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Legal Ethics
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April 10, 2024
'Varsity Blues' Judge Won't Recuse From Bid For Plea Redo
The Boston federal judge overseeing the waning "Varsity Blues" college admissions case said Wednesday he should be the one to decide whether a parent who pled guilty in the scandal's early days should be able to have the conviction erased, calling her recusal bid "fraught with judge-shopping."
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April 10, 2024
Fla. Lawyer Seeks 'Compassion' After Loan Fraud Conviction
Fresh off a failed bid to have her wire fraud conspiracy conviction nixed, a Florida attorney found guilty of fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 relief loans asked a Georgia federal judge for leniency in her upcoming sentencing.
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April 10, 2024
Fla. Atty Gets 8 Years For Fraudulent Tax Shelter Scheme
A Florida attorney was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to tax evasion and defrauding the U.S. government through a tax shelter scheme he pitched to clients that involved making purported charitable contributions so his clients could claim millions of dollars in tax deductions they weren't qualified to receive.
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April 10, 2024
Trump Fails Again To Halt NY Trial Over Claim Judge Is Biased
Donald Trump on Wednesday tried and failed for the third time in as many days to delay his upcoming hush-money trial, after arguing the judge should be removed for supposed bias and that the judge's rules were preventing him from defending himself.
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April 10, 2024
Alston & Bird Pushes Arbitration Of COVID Vax Claims
Alston & Bird LLP urged a Georgia federal court to reject a former aide's objection to a magistrate judge's recommendation to force her to arbitrate her claims alleging she was fired after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
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April 10, 2024
Fla. Judge Cops To Trimmed Charges Over Campaign Talk
A Florida county circuit court judge may face a shorter 25-day suspension over public statements he made favoring law enforcement during his 2022 campaign for his seat after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a 30-day suspension agreement because of an incorrect reading of the rules of conduct.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Reed Smith Atty Can't DQ Judge In Bias Suit Against Firm
A former Reed Smith LLP attorney failed in her bid to have a New Jersey state judge disqualified from her gender discrimination suit against the firm, with the judge on Wednesday turning down her argument that he improperly reviewed a certification from the firm's general counsel.
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April 10, 2024
Major Lindsey Wins Bid To Have Sex Assault Suit Arbitrated
A former Major Lindsey & Africa LLC employee's sexual assault lawsuit against the legal recruiting giant must go to arbitration, a New York state judge has decided.
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April 10, 2024
Mich. Appellate Panel Won't Halt Election Case Against Atty
A Michigan appellate panel on Tuesday said it wouldn't pause criminal proceedings against an attorney accused of tampering with voting machines after the 2020 presidential election or consider her appeal of a trial court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for missing a hearing.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Coupang Atty Fights Bid To Toss Whistleblower Suit
A former in-house attorney at South Korean conglomerate Coupang told a Washington federal judge this week that his whistleblower claims against the company are valid according to the terms of his employment contract.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Judge Dropped From Harassment Suit After NJ Courts' Win
A New Jersey municipal court administrator has agreed to end a suit alleging she was sexually harassed by a former municipal court judge after a state superior court ruled she could not include the Administrative Office of the Courts as a defendant in the case.
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April 10, 2024
NJ Law Firm Not Covered In Malpractice Suit, Insurer Says
A law firm in Princeton, New Jersey, is not owed coverage of a malpractice action alleging one of its attorneys misappropriated the assets of a client's husband, the firm's insurer argued, telling a federal court the firm knew of the underlying legal claims before its policy's inception.
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April 10, 2024
Feds Cleared To Use Undercover Recording In Atty's Tax Trial
Federal prosecutors trying an attorney next week on charges he orchestrated a tax fraud scheme that spanned seven states will be allowed to play for the jury an audio recording made by an undercover agent, a North Carolina federal judge ruled.
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April 10, 2024
DA Says SEPTA Prosecutor Law Unfairly Singles Out Philly
An attorney for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told a Pennsylvania appellate court Wednesday that a law mandating a "special prosecutor" within the Attorney General's Office to handle crimes within the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority had unfairly and unconstitutionally singled out Philadelphia and his office.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-BigLaw Atty In OneCoin Scam A Flight Risk, Feds Say
A former Locke Lord LLP partner who was convicted of laundering proceeds from the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam has "every incentive" to flee the country, prosecutors told a New York federal judge, arguing he shouldn't be allowed to stay out on bail while his appeal is pending.
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April 10, 2024
Conn. Ethics Panel Finds 'No Reason' To Reinstate Atty Early
The Connecticut Statewide Grievance Committee, an arm of the state's judicial system tasked with ethics complaints, slammed a disbarred lawyer's reinstatement bid, stating that his application is 12 years early and that he still owes $146,031 in restitution for the embezzlement that got him disbarred.
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April 09, 2024
Quinn Emanuel, Davidoff Hutcher Sued Over Mansion Sale
The trustee for a bankrupt entity once owned by HFZ Capital Group has sued Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, seeking to claw back up to $2 million the firms allegedly fraudulently received from a $45 million Hamptons mansion sale linked to developer Nir Meir.
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April 09, 2024
5th Circ. Asks For Briefing Amid Scrutiny Of Judge's Citi Stock
The Fifth Circuit has ordered additional briefing in a banking industry-backed legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late-fee rule amid questions that have been raised about a potential conflict of interest involving a circuit court judge on the case.
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April 09, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Atty Spiro Faces Sanctions Bid In Musk Case
A Los Angeles man suing Elon Musk for defamation has asked a Texas court to sanction Musk's attorney, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro, arguing that the lawyer showed up "unannounced" to defend Musk in a deposition despite lacking permission to practice law there.
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April 09, 2024
In Trump Case, Justices Get Reminded Presidents Aren't Kings
Former President Donald Trump's bid for absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution flies in the face of a major feature of the U.S. Constitution, and would create novel obstacles for the military and the economy, backers of special counsel Jack Smith have told the U.S. Supreme Court.
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April 09, 2024
Contractor Says Corruption Claims In $47M Army Fight Are False
An Afghanistan-based fuel supplier seeking $47.2 million after the U.S. Army terminated two contracts has urged the Court of Federal Claims to reject government allegations that the company was involved in a corruption scheme, saying those arguments were inaccurate and irrelevant.
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April 09, 2024
Ex-LA Deputy Mayor Says Jury's Chats Warrant Mistrial
Former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan is calling for a mistrial following his bribery conviction, telling a federal judge the jury foreperson and two other panel members discussed the case outside the jury room, reaching a premature verdict that likely swayed other jurors.
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April 09, 2024
Boies Schiller Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over Epstein Suit
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP's chairman and a co-managing partner are facing a sanctions bid from associates of billionaire and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein for filing a proposed class action against them despite the attorneys' clients previously signing releases of liability to receive victim compensation.
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April 09, 2024
Mo. Gets OK To Execute Man Repped By Flat-Fee Lawyers
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to halt the looming execution of a convicted murderer who claimed that his attorneys' flat-fee contracts incentivized them to push him to plead guilty before they secured promises from prosecutors not to pursue a death sentence.
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April 09, 2024
Court OKs Decision Clearing Contractor Of Missed IP Deadline
A patent docketing contractor used by major remote law firm FisherBroyles can't be held liable for a "clerical mistake" that led to a missed patent application deadline and then a neurosurgeon's lawsuit potentially seeking nearly $102 million, with a Georgia appeals court affirming a lower court decision that the surgeon never should have relied on those dates in the first place.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute
Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model
Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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Opinion
High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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Opinion
Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.
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Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy
Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.
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How Cognizant Bribery Case Could Shape DOJ Investigations
A case playing out in New Jersey federal court – U.S. v. Coburn, involving bribery charges against former Cognizant executives – will examine when a company’s cooperation becomes an outsourced investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, and could potentially limit the government’s use of certain evidence, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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SEC May Be Regulating By Enforcement With Atty Actions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent high-profile actions against Covington and Frost & Miller show the agency is taking "regulation by enforcement" to a new arena — attorney misconduct — despite having a never-used rule on the books at its disposal, say attorneys at Tarter Krinsky.
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What Associates Need To Know Before Switching Law Firms
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The days of staying at the same firm for the duration of one's career are mostly a thing of the past as lateral moves by lawyers are commonplace, but there are several obstacles that associates should consider before making a move, say attorneys at HWG.
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A Case For Sharing Mediation Statements With Counterparties
In light of a potential growing mediation trend of only submitting statements to the mediator, litigants should think critically about the pros and cons of exchanging statements with opposing parties as it could boost the chances of reaching a settlement, says Arthur Eidelhoch at Eidelhoch Mediation.
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Ethics Lessons From Outside Counsel Plotline In 'Succession'
A Season 3 storyline from “Succession,” featuring an outside counsel's ham-handed missteps, provides ethics lessons for white collar defense lawyers, especially in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent corporate enforcement policy shifts, says Megan McDermott at the University of Wisconsin.
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Preparing For Legal Scrutiny Of Data Retention Policies
Two recent cases involving Google and Meta should serve as a call to action for companies to ensure their data retention policies are updated and properly implemented to the degree of being able to withstand judicial scrutiny, especially as more data is generated by emerging technologies, say Jack Kallus and Labeed Choudhry at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Opinion
Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI
National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.
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Use Caution In Cases Involving Illegal Images Of Minors
In cases where underage victims of sexual assault and abuse have been coerced into sharing nude or sexual images, attorneys representing abuse survivors must understand the strict protocols that regulate the handling of such illegal images, while taking care to protect essential evidence, says Michelle Simpson Tuegel at Simpson Tuegel.
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Data-Driven Insights Are Key To Attracting Today's Clients
As law firm growth slows and competition for clients increases, modern firms must rely on robust data analytics to develop the sector-based expertise and industry insights that clients increasingly prioritize in relationships with counsel, says Lavinia Calvert at Intapp.