Legal Ethics

  • September 23, 2025

    Watchdog Calls For DC, Md. Bar Investigations Into Carr

    A government accountability watchdog brought a complaint against Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr to the D.C. Bar Association on Tuesday, claiming Carr violated conduct rules when he threatened to bring FCC action against ABC if it declined to discipline Jimmy Kimmel over his remarks following Charlie Kirk's murder.

  • September 23, 2025

    No Early Out For NY Firm In Insurer's Malpractice Coverage Suit

    A New York-based law firm cannot throw out an insurance company's lawsuit seeking to be let off the hook from covering the firm against a malpractice claim, a Philadelphia federal judge has found, determining that factual questions in the case meant early dismissal was not an option.

  • September 23, 2025

    Atty-Trustee Conflicts Doom Scaife Estate's $26M Tax Refund

    A Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky attorney was also acting as Mellon heir Richard Scaife's lawyer, trustee and media executive when he signed releases that kept Scaife's spending of his inheritance secret from his children, so a resulting $200 million settlement between the children and Scaife's estate was not a bona fide tax-exempt expense, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled Tuesday.

  • September 23, 2025

    Conn. Atty Denies Blame For Title Co.'s $920K Refinancing Loss

    A Connecticut lawyer sought to fend off arguments in state court by Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. that his alleged mistakes on a $2.5 million refinancing led to a $920,000 loss for the insurer, claiming he and the company owed distinct duties to a policy-holder.

  • September 23, 2025

    Law Firms Sued Over La. Hurricane Claim Fee Scheme

    Two law firms and certain attorneys engaged in a scheme to "grossly and blatantly" inflate damages estimates for hurricane-related property insurance claims in order to "collect an exorbitant fee which they would all share," a group of seven Louisiana residents told a Louisiana federal court.

  • September 23, 2025

    Former NJ Workers' Comp Judge's Firing Suit Trimmed

    New Jersey has been granted partial summary judgment in its defense of a suit from a former workers' compensation judge who alleges that she was unconstitutionally removed from her job, with a state judge tossing her due process claims but letting certain discrimination claims proceed. 

  • September 23, 2025

    Ga. Atty Can't Block State Bar's Revived Bid To Toss Bias Suit

    A Georgia federal court has rejected an attorney's bid to stop the state bar's request to expand its motion to dismiss her racial discrimination lawsuit to include information about her disciplinary proceedings being resolved with no discipline.

  • September 23, 2025

    NJ Justices Won't Hear Challenge To State Bar Diversity Plan

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has allowed to stand an appellate decision approving a New Jersey State Bar Association system for fostering diversity in its leadership, which a state attorney accused of being a discriminatory quota system.

  • September 23, 2025

    Fla. Judge Denies NY Atty's Early Exit From Malpractice Suit

    A Miami federal judge has denied a New York lawyer an early win in a malpractice case stemming from advice she gave a client in an underlying SEC action, finding "reasonable minds" may disagree on whether the lawyer's actions breached the duty of care.

  • September 22, 2025

    Trump Appoints 'Loyal' Aide Following Va. US Atty's Exit

    One of President Donald Trump's White House aides and former personal attorneys Monday was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a day after the resignation of the office's previous Senate-approved top prosecutor, who had declined to bring charges against two of the president's foes.

  • September 22, 2025

    Baker McKenzie Says Atty Is 'Trolling' Firm With Assault Claims

    A former Baker McKenzie tax associate who has flooded social media with allegations that she was sexually assaulted by the leader of the international law firm's D.C. office is now facing a defamation lawsuit accusing her of "trolling" the firm with false claims.

  • September 22, 2025

    Newman Urges Full DC Circ. To Let Judges Sue Their Courts

    U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has invoked a D.C. Circuit panel's "implicit invitation" for the full court to reconsider precedent limiting the rights of disciplined judges, as she continues to fight her suspension.

  • September 22, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, Match.com secured approval for a $30M settlement over its 2019 reverse spinoff from IAC, and Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn urged decorum among Delaware lawyers, comparing recent legal turmoil to dark times in British monarchy history. Here's the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • September 22, 2025

    Calif. County Defender To Pay $200K In Harassment Probe

    A California public defender's office has agreed to pay $200,000 to an employee to resolve the worker's claims that a superior sexually harassed them on the job through inappropriate comments and unwanted touching, the state's Civil Rights Department announced Monday.

  • September 22, 2025

    Conn. Board Seeks To Cement Win Over Tax Atty's Firing

    The Connecticut Employees' Review Board has asked an appellate court not to rehear a fired tax attorney's unsuccessful appeal en banc, arguing that she has failed to show any fatal flaws in a three-judge panel's decision against her.

  • September 22, 2025

    Girardi Loses Bid To Avoid Prison During Appeal

    Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi will have to wait in prison while he appeals his wire fraud conviction for stealing from his own clients, a California federal judge has ruled.

  • September 22, 2025

    Crime-Fraud Exemption Applies To Eletson Docs, Judge Says

    Reed Smith LLP has until the end of the day on Monday to turn over a dozen client files related to its prior representation of shipping company Eletson Holdings amid a dispute with rival Levona, after a Manhattan federal judge found probable cause that a fraud was committed in an underlying arbitration.

  • September 22, 2025

    Social Media Co. Calls For Disqualification Of Influencer's Atty

    A social media optimization company has moved to disqualify a social media influencer's attorney from a copyright infringement suit in Texas federal court, saying attorneys from the same firm had previously met with the company in meetings where confidential information was discussed.

  • September 22, 2025

    Law Firms Spar Over Affidavit In Cannabis Malpractice Fight

    Trif & Modugno LLC faced repeated questioning at a Monday hearing in New Jersey state court over its argument that Lowenstein Sandler LLP's claims against the firm must be dismissed because Lowenstein Sandler never filed an affidavit of merit in a suit over the collapse of a cannabis dispensary.

  • September 22, 2025

    3rd Circ. Slams Attys For Debt Disputes Designed To Fail

    Pittsburgh law firm J.P. Ward & Associates sent rambling, handwritten debt dispute letters in its clients' names that were intended to fail so the attorneys could sue collectors for not recognizing the dispute, a Third Circuit panel said Monday in upholding sanctions against the firm in a pair of lawsuits.

  • September 22, 2025

    Floridians Defend Moore & Van Allen Malpractice Claims

    A proposed class of Floridians accusing Moore & Van Allen PLLC of mishandling their employee stock ownership trust have told a federal court that a change in venue is unwarranted, and that despite the law firm's claims to the contrary, they have personal standing to sue on behalf of the trust.

  • September 22, 2025

    Pa. Court Backs Toss Of Malpractice Suit Against NY Atty

    A Pennsylvania appellate court won't revive a paint removal chemical company's malpractice suit against an intellectual property attorney it had hired to review one of its products, saying there weren't enough ties to the commonwealth for the case to proceed there.

  • September 19, 2025

    Va. US Atty Quits Amid Trump's 'Blue-Slip' Removal Bid

    Erik Siebert on Friday resigned as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, just hours after President Donald Trump pondered ousting him from the position because Siebert received blue-slip approval from the commonwealth's two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, according to media reports.

  • September 19, 2025

    Nevada Trust Accuses Texas Firms Of $9M Crypto Scheme

    A Nevada-based trustee accused a Texas law firm and various other companies and residents of the Lone Star State, Wyoming and Florida of carrying out an "audacious, multi-layered scheme" to steal $9 million meant to be used for Bitcoin trades.

  • September 19, 2025

    NC Atty Charged With Embezzlement, Elder Fund Exploitation

    A North Carolina attorney is facing 14 charges of embezzlement related to funds he allegedly rerouted to personal accounts that belonged to both his former law firm Walker Kiger PLLC and former clients.

Expert Analysis

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • Applying ABA Atty Role Guidance To White Collar Matters

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    The American Bar Association’s recently published guidance, clarifying the duties outside counsel owes to both organizational clients and those organizations' constituents, provides best practices that attorneys representing companies in white collar and other investigative matters should heed, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Disciplinary Rule Updates Every Texas Lawyer Needs To Know

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    Sweeping amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that recently went into effect provide essential clarity and modernity to rules governing conflicts of interest, client confidentiality and duties to prospective clients, says Robert Tobey at Johnston Tobey.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • Opinion

    Firing Of Jack Smith's Team Is A Threat To Rule Of Law

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    The acting attorney general’s justifications for firing prosecutors who worked on the criminal cases against President Donald Trump rest on a mischaracterization of legal norms, and this likely illegal move augurs poorly for the rule of law, say Bruce Green at Fordham University and Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

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    In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

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