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Legal Ethics
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May 02, 2024
NY Jury Hears Trump On Tape Discussing $150K Payment
Manhattan jurors in Donald Trump's criminal trial heard secretly recorded conversations of the former president discussing what prosecutors say is a $150,000 hush money payment for a former Playboy model intended to boost his 2016 election campaign.
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May 02, 2024
'Inflammatory' Words Spark Sanctions Bid In Child Death Suit
Catholic Charities Corp. and the estate of a 5-year-old boy who an Ohio jury said died in part because of the nonprofit's negligence sparred over whether it violates a "golden rule" of litigation for the jury to picture the boy's suffering, with the nonprofit seeking sanctions over what it considered to be "inflammatory" statements by the estate's attorney.
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May 02, 2024
No Atty Fees For Objectors To $5.6B Swipe Fees Settlement
Class members who initially objected to a $5.6 billion settlement with Visa and Mastercard cannot collect nearly $1 million in attorney fees, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday, saying they haven't shown their objections to the original 2013 settlement substantially benefited the class.
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May 02, 2024
Ethics, Military Orgs. Back Review Of Judge's Non-Recusal
An ethics institute at the University of Pennsylvania and a military justice organization told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that a D.C. Circuit judge deprived a former al-Qaida member of a fair hearing when the judge did not recuse himself from the Guantanamo detainee's appeal.
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May 02, 2024
Attys Due For Spam Suit Sanction, But Not $750K, Judges Say
Class counsel's misconduct in helping instigate a spam text suit against stock-trading app Robinhood Financial LLC warranted sanctions, a Washington state appeals court panel ruled Thursday, but the judges said the $750,000 penalty went over the top in deterring the bad behavior.
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May 02, 2024
Suspended Detroit Judge Running To Get Her Seat Back
A Detroit judge suspended by the Michigan Supreme Court for "repeated, deliberate misconduct" is running for an open judicial seat at her former court in the August primary election.
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May 02, 2024
Split 10th Circ. Spikes $17.3M Atty Fee Over Class Notice
A split Tenth Circuit panel has vacated for a second time a $17.3 million attorney fee award for reaching a $52 million class action settlement over gas well royalty payments, with the majority writing that the lower court erred by not requiring a new class notice regarding the revised fee bid.
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May 02, 2024
Judgment Vacated In Suit Over Law Professor's Recording
A New Jersey federal judge has agreed to vacate judgments in a suit against a law professor who a jury determined illegally wiretapped her former son-in-law and invaded his privacy.
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May 02, 2024
Coverage Recap: Day 6 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial
Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day six.
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May 02, 2024
Rules Against Judge Shopping Move Forward At Fed Agency
Federal appellate courts should review most government agency actions, and cases involving those actions that wind up in district courts should be subject to district-wide assignment to avoid judge shopping, according to recommendations approved Thursday by a committee of the federal agency charged with improving government rulemaking.
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May 02, 2024
11th Circ. 'Emphatically' Upholds JCPenney's Sanctions Win
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a $63,000 sanction against an Alabama shopping mall amid its lease dispute with JCPenney, finding that the mall acted in bad faith by not notifying the court of a lack of diversity jurisdiction, eventually sinking the case — only after JCPenney won partial summary judgment and a later mediation failed.
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May 02, 2024
Atty Facing Gag Order Bid Says He's Not 'Ambulance-Chasing'
Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney for two men suing Fox Rothschild LLP for malpractice, has hit back at the firm after it called attention to a recent ruling referring him to a grievance committee, saying he is "not an ambulance-chasing attorney who lives in front of a camera."
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May 02, 2024
Dilworth Paxson Attys Disciplined Over NJ Eatery Conflict
Two Dilworth Paxson LLP partners were sanctioned by the New Jersey Supreme Court this week for investing in a restaurant on the campus of The College of New Jersey at the same time they were legally representing another investment group on the project.
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May 02, 2024
Moses & Singer, Ex-Partner Settle Pregnancy Bias Suit
A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed against litigation firm Moses & Singer LLP by a former partner who accused it of wrongfully firing her after she requested workplace accommodations for her pregnancy, saying the parties have reached "a settlement in principle."
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May 02, 2024
Feds Want Prison For Ex-Public Defender For Tax Fraud
A former chief public defender in Minneapolis who in seeking leniency said he resigned in disgrace amid accusations that he failed to pay taxes for years on his private law firm should nonetheless spend eight months in prison after pleading guilty, prosecutors told a Minnesota federal court.
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May 02, 2024
Schumer Reups Call For His Judge Shopping Bill
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that a suit filed in a controversial Texas court challenging a new firearms policy from the Biden administration underscores the need for his bill to restrict so-called "judge shopping."
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May 01, 2024
Eastman Denied Stay Of Inactive Status To 'Safeguard' Public
A State Bar Court of California judge on Wednesday denied a request from Donald Trump's onetime attorney John Eastman to delay placing him on inactive enrollment while he appeals the recommendation for his disbarment, saying he hasn't shown that "he no longer presents a threat to the public."
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May 01, 2024
Amazon Can't Sanction Atty In Chinese Seller Award Case
Amazon can't sanction a Manhattan lawyer for her alleged history of using "frivolous" legal arguments to try to send back to state court litigation to vacate arbitral awards involving Chinese sellers, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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May 01, 2024
NY Lawmakers Call For Cop-Shoving Judge's Replacement
New York State Senate Judiciary Committee members said that either the governor or senate should ensure Justice Mark Grisanti is ousted after an ethics panel opted not to remove the Buffalo judge who brawled with neighbors, shoved a cop and invoked his ties to power, among other unethical behavior.
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May 01, 2024
Trump's Firm Can't Yet Withdraw After Atty-Client 'Breakdown'
A Manhattan federal judge won't yet allow the attorneys representing Donald Trump's campaign to withdraw from a pregnancy retaliation suit brought by a former campaign aide over what they called an "irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship," but on Wednesday set a conference to review the request behind closed doors.
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May 01, 2024
Fed. Judge's Handcuffing Of Girl Was Misconduct, Panel Says
The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit found Wednesday that a California federal judge engaged in judicial misconduct when he ordered that a crying 13-year-old girl in his courtroom be handcuffed, issuing a reprimand for his actions and ordering that the judge not be assigned new criminal cases for three years.
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May 01, 2024
Mich. Atty Can't Avoid Suspension For Frivolous Cases
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has said a 100-day suspension is appropriate for an attorney accused of filing frivolous claims and misleading federal and state courts while representing clients in cases against governmental entities and elected government officials.
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May 01, 2024
More Withdraw From Conn. Atty Hacked Payment Lawsuits
A series of withdrawals has cut into a voluminous pile of lawsuits surrounding a real estate attorney's wiring of money to the wrong people in connection with several real estate sales, with First American Title among the parties that filed recent withdrawal notices in the myriad matters.
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May 01, 2024
Former Calif. Law Student's ADA Suit Gets Tossed
A California federal judge has thrown out a long-running suit by a former student at the John F. Kennedy College of Law's Northern California campus, who accused the university of failing to provide the pro se litigant with reasonable accommodations, finding the student received more help than he requested.
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May 01, 2024
NJ Atty Fights 'Hare-Brained' Malpractice Claims In RE Dispute
A suspended New Jersey attorney is seeking summary judgment and sanctions for a "hare-brained" attempt by Chaitman LLP to mount a third-party complaint holding him liable for allegedly providing bad legal advice that prompted a malpractice case between Chaitman and former clients.
Expert Analysis
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Fed. Circ. Rulings That Gave Patent Law A New Spin In 2022
Keith Grady at Tucker Ellis looks at critical 2022 Federal Circuit rulings and their impact on patent law, including the February Caltech v. Broadcom decision expanding estoppel rules relating to inter partes review practices and the June Centripetal Networks v. Cisco Systems clarification on blind trusts.
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Opinion
Federal Courts Should Adopt Supreme Court's Amicus Stance
The federal courts of appeals should adopt the U.S. Supreme Court's new approach to amicus curiae briefs, which allows the friend-of-the-court submissions to be filed without consent from the court or the parties, says Lawrence Ebner at Atlantic Legal Foundation.
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3 Pricing Trends In Law Firm Use Of Litigation Funding
As BigLaw firms increasingly include litigation funding as a financing option for clients, internal pricing groups are taking the lead on standardizing and centralizing firm processes, and aggregating risk budgets, says Brendan Dyer at Woodsford Group.
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Safeguarding Attorneys' Greatest Asset: Our Mental Health
Attorneys who understand that mental fitness is their most valuable characteristic should prioritize mental health care accordingly, including with certain activities they may not realize qualify as self-care, says Wendy Robbins at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Law Schools Are Right To Steer Clear Of US News Rankings
By opting out of participating in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings, law schools abandon a profoundly flawed system and free up their resources to adapt to the tsunami of changes overtaking the profession, says Nicholas Allard at Jacksonville University College of Law.
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Opinion
Litigation Funders Seek Transparency In Disclosure Debate
Litigation funders want to correct the record on calls for funding disclosure in the name of transparency, as this purported justification obscures the disclosure's adverse effects — prejudicing plaintiffs' cases and discouraging the assertion of meritorious legal claims, say Dai Wai Chin Feman and William Weisman at Parabellum Capital.
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5 Principles For Better Professional Development Programs
The pandemic and ensuing "great resignation" have resulted in a more transient legal work force, but law firms can use effective professional development programs to bridge a cultural gap with new associates and stem associate attrition, says Matthew Woods at Robins Kaplan.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Practice With Passion
First Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí recalls how Suffolk University Law School's Joseph Glannon taught the importance of the law as both a tool and a profession, and that those who wish to practice law successfully must do so with love, enthusiasm and passion.
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Questions To Ask Before Making A Lateral Move As Partner
Law firm partners considering lateral moves should diligently interview prospects — going beyond standard questions about compensation to inquire about culture, associate retention and other areas that can provide a more comprehensive view, says Lauren Wu at VOYLegal.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Argue Open-Mindedly
Queens College President Frank Wu reflects on how Yale Kamisar’s teaching and guidance at the University of Michigan Law School emphasized a capacity to engage with alternative worldviews and the importance of the ability to argue for both sides of a debate.
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ABA's No-Contact Rule Advice Raises Questions For Lawyers
The American Bar Association's ethics committee recently issued two opinions concerning the no-contact rule — one creates an intuitive and practical default for electronic communications, while the other sets a potential trap for pro se lawyers, say Lauren Snyder and Deepika Ravi at HWG.
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4 Key Skills For An Effective Attorney Coaching Conversation
As BigLaw firms are increasingly offering internal coaching as one of many talent strategies to stem ongoing lawyer attrition, Stacey Schwartz at Katten discusses how coaches can help attorneys achieve their goals.
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Perspectives
How Civilian Attorneys Can Help Veterans
With legal aid topping the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' annual list of unmet needs of veterans facing housing insecurity, nonmilitary volunteer attorneys can provide some of the most effective legal services to military and veteran clients, say Anna Richardson at Veterans Legal Services and Nicholas Hasenfus at Holland & Knight.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned That Culture Shapes Law
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York considers how a class with Jerry Cohen at Harvard Law helped him understand culture and history’s influence on jurisprudence, and how even seemingly settled law can evolve — all while espousing a more humanistic approach to teaching that restored Judge Rakoff's pride in being a lawyer.
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9 Legal Ethics Considerations In Natural Disaster Preparation
Since natural disasters like Hurricane Ian do not relieve lawyers of their ethical obligations to clients, law firms should focus their preparedness efforts on specific areas crucial to continuity of representation and ethics compliance, like business and communications contingency planning, record redundancy and more, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.