Legal Ethics

  • March 26, 2026

    Attys In 'Cop City' Suit 'Better Learn' Filing Rules, Judge Says

    A Georgia federal judge castigated attorneys on both sides of a lawsuit by a documentarian who said he was prevented from filming at the controversial Atlanta "Cop City" project, striking their "inconsistent, incomplete and at times incoherent" filings and ordering them into his courtroom to explain themselves.

  • March 26, 2026

    Creek Justices Order New Update On Freedmen Citizenship

    The Muscogee (Creek) Supreme Court has ordered a second status report on how the tribe's citizenship board and principal chief are complying with a decision to give citizenship to descendants of those once enslaved by the Indigenous nation.

  • March 26, 2026

    Maduro Judge Hints US Should Reconsider Legal Fee Refusal

    A Manhattan federal judge suggested Thursday that the Trump administration should revisit its refusal to allow former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to access his country's funds to pay for his defense against narco-terrorism and trafficking charges.

  • March 25, 2026

    Law Firm Ransomware Attacks On Rise, Report Says

    Cyberattacks targeting law firms jumped in 2025, according to a new BakerHostetler report, which also highlighted recent spikes across a wide range of sectors in ransomware payments and class action lawsuits stemming from these incidents. 

  • March 25, 2026

    MyPillow CEO's Attys Face New Sanctions Over Latest Errors

    Two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and his media company are in hot water once again as a Colorado federal judge on Wednesday ordered them to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for citation errors, after she previously sanctioned them for errors produced by generative artificial intelligence.

  • March 25, 2026

    Ex-Pharma GC Freed From Trade Secrets Suit Amid Ch. 7 Stay

    A Texas federal judge agreed to dismiss claims against the ex-general counsel of a Houston-based pharmaceutical services company, who was accused of helping build a competing venture using confidential information and of destroying a hard drive containing evidence he had a duty to preserve during litigation.

  • March 25, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Md. Justices, Gov. Not To Blame For Debt Writs

    A split Fourth Circuit panel has ruled that three military families cannot blame Maryland's supreme court justices or governor after state court clerks recognized allegedly defective out-of-state judgments and issued garnishment writs freezing their bank accounts.

  • March 25, 2026

    Security Co. Wants Out Of Pot Store Raid RICO Suit

    A security company is urging an Illinois federal court to throw out a dispensary's claims that it engaged in racketeering by assisting in an illegal raid by the dispensary's former business partners, saying the complaint fails to allege what it did to further the purported scheme.

  • March 25, 2026

    Warren Grills Fed's Ex-BigLaw Supervision Chief On Conflicts

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Wednesday asked former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP veteran Randall Guynn, a recent addition to the Federal Reserve, to explain how he is dealing with potential conflicts of interest stemming from his previous role chairing the BigLaw firm's financial institutions group.

  • March 25, 2026

    Ex-Partner Seeks 2,000 Client Notices In NC Estate Firm Fight

    After nearly two hours of argument in which counsel for the founding partner of a trusts and estates law firm argued that the firm should have to notice his departure to thousands of clients, a North Carolina Business Court judge seemed a bit perplexed Wednesday as to why the parties didn't resolve the client list spat with a North Carolina State Bar ethics opinion.

  • March 25, 2026

    Conn. Atty Faces Civil Arrest Bid In $10M Trust Account Probe

    A city housing authority and its corporate development arm have asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to order the civil arrest of an attorney accused of funneling nearly $10 million in unauthorized loan proceeds into his lawyer trust account.

  • March 25, 2026

    NJ Panel Grills Judge For Berating Teens, Deportation Threats

    New Jersey's judicial disciplinary body questioned a municipal judge on Wednesday about why he believed it was appropriate to berate children and threaten their families with deportation during truancy hearings.

  • March 25, 2026

    Ramey, EscapeX Ask Justices To Review Sanctions Challenge

    EscapeX IP and its attorney William Ramey III want the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's decision backing $255,000 in fees and sanctions for what a California federal judge found to be a frivolous patent suit against Google.

  • March 25, 2026

    Lawyer's Fear Of 'Thief' Label Delayed Taking Responsibility

    A Chinese-American lawyer's cultural aversion to being branded a "thief" resulted in him waiting years to fully acknowledge wrongdoing after he paid himself $1.2 million in disputed fees from a major case, his attorney told a Pennsylvania disciplinary hearing board on Wednesday.

  • March 25, 2026

    Mass. High Court Clarifies Anti-SLAPP Standard, Atty Fees

    The top appellate court in Massachusetts on Wednesday in separate opinions clarified the standard under which suits can be dismissed under the state's anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation or anti-SLAPP laws and reversed a lower court's decision to cut an attorney fee award in an anti-SLAPP case.

  • March 25, 2026

    Del. Chancellor Pauses Tesla Suit As Musk Cites LinkedIn Post

    The Delaware Chancery Court has paused a high-profile Tesla stockholder case following a recusal bid from Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. after a judge's LinkedIn account appeared to react to a post celebrating a recent California jury verdict against Musk, including language praising efforts to stand up to "the richest man in the world."

  • March 24, 2026

    Ex-Calif. Judge Censured After Guilty Plea For Mail Fraud

    A former California state judge has been censured after agreeing to resign and plead guilty to a felony fraud charge related to an incident that happened before he was on the bench, according to an order released Tuesday.

  • March 24, 2026

    Charlie Javice Can't Get Retrial Based On Clerk Conflicts

    A New York federal judge Tuesday shot down a retrial bid from Charlie Javice, who was convicted of conning JPMorgan Chase & Co. into buying her financial aid startup Frank, rejecting her argument that there was a conflict of interest because clerks who worked on the trial accepted jobs with the bank's firm.

  • March 24, 2026

    Fla. Judge Faces Discipline For Remark About Shooting Attys

    A Florida state judge is facing a public reprimand after admitting to becoming frustrated with attorneys in an estate dispute and saying that he "would like to tell the deputy to pull his gun and shoot all three of you," according to records filed Tuesday in the state's high court.

  • March 24, 2026

    Fla. Judge Keeps Mexico Timeshare Feud In Federal Court

    A Florida federal judge declined on Monday to remand a Michigan couple's lawsuit against a Mexican resort company in a bitter feud over alleged fraud stemming from a deal to resell vacation bookings, rejecting arguments that an underlying pact containing an arbitration agreement arose out of criminal proceedings.

  • March 24, 2026

    7th Circ. Upholds Conviction Despite Hidden Evidence

    The Seventh Circuit ruled on Tuesday that it is unable to reverse a denied federal habeas petition because a state appeals court did not act contrary to federal law in affirming a defendant's conviction despite state prosecutors not disclosing key witness interviews.

  • March 24, 2026

    NY Court Voids Gun Plea Over Ignored Ask For New Lawyer

    A man sentenced to up to three years in prison for weapons possession had his conviction reversed Tuesday when a New York state appeals panel decided he should have been given the chance to explain why he wanted a new lawyer.

  • March 24, 2026

    Goldstein Seeks New Trial, Citing 'A Series Of Legal Errors'

    SCOTUSblog founder and appellate icon Thomas Goldstein has filed a lengthy motion for a new trial or acquittal after his conviction on a dozen criminal charges related to tax evasion, alleging his trial was marred by improper jury instructions, improper exclusion of evidence and inadequate evidence, among other things.

  • March 24, 2026

    Clark Hill Says No Conflict Exists In Health Noncompete Fight

    Clark Hill PLC urged a New Jersey federal court to deny a disqualification bid from a health consulting company in litigation against one of its former employees, arguing that there is no conflict under the Rules of Professional Conduct.

  • March 24, 2026

    Regulator Bars Connecticut Atty From Investment Advising

    A Connecticut attorney has agreed to stop acting as an investment adviser agent after the state's banking and securities regulator alleged that he hired a convicted Ponzi schemer as a paralegal and failed to maintain accurate books, records and disclosures.

Expert Analysis

  • Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

    Author Photo

    Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

    Author Photo

    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

    Author Photo

    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

    Author Photo

    Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

    Author Photo

    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

    Author Photo

    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

    Author Photo

    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What Law Firm Liability Risks In 2025 Signal For Year To Come

    Author Photo

    Trends and statistics reveal that law firms of all sizes and practice areas remained attractive litigation targets this year, so firms must take concrete steps to avoid professional liability risks in the year to come, say Douglas Richmond and Andrew Ricke at Lockton Companies.

  • AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

    Author Photo

    Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

    Author Photo

    Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

  • Opinion

    Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

    Author Photo

    Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

  • 10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

    Author Photo

    Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.

  • Series

    Preaching Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Becoming a Gospel preacher has enhanced my success as a trial lawyer by teaching me the importance of credibility, relatability, persuasiveness and thorough preparation for my congregants, the same skills needed with judges and juries in the courtroom, says Reginald Harris at Stinson.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Legal Ethics archive.