Legal Ethics

  • June 16, 2025

    Telecoms Shareholder Gets Sanctions Lifted In Control Fight

    A New York federal judge has vacated his order sanctioning an investor in telecommunications infrastructure firm Continental Towers LATAM Holdings Ltd. for ignoring arbitral awards issued in a bitter, yearslong dispute over control of the company, saying the man wasn't properly served.

  • June 16, 2025

    Canadian Atty Must Pay SEC $323K Over Stock Promotion

    A Canadian securities attorney will pay over $323,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he drafted and executed sham consulting agreements at the heart of a scheme to conceal pay-for-play promotion of two so-called Regulation A offerings.

  • June 16, 2025

    TM Registration Co. Sanctioned Over Attorney Signatures

    A Mumbai-based business that offers trademark registration services was blocked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from submitting any more trademark documents, after an investigation found it forged counsel signatures.

  • June 16, 2025

    Colo. Justices Allow Malicious Prosecution Case To Proceed

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that a plaintiff may still have probable cause in a malicious prosecution case even if they were unable to win in the original case at summary judgment.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fla. Justices To Weigh 'Blindfolded' Jury Selection Procedure

    The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a so-called blindfolded jury selection method was fair to a man serving a life sentence for a murder conviction.

  • June 16, 2025

    Winery Can't Overcome Ex-Atty's 'Negligence' In Noise Suit

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court held in a precedential ruling that the negligence of a winery's former counsel in failing to communicate with the winery during litigation over operating in a neighborhood isn't a good enough reason to reverse an order shutting it down.

  • June 16, 2025

    Convict's Outbursts Didn't Warrant DQ, Conn. Justices Rule

    A Connecticut trial court judge acted within his power to consider and then add three criminal contempt sentences to a murder convict's prison term after the defendant hurled a series of racial and profane attacks at the court when a habeas corpus hearing concluded, the state's highest court ruled Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ga. Judge Won't Revive Attorney's Lien On Former Client

    The former attorney of a onetime Georgia county auditor cannot recover attorney fees from her earlier representation of the auditor in a whistleblower suit, a federal judge has ruled, finding she failed to prove she was prevented from fully and fairly litigating her case.

  • June 16, 2025

    NJ Atty Disciplined For Private Law Work On GC Role Time

    A former general counsel for a New Jersey public agency previously fined for ethics breaches has now been censured, with the state Supreme Court issuing the discipline after finding he operated a private law practice out of his office at the agency.

  • June 16, 2025

    Firm Slams Insurer's Bid To Exit Malpractice Coverage Suit

    A Berkshire Hathaway unit can't use misdirection to duck a negligence suit claiming the insurer's failure to defend a negligence lawsuit against a Georgia personal injury law firm led to a $2.6 million default judgment against the firm, according to a recent filing in Georgia federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Calif. Bar Panel Upholds Recommending Eastman Disbarment

    A panel of the California State Bar Court's Review Department has affirmed the March 2024 recommended disbarment of President Donald Trump's former attorney, John Eastman, over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fake NY Lawyer Admits To Stealing Over $290K From Clients

    A New York man admitted Monday that he posed as a lawyer to steal over $290,000 from people who thought he was doing class action, discrimination and other legal work, copping to larceny and fraud charges in state court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Biz Seller Seeks Atty Fees After Win In 'Frivolous' Fraud Case

    The former owner of a North Carolina concrete company is seeking attorney fees after defeating a buyer's fraud suit in a rare midtrial victory, saying her opponent should have to cover her legal costs for bringing claims to trial that were both "frivolous" and "malicious."

  • June 16, 2025

    Fla. Judge Denies Ethics Breach Over Fake Recording

    A judge in Broward County, Florida, pushed back on ethics charges accusing her of publicly sharing a fabricated recording of a chief judge disparaging another judge in her 2024 election campaign, saying her actions did not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.

  • June 16, 2025

    Texas Bar Limits Attorney Nondisparagement Clauses

    In a formal ethics opinion this month, the State Bar of Texas said nondisparagement clauses dealing with the practice of law cannot apply to lawyers licensed in the state, but attorneys could be subject to provisions involving their personal speech.

  • June 13, 2025

    Wash. Judge Tosses IUD Suit Against Bayer For Good

    Bayer has beat a negligence lawsuit filed by a woman who claims its Mirena IUD perforated her uterus and migrated after the patient failed to oppose the company's motion to dismiss, a Washington federal judge ruled.

  • June 13, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Drops Binance Founder Amid $8M Fraud Suit

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the founder of Binance amid an $8.1 million lawsuit against him, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the former cryptocurrency exchange executive has breached an agreement with the law firm and moved for arbitration against it.

  • June 13, 2025

    Calif. State Bar Is Immune From Atty's ADA Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to revive an attorney's claims alleging the California State Bar violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not granting extra time to respond to disciplinary action based on outstanding debt, finding the bar, as an arm of the state, is entitled to sovereign immunity.

  • June 13, 2025

    The Law Firm Loophole: How Debt Cos. Snare NC Consumers

    To get around bans in North Carolina and many other states, debt relief companies set up facade law firms — companies that are law firms in name only, with a tiny number of lawyers nominally serving thousands of clients, consumer advocates and regulators say.

  • June 13, 2025

    Wash. High Court Suspends Atty Amid Delays In Bar Probe

    The Washington State Supreme Court has suspended an Evergreen state attorney's legal license, at the state bar association's request, for allegedly stalling disciplinary investigations into her work representing student families in two federal lawsuits against school districts.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Gets 7½ Years For Bribery

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday sentenced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to seven and a half years in prison and fined him $2.5 million for his conviction on bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud charges, saying his determination that Madigan perjured himself on the stand at trial impacted the stiff penalty.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ga. Judge Makes Final Push To Toss 'Tainted' Ethics Charges

    A Georgia superior court judge who's in the midst of an ethics trial over misconduct allegations urged the state's judicial ethics commission Friday to toss the charges against her, saying that investigators never disclosed their financial backing of one of her electoral opponents.

  • June 13, 2025

    Akerman Seeks To Move Malpractice Suits From Medical Cos.

    Akerman LLP has asked to have two malpractice cases from medical laboratories moved from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, where the firm's related unpaid fees case against Rennova Health Inc. is being litigated.

  • June 13, 2025

    Grassley Budget Bill Calls For More Use Of Injunction Bonds

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released his portion of the budget reconciliation text, which would bolster the use of injunction bonds to raise the stakes for plaintiffs seeking to halt White House initiatives.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Defender Urges 4th Circ. To 'Fortify' Workplace Protections

    A former assistant public defender has doubled down on efforts to revive her sex bias suit against the federal judiciary, telling the Fourth Circuit that siding with the judiciary would further discourage its employees from speaking up or reporting abuse out of fear of retaliation.

Expert Analysis

  • The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys

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    Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • How White Collar Defense Attys Can Use Summary Witnesses

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    Few criminal defense attorneys have successfully utilized summary witnesses in the past, but several recent success stories show that it can be a worthwhile trial tactic to help juries understand the complex decision-making at issue, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Top 10 Legal Malpractice Defenses As Claims Tick Up

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    As legal malpractice claims and payouts increase, law firms should remember certain time-tested defenses, such as asserting no duty to nonclients, omissions beyond the scope of engagement or lack of proximate cause, say attorneys at Goulston & Storrs.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Immigration Atty Tips For Avoiding Prosecution Under Trump

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    Under the incoming Trump administration, immigration attorneys may need to protect themselves from prosecution when advising clients who may not qualify for relief sought by choosing their words carefully and keeping other key factors in mind, says Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi.

  • The Malpractice Perils Of Elder Abuse Liability

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    Recent cases show that the circumstances under which an attorney may be sued for financial elder abuse remain unsettled, but practitioners can avoid these malpractice claims altogether by taking proactive steps, like documenting the process of evaluating a client's directives under appropriate standards, says Edward Donohue at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Plugging Gov't Leaks Is Challenging, But Not A Pipe Dream

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    As shown by ongoing legal battles involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sean “Diddy” Combs, it’s challenging for defendants to obtain relief when they believe the government leaked sensitive information to the media, but defense counsel can take certain steps to mitigate the harm, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

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