Legal Ethics

  • October 02, 2024

    Kirkland Accuses Ex-IP Atty Of Delaying Bias Suit Discovery

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP told a California federal magistrate judge Wednesday that a former Kirkland intellectual property associate has delayed discovery production in her discrimination lawsuit against the firm, arguing that her discovery responses cite an erroneous legal standard, are non-committal and are "not even close to being proper."

  • October 02, 2024

    Atty 'Malfeasance' Upends NY Manslaughter Conviction

    A New York state judge reversed a manslaughter conviction against a man who says he mistakenly killed his friend, ordering a retrial after it was revealed his then-attorney concealed information he obtained about the trial judge's concerns with the defense's case.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ex-Federal Judge's Sex Misconduct Spurs New Criminal Trial

    The sexual misconduct scandal that toppled a federal judge in Alaska has now caused a criminal conviction to be overturned, despite prosecutors' insistence that the judge's "out-of-court judicial misconduct" had no effect on the trial.

  • October 02, 2024

    Convicted Judge Owes Feds Retirement Funds, 7th Circ. Says

    A former Illinois judge convicted of running a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme must cough up assets from her retirement accounts to cover her restitution obligations, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, agreeing with a Chicago district court that the government can access her retirement savings to satisfy that debt.

  • October 02, 2024

    Houston Firm Says DQ Bid Is Attempt To Duck MDL Penalties

    Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing PLLC hit back Wednesday at Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify it from Hurricane Zeta litigation, saying Arnold & Itkin's claim that a former law clerk took information for the defense team is an "illegitimate attempt" to "avoid legitimate merits discovery that goes to the heart of the case."

  • October 02, 2024

    Gordon Rees Atty Asks Judge To Rethink Malpractice Ruling

    A Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent ruling denying the dismissal of legal malpractice claims brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer, saying the assignment and subrogation of professional liability claims is improper.

  • October 02, 2024

    Defense Atty Escapes DQ In $3M Transaction Row, For Now

    An attorney representing a businessman facing a $3 million fraud suit over a botched business transaction will not be forced to step away from the case, a South Dakota federal judge determined Wednesday, denying a motion seeking to disqualify the lawyer because he worked on the deal at issue in the suit.

  • October 02, 2024

    State Farm's Sanctions Bid Nixed In Driver Tech Patent Tangle

    Noting that both parties had unclean hands, a Texas federal judge denied State Farm's request for sanctions in consolidated patent infringement cases brought by an inventor who patented driver monitoring technology that he claims the insurer and automakers Mercedes-Benz and Honda used without permission.

  • October 02, 2024

    Game Artist's Discovery Violations Doom Gen Con Suit

    A Washington state appeals court has refused to revive a role-playing game illustrator's defamation suit against the gaming convention Gen Con, concluding he deliberately violated discovery rules and court orders by failing to respond to defense attorneys' information requests.

  • October 02, 2024

    Madigan Can't Duck Bribery Claims After High Court Ruling

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss bribery charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, while also refusing to sever his case from his co-defendant's.

  • October 02, 2024

    FisherBroyles Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Stem Cell Case

    A Southern California stem cell treatment center hit FisherBroyles LLP with a $10 million malpractice suit in state court over the law firm's work defending it in a patent infringement case that settled, claiming the defense was so incompetently handled that it had to hire WilmerHale as the case approached trial.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ex-NJ Judge Wants Rethink Of Discovery Delay Bid Rebuff

    A former New Jersey workers' compensation judge challenging her removal from the bench has asked a judge for more time to make her case, arguing that the matter is plagued by voluminous written discovery that leaves little time for depositions.

  • October 02, 2024

    Trump 'Resorted To Crimes' To Cling To Power, Feds Say

    Donald Trump's alleged scheme to subvert the 2020 election results was "fundamentally a private one," special counsel Jack Smith told a D.C. federal judge in a newly unsealed brief that vies to prove that the former president is not immune from charges of election interference.

  • October 02, 2024

    Texas High Court Skeptical Of Atty Solicitation Law Overreach

    The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical that an anti-solicitation statute should apply to lawyers licensed in the state who used "case runners" to attract personal injury clients who live out of state for lawsuits filed and decided beyond the borders of the Lone Star State.

  • October 02, 2024

    Wells Fargo Says Atty Can't Blame It For Getting Scammed

    Wells Fargo has asked a Colorado state judge to dismiss claims brought by an attorney and conservative political figure alleging the bank failed to cancel his wire transfer from a client's account to what ended up being a scammer's Hong Kong account.

  • October 02, 2024

    Quinn Emanuel Can't Ignore Past Oro Negro Ties, Oil Co. Says

    Oro Negro Drilling Pte. Ltd. said former counsel Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP must produce confidential information in a discovery bid to disqualify its attorneys in Mexican proceedings.

  • October 02, 2024

    Fla. Atty Disbarred For Abandoning Pharma Biz Before USPTO

    The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday disbarred an attorney for taking on intellectual property work for a pharmaceutical company only to later cease communications and keep the business in the dark about maintenance fees, causing its patents to expire.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ahmuty Demers Booted Off NJ Fatal Crash Case Over Conflict

    A New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Wednesday that Ahmuty Demers & McManus is not allowed to represent both a paving company and one of its employees at the same time in a case in which the employee allegedly caused a fatal car crash.

  • October 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Murdaugh Can't Appeal Fraud Sentence

    Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murder, was denied an appeal of a separate 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients by a Fourth Circuit panel that said he'd waived his right to appeal.

  • October 02, 2024

    Morgan & Morgan Says Ex-Client 'Flat Wrong' Over Arbitration

    Morgan & Morgan PA and one of its attorneys told a Georgia federal court on Tuesday that an ex-client is "flat wrong" in arguing that his legal malpractice proposed class action should stay out of arbitration, saying that Georgia's case law clearly allows arbitration clauses between attorneys and clients.

  • October 02, 2024

    Auto Biz Must Hand Emails Over To EEOC In Harassment Case

    A Michigan federal magistrate judge has ordered an automotive services company to turn over certain emails sought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a sexual harassment suit, saying only portions can be redacted due to attorney-client privilege.

  • October 02, 2024

    Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nominee Fights

    With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    Tenn. Atty Sues Federal Court, Judges Over Gag Order Rule

    A rule of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee barring attorneys from making "any extrajudicial statements" about cases pending in the district violates the First Amendment and should be blocked, according to a Nashville civil rights lawyer.

  • October 02, 2024

    Bullying In Law Is Pervasive, Drives Turnover, Ill. Attys Say

    Nearly a quarter of those who responded to a recent large-scale survey of Illinois lawyers said they had been bullied at work within the last year, with those numbers spiking among women and other traditionally underrepresented attorneys in the profession, a report released Tuesday found.

  • October 02, 2024

    Baker Donelson Must Face Mississippi Ponzi Scheme Suit

    A Mississippi federal judge has denied Baker Donelson's effort to escape civil conspiracy claims alleging the firm allowed a timber company's $164.5 million Ponzi scheme to unfold, with the judge stating he was "not persuaded" by the firm's argument, as it was based on the Eleventh Circuit's interpretation of Florida law.

Expert Analysis

  • What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance

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    Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories

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    The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials

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    As illustrated by the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, defense attorneys in securities trials might consider arguing that counsel had some involvement in the conduct at issue — if the more formal advice-of-counsel defense is unavailable and circumstances allow for a privilege waiver, say Joseph Dever and Matthew Elkin at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's Recent FARA Advisory Opinions

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    The U.S. Department of Justice recently published several redacted advisory opinions on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, clarifying its current thinking on when a person or entity is required to register as a foreign agent under the statute, and when they may qualify for an exemption, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley Rein.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS

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    After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

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