Legal Ethics

  • December 09, 2025

    Hagens Berman's Novel DOJ Referral May Have Chilling Effect

    A Pennsylvania federal judge's unusual decision to refer prominent plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman LLP to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible criminal investigation over its pursuit of claims related to morning sickness drug thalidomide could have a chilling effect on lawyers' advocacy, law professors and attorneys said.

  • December 09, 2025

    Trustee Says Winston & Strawn Is Liable For $1.7B Fintech Bust

    The trustee of the bankrupt self-styled "anti-woke" financial technology startup GloriFi said Winston & Strawn LLP shouldn't be allowed to escape a malpractice lawsuit over the company's $1.7 billion failure, saying the firm was a knowing participant in the allegedly unlawful activities of its then-CEO.

  • December 09, 2025

    Ga. Justices Hint Willis' Testimony Will Moot Subpoena Fight

    The Georgia Supreme Court signaled Tuesday that it'll avoid deciding how far a state legislative committee can take its subpoena power against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis until it sees if she follows through on an agreement to testify before the committee later this month.

  • December 09, 2025

    Combs' Defamation Suit Unlikely To Be Tossed, Judge Says

    Sean "Diddy" Combs' $50 million defamation suit accusing a grand jury witness, a lawyer and Nexstar Media Inc. of spreading falsities is likely to survive the defendants' motion to dismiss, at least in part, a Manhattan federal judge said Tuesday.

  • December 09, 2025

    Judge Rejects Recusal Bid In UC Law SF Bias Suit

    A California federal judge rejected a request to recuse himself from a disability discrimination suit against the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, over his ties to the school, saying on Sunday that the former student's motion would still be legally insufficient even if it were timely.

  • December 09, 2025

    Florida Atty Says Sanctions For Fake Citations Go Too Far

    An attorney said a Florida federal judge went too far with her sanctions over fake citations following the possible use of artificial intelligence in his motion for a temporary restraining order, and asked her to reconsider the level of punishment.

  • December 09, 2025

    Democrats Push For $1.76B To Fix Defender Budget Shortfall

    Almost 50 Democratic lawmakers are urging congressional appropriators to fix the long-standing budget shortfall for federal defenders in the upcoming full-year budget.

  • December 08, 2025

    Ex-Archetype Capital Exec Hit With Trade Secret Injunction

    A Nevada federal court on Friday temporarily blocked the former executive of a litigation finance business from using its trade secrets, finding the evidence indicates that his new law firm employer leveraged its proprietary mass tort review system. 

  • December 08, 2025

    Ex-Josh Cellars President Fights Gibson Dunn Withdrawal Bid

    The former president of the company behind the Josh Cellars wine brand disputed Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's version of events around his allegedly unpaid legal bills, saying he has questions about the reasonableness of the firm's charges, which must be arbitrated per his contract with the firm.

  • December 08, 2025

    Habba Resigns As Acting US Atty After DQ Ruling At 3rd Circ.

    Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling that a trio of officials will take on her responsibilities.

  • December 08, 2025

    Carlton Fields Steps Aside In 'Irreconcilable' Miss America Case

    A Florida federal judge allowed Carlton Fields and its attorneys on Monday to withdraw from representing the plaintiffs in a dispute over the ownership of the Miss America pageant, after the firm said "irreconcilable differences" drew it to ask to step down.

  • December 08, 2025

    Litigation Funder Says Attys Hid Deal To Evade $1.5M Payout

    A Florida-based litigation funder has sued two California attorneys and a law firm, alleging they secretly settled a client's civil dispute and steered the money so they wouldn't have to repay over $1.5 million.

  • December 08, 2025

    Atty Tied To High-Profile Conn. Murder Case Gets Suspended

    A Connecticut attorney was suspended from practicing law for one year on Monday after formally pleading guilty to interfering with an officer investigating the high-profile disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Farber Dulos, even though the lawyer maintained his innocence over the alleged conduct.

  • December 08, 2025

    Senators Kelly, Slotkin Set Up Legal Defense Funds

    After appearing in a video encouraging members of the military and intelligence community to not follow illegal orders, Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have established legal defense funds.

  • December 08, 2025

    Ga. Judge Rejects Judicial Bias Claims In Katt Williams Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has declined to reconsider his ruling tossing a suit by four women against comedian Katt Williams, rejecting claims that judicial bias infected the ruling and defending his decision to refer their attorney to the state bar for filing a brief with numerous fake case citations generated by artificial intelligence.

  • December 08, 2025

    Paralegal Seeks Contempt Order Over Firm's Emails For OT

    A Texas law firm should face sanctions after it flouted a court's order to turn over emails that could determine how much overtime a former paralegal worked, the former employee told a federal court, saying the firm provided "unusable garbage."

  • December 08, 2025

    $32M Malpractice Suit Was Filed Too Late, Judge Says

    A federal magistrate judge recommended tossing a lawsuit accusing Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP and one of its partners of aiding a scheme to divert tens of millions of dollars from the Orly Genger 1993 Trust, finding on Friday that every claim lodged by the trust's assignee is barred by the statute of limitations.

  • December 05, 2025

    Character.AI Exec Can't Exit Teen's Suicide Suit, Mom Argues

    The co-founder of Character.AI should not be allowed to escape a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the platform and its creators of building a large language model that encouraged a 14-year-old boy to kill himself, the teen's mother argued in Florida federal court, saying the founder essentially controlled the company, so much so that it was his alter ego.

  • December 05, 2025

    Calif. Court Reverses Arbitration Denial In Injury Firm Dispute

    A California state appeals court has reversed a lower court's decision denying an injury firm co-founding partner's petition to compel arbitration in a dispute with his former law partner over referral and attorney fees, finding that an arbitration clause may be enforceable.

  • December 05, 2025

    Ex-Derailment Deal Admin Faces Irked Judge In Contempt Bid

    The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment met skepticism as it admitted to a federal judge Friday that it had made some mistakes in distributing funds, but denied class counsel's key contention that $120 million for personal injury claims had to be divided evenly among all the claimants.

  • December 05, 2025

    Conn. Court Grants New Hearing In Double Homicide

    A Connecticut man convicted of murdering and robbing two women in 2007 to support a drug habit should have been afforded a hearing concerning his motion to dismiss his attorney before his habeas petition was denied, the state's appellate court announced Friday.

  • December 05, 2025

    Cannabis Co. Says Rival Used AI-Fabricated Suit To Ruin Biz

    Medical marijuana company Leafwell Inc. said Friday that competitor My Florida Green used artificial intelligence to fabricate legal claims and draft a factually and legally deficient complaint as part of a scheme to extort Leafwell and ruin its business, according to a suit filed in Florida federal court.

  • December 05, 2025

    Immigration Lawyers Battle Burnout Amid Deportation Surge

    As the Trump administration carries out a mass deportation campaign across the country, immigration attorneys faced with heavy demand and changing norms are feeling the impact of burnout and stress on their practices and emotions, they told Law360.

  • December 05, 2025

    Judge Won't Exit Agri Stats DOJ Case Over Clerk Connection

    A Minnesota federal judge refused to recuse himself from a case accusing Agri Stats of helping meat processors exchange sensitive information based on a clerk's past work on related cases, after refusing a similar request in a case over pork prices.

  • December 05, 2025

    Utah Atty Avoids Monetary Sanction For 'Hallucinated' Cases

    A Utah federal judge handling a trademark infringement matter has sanctioned an attorney for filing court documents with "hallucinated" cases, but instead of issuing a fine, the lawyer was ordered to read all the cases and authorities cited in the opinion and file a summary statement within 30 days.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Arbitrator's Conviction Upheld

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    The Supreme Court of Spain recently upheld the criminal conviction of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa for grave disobedience to judicial authority, rejecting the proposition that an arbitrator's independence can prevail over a court order retroactively disabling the very judicial act conferring arbitral jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Reel Justice: 'One Battle After Another' And The Limits Of Zeal

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    The political thriller “One Battle After Another,” following a former revolutionary who became a recluse, offers a potent metaphor for attorneys on diligence and the ethical boundaries of zealous advocacy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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