Legal Ethics

  • December 11, 2025

    Feds Reportedly Fail To Reindict NY AG Letitia James, Again

    New York Attorney General Letitia James' attorney Thursday celebrated reports that another Virginia federal grand jury declined to reindict her on charges of mortgage fraud, the second jury in a week to reject a case President Donald Trump had pushed prosecutors to pursue against a political opponent he's called "guilty as hell."

  • December 11, 2025

    Judge Probes Alleged Fake Docs In Miss America Dispute

    A Florida federal judge said Thursday that he wants to get to the bottom of the authenticity of operating agreements for two companies associated with the Miss America pageant filed in court in a $500 million dispute over the ownership of the competition.

  • December 11, 2025

    Visa Defeats Payments Co.'s 'Muddled' Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge Thursday dismissed a payment solutions company's lawsuit accusing Visa Inc. of monopolizing the card payment processing services market, criticizing the company's latest complaint as being "harder to follow" than one previously tossed and still failing to allege any antitrust injury.

  • December 11, 2025

    Co. Seeks Clawback From Boeing After Doc-Sharing Accident

    A company accusing Boeing of technology theft in space projects told a Washington federal court it should be allowed to claw back hundreds of privileged documents after inadvertently sharing them, adding that Boeing didn't confer with it in good faith.

  • December 11, 2025

    SEC Must Provide Names To Compliance Chief In Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to comply with a chief compliance officer's request for the names of agency staffers familiar with his whistleblower claims as he defends allegations that he played a role in a purportedly fraudulent stock offering by a "sham" energy company.

  • December 11, 2025

    Navajo President Reinstates Controller Amid Legal Dispute

    Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has agreed to formally recognize that Sean McCabe is the tribe's controller, ending a dispute over the first-in-command's efforts to terminate his employment.

  • December 11, 2025

    10th Circ. Reveals Judge Contacted Ex-Atty In 'Tiger King' Case

    A Tenth Circuit panel considering a copyright infringement claim against Netflix over a video clip in its popular "Tiger King" docuseries has requested the parties' input on whether a judge on the panel should recuse himself after inadvertently contacting a former attorney of the plaintiff last month on an unrelated legal matter.

  • December 11, 2025

    Former Colo. DA Suspended For Professional Misconduct

    A former Colorado district attorney has been suspended from practicing law for six months by a disciplinary judge after failing to adequately prosecute one case, improperly involving himself in another and calling his prior office a "pile of steaming diarrhea and hatred."

  • December 11, 2025

    NJ Sens. Urge Cooperation On Next NJ US Attorney Nom

    The New Jersey senators are looking to collaborate with the White House to find a new nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey after the president's initial pick failed.

  • December 11, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Toss Drug Plea Over Judge's Involvement

    The Third Circuit on Thursday refused to vacate a plea agreement in a drug case, finding that while a Pennsylvania federal judge violated judicial rules by imposing a longer sentence than prosecutors wanted, the defendant was unable to prove that the interference substantially violated his rights.

  • December 11, 2025

    Mass. Lawyer Accused Of Misusing Pot Shop Investor Funds

    A Massachusetts lawyer took a 50.1% stake in a cannabis startup in exchange for what he said was a discount on fees for legal work he would perform, then botched the license application and misused investor funds, a lawsuit filed in state court alleges.

  • December 11, 2025

    Atlanta Nonprofit Says Law Firm's Lies Blocked Housing Deal

    An affordable housing nonprofit in Atlanta has accused a Georgia law firm, attorney and their client in state court of lying and improperly blocking its attempt to sell townhomes it had developed, arguing that the defendants defied a court order in an underlying real estate dispute.

  • December 11, 2025

    Connell Foley Beats DQ Bid In NJ Investment Bias Case

    A federal judge on Thursday threw out a renewed bid by an investment firm suing the state of New Jersey to disqualify the state's counsel at Connell Foley LLP, finding there was no previous attorney-client relationship to justify disqualification.

  • December 11, 2025

    White House Pushes Halligan's Confirmation Despite Hurdles

    The White House is forging ahead with its bid to win confirmation of the president's controversial pick for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after a federal judge ruled she was serving illegally on an interim basis.

  • December 11, 2025

    Agri Stats Says DOJ Wants To 'Leapfrog' Pork Pricing Claims

    Agri Stats urged a Minnesota federal court to reject the Justice Department's bid to "leapfrog" a set of private antitrust cases involving pork prices by using a scheduled May trial for its information sharing claims against the data firm instead.

  • December 11, 2025

    Ga. Justices Leave $500K Atty Fee Lien In Place

    The Georgia Supreme Court decided it won't review a lower appellate court's ruling that upheld a nearly $500,000 lien awarded to a team of Atlanta personal injury lawyers who said they were bilked by a former client.

  • December 11, 2025

    DC Firm Faces Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

    A Washington, D.C., law firm failed to notify clients of a data breach that compromised their personal information for six months, a proposed class action alleged in federal court on Wednesday.

  • December 11, 2025

    March Trial Date Set For Former NJ Judge's Pension Fight

    A trial date has been set in a former New Jersey Superior Court judge's challenge to the denial of her disability pension application, according to a Wednesday text order.

  • December 10, 2025

    VLSI, PQA Square Off Again Over Conspiracy Claims In Va.

    A Virginia state judge spent two hours Wednesday working through whether VLSI Technology LLC should be able to proceed with its claims that Patent Quality Assurance LLC violated state law during its successful challenge to a VLSI chip patent.

  • December 10, 2025

    Too Zealous? EscapeX Challenges Sanctions In Google Case

    EscapeX IP is asking the Federal Circuit to review en banc a decision upholding $255,000 in fees and sanctions for what a California federal judge found to be a frivolous patent suit against Google, arguing the decision contradicts precedent and raises questions for the whole legal profession.

  • December 10, 2025

    Boardwalk Pipeline Case Sees Partial Reversal

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday partially revived long-running challenges to Loews Corp.'s 2018, $1.5 billion cash-out of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, ruling that the Chancery Court misread the high court's 2022 guidance and prematurely shut down minority unitholder claims attacking the legal opinion that triggered the buyout.

  • December 10, 2025

    Disciplined Attys Want High Court's Take On Judge Criticism

    A father-daughter team of attorneys have brought a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging their suspensions for criticizing a Florida state judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of their client in a racial discrimination lawsuit, saying their comments are protected by the First Amendment. 

  • December 10, 2025

    Wells Fargo Says It Didn't Know Ex-Atty Stole From Clients

    Wells Fargo is seeking to shed claims in Texas federal court alleging it turned a blind eye to a convicted former attorney's misuse of client funds held in accounts at the bank, arguing that the victims of the lawyer's fraud failed to show it knew of the misconduct.

  • December 10, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Undo Atty Docs Disclosure In Peru Case

    Florida attorneys representing more than 1,000 Peruvian lead refinery workers in a toxic exposure action urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to overturn an order requiring the disclosure of documents related to former cocounsel in a foreign criminal proceeding, saying the files are protected by attorney-client privilege. 

  • December 10, 2025

    Retired Calif. Judge Censured For Case Delays

    A now-retired California state appeals court judge was publicly censured Wednesday, and he has agreed to "not serve in a judicial capacity in the future" as part of a stipulation he entered with the state's judicial ethics watchdog, following its investigation into whether the judge mismanaged cases and caused a yearlong backlog.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

    Author Photo

    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

    Author Photo

    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • DOJ Faces Potential Discovery Pitfalls In Comey Prosecution

    Author Photo

    The unusual circumstances surrounding the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey increase the odds of a discovery misstep for the U.S. Department of Justice, offering important reminders for defense counsel on how to ensure the government fulfills its obligations, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

    Author Photo

    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

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.