Legal Ethics

  • July 25, 2025

    Boston Atty To Cop To Stealing $2M From Clients

    A Boston lawyer will plead guilty to stealing more than $2 million from clients and may face more than four years in prison per the terms of his plea deal, Massachusetts federal prosecutors announced.

  • July 25, 2025

    Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

    When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Court Axes Deported Man's Drug Plea Over Atty Advice

    A California appeals court has vacated the drug conviction of a Mexican national and U.S. resident and has told the lower court to set a trial on the charge, finding he wasn't properly told by his lawyer that pleading guilty would lead to deportation.

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Atty To Pay SEC Fine Over Alleged Prime Bank Fraud Role

    A New Jersey attorney and a California man will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a total of $134,000 as part of agreements to resolve the regulator's allegations they helped bilk an older couple out of over $150,000 through a so-called prime bank scheme. 

  • July 24, 2025

    Alina Habba Says She Is Now Acting US Atty In NJ

    Alina Habba posted on social media Thursday that she is now the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, two days after the federal district court declined to extend her tenure in the interim position.

  • July 24, 2025

    Shipowner Settles Longshoreman's Personal Injury Claims

    A Georgia longshoreman and a cargo ship owner have settled a federal lawsuit accusing the company of negligence after a gangway handrail collapse that injured the worker, according to a judge's order dismissing the case.

  • July 29, 2025

    CORRECTED: Nonprofit Attys Get OK To Appear In Yale Defamation Suit

    The Connecticut Appellate Court on July 23 allowed six out-of-state attorneys representing special interest groups to appear in an appeal questioning whether an unapproved amicus brief in a separate case defamed an acquitted ex-Yale student.

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Attys Warn RICO Case Revival Would 'Chill' Lawyering

    The New Jersey State Bar Association told a Garden State appellate court that lawyers across the state will be chilled from zealously advocating for their clients if it revives the state's racketeering indictment against two politically connected attorneys, making it the second attorney advocacy group to file a proposed amicus curiae brief in the case.

  • July 24, 2025

    Akerman Faces $45M Malpractice Suit From Health Biz In Fla.

    Akerman LLP and one of its attorneys have been hit with a $45 million malpractice lawsuit in Florida state court from a former client who develops healthcare facilities and claims the firm botched a commercial lease form.

  • July 24, 2025

    Jay-Z Defends Extortion Claims Against Buzbee, Other Attys

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is urging an Alabama federal court to send toward trial his extortion lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm, a New York City lawyer and her firm, and a client of theirs who accused him of rape and then dropped her case.

  • July 24, 2025

    Ex-Calif. Judge Says 'Trying To Do Too Much' Led To Backlog

    A former California state appellate justice said health problems and a strong work ethic harmed his ability to handle his caseload quickly, leading to delays in hundreds of cases that precipitated ethics charges, telling a watchdog he "can only be faulted for trying to do too much under the circumstances."

  • July 24, 2025

    Butler Snow Attys DQ'd For Fake AI Citations In Prisoner Case

    Three Butler Snow LLP attorneys have been publicly reprimanded and removed from representing the former commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections in an incarcerated man's federal civil rights case, after a judge found they had filed motions including "hallucinations" generated by ChatGPT.

  • July 24, 2025

    Bets On Atty's Lien Biz Lost Millions, Investor Tells Jury

    A seasoned investor told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he heavily backed a tax-lien fund controlled by a lawyer now accused of fraud, ultimately losing $2.9 million in supposedly low-risk bets where such losses were "not supposed to be possible."

  • July 24, 2025

    Buzbee Gets Ex-Client's Fraud Claims Moved To Arbitration

    A Louisiana federal court has granted Houston personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee's request for arbitration in a lawsuit by an injured seaman who claims the Texas lawyer and his firm bilked him out of settlement funds in a Jones Act lawsuit.

  • July 24, 2025

    Chamberlain Hrdlicka Wins Bid To Arbitrate Malpractice Claim

    Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Autry PC won a Texas state appellate decision Thursday forcing a former client to arbitrate his claims that the firm's alleged malpractice over a business restructuring ultimately cost him millions in a divorce.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Fed. Judge Pulls Opinion Flagged With Nonexistent Quotes

    A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday withdrew his decision declining to dismiss a securities class action against CorMedix Inc. after an attorney for the biopharmaceutical firm pointed out the opinion contained "a series of errors," including nonexistent quotes and misstated decisions.

  • July 23, 2025

    Hinshaw Must Face Malpractice Suit, Fla. Panel Says

    A Florida appeals panel overturned Wednesday a lower court decision favoring Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in a malpractice claim brought by a pilot safety training company, ruling that the company didn't abandon its claims by settling an underlying arbitration.

  • July 23, 2025

    Oakley Penalized For Failing To Preserve Texts In MSG Spat

    A New York federal judge Wednesday declined to dismiss the assault and battery lawsuit launched by former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley against Madison Square Garden and said it will not impose monetary sanctions, related to destroyed text messages, against two law firms representing him.

  • July 23, 2025

    Ex-Cannabis Co. CFO OK'd To Argue Good Faith In SEC Case

    A former executive of cannabis company Acreage Holdings Inc., accused of falsifying the company's financials, will be permitted to argue that he was acting in good faith, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday, finding it was too early to know whether attorney-client privilege would block his defense.

  • July 23, 2025

    ACLU's Brief Rejected In Ex-Yale Student's Defamation Suit 

    The ACLU's Connecticut litigation arm and five other legal advocacy groups cannot file friend-of-the-court briefs in former Yale University student Saifullah Khan's defamation case against 16 others that filed a rejected amici brief in a separate state Supreme Court matter, a state appeals court has ruled.

  • July 23, 2025

    Sen. Collins Opposes Bove For 3rd Circ. Over Bias Concerns

    Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will oppose the confirmation of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has also indicated her likely opposition.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Power Broker Blasts AG's Bid To Revive RICO Case

    Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III on Wednesday urged a New Jersey appeals court to affirm the dismissal of the state's explosive racketeering indictment, arguing the trial court was right to toss the charges because there are no factual allegations in the indictment that amount to a crime.

  • July 23, 2025

    Takeaways From The US Attorney Role Tumult In New Jersey

    The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey was thrown into turmoil Tuesday with a leadership dispute that remained open Wednesday, teeing up a battle between the White House and the Garden State's senators on Capitol Hill.

  • July 23, 2025

    Bird Marella And Bioscience Client Accused Of $87M Fraud

    An investment group that includes a "Toy Story" screenwriter is suing a Culver City, California-headquartered bioscience company and its Bird Marella attorneys in California state court, accusing them of manipulating the valuation of a company whose acquisition they funded, in order to defraud investors of $87 million.

  • July 23, 2025

    Apple Tells 9th Circ. Birthright Ruling Scraps Epic's Injunction

    Apple Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order means that a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order in Epic Games Inc.'s antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies cannot stand.

Expert Analysis

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

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