Legal Ethics

  • October 09, 2024

    Marine In Afghan Baby Kidnapping Suit Won't Be Discharged

    A U.S. Marine attorney accused of kidnapping an Afghan child has reportedly avoided getting booted from the military despite a Marine Corps panel on Tuesday finding he engaged in conduct unbecoming of an officer in his fight over the child.

  • October 09, 2024

    Blank Rome Attys Beat DQ Bid Over Witness Contact

    A Philadelphia federal judge Wednesday refused to disqualify Blank Rome from representing three of its attorneys facing claims they brought a baseless lawsuit against another attorney in retaliation for switching from corporate defense to the plaintiffs bar.

  • October 09, 2024

    Justices Fear Harm To Atty Reputations In Death Penalty Case

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas expressed concern during oral arguments this month about the reputational harm two former Oklahoma prosecutors were facing in light of the state's claim that they withheld evidence and presented false testimony to secure the conviction of a prisoner on death row — allegations over which the justices seem likely to order further proceedings.

  • October 09, 2024

    DC Judge Sanctions DOD For Destroying Gitmo Tapes

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday sanctioned the Pentagon for destroying dozens of video recordings of the torture of a Palestinian man imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay, barring the Pentagon from rebutting the man's testimony of what he endured.

  • October 09, 2024

    Atty, Claims Firm Barred From Soliciting Foreclosure Class

    A Michigan law firm and a third-party claims firm agreed Wednesday not to solicit potential members to an action alleging Michigan counties kept profits from foreclosures of tax-delinquent properties, following a meeting with class attorneys who had urged a judge to bar them from attempting to poach class members.

  • October 09, 2024

    Another Supreme Court Term, Another Call For Ethics Reform

    The new term for the U.S. Supreme Court began on Monday under a cloud of alleged ethics improprieties by several justices.

  • October 09, 2024

    Sanctioned NJ Firm Asks To Exit $374M Guo Ch. 11

    Four attorneys for associates of convicted fraudster Miles Guo in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy — whose law firm was sanctioned in the proceedings — have urged Connecticut's bankruptcy court to let them leave the case, saying several corporate entities connected to Guo indicated their services are no longer needed.

  • October 09, 2024

    Locke Lord Slams 'Unsustainable' Take On Jurisdiction Issue

    Locke Lord LLP urged a New Jersey appellate panel Wednesday to reverse a trial court's finding that it is subject to Garden State courts in a malpractice suit over an allegedly botched deal involving a North Dakota oil refinery project, arguing personal jurisdiction can't be obtained through personal service on a firm partner not involved in the litigation.

  • October 09, 2024

    Colo. Firm Seeks Bigger Cut Of Atty Fees From Competitor

    A Colorado personal injury firm has told a state federal court it deserves a bigger cut of attorney fees than its successor firm in a $1.5 million tort settlement because the client's attorney, who left to work at another firm, did most of the work on the case while under her previous firm.

  • October 09, 2024

    Philly Developer Says Ex-Blank Rome Atty Falsified Records

    The owner of a popular Philadelphia nightclub claims a now-disbarred ex-Blank Rome real estate attorney falsified court records, forged documents and failed to represent the club owner in several legal matters over a five-year period.

  • October 09, 2024

    Morgan & Morgan Wins Bid To Arbitrate Malpractice Claims

    A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday granted Morgan & Morgan PA's bid to compel arbitration of a former client's legal malpractice claims, ruling that the state's justices have already rejected his argument that arbitration clauses between attorneys and clients should be unenforceable.

  • October 09, 2024

    Mich. Justices Open To Atty Fee Bid In Legal Malpractice Case

    The Michigan Supreme Court appeared receptive Wednesday to arguments from a lab-grown orchid company that it should be allowed to recover attorney fees incurred in an employment lawsuit the company claimed resulted from legal malpractice.

  • October 09, 2024

    Girardi Seeks New Fraud Trial Over Memory Issues

    Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi has called on a California federal court to overturn his conviction for misappropriating $15 million in client settlement funds, arguing he was not competent to stand trial due to memory problems that left him unable to remember witnesses or even his own attorneys.

  • October 09, 2024

    Disbarred Atty Admits To Defrauding Investors, DOJ Says

    A disbarred attorney has pled guilty in connection with a financial services scheme that defrauded investors out of more than $1 million, New Jersey's U.S. attorney announced Wednesday.

  • October 09, 2024

    Disbarred Calif. Atty To Pay $14M Over Crypto Ponzi Scheme

    A disbarred California attorney has been ordered by a Nevada federal judge to pay nearly $14 million in restitution for his role in promoting a $9.5 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

  • October 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Rejects Judicial Ethics Complaint Over Case Delays

    The Ninth Circuit has tossed an attorney's ethics complaint against a federal district judge accused of failing to promptly rule on a motion to dismiss as part of an alleged pattern of slow rulings by the court.

  • October 09, 2024

    NJ Law Firm Gets Partial Win In Dispute With Ex-Employees

    The arbitration pacts that two former employees at a New Jersey law firm filed cover their discrimination claims, a New Jersey state court judge ruled, handing the Bergen County-based personal injury firm a partial win in the workers' wage and bias suit.

  • October 09, 2024

    US Trustee Objects To Milbank Representing Edgio In Ch. 11

    Milbank LLP should be removed as counsel for digital content delivery platform Edgio Inc. in its Chapter 11, the U.S. Trustee's Office told a Delaware federal judge, arguing the firm is conflicted because of its ongoing work representing Edgio directors and officers in various securities suits.

  • October 09, 2024

    Feds Seek 16 Months For Ex-BigLaw Partner's Tax Dodging

    Prosecutors told a Wisconsin federal judge that a former Husch Blackwell LLP and Dykema Gossett PLLC partner who pled guilty to tax evasion should be sentenced to 16 months in prison, saying he lied to IRS revenue officers to keep them at bay while spending lavishly on private planes, jewelry and golf club memberships.

  • October 09, 2024

    'Ghost' Florida Atty Left Long Trail Of Irked Judges, Clients

    A Florida lawyer accused in a state court suit of ignoring and defrauding dozens of clients who paid nonrefundable retainers has faced a series of similar allegations in federal court, drawing the ire of judges and opposing counsel.

  • October 08, 2024

    Judge Puts US Trustee's Depo On Ice In Judge Romance Suit

    A Houston judge Tuesday put Jackson Walker's deposition of the U.S. Trustee for the Texas divisions of the bankruptcy watchdog on hold while he considers whether a Justice Department guideline applies to the ongoing dispute surrounding a former Texas bankruptcy judge's secret relationship with an ex-partner of the firm.

  • October 08, 2024

    Ex-Girardi Keese CFO Inks Plea Deal Over Firm Embezzlement

    Girardi Keese's former Chief Financial Officer Christopher K. Kamon reached a plea agreement Tuesday with Los Angeles federal prosecutors, who allege he spearheaded a "side fraud" that bilked millions of dollars from the embattled law firm's accounts behind disbarred attorney Tom Girardi's back.

  • October 08, 2024

    Del. Justices Revive Margolis Edelstein Malpractice Suit

    The full Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday revived GMG Insurance Agency's malpractice suit claiming Margolis Edelstein's incompetence caused the insurer to have to settle a case for $1.2 million, saying there are still disputed facts about whether the law firm's representation fell below the requisite standards.

  • October 08, 2024

    Dem Rep. Reintroduces Death Row Appeal Bill

    U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has announced that he is reintroducing a bill that would ensure inmates on death row would have the opportunity to present new evidence pointing to their innocence.

  • October 08, 2024

    Illumina Wants Unresponsive Plaintiff To Pay $200K, Atty Fees

    Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. asked a New Jersey federal court Tuesday to order a former graduate student to pay $200,000 in liquidated damages for allegedly failing to respond to attempts to finalize a settlement to his claims that attorneys from Latham & Watkins LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP manipulated a patent case to steal his intellectual property.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • For Now, Generative AI Is Risky For Class Action Counsel

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    Although a recent survey showed most in-house counsel think that their outside counsel should be using generative artificial intelligence "in some way" in class action work, the technology is more a target for class actions than it is a tool to be used in practice at present, says Matthew Allen at Carlton Fields.

  • When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case

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    Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.

  • Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case

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    With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

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