Legal Ethics

  • February 12, 2025

    California Judge Chided For Entering Other Jurists' Chambers

    A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has been publicly admonished for entering other jurists' chambers after hours and without permission to access confidential files and computers, in what the state's Commission on Judicial Performance called a "serious breach of the expected trust shared among judicial colleagues."

  • February 12, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Guilty Of Bribery In Mixed Verdict

    A federal jury on Wednesday partially convicted the man who was once the most powerful politician in Illinois on federal corruption charges, finding former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud but deadlocking on the government's overarching racketeering charge.

  • February 11, 2025

    GAO Says Protester Wrongly Used Redacted Army Corps Info

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over a €36.7 ($38 million) million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction contract and criticized the protester for filing claims based on improperly redacted Corps information, saying the redaction mistake didn't waive related protections.

  • February 11, 2025

    Orion Telescope Partly Revives $4M Fraudulent Transfer Suit

    A California appellate court on Monday partially revived Orion Telescope's suit accusing rival Celestron Acquisition of orchestrating a fraudulent $4.2 million transfer to help another company avoid paying a judgment owed to Orion, ruling that Orion indeed adequately alleged conspiracy or aiding and abetting a fraudulent transfer.

  • February 11, 2025

    GOP Reps. Reintroduce Litigation Funding Disclosures Bill

    Three House Republicans have reintroduced legislation that would require the disclosure of parties collecting payments in civil lawsuits, saying that transparency on so-called "third-party litigation funding" was crucial, especially in patent litigation.

  • February 11, 2025

    NY Judge Sides With Attorney In Golf Malpractice Row

    A New York federal magistrate judge has recommended summary judgment in favor of an attorney in a legal malpractice lawsuit in which he is accused of causing the plaintiffs to lose an Arizona golf course property because he failed to file the proper bankruptcy paperwork.

  • February 11, 2025

    Rodney King's Former Atty Gets Prison For $7M Tax Evasion

    A Los Angeles criminal defense and civil rights attorney who once represented Rodney King was sentenced by a California federal court Tuesday to 1½ years in prison for evading $7.2 million worth of taxes on income from his law practice.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ill. Atty Beats Wire Fraud Retrial After Privilege Violation

    An Illinois jury has acquitted a former Freeborn & Peters partner of charges that he helped a client shift assets to avoid creditors ahead of its anticipated bankruptcy filing, after a privilege violation prompted the trial judge to exclude certain evidence from the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    Eaton Fire Victim Wants Sanctions Against SoCal Edison

    A victim of the recent devastating Eaton Fire in Altadena has told a California state judge that Southern California Edison and its attorneys should face sanctions for allegedly concealing efforts to reenergize electrical transmission lines while the blaze was still burning last month.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ye Sanctioned, Ordered To Sit For Depo In Fired Guard's Suit

    A California judge ordered Ye on Tuesday to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit from a former security guard at the embattled rapper's Donda Academy and sanctioned him $500 for skipping a deposition, while also scolding Ye's counsel about the attorney's apparently difficult "history" before his court.

  • February 11, 2025

    NJ Prosecutor Can Pursue Claim He Was Misled Over Resignation

    A New Jersey state judge has reinstated a claim in a lawsuit from the former Warren County prosecutor that he was deceived into resigning from his position by Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

  • February 11, 2025

    Starbucks Fights Fla. Defamation Suit Over Atty's Statements

    Coffee giant Starbucks Corp. wants out of a lawsuit brought by a patent-licensing company executive's defamation lawsuit, arguing its attorney was not speaking for the company when she made allegedly defamatory statements in an October news article.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-Major Lindsey Employee Must Face Firm's $4.8M Claim

    A New York bankruptcy court ruled Monday that a former Major Lindsey & Africa LLC employee embroiled in over a decade of litigation with the recruiting firm cannot discharge a $4.8 million claim it filed against her.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-Client May Not Appeal Morgan & Morgan Arbitration Order

    A former Morgan & Morgan PA client may not pursue legal malpractice claims against the firm in Georgia federal court, a judge ruled Tuesday, upholding an earlier order sending the matter to arbitration.

  • February 11, 2025

    Texas Bar Eyes Ban On In-House Referrals From Non-Attys

    A proposed ethics opinion from the State Bar of Texas would prohibit nonlawyer-owned for-profit companies from giving customers the option of using the business' in-house attorneys for the "actual cost" of legal services when the work is unrelated to the mission of the company.

  • February 11, 2025

    NJ Senator Seeks Answers On Departure Of Watchdog's Chief

    The New Jersey state senator who first called for the resignation of the State Commission of Investigation's chief executive following questions about her residency and a second full-time job wants to know how much the agency's commissioners knew before hiring her.

  • February 11, 2025

    NYC Mayor Says Bribery Case Is Over, Despite Silent Docket

    Amid an absence of activity on the court docket, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared Tuesday that the federal bribery case against him "will no longer continue," following reports of a U.S. Department of Justice memo directing prosecutors to drop the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    Remorse, Sobriety, Therapy Help Pa. Atty Avoid Disbarment

    A Fayette County, Pennsylvania, attorney who took accountability for ethics breaches including a money laundering conviction has escaped disbarment, with the state high court agreeing with its Disciplinary Board that mitigating factors should offset more stringent punishment.

  • February 10, 2025

    Injury Attys Admit 'Embarrassment' Of AI-Hallucinated Cites

    Morgan & Morgan PA and the Goody Law Group expressed "great embarrassment" Monday when they told the Wyoming federal judge overseeing a personal injury lawsuit against Walmart over an allegedly defective hoverboard that the pretrial motions they filed did, indeed, contain case law hallucinated by artificial intelligence.

  • February 10, 2025

    Trump Ousts Office Of Government Ethics Director

    President Donald Trump has fired David Huitema, the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the independent agency announced on Monday, less than two months after Huitema started as the agency's head.

  • February 10, 2025

    Investigators Say Texas Atty Lied To Help Clients Hide Assets

    A pair of court-appointed independent investigators have recommended that an attorney in Fort Worth be stripped of his license to practice in the Northern District of Texas because he lied to shield his clients' assets from $9 million in judgments.

  • February 10, 2025

    GenapSys Can't Claw Back Some Docs From Paul Hastings

    A California judge ruled that GenapSys Inc. can claw back some documents it inadvertently released during discovery in a legal malpractice suit against Paul Hastings LLP, but that some documents discussed during depositions cannot be clawed back because attorneys for GenapSys did not lodge proper objections during the proceedings. 

  • February 10, 2025

    Atty Accused Of Impeding Model In Fla. NFL Player Injury Suit

    An OnlyFans model has urged a Florida state court to prevent an attorney for a Miami Dolphins wide receiver from attending a second deposition of the football player, saying the lawyer hasn't lawfully appeared in the case and is improperly interfering in the personal injury lawsuit.

  • February 10, 2025

    DOJ Brass Want Bribery Charges Against NYC Mayor Dropped

    The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to drop public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, an extraordinary development in the wake of a public courtship between the embattled mayor and President Donald Trump.

  • February 10, 2025

    Experts Sound Alarm After Musk, Vance Float Ignoring Judges

    Attorneys and constitutional experts say the warning lights "are blinking red" after Vice President JD Vance and Trump confidante Elon Musk took to social media to attack the independence of the judiciary over the weekend.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    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.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    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.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    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.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    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.

  • Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent

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    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.

  • The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28

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    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.

  • Opinion

    DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission

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    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.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    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.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

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