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Legal Ethics
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May 21, 2025
Judge Warns Attys Using AI To 'Advocate — Not Hallucinate'
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sanctioned two attorneys in a shipping contract dispute for filing a brief that included a nonexistent case citation added by artificial intelligence, warning lawyers that they must "carefully evaluate, elucidate and advocate — not hallucinate" in their legal briefs.
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May 21, 2025
Ga. Judge Tells Ethics Panel No Harm Meant In Family Cases
An Atlanta trial judge facing allegations that she intervened on behalf of her uncle in a legal proceeding and had a woman locked in a cell during her parents' divorce hearing took the stand Wednesday before Georgia's judicial watchdog, saying she would have done things differently in hindsight.
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May 21, 2025
Army Contract Protest Dismissed Over Filing Violations
Multiple missed filing deadlines and public filings containing confidential information, despite repeated warnings, provided grounds to dismiss a Virginia company's challenge of a U.S. Army contract award for information technology services, a Court of Federal Claims Judge said Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Atty's Silence Dooms FMLA Claims Against Va. City
A Virginia city is off the hook in an attorney's lawsuit claiming he was fired after requesting leave to care for his mother, a federal court ruled Wednesday, finding the attorney's failure to respond to the city's filings requires his claims be dismissed.
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May 21, 2025
Atty, Firm Sanctioned For Losing Info In RICO, Defamation Suits
An Alabama federal judge granted Drummond Co. Inc.'s request for sanctions over missing emails and other information in litigation accusing Conrad & Scherer LLP and one of its former managing partners of defamation and RICO violations.
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May 21, 2025
Girardi's Son-In-Law Was No 'Babe In The Woods,' Feds Say
The Chicago federal judge presiding over a summer client theft trial against Girardi Keese founder Tom Girardi's son-in-law should not limit the government's case based on positions it took during Girardi's California trial because its positions are consistent, and the cases are charged differently, prosecutors argued Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Ex-Atty's Cooperation Deal OK'd In Calif. Debt Firm's Ch. 11
A California bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved a deal allowing a disbarred attorney accused of operating a fraudulent debt relief law firm to admit wrongdoing and provide information about the firm's collapse to a court-appointed trustee in an effort to recoup money for creditors.
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May 21, 2025
Solvay Wants Sanctions For 3 Firms Over Confidential Info
Lawyers at three plaintiffs law firms were hit Wednesday with a bid for sanctions by a polymer company that claims the attorneys used confidential discovery in federal multidistrict litigation in New Jersey to file a new action.
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May 21, 2025
SF Law Firms' Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years For Embezzling $1.3M
A former chief financial officer of two San Francisco law firms was sentenced to just over three years in prison Wednesday for stealing more than $1.3 million from the firms and others, after one firm's founder said the defendant appeared to enjoy "stabbing us all in the back."
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May 21, 2025
Ford Hits Calif. Firms With RICO Suit Over Lemon Law Billing
The Ford Motor Co. sued several California-based law firms and lawyers in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday, accusing them of conspiring to overcharge clients and defraud major automotive manufacturers by more than $100 million by submitting falsely inflated time sheets in thousands of consumer protection cases.
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May 21, 2025
Ex-Atty For Slain Journalist Khashoggi Admits Tax Crime
An attorney who once represented the slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi pled guilty to filing a false tax return, admitting that he withheld $355,000 from the Internal Revenue Service.
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May 21, 2025
Distiller Says Ex-Partner, Attys Used RICO Suit To Ruin Him
A Pennsylvania distiller claims his erstwhile partner in Pittsburgh's Kingfly Spirits launched years of litigation against him designed to ruin his reputation and career, saying in a complaint of his own that the ex-collaborator texted him "game on" before beginning his abusive legal campaign.
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May 21, 2025
Apple Lets Fortnite Back In App Store As Appeal Pends
Apple has allowed Epic Games to put its popular Fortnite video game back in the App Store, while the sides await a ruling on Apple's bid to pause an injunction mandating additional changes to its policies issued after the court found it had violated a previous order.
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May 21, 2025
Appliance Co. Says Sanctions Bid Unjust After EEOC Missteps
An appliance retailer has told a Colorado federal judge that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shouldn't be granted sanctions over unredacted medical records that were publicly filed, arguing that the agency has repeatedly made the same mistake in the disability bias lawsuit.
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May 21, 2025
Apologetic NJ Atty Gets 21 Months For $350K COVID Fraud
A New Jersey attorney sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on Wednesday for claiming he was a business in order to receive nearly $350,000 earmarked for small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic apologized to the court for the "embarrassment" he caused to the legal profession.
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May 21, 2025
Atty Has Bail Revoked For Continuing Embezzlement After Arrest
A Massachusetts magistrate judge on Wednesday revoked bail for an attorney who pled guilty to embezzling more than $3 million from several companies and two family members with special needs and dementia, after prosecutors said he was still siphoning funds from victims' accounts after being charged.
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May 21, 2025
Feds Say Atty Behind Embassy Attack Can't Avoid Restitution
A Florida attorney who claimed he was unable to pay restitution for felony convictions after he detonated explosives in San Antonio and outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., cannot avoid the $325,000 bill, federal prosecutors told a D.C. federal court.
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May 21, 2025
Fla. Atty Says NC Bar Has No Power To Discipline Him
A Florida attorney facing claims he filed a baseless suit to collect attorney fees for his former firm from a pair of intellectually disabled brothers whom his ex-partner defrauded told the North Carolina state appeals court that the state bar has no jurisdiction to bring an enforcement action against him.
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May 21, 2025
Conn. Public Defender Watchdog Wants Chief's Firing Upheld
Connecticut's Public Defender Services Commission said in a state court brief that it was "significant misconduct," not racial bias, that caused it to fire the chief public defender, arguing the June 2024 firing came after a litany of complaints and a lengthy pattern of wrongdoing.
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May 20, 2025
Subpoena For Alleged Trans Care Must Stand, Texas Says
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday pressed the state to explain why the principle of sovereign immunity should stop patients who potentially received gender affirming care from trying to block a subpoena, saying during oral arguments a challenge to a subpoena seems to fall outside sovereign immunity.
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May 20, 2025
Mass. Atty Admits Stealing From Relatives With Special Needs
A Massachusetts attorney Monday pled guilty to embezzling more than $3 million from several companies for which he was working as a bookkeeper as well as from two family members with special needs and dementia, according to a plea agreement filed in Bay State federal court.
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May 20, 2025
Dem Lawmakers Reintroduce Supreme Court Ethics Bill
Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday reintroduced bills in the House and Senate that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding ethics code and create new recusal and disclosure standards for the nine justices.
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May 20, 2025
DOJ Watchdog Asked To Probe AG's Trump Media Stock Sales
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday urged the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general to investigate Attorney General Pam Bondi's sale of millions of dollars' worth of shares in Trump Media just ahead of the stock market plunging.
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May 20, 2025
Music Co. Rips Apple's Sanctions Bid Over App Store Ouster
Musi Inc. and its counsel at Winston & Strawn LLP have urged a California federal judge to reject Apple's request for sanctions over accusations Musi made "false and misleading allegations" in a lawsuit over Apple's decision to boot the music streaming service from the App Store for intellectual property infringement.
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May 20, 2025
Split 4th Circ. Finds Testimony Sufficed For Bad Advice Claim
A divided Fourth Circuit panel on Tuesday ordered the government to offer a North Carolina man another shot at a plea deal he rejected, finding his defense attorney's bad advice caused him to pass over the bargain and get saddled with a longer sentence.
Expert Analysis
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Data Protection Steps To Consider After Biden Privacy Order
A recent White House executive order casts a spotlight on the criticality of securing sensitive content communications, presenting challenges and necessitating a recalibration of practices, especially for lawyers, says Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks.
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Surveying Legislative Trends As States Rush To Regulate AI
With Congress unlikely to pass comprehensive artificial intelligence legislation any time soon, just four months into 2024, nearly every state has introduced legislation aimed at the development and use of AI on subjects from algorithmic discrimination risk to generative AI disclosures, say David Kappos and Sasha Rosenthal-Larrea at Cravath.
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How Duty Of Candor Figures In USPTO AI Ethics Guidance
The duty of candor and good faith is an important part of the artificial intelligence ethics guidance issued last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and serious consequences can visit patent and trademark applicants who violate that duty, not just their attorneys and agents, says Michael Cicero at Taylor English.
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Series
Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice
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.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
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.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
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.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
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.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
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.
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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.