Legal Ethics

  • June 04, 2025

    High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist

    A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.

  • June 04, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Pushes Back As Ramey Fights Fee Award To Google

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned Ramey LLP managing partner William Ramey's challenge to one of several sanctions that have recently been imposed on his firm in patent cases, with some judges suggesting that the order in question in a case against Google LLC appeared warranted.

  • June 04, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: TikTok Tussle And Merger Melee

    Spring has sprung momentous decisions and quiet resolutions in some of the North Carolina Business Court's top cases, from clearing for trial the attorney general's suit over a hospital's post-merger standard of care to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP dropping its coverage dispute over a 2022 data breach.

  • June 04, 2025

    FIFA Slams Atty's Bid To 'Circumvent' DQ In Puerto Rico Case

    A Puerto Rican attorney may not sidestep a disqualification order by dropping his personal claims from an antitrust case against FIFA in which he is both counsel and plaintiff, the organization told a federal judge Wednesday, arguing the lawyer is a "necessary fact witness" and therefore a conflict is unavoidable.

  • June 04, 2025

    Ill. Atty Faces 1 Year Suspension, Left Watchdog 'Baffled'

    An Illinois attorney who was sanctioned $1 million alongside his client for frivolously litigating a condominium governance fight and later helped that client engage in knowingly improper bankruptcy conduct should be suspended for a year and complete a professionalism seminar, a state disciplinary watchdog says.

  • June 04, 2025

    FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries

    The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.

  • June 04, 2025

    Last Defendant In 'Shell Factory' Scheme Gets 1½ Yrs

    A Florida federal judge Wednesday sentenced the final defendant rounded up in the "Shell Factory Fraud" to 18 months in prison for his role in creating fake shell companies as part of a pump-and-dump scheme.

  • June 04, 2025

    Pa. Firm Defends Informal Biz Arrangement In Coverage Bid

    A Philadelphia law firm and its insurer sparred Wednesday in Pennsylvania court over whether the firm needed to be an incorporated business entity to have standing for a coverage lawsuit, with the firm's attorney saying that the insurer never questioned the informal business arrangement that consisted of two seasoned lawyers sharing office space and a secretary.

  • June 04, 2025

    Ex-Ga. Strip Club Workers Slam Bid To DQ Attys In Wage Suit

    Lawyers for a pair of former Atlanta strip club workers called on a federal judge Wednesday to reject an "extremely untimely" bid to disqualify them by the clubs' owners, arguing the owners don't bother to substantiate their claims that the plaintiffs can't be represented by the same counsel because one was the other's supervisor.

  • June 04, 2025

    SEC Says Accountant Errors Don't Doom Crowdfunding Case

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Michigan federal judge Wednesday that mistakes in one of its accountant's declarations do not warrant the dismissal of its first crowdfunding enforcement action, arguing the SEC's lawyers acted in good faith when they alerted the court to the errors.

  • June 04, 2025

    NJ Judge Suspended Over Pro-Police 'Likes' On Facebook

    A New Jersey municipal court judge was hit with a two-month suspension without pay beginning Wednesday after an advisory committee took issue with his Facebook activity indicating support for pro-police movements, political candidates, individual lawyers and law firms.

  • June 04, 2025

    Judge Won't Block Amazon From Talking To Depo Witnesses

    A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Federal Trade Commission's bid, in its antitrust case against Amazon, seeking to block lawyers representing the e-commerce giant from conferring with witnesses during breaks in their depositions.

  • June 04, 2025

    NJ Mayor Expands False Arrest Suit Against US Atty

    Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday added a false light count to his defamation and malicious prosecution complaint against interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba over his May 9 arrest outside an immigration detention center.

  • June 04, 2025

    Conn. Attorney Failed To Split $165K Fee, Watchdog Says

    Connecticut attorney J. Xavier Pryor breached four rules of professional conduct when he failed to split a $165,000 fee from a personal injury settlement with the lawyer who referred the case to him, the state's attorney ethics watchdog said in a disciplinary complaint.

  • June 04, 2025

    MoFo Can't Escape Perkins Coie's 'Taint' In IP Suit, Court Told

    Biometric security company FaceTec told a California federal judge that Morrison & Foerster LLP should be barred from representing identity verification platform Jumio in a patent suit, arguing that its participation is "tainted" by the actions of disqualified co-counsel Perkins Coie LLP.

  • June 04, 2025

    Orlando Says $1 Typo Cost It Win In Workers' Unpaid OT Suit

    A $1 typo should not doom Orlando's bid for a pretrial win in a suit by district fire chiefs alleging they were wrongly denied overtime, the city told a Florida federal court, arguing the workers' salaries actually do fall under the overtime exemption.

  • June 03, 2025

    Ga. Judge Can't Escape Ethics Charges, Panel Told

    Georgia's Judicial Qualifications Commission urged a hearing panel to reject a Fulton County judge's request to quash her ethics charges due to what she characterized as "improper failures to disclose information and recuse" by two JQC members.

  • June 03, 2025

    Foes Urge Court To Assume Google Hid Evidence

    Advertisers, publishers and other users of Google's online advertising placement technology come armed with receipts of the search giant's personnel apparently knowingly avoiding their discovery obligations, as the multidistrict litigation plaintiffs tee up a bid to sanction the company with a court presumption that deleted chats hide key evidence of monopolization.

  • June 03, 2025

    Valve Patent Troll Case Paused Over Legal Fee Dispute

    A Washington federal judge paused video game company Valve Corp.'s lawsuit over alleged patent trolling on Tuesday to give the defendants time to find new legal counsel, as their current attorneys seek to exit the dispute, claiming unpaid legal bills.

  • June 03, 2025

    Consumers Defend Amending Apple, Amazon Antitrust Case

    Consumers accusing Apple and Amazon of reaching a deal to restrict the sale of Apple devices on the e-commerce site told a Washington federal court there's no need to reconsider letting them amend the complaint despite the original lead plaintiff dropping out of the case.

  • June 03, 2025

    Judge Blocks Foreign Enforcement In $102M Award Fight

    A New York federal judge has ordered the former owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings Inc. to drop proceedings they initiated in Greece and the United Kingdom to enforce a $102 million arbitral award while he determines whether the award is fraudulent.

  • June 03, 2025

    Conn. Real Estate Execs Say Investors Weaponized Courts

    Three executives for a real estate development firm have accused their former business partners in Connecticut Superior Court of weaponizing the courts to lodge "a multi-year, multi-forum legal assault" with "fabricated" claims.

  • June 03, 2025

    State Farm, Inventor Agree To End Driver Tech Patent Feud

    An inventor of driver monitoring technology has agreed to end a Texas federal suit accusing State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. of using aspects of his technology without his authorization.

  • June 03, 2025

    License Lapse Gets Atty Suing NFL's Cardinals Suspended

    The attorney representing former Arizona Cardinals Vice President Terry McDonough in his defamation suit against the NFL team and its owner has been suspended for one year from practicing in Arizona for continuing to represent McDonough while his state bar dues remained unpaid.

  • June 03, 2025

    Groups Ask California Bar To Discipline Google's Kent Walker

    Four organizations are citing new court developments involving Google Inc. Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker's alleged mishandling of evidence in again asking the State Bar of California to discipline him.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

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