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Legal Ethics
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October 23, 2024
Co. Misleads Claimants About Visa Mastercard MDL, Attys Say
Class counsel for plaintiffs in long-running multidistrict litigation accusing Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees asked a New York federal judge to demand explanations from a third-party company over misleading statements it allegedly made regarding the claims-submission process for recovering settlement payments.
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October 23, 2024
Tribes Want Magistrate Judge To Drop Out Of $12M Award Suit
Two Native American tribes have told a Wyoming federal court that a magistrate judge should recuse himself from an oil and gas company's lawsuit attempting to stop them from using their tribal judicial system to vacate a more than $12 million arbitration award.
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October 23, 2024
Judges Hint Settlement May Have Waived Atty's Free Speech
Attorney Timothy Brignole and his Hartford law firm, Brignole Bush & Lewis LLC, may have surrendered free speech rights when they signed a nondisparagement agreement with a former employee, stripping them of the ability to claim First Amendment protection over comments attributed to them in a lawsuit, judges of the Connecticut Appellate Court hinted Wednesday.
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October 23, 2024
Combs, Feds At Odds Over Gag Order Amid Press Blitz
Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs told a Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday that they are unable to agree with prosecutors about who should be barred from talking to the press about the hip-hop mogul's sex-trafficking and racketeering case.
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October 23, 2024
Del. Judge Won't Yet Revisit $242K Atty Sanctions In Ch. 7
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that he won't, for now, set aside more than $242,000 in legal fees he ordered a lawyer representing the owners of an insolvent government contractor to pay in a clawback lawsuit, saying that since the sanctions order was appealed to the district court, he doesn't have jurisdiction.
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October 23, 2024
Feds Ask To Drop Conviction Tainted By Alaska Judge Scandal
Federal prosecutors in Alaska have moved to voluntarily vacate the conviction of a man who assaulted two jail employees, after determining the case was irrevocably tainted by the sexual misconduct scandal that toppled former U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred.
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October 23, 2024
Fla. Judge Fights Ethics Charges Of 'Intemperate' Conduct
A Sunshine State judge attempted to explain away accusations by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission that he acted "intemperately," saying that while he, at times, struggles with patience, he treats those who appear before him with "dignity and courtesy."
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October 23, 2024
Law Firm Accuses Ex-Paralegal Of 'Sabotage' In Bears Case
An Illinois law firm has accused one of its former paralegals of attempting to stiff the firm for work it did settling his discrimination suit against the Chicago Bears, alleging that the erstwhile employee declined to file key paperwork and deleted critical files.
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October 23, 2024
9th Circ. Orders Michael Avenatti To Be Resentenced
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered the resentencing of Michael Avenatti over his California conviction for tax violations and stealing from clients, saying the lower court made multiple mistakes when it handed down a 14-year prison term to the onetime celebrity attorney.
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October 23, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Injury Firm's Win In Fight Over Google Ads
The Ninth Circuit has upheld an Arizona federal court's ruling in favor of a Tempe-based personal injury firm that was sued by another personal injury firm, Lerner & Rowe, over its purchases of Google advertising search terms, with the judges finding little "actual confusion" was caused by the advertising strategy.
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October 23, 2024
Chemical Co. GC Fires Back At Pregnancy Bias Claims In NJ
Arxada and its general counsel struck back at a former in-house attorney's claims in a New Jersey state court lawsuit that the specialty chemicals company unlawfully dismissed her in the days after she talked about taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.
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October 23, 2024
DC Judge Won't Let DQ'd Atty Back On Dominion Case
A D.C. federal judge has refused to disturb an order disqualifying an indicted Michigan attorney from representing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne against a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
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October 23, 2024
Ga. Justices Say Open Records Suit Against DA Can Proceed
The Supreme Court of Georgia said a district attorney for the Peach State's Western Judicial Circuit must face an Open Records Act suit claiming she withheld records, and that one of her arguments to escape the suit "fundamentally misunderstands Georgia's separation-of-powers doctrine."
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October 22, 2024
Texas Firm 'Tortured' Barratry Case, Appeals Court Hears
A Texas law firm accused of ambulance chasing told a state appeals court that the opposition had "tortured" the case, saying during oral arguments Tuesday that Bandas Law Firm PC pursued the case merely as an extortion racket.
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October 22, 2024
Giuliani Must Give NYC Apartment, Watches To Poll Workers
A New York federal judge Tuesday ordered Rudy Giuliani to hand over most of his property to two Georgia poll workers, including his Manhattan apartment, Mercedes-Benz, luxury watches and valuable sports memorabilia, to help cover the $148 million judgment the former mayor owes for defaming them.
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October 22, 2024
Colo. Justices Suggest Remanding 'Half-Baked' Privilege Case
Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Tuesday to do more than remand a case over whether attorney-client privilege protects communications by an insurance company's lawyers with engineers hired for processing a claim, with two justices calling the appeal "half-baked" since the trial judge admitted she used the wrong standard.
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October 22, 2024
Ex-Google GC Must Be Investigated By Calif. Bar, Groups Say
A trio of groups led by the American Economic Liberties Project on Tuesday pressed the State Bar of California to investigate former Google general counsel Kent Walker for "coaching" the company to "engage in widespread and illegal destruction of records relevant to multiple ongoing federal trials."
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October 22, 2024
Legatum Exec Wins $8M Libel Trial Against D.C. Investigator
A D.C. federal jury has awarded the founder of Dubai-based investment company Legatum more than $8 million in his defamation case against a private investigator accused of preparing and disseminating a bogus "background report" falsely stating the executive was a Russian asset.
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October 22, 2024
Judge Tells Firm To Tighten Up Testimony In Nassar Fee Trial
A Michigan federal judge cautioned a local personal injury firm Tuesday to reel in the head of the firm on the witness stand, warning he was losing the jury in a long "inside baseball" legal discussion in his efforts to get a greater cut of fees from a Colorado firm for work on a Larry Nassar abuse settlement.
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October 22, 2024
Calif. Official Cops To Taking Bribes For $10M In Contracts
A member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors has admitted to steering $10 million worth of COVID-19 relief funds to a charity affiliated with his daughter in exchange for more than $500,000 in bribes, California federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
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October 22, 2024
NJ Justices Cast Doubt On Out-Of-State Atty Referral Fee Ban
New Jersey Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sounded skeptical of an ethics rule change that would ban certified attorneys from paying referral fees to out-of-state lawyers, questioning an advisory panel's conclusion that such fees represent an authorized payment for legal services.
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October 22, 2024
Law Firm Wins Atty Fees In Texas Over Lies To Ghana Court
An African energy company has to pay nearly $166,000 in attorney fees to an international arbitration specialty law firm after the company was sanctioned for lying to a Ghanaian court about proceedings in Texas, a Texas federal judge has ruled.
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October 22, 2024
LegalZoom, Ex-User Clash Over Unlawful-Practice Arbitration
Legal services provider LegalZoom cannot force a proposed class action alleging unauthorized practice of law into arbitration, a former customer has told a New Jersey federal judge, because the web platform provided an inadequate explanation for a supposedly binding arbitration agreement.
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October 22, 2024
Fla. Judge Accused Of Misusing Contempt, Cuffing Victim
A Sunshine State judge has been hit with ethics charges for allegedly improperly holding people in her courtroom in contempt, including an alleged crime victim who was placed in handcuffs and held in custody for nearly three hours.
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October 22, 2024
Ex-Atty Charged With Stealing Settlement Funds From Clients
A former attorney who practiced in Oklahoma and gave up his law license in 2020 amid a disciplinary investigation has been charged in federal court with stealing money his then-clients were owed from settlements between 2015 and 2020.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
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.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
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.
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The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28
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.
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Opinion
DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission
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.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards
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.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
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.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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For Now, Generative AI Is Risky For Class Action Counsel
Although a recent survey showed most in-house counsel think that their outside counsel should be using generative artificial intelligence "in some way" in class action work, the technology is more a target for class actions than it is a tool to be used in practice at present, says Matthew Allen at Carlton Fields.
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When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case
Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.
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Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case
With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.