Legal Ethics

  • April 09, 2025

    Cross & Simon OK'd To Duck Out Of Team Systems Ch. 7 Suit

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved law firm Cross & Simon LLC's request to withdraw as counsel to former Team Systems International executives in an adversary case brought by the insolvent government contractor's Chapter 7 trustee.

  • April 09, 2025

    Feds Seek Judge's Recusal In Migrant Kids Legal Services Row

    The Trump administration on Wednesday moved to recuse a California federal judge overseeing a challenge to its decision to cut funding for child migrant legal services programs, saying the judge previously worked as a managing attorney for the lead plaintiff and is therefore biased.

  • April 09, 2025

    Ex-Client Wants $1M Cut From McCarter & English Fee Win

    A former McCarter & English LLP client on Wednesday sought to shave more than $1 million from the law firm's $3.8 million win in an attorney fee feud, challenging interest calculations that nearly doubled underlying compensatory damages rulings.

  • April 09, 2025

    Trade Court Judge Beats Ethics Charges Over Clerk Boycott

    A U.S. Court of International Trade judge did not engage in impermissible political activity when he threatened not to hire law clerks who attended Columbia University because of the school's handling of protests over Israel's war in Gaza, the Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit has found.

  • April 09, 2025

    Female Teachers Must Identify Specific Men In Pay Bias Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday refused to grant a posttrial win to two female teachers who accused a school district of paying women less than men and told the women to identify more specific male counterparts for the forthcoming second trial.

  • April 09, 2025

    Connell Foley Survives Investment Firm's DQ Bid In Bias Suit

    A federal judge in New Jersey has rejected a Black-owned investment company's request to disqualify a Connell Foley LLP attorney from representing the state in the investment firm's bias case, reasoning that there is nothing showing the law firm or the lawyer previously represented the company.

  • April 09, 2025

    Ga. Law Firm Accused Of Botching Suit Against Home Depot

    A former client of a Georgia personal injury law firm has sued it and its lead trial attorney for allegedly mishandling her underlying premises liability suit against Home Depot, including by doing "very little to pursue" her claim for two years.

  • April 09, 2025

    NY Judge's Fundraising Conflicts Spur Censure And Retirement

    A New York state judge was censured and agreed to retire at the end of the year after an investigation found he had failed to recuse from cases where attorneys who served as his campaign officials and fundraisers appeared before him in court, a state ethics watchdog announced Wednesday.

  • April 09, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel DQ In Fla. Oil Row More Than Just 'Possibility'

    A Florida federal judge has ordered expedited discovery in a Mexican oil company's case over alleged improper fund transfers, after determining there is "more than a mere possibility" of Quinn Emanuel being conflicted out of representing itself in the litigation due to prior representation of the company.

  • April 09, 2025

    Nonprofits May Pay For Fla. Judge's Extrajudicial Israel Trip

    Florida's judicial ethics watchdog has found that nonprofits may reimburse a judge for an "extrajudicial" trip to Israel.

  • April 09, 2025

    Willkie Atty Says NY Post Leak Cost Him Chance At Millions

    A Connecticut lawyer who tipped off the New York Post to a dispute between his landlord client and a tenant, a Willkie Farr partner, has asked a federal judge to help unravel the partner's claim that he lost a "multimillion-dollar opportunity" to work for Debevoise.

  • April 08, 2025

    Jenner & Block, WilmerHale Seek Shutdown Of Trump Orders

    Jenner & Block LLP and WilmerHale on Tuesday asked Washington, D.C., federal judges for permanent court orders blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the firms, saying the directives threaten the firms, their clients and the entire legal system.

  • April 08, 2025

    Jay-Z 'Trying To Punish' Buzbee For Advocacy, Judge Told

    Counsel for personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee urged a California state judge on Tuesday to shut down Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's extortion and defamation suit over now-dismissed rape claims, saying the rapper is "a well-funded, powerful figure who's trying to punish lawyers who do what lawyers do."

  • April 08, 2025

    Calif. Panel Wipes Professor's $10M Sex Harassment Verdict

    A California state appeals court on Monday reversed a former professor's $10 million sexual harassment jury verdict due to improper evidence let in by a judge who later made "extreme and bizarre" comments relating to race and was disqualified from the case.

  • April 08, 2025

    5th Circ. Orders New Trial In $140M Healthcare Fraud Case

    A Fifth Circuit panel shot down a bid from a suspect in a $140 million healthcare fraud scheme to forestall a second trial after alleged prosecutorial misconduct sank the first, finding the government hadn't intentionally withheld evidence.

  • April 08, 2025

    Tulsa County Seeks Quick Win In Tribal Jurisdiction Dispute

    Tulsa County is asking an Oklahoma federal court for an early win in a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that looks to block the county and its officials from asserting criminal jurisdiction on its reservation, saying the request is an attack on state and federal Supreme Court precedent.

  • April 08, 2025

    Attys In Javice Case Warned About Post-Trial Juror Contact

    A Manhattan federal judge on Monday cautioned attorneys in the criminal case against Frank founder Charlie Javice to adhere to the rules governing post-trial contact with jurors who convicted her and another executive on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s ill-fated acquisition of the educational startup.

  • April 08, 2025

    Singapore Court Nixes Railway Award Over Copy-Paste Issue

    Singapore's highest court on Tuesday affirmed the nixing of an arbitral award issued in an Indian railway contract dispute that incorporated an "extensive" amount of passages copied and pasted from separate, related awards, saying a reasonable observer would likely conclude that the tribunal's decision was biased.

  • April 08, 2025

    Patent Attys Challenge Sanctions In Renesas Litigation

    Texas intellectual property lawyer William Ramey III and two other attorneys have pushed back against a California magistrate judge's sanctions against them in patent litigation, saying that the parties never gave the judge the ability to issue sanctions and that a written rebuke would be better.

  • April 08, 2025

    Houston Atty Asks Court To Back $6.3M Verdict Against Rival

    A Houston attorney urged a Texas appellate court Monday to back a $6 million verdict against a rival lawyer he accused of stealing his files in an attempt to recruit clients to file malpractice suits.

  • April 08, 2025

    Compliance Chief Wants Out Of SEC Fraud Suit

    The chief compliance officer and general counsel of a wealth management firm has urged an Illinois federal judge to dismiss him from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit over an alleged offering fraud by former representatives at his firm, saying "the commission does not even understand what its own pleading burden in this case is."

  • April 08, 2025

    Feds Take Aim At Judge's Toss Of Bergdahl Conviction

    The U.S. Department of Justice has told the D.C. Circuit it was "inappropriate on every level" for a district court judge to throw out the court-martial conviction and sentence of former U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his post in Afghanistan.

  • April 08, 2025

    Drew Eckl Takes Breakaway Firm Dispute To Ga. High Court

    Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP told the Georgia Supreme Court that Burke Moore Law Group LLP — started by former Drew Eckl partners and others — was wrongly allowed to escape arbitration over fees between the firm and the ex-partners, arguing that Burke Moore implicitly consented to arbitration by participating without objecting to jurisdiction.

  • April 08, 2025

    Ex-Judge Subpoenaed In Probe Of Secret Romance With Atty

    The U.S. Trustee has given notice of a subpoena it filed for the trial testimony of former federal bankruptcy judge David Jones, after Jones said he hoped to avoid "live trial testimony" in the agency's pursuit of fees paid to Jackson Walker LLP amid the judge's undisclosed relationship with a firm attorney.

  • April 08, 2025

    Conn. Justices OK Debt Negotiator's Suit Against Watchdog

    Connecticut's highest court will allow a trial judge to decide whether the Department of Banking can skirt the state's restriction on regulating attorneys to the judicial branch, declining Tuesday to end a suit that a law firm and its associated debt negotiation group brought against the state watchdog.

Expert Analysis

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

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