lawsuit, a Florida federal judge has ruled in a sanctions order, finding that the cruise company must pay a portion of the legal bills of a female passenger after "clear" discovery violations occurred.
Expert Analysis
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Insureds' Notice Pleading May Be Insufficient In Federal Court
A recent New Jersey federal court ruling in Bauman v. Hanover Insurance held that bare-bones notice pleading was insufficient and dismissed the policyholder's coverage complaint, a reminder that courts may require more than an expression of general disagreement with an insurance company's denial letter to proceed with the case, says Eugene Killian at The Killian Firm.
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Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
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Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas
Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.
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Opinion
Ga. Needs To Resolve Cannabis Counsel Confusion
Georgia’s medical cannabis regulator finally adopted rules for low-THC oil last month, but a 2021 ethics ruling prohibits lawyers from advising participants in the state’s legal program and creates a confounding landscape that the state bar and courts must address, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruze at Bradley Arant.
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Patent Litigants Should Be Vigilant After Rare Retrial Order
A California federal court's recent unusual order for a new trial for attorney misconduct in Pavemetrics v. Tetra Tech should remind patent litigants to be careful about arguments that frame an infringement case in a way that does not fairly reflect the dispute at hand, say Ranganath Sudarshan and Yuval Mor at Covington.
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DOJ's Compensation Reforms Pit Cos. Against Their Execs
The U.S. Department of Justice’s new policy, incentivizing compliance-focused corporate compensation programs and prompt disclosures of misconduct, will complicate the relationship between companies and their executives, and create potential ethical conflicts for counsel, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.
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Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
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Opinion
Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
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3 Reasons Why Congress Should Stay Out Of NY Trump Probe
Congress members should reconsider their investigation of the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump for several key reasons — and if they persist, future congressional leadership should adopt a rule prohibiting this kind of local interference, say Kenyen Brown and Kevin Carroll at Hughes Hubbard.
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Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
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Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
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Opinion
Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.
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Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts
With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
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Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier
For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.