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Legal Ethics
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February 20, 2025
Texas Judge Threatens Charges Over 'Dead' Expert's Signature
A Texas federal judge is threatening a prominent Houston attorney and elected official with criminal charges for filing a document allegedly signed by an expert witness who had been dead for nearly a year.
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February 20, 2025
FCPA Shake-Up May Open Bribery Loophole
New guidelines in the works for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement under President Donald Trump's administration could dramatically alter how American companies do business overseas while potentially opening the door for foreign bribery when it arguably advances U.S. interests, and the looming changes are creating an unsettled environment for attorneys who practice in the space, experts say.
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February 20, 2025
Ga. Panel Rips Willis' 'Delay Tactic' Over Trump Case Probe
A Georgia state Senate committee investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis over her prosecution of President Donald Trump in an election interference case has blasted her attempt to dismiss multiple subpoenas against her as a "bald-faced delay tactic."
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February 20, 2025
NJ Law Firm, Ex-COO Settle Sexual Harassment, Bias Suit
Major New Jersey personal injury firm Garces Grabler & LeBrocq PC has settled a lawsuit with its former chief operating officer, who accused it and attorneys there of sexually harassing her and unfairly burdening her with work that was beneath her position.
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February 20, 2025
Calif. Judge Disciplined For Calling Victim 'Manipulative'
A former California Superior Court judge has been publicly admonished for repeatedly calling a domestic violence victim "manipulative" and saying she "liked being beat up" while telling her partner at a restraining order hearing in May 2023 that he had fallen into the victim's "trap."
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February 20, 2025
Baker Donelson Fights Docs Request In Ponzi Scheme Suit
Baker Donelson is pushing back on a request for documents in a lawsuit alleging the firm allowed a timber company's $164.5 million Ponzi scheme to unfold.
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February 20, 2025
'Lawsuit Protection' Co. Fined In Ohio For Unlicensed Practice
A legal consulting firm that markets itself as a "comprehensive lawsuit protection company" serving medical practices was hit with a fine on Thursday by the Ohio Supreme Court for practicing law in the state without a license for more than a decade.
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February 20, 2025
Ex-Heritage Pharma CEO Disciplined Over Price-Fixing Case
The New Jersey Supreme Court has retroactively suspended the former chief executive of Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. from the state bar for three years over his role in a price-fixing conspiracy.
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February 20, 2025
Texas Bar Forbids Revenue Sharing With Non-Atty Companies
In a new opinion, the State Bar of Texas' ethics watchdog said lawyers shouldn't pay revenue percentages to nonlawyer-owned businesses that provide legal support services, though attorneys may own equity interests in such companies under certain conditions.
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February 19, 2025
'Convict My Ass': Judge Admits Killing Wife In Police Video
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson's trial for allegedly murdering his wife opened Wednesday with shocking video footage of the judge sitting alone, handcuffed in a police station interrogation room, muttering to himself "I killed her. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, convict my ass. I did it."
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February 19, 2025
Savannah Officials Rip 'Prejudice' From Attys' Press Briefing
Savannah, Georgia, officials have doubled down on their bid to sanction Claiborne Firm PC attorneys for allegedly mischaracterizing facts during a press conference related to the fatal police shooting of a Black man in 2022.
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February 19, 2025
Netflix Wants IP Atty Sanctioned Over Alleged Doc Sharing
Netflix urged a California judge Tuesday to require a prolific patent plaintiff's former counsel to explain why they shouldn't be held in civil contempt and sanctioned for allegedly giving Netflix's confidential financial information to nonparty AiPi LLC, arguing discovery in another patent case has revealed AiPi is "shadow lead counsel."
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February 19, 2025
Walgreens Says $1B COVID Testing Award Must Be Nixed
Walgreens is urging a Delaware federal judge to rethink his decision enforcing a $987 million arbitral award to a lab testing and diagnostics company in a dispute over COVID-19 tests, arguing Tuesday that he ignored that the arbitrator "invented" language in the contract to arrive at his conclusion.
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February 19, 2025
Detroit Judge May Be Immune Despite 'Outrageous' Fake Trial
A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday said that while a Detroit judge's decision to put a teen through a "judicial-like" proceeding for falling asleep in his courtroom while on a field trip may have been "outrageous," it may not strip his ability to claim he is immune from her lawsuit.
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February 19, 2025
Amazon Drivers Deny Discovery Lapses In Yearslong Pay Suit
Ten former Amazon Flex delivery drivers are pushing back against the e-commerce giant's bid to disqualify them as plaintiffs in an eight-year-old collective wage action, contending they have "gone above and beyond" in their efforts to comply with the company's document demands.
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February 19, 2025
NJ Lawyer Sanctioned, Barred From New SDNY Petitions
A New Jersey lawyer is blocked from filing new petitions in Southern District of New York bankruptcy court and must pay a $2,000 fine to a local Legal Aid Society following an alleged pattern of filing and then abandoning bankruptcy cases, according to a Wednesday sanctions order.
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February 19, 2025
GOP Reps Move To Impeach SDNY Judge, Threaten More
Republican House members have introduced an article of impeachment against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, following conservative backlash to him and others who have ruled against the Trump administration's early moves to assert control over the executive branch and federal programs.
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February 19, 2025
Silver Point Knocks SEC Suit Over Attorney Info Access Rules
Investment adviser Silver Point Capital LP said it did not need to write special rules banning a now-deceased former BigLaw bankruptcy attorney from sharing information between its business units, accusing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of filing a "farfetched theory of noncompliance" in a Connecticut enforcement action.
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February 19, 2025
Franchise Group Gets Tentative Deal On Ch. 11 Voting Process
Retail chain operator Franchise Group Inc. and a group of lenders told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday they were close to agreeing on a disclosure statement for Franchise Group's Chapter 11 plan that will let the debtor take votes on the proposed debt-for-equity and liquidation deal.
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February 19, 2025
Ga. Judge Faces Another Round Of Misconduct Charges
A Georgia state judge is facing a new set of ethics violation charges ahead of her ethics case trial next month and is now accused of improperly helping her uncle seek an extension to file an answer in a matter and locking up a woman during her parents' divorce hearing without justification.
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February 19, 2025
McCarter & English Says 'Offensive' Post Backs Atty's Firing
McCarter & English LLP has moved to dismiss a fired ex-associate's suit alleging discrimination based on his status as a veteran, telling a New Jersey state court that it had the right to terminate the at-will attorney for an allegedly offensive LinkedIn post.
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February 19, 2025
3rd Circ. Hints County's Probation Detainers Need Scrutiny
Civil rights advocates told the Third Circuit that Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is jailing defendants for probation violations too hastily, and the panel appeared open Wednesday to reviving a lawsuit against several county judges for more developments.
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February 19, 2025
Adams, DOJ Quizzed On Dismissal Bid By Wary Judge
A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday scrutinized the U.S. Department of Justice's motion to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, rankling attorneys on both sides as he declined to "shoot from the hip" and immediately rule.
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February 19, 2025
Jay-Z's Roc Nation Aims To Exit Buzbee Conspiracy Suits
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's company Roc Nation has asked a Texas federal court to let it escape two lawsuits against it and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP alleging that they recruited former clients to bring malpractice claims against the Buzbee Law Firm in retaliation for accusing the rap star of rape.
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February 19, 2025
Ex-Defender Again Tries To Revive Sex Bias Suit At 4th Circ.
A former assistant public defender in North Carolina is urging the Fourth Circuit to reverse a bench ruling that dashed her long-running bias suit against the federal judiciary, saying the indifference she allegedly endured after she reported being sexually harassed proves her case.
Expert Analysis
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Opinion
A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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After Chevron
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.