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Legal Ethics
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June 14, 2024
Florida Attorney, Philly Firm Settle Pay Dispute
A Florida-based attorney who ran a side business as a litigation fee expert while also working for a Philadelphia-based personal injury law firm has settled her allegations that the firm stiffed her on a referral fee.
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June 14, 2024
Littler Aims To End Theft Suit After $1M Deal With Ex-Firm Atty
Littler Mendelson PC this week moved to drop a lawsuit accusing a former associate of stealing confidential documents following a settlement in which the firm agreed to pay her nearly $1 million, though a separate, newer case in which the lawyer accuses Littler of violating that deal remains open.
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June 14, 2024
Texas Justices To Weigh Ethics Claims Against Paxton Deputy
The Texas Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a lower court's decision to revive an ethics charge against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's first assistant over a failed lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election.
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June 14, 2024
Senate Passes Bill For State, Local Judge Security
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill unanimously to better protect state and local judges from threats amid "unacceptable attacks" on the judiciary.
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June 14, 2024
Update On Ex-George Mason Prof's Suits Over Sex Allegations
After two women came forward last August accusing former BigLaw partner, FTC commissioner and George Mason University law professor Joshua D. Wright of sexual improprieties with students and direct reports, a number of additional accusations and lawsuits followed. Here are updates on the litigation and everything else surrounding the allegations.
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June 14, 2024
Chamblee Ryan Gets $1M Legal Malpractice Verdict Tossed
Chamblee Ryan PC has escaped a $1.1 million jury verdict in a malpractice suit brought by former client JBS Carriers Inc., with a Texas appeals court finding that the food transportation giant failed to submit expert testimony showing that the firm was negligent in failing to settle an underlying car crash lawsuit.
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June 14, 2024
Real Estate Broker Claims Lewis Brisbois Breached Deal
A real estate broker who had exclusive rights to represent Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has slammed the firm with a breach of contract suit in California state court, alleging its abrupt termination of their deal will cost him millions in commissions.
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June 13, 2024
Goldman Exec's 'Mind Entirely Blown' By Fake Ozy Media Call
A former Goldman Sachs executive who was looking into taking a stake in Carlos Watson's Ozy Media testified on Thursday that she was floored during a due diligence call when it became clear that someone was impersonating a YouTube executive in an apparent effort to persuade the bank to invest in Watson's startup.
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June 13, 2024
IP Forecast: Cooley Atty Faces DQ Bid Over Past Patent Work
A prominent Cooley LLP lawyer will face questions next week in a Philadelphia courtroom over her work a decade ago at her former firm defending a cloud software startup that is now suing a Cooley client. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
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June 13, 2024
Ex-Colo. DA Rips Current Prosecutor Over Conduct In Murder Case
A prominent former Colorado district attorney on Thursday roundly criticized a sitting prosecutor accused of misconduct, noting her freewheeling commentary about ongoing cases led to dismissals and suggested she refused to acknowledge the team she led had been "a bunch of disorganized, sloppy lawyers."
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June 13, 2024
House Hearing On NY Trump Prosecutors Flirts With Chaos
The House Judiciary Committee spiraled Thursday morning after Rep. Matt Gaetz demanded a vote to subpoena Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felonies, of which he has been convicted, and the Republican chair of the committee had to call for a recess.
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June 13, 2024
Alston & Bird Wins Bid To Arbitrate COVID Vax Claims
Alston & Bird LLP can arbitrate a former aide's allegations that she was fired after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a Georgia federal judge ruled Thursday, putting the litigation on ice pending the outcome of arbitration.
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June 13, 2024
NJ Judge Tosses Disbarred Atty's Suit Against State Panel
A New Jersey federal judge has tossed a disbarred civil rights attorney's lawsuit against the state's legal ethics board, ruling that the board and individual attorneys named in the case are immune from most of its claims and that the suit lacks enough detail to proceed on others.
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June 13, 2024
Judge Will Tap Arbitrator To Explain $87M Shipping Award
A New York federal judge will let an arbitrator who found that Levona Holdings Ltd. owed Eletson Holdings Inc. almost $87 million in damages clarify the order, saying it was sufficiently ambiguous to require elaboration and rejecting Levona's request that the arbitrator not be given that chance.
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June 13, 2024
Samsung Wants $26M Fees In IP Case Ended By Misconduct
Samsung told a Texas federal judge that it plans to ask for about $26 million in attorney fees after he threw out infringement litigation that hinged on confidential documents that he ruled were stolen by the tech giant's former employees.
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June 13, 2024
Feds' Forfeiture Error Won't Tank Outcome Execs' Conviction
Outcome Health executives can't wipe out their $1 billion fraud convictions or receive a new trial despite arguing that improperly frozen assets prevented them from hiring their chosen lawyers, an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday, ruling that they waived their challenge to the forfeiture by waiting too long.
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June 13, 2024
Cyclist's Widow Can Seek Punitive Award From Crashing Atty
A Colorado federal judge is allowing a bicyclist's widow to revise her lawsuit against the attorney whose car fatally crashed into her husband as he rode, granting a bid to include punitive damages under state law.
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June 13, 2024
Rakoff Says Criminal Justice Act Attys Should Work Weekends
Indigent defendants requiring free criminal legal advice should have access to conflict-free counsel even over the weekends, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Manhattan said in a blistering Thursday opinion, citing a suboptimal sequence of events in a high-profile drug case.
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June 13, 2024
Pryor Cashman Aided Developer Fraud, Owes $5.7M, Cos. Say
New York-based law firm Pryor Cashman LLP has been hit with a $5.7 million lawsuit in state court accusing it of aiding and abetting fraud while representing a real estate developer by allegedly providing false information to another party in a transaction involving a Manhattan property.
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June 13, 2024
Texas Biz Wants $4.7M Fee Dispute With Dentons Tossed
A Houston-area crisis response business wants a Texas federal court to toss international law firm Dentons Europe CS LLP's complaint accusing it of failing to pay more than $4.7 million in legal fees, arguing the action is deficient and that the dispute belongs in England.
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June 13, 2024
Georgia DA Willis Moves To Ax Trump Appeal In DQ Fight
A prosecutor from Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis' office wants a Georgia appellate court to nix an appeal that seeks to disqualify Willis from her election interference case against former President Donald Trump, claiming the appeal rests on flimsy evidence.
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June 13, 2024
NJ Judge Denies Liberty Mutual's Recusal Bid in Accident Suit
A New Jersey federal judge will not step away from a construction accident coverage suit, ruling Liberty Mutual's recusal bid, which cited his failure to disclose his multiple policies with the insurer and a previous investigation over a missing jewelry claim, would potentially block hundreds of judges from presiding over similar cases.
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June 13, 2024
Justice Thomas Failed To Disclose More Trips, Dems Say
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose more private jet trips gifted by billionaire and Republican donor Harlan Crow, according to new information released Thursday by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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June 13, 2024
New State Judge, UT Austin Prof Headed To Biz Court
In his latest round of business court appointments, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that a recently appointed state court judge and the owner of Sharp Appellate PLLC are his two picks for the new venue's San Antonio-area seats.
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June 13, 2024
Ga. Justices Pause Jail For YSL Atty For Contempt Appeal
The Georgia Supreme Court said Wednesday that a defense lawyer for Atlanta rapper Young Thug doesn't have to head to jail Friday, ruling that he can appeal the criminal contempt charge lodged against him for refusing to divulge how he knew of a closed-door conversation between prosecutors, a witness and the judge presiding over the racketeering case.
Expert Analysis
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Atty Conflict Discussions In Idaho Murder Case And Beyond
A public defender's representation of the accused University of Idaho murderer after prior representation of a victim's parent doesn't constitute a violation of conflict of interest rules, but the case prompts ethical questions about navigating client conflicts in small-town criminal defense and big-city corporate law alike, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Charles Loeser at HWG.
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Opinion
Dobbs Leak Highlights Need For High Court Ethics Code
While a recent investigation failed to identify who leaked the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the situation underscores the need for the justices to bind themselves to the same ethics rules that constrain other federal judges, says Scott Gerber at Ohio Northern University.
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Why The Original 'Rocket Docket' Will Likely Resume Its Pace
Though the Eastern District of Virginia, for decades the fastest federal trial court in the country, experienced significant pandemic-related slowdowns, several factors unique to the district suggest that it will soon return to its speedy pace, say Dabney Carr and Robert Angle at Troutman Pepper.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage
Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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The Discipline George Santos Would Face If He Were A Lawyer
Rep. George Santos, who has become a national punchline for his alleged lies, hasn't faced many consequences yet, but if he were a lawyer, even his nonwork behavior would be regulated by the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and violations in the past have led to sanctions and even disbarment, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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Why FERC's Proposed Duty Of Candor Rule Is Problematic
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering adopting a new regulation that would prohibit the submission of any inaccurate or false information when communicating with the agency, which would raise significant due process and First Amendment concerns, say attorneys at Skadden.
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A Litigation Move That Could Conserve Discovery Resources
Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben proposes the preliminary legal opinion procedure — seeking a court's opinion on a disputed legal standard at the outset, rather than the close, of discovery — as a useful resource-preservation tool for legally complex, discovery-intensive litigation.
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Litigators Should Approach AI Tools With Caution
Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT hold potential to streamline various aspects of the litigation process, resulting in improved efficiency and outcomes, but should be carefully double-checked for confidentiality, plagiarism and accuracy concerns, say Zachary Foster and Melanie Kalmanson at Quarles & Brady.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability
The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.
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Thorny Legal Issues Surround NY Prosecutor's Trump Tell-All
As the Manhattan district attorney's office empanels a grand jury in its ongoing Donald Trump investigation, it is seeking to pause publication of a book by former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz that focuses on Trump's indictment — an unusual situation that raises issues of prejudice, contractual responsibility and legal ethics, says John Harris at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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5 Ways Attorneys Can Use Emotion In Client Pitches
Lawyers are skilled at using their high emotional intelligence to build rapport with clients, so when planning your next pitch, consider how you can create some emotional peaks, personal connections and moments of magic that might help you stick in prospective clients' minds and seal the deal, says consultant Diana Kander.
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5 Keys To A Productive Mediation
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Cortney Young at ADR Partners discusses factors that can help to foster success in mediation, including scheduling, preparation, managing client expectations and more.
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Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion
Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.
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Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Highlight Attorney Ethics Issues
Recently released transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee demonstrate that there is always a lurking conflict when someone other than the client is paying the fee, and that disclosure must therefore be painstaking and extensive, says Steven Lubet at Northwestern University.
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7 Tips To Increase Your Law Firm's DEI Efforts In 2023
Law firms looking to advance their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts should consider implementing new practices and initiatives this year, including some that require nominal additional effort or expense, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Gina Rubel at Furia Rubel.