Legal Ethics

  • March 25, 2024

    Trump Ally Jeffrey Clark Faces Disbarment In DC Hearing

    In a case one expert called "the single most significant" in the history of the Washington, D.C., bar, a former U.S. Department of Justice official is set to go before an ethics panel this week to face charges over his role in former President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election.

  • March 25, 2024

    M&T Bank Execs Seek Exit From Fla. Law Firm's $1.5M Suit

    Two M&T Bank Corp. representatives want out of a lawsuit claiming they participated in the unlawful restriction of a Florida law firm's trust account amid a chargeback dispute, arguing they are protected from such claims by Florida's corporate shield doctrine.

  • March 25, 2024

    Justices Won't Review 11th Circ. $285M Arbitrator Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an Eleventh Circuit decision refusing to vacate $285 million in arbitral awards issued to the operator of the Panama Canal, a case that the petitioners said raised questions about the standard by which courts may nix awards over an arbitrator's "evident partiality."

  • March 25, 2024

    Trump Can't Dismiss Hush Money Case, Trial Set For April

    A New York state judge on Monday emphatically denied Donald Trump's motion to dismiss the Manhattan district attorney's hush money case in the wake of a late evidence dump by federal prosecutors, scolding the former president's attorney and setting trial for April 15.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ill. Justices Weigh Whether Rule Violation Merits Fee Award

    The Illinois Supreme Court has questioned whether two law firms should be allowed to preserve their $1.7 million fee award for their work on a family dispute that settled after they were fired, as the justices asked whether fees are appropriate if the firms never disclosed how they would split the money.

  • March 22, 2024

    Telecom Shareholders Want Tribunal DQ'd Over 'Biased' Blog

    The majority shareholders in a Latin American telecommunications tower operator are urging a New York court to reconsider its bid to disqualify the entire tribunal overseeing an arbitration over an alleged corporate coup, saying a blog run by one of the arbiters shows proof of bias.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ill. Atty Tampered With Witness In Own Fraud Case, Feds Say

    A Chicago-area lawyer facing criminal tax fraud charges has been slapped with a superseding indictment accusing him of witness tampering by trying to script a bookkeeper's testimony, according to an announcement made Friday.

  • March 22, 2024

    Amazon, Apple Say Antitrust Attys Can't Ditch 'Fatal' Class Rep

    Amazon and Apple say plaintiffs' counsel in a proposed antitrust suit should be stuck with their class representative, who apparently ghosted his attorneys, arguing the lawyers should have to live with a plaintiff whose purchasing habits undercut the suit's very premise.

  • March 22, 2024

    Former Hiller Atty Fights To Keep Entire Wage Suit Standing

    A former cannabis attorney at boutique firm Hiller PC told a New York state judge on Friday that her wage suit should stay in place in its entirety, saying that her contract existence doesn't prevent unjust enrichment claims.

  • March 22, 2024

    LA Atty Who Repped Rodney King Charged With Tax Evasion

    A Los Angeles attorney who represented Rodney King in a civil case against the city of Los Angeles after King was severely beaten by police has been hit with federal tax evasion charges.

  • March 22, 2024

    Feds, Girardi Agree To Delay Trial More Than 2 Months

    Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi's criminal trial could now be pushed back from May to August, after prosecutors and Girardi's defense attorneys filed a mutual request for a few more weeks of preparation in the closely watched case.

  • March 22, 2024

    SEC Sanctions NY Atty For 'Improper Professional Conduct'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has barred a New York-based attorney from practicing before the agency, saying she engaged in "improper professional conduct" by failing to comply with a requirement that she not do further work for a two-year period for a company she had represented in proceedings.

  • March 22, 2024

    Pa. Panel Says Tort Statute Can't Kill Contract Claims

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel has revived a breach of contract suit brought by a pro se litigant against his former counsel for failing to provide adequate legal services, finding the trial court was wrong to reclassify the contract complaint as a tort claim for legal malpractice and then toss it on statutory grounds.

  • March 22, 2024

    Trump Election Case Gives Young Ga. Judge 'A World Stage'

    As Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee prepares for perhaps the highest profile case he will ever see, legal experts and former state justices told Law360 that the young jurist has the ethics and temperament to not let the politically charged Donald Trump prosecution derail a promising legal career.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ill. Judges End Diversity Rules That Drew Conservative Ire

    The Seventh Circuit's chief judge has resolved judicial misconduct complaints targeting allegedly discriminatory standing orders by some Illinois federal judges encouraging younger, female and minority attorneys to handle oral arguments, after two of the judges rescinded their policies in response to the complaints.

  • March 22, 2024

    Lewis Brisbois Accused Of Filing 'Sham' Suits To Avert Fault

    A group of 185 Chinese investors have accused Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorneys of filing numerous lawsuits — and collecting $3.8 million in legal fees — to cover for failing to read "draconian" contract terms that led the investors to lose their $92.5 million stake in a $2.5 billion Los Angeles mixed-use development.

  • March 22, 2024

    Cuomo Sister May Sit For Retaliation Claim Depo, Judge Says

    A Manhattan federal judge provisionally held Friday that Madeline Cuomo, the sister of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, should sit for a deposition to address claims that she facilitated an effort to retaliate against a woman who has accused the former governor of harassment.

  • March 22, 2024

    Albright Denies Salesforce Bid For Patent Sanctions

    Salesforce.com Inc. waited too long to pursue sanctions against a prolific patent litigator who already voluntarily dismissed claims brought in a federal suit in Texas, U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright has ruled, agreeing with a magistrate judge's report and recommendation to toss the sanctions bid.

  • March 21, 2024

    Burford, Sysco Get OK To Swap Bid In Price-Fixing Cases

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday agreed to allow an affiliate of legal investment firm Burford Capital to substitute for food giant Sysco in price-fixing litigation against broiler chicken producers, a ruling that comes a month after a Minnesota federal judge refused to allow the same Burford unit to substitute for Sysco in similar pork and beef price-fixing litigation.

  • March 21, 2024

    Colo. Distributor Seeks $2.3M Sanction For Stryker Spoilation

    A Colorado medical device distributor urged a federal judge to make Stryker and its lawyers pay $2.3 million in attorney fees as sanctions for "pervasive misconduct" throughout discovery and trial, arguing discovery violations will otherwise become the "cost of doing business" for the medical technology giant.

  • March 21, 2024

    Schumer Urges Texas District To Adopt Judge-Shopping Rule

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas to quickly implement the Judicial Conference of the United States' updated policy that looks to prevent litigants from judge shopping, arguing that the district's current practices are "dangerous."

  • March 21, 2024

    Atty Takes Fight Over VLSI's 'Extortion' Claims To Fed. Court

    A Minnesota lawyer and a company he is affiliated with are taking their dispute with patent outfit VLSI Technology to Virginia federal court in an effort to fend off accusations that he is behind an "extortion" effort disguised as a petition to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • March 21, 2024

    Trump Misquotes Justices In Immunity Case's Opening Brief

    Former President Donald Trump invoked the writings of three sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices in a brief Tuesday to argue that former presidents are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution. Yet the cited opinions and papers actually express the opposite theories from what he claims — a miscue attorneys say could backfire on him.

  • March 21, 2024

    'Sit Down!' DC Judge Snaps At Atty Over False Ad Defense

    Oral arguments over footwear nearly got an attorney kicked out of court Thursday, as a D.C. federal judge told a defense counselor to "Sit down!" for making "snide remarks" before ultimately denying most of his motion to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission suit alleging deceptive advertising.

  • March 21, 2024

    $114M Discord Stock Case Tossed Ahead Of Jury Trial

    A Texas federal judge has dismissed a 21-count indictment against seven men accused of operating a multimillion-dollar "pump-and-dump" stock scheme over social media platform Discord two weeks before they were set to be tried before a jury, writing that the government's case was unable to survive two recent appellate court decisions that reined in corruption prosecutions.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Why Fed. Circ. Affirmed Attorney Fee Award In PersonalWeb

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    A recent Federal Circuit decision to leave a $5.2 million fee award in place in the PersonalWeb patent case underscores district courts' discretion to sanction unreasonable arguments and litigation tactics under the U.S. Code's attorney fee provision, say attorneys at Shearman. 

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

  • Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

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    Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.

  • In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

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    Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.

  • Opinion

    Animal Rights Are About Saving Nature, And Our Own Future

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    The climate crisis makes it clear that animal law — conceived of as an ecocentric approach to protecting the most vulnerable nonhumans who depend on the natural environment — is essential to restoring the Earth and safeguarding the future of humanity, says Carter Dillard at the Fair Start Movement.

  • The Ethics Of Accepting Advanced Legal Fees In Crypto

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    State and local bar associations have been weighing in on whether attorneys may accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment in advance of providing legal services, but the answer is frequently a fact-specific inquiry that demands close reading of the rules of professional conduct, say Matthew Feinberg and Jeffrey Cunningham at Goldberg Segalla.

  • How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

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    Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 5 Gifts That May Run Afoul Of Government Ethics Rules

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    As the holiday season ramps up, it’s essential to keep in mind that government officials and employees are all subject to specific gift rules, and related violations can lead to consequences far worse than coal in one’s stocking, say Mark Renaud and Rob Walker at Wiley.

  • 3 Defense Takeaways From The Bankman-Fried Trial

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    FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction offers several key lessons for future white collar defendants, from the changing nature of cross-examination to the continued risks of taking the stand, say Jonathan Porter and Gregg Sofer at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys

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    Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape

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    The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.

  • The Basics Of Law Firm Cyber Liability Insurance Applications

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    Cyber liability insurance has become a common consideration for law firms as cyber threats have escalated, but these insurance forms can be quite complicated given the nature of the industry and associated risks, so simply filling out the form won't necessarily result in an ideal policy for your firm, says Kevin Haight at WAMS.

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