Legal Ethics

  • January 03, 2025

    NY Judge To Sentence Trump Jan. 10 But Says Prison Unlikely

    A New York state judge said Friday he will sentence Donald Trump on Jan. 10 after rejecting his motion to dismiss his hush money conviction in light of his status as president-elect, but suggested a prison term is highly unlikely.

  • January 03, 2025

    Disbarred Fla. Atty Can't Shake $780K Verdict For Firms

    A Florida state appeals court has refused to disturb a jury verdict in favor of several law firms going after a disbarred attorney who improperly received a $780,000 payment when he owed those firms millions in connection with professional misconduct.

  • January 03, 2025

    Mich. Law Firm Urges Dismissal Of Insurer's Defamation Suit

    A Michigan personal injury attorney and his firm are urging a federal judge to toss a defamation lawsuit accusing them of launching a smear campaign against an auto insurance company, arguing opinion pieces they published on the firm's blog are protected by the First Amendment.

  • January 03, 2025

    Atty Wants Free Speech Suit Over Tenn. Court Rule Kept Alive

    A free speech challenge to a Middle District of Tennessee rule barring attorneys from making "any extrajudicial statements" about cases in the district should be allowed to move forward since the court is not entitled to sovereign immunity, according to the Nashville civil rights lawyer behind the suit.

  • January 03, 2025

    Ala. Judge Won't Recuse In Talc Fight Due To Law Firm Work

    An Alabama federal judge will not recuse himself from a fight between two leading plaintiffs law firms in the multibillion-dollar litigation over Johnson & Johnson's tainted talcum powder, saying Friday that his previous representation of Beasley Allen Law Firm won't bias him against Smith Law Firm PLLC.

  • January 03, 2025

    Ex-GMU Prof.'s Accusers Say He Can't Prove $108M Damages

    Former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright allegedly failed to provide information to back his $108 million defamation damages claim and then walked out of a deposition, according to a Virginia court filing by two former students whom Wright sued over their statements to Law360.

  • January 03, 2025

    Prison Delay Denied For Broker In $22M Tax Scheme

    An insurance broker sentenced to five years in prison for participating in a $22 million tax scheme must begin serving his term after a North Carolina federal judge on Friday denied him a delay to help his new counsel prepare his appeal.

  • January 02, 2025

    Murdaugh Hit With $15M Tab In Insurance Case Set For Trial

    A South Carolina federal judge hit ex-lawyer and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh with a $14.8 million default judgment Thursday in favor of Nautilus Insurance Co., days before the insurer is set for trial against another lawyer and law firm who allegedly should have known about Murdaugh's insurance fraud.

  • January 02, 2025

    Judicial Conference Closes Thomas Gift Probe With No Action

    The Judicial Conference of the United States will not refer ethics complaints accusing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of unlawfully failing to disclose decades of luxury gifts and travel to the U.S. Department of Justice for further investigation, according to letters released Thursday.

  • January 02, 2025

    Calif. Federal Judge Escapes House Party Brawl Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge has been dropped, for now, from litigation over an alleged assault during a party supposedly hosted at the jurist's Pasadena home with underage drinking and insufficient supervision.

  • January 02, 2025

    Fox Rothschild Atty Beats Trade Secret Theft Allegations

    A federal judge in New Jersey says a company trying to develop cancer drugs had waited too long to sue its former patent lawyer after he allegedly "confessed" over five years ago to helping a Chinese rival file a patent application that allegedly misappropriated trade secrets.

  • January 02, 2025

    Ill. Atty Can't Avoid Prison Pending Bribery Appeal

    An Illinois attorney set to serve time for bribing former Chicago alderman Edward Burke must still report to prison while he asks the Seventh Circuit to review his conviction and 32-month sentence, a federal judge said.

  • January 02, 2025

    Mich. Justices OK Atty Fees As Legal Malpractice Damages

    The Michigan Supreme Court has held that clients can recover legal fees incurred as a result of an attorney's malpractice, finding that such fees are not barred by the American rule, under which parties to litigation must generally bear their own legal costs.

  • January 02, 2025

    Texas High Court Tosses Ethics Case Against Paxton Deputy

    A split Texas Supreme Court this week ended an ethics case against state Attorney General Ken Paxton's first assistant over a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in other states, finding that such discipline would violate the Lone Star State's separation of powers doctrine.

  • January 02, 2025

    Ex-Defender Asks 4th Circ. To Force Back Harvard Profs, Attys

    A former assistant public defender in North Carolina who lost her case accusing the judiciary of violating her equal protection and due process rights has doubled down on an attempt to reinstate her legal team of Harvard Law School professors and litigators who abruptly abandoned the case just before trial.

  • January 02, 2025

    Beasley Allen Aims To Toss Suit From Ex-Ally Firm

    Beasley Allen has called on a Mississippi federal court to dismiss or transfer a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit from The Smith Law Firm PLLC over their joint venture agreement for talc litigation against Johnson & Johnson, arguing the case should be tossed in favor of its own suit filed earlier in Alabama.

  • January 02, 2025

    Fla. Ethics Case Over Ex-Judge's 'Intemperate' Conduct Nixed

    An ethics complaint against a former Sunshine State jurist accused of acting "intemperately" has been dismissed because the judge left office Tuesday and has agreed not to serve as a judge again, according to a Thursday notice from a judicial ethics panel.

  • January 02, 2025

    Mass. Atty Accused Of Botching Bias Case, Misleading Client

    A Massachusetts woman says a prominent Boston attorney mishandled her age and gender bias complaint, then misled her about the viability of the case for several years while convincing her to let him rent a home she owned at a discount in lieu of additional litigation costs.

  • January 02, 2025

    Perkins Coie Fights DQ Bid In Facial Recognition IP Suit

    Perkins Coie LLP wants to continue defending Jumio Corp. in a patent infringement lawsuit involving facial recognition technology, calling plaintiff FaceTec Inc.'s bid to disqualify the law firm over its previous work for FaceTec a "tactical" ploy.

  • January 02, 2025

    Netflix Says 'Uncopyrightable Facts' Sink Boy Scout Doc Suit

    Netflix has asked a New Jersey federal court to toss a trial lawyer's copyright infringement claims over their competing documentaries on sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts of America, arguing that any claimed similarities "are based on uncopyrightable facts that are free for all creators to use."

  • January 01, 2025

    Legal Ethics Matters To Watch In 2025

    After an eventful 2024, industry experts are looking ahead to what might be the big topics in legal ethics in the new year, including the ethics implications of artificial intelligence and ethics opinions that may be relevant to attorneys in the incoming second Trump administration.

  • January 01, 2025

    Georgia Cases To Watch In 2025

    The fate of a prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump, Ford's ongoing fight over claims it hid the rollover dangers of its Super Duty trucks, and a feeding frenzy of class actions after a major metro Atlanta industrial fire are among the cases that will take center stage in Georgia's courts this year.

  • January 01, 2025

    The Hottest Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking In 2025

    Appellate lawyers in 2025 should probably stock up on coffee and expect some all-nighters — numerous high-profile appeals, a new presidential administration and a new framework for legal challenges to regulations suggest it'll be an uncommonly tumultuous trip around the sun.

  • January 01, 2025

    Top Personal Injury, Med Mal Rulings Of 2024

    A federal appellate panel's ruling in a "blackout challenge" death suit against TikTok's owner and a U.S. Supreme Court decision over whether bump stocks can be considered machine guns under a federal agency's rule were among Law360's top personal injury and medical malpractice rulings in 2024.

  • January 01, 2025

    Trials To Watch In 2025

    The coming year will bring the first bellwether trials in the closely watched federal baby formula mass litigation, the first courtroom battle over a COVID-19 vaccine patent and six major retailers' case against Visa and Mastercard over card swipe fees.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Stronger Attorney Rules Are Needed To Avoid A Jan. 6 Repeat

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    Given the key role lawyers played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, the legal profession must shore up its rules before this year’s presidential election to make clear that lawyers who undermine the rule of law will face severe penalties, including disbarment, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • 4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

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    As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Why Fed. Circ. Affirmed Attorney Fee Award In PersonalWeb

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    A recent Federal Circuit decision to leave a $5.2 million fee award in place in the PersonalWeb patent case underscores district courts' discretion to sanction unreasonable arguments and litigation tactics under the U.S. Code's attorney fee provision, say attorneys at Shearman. 

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

  • Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

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    Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.

  • In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

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    Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.

  • Opinion

    Animal Rights Are About Saving Nature, And Our Own Future

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    The climate crisis makes it clear that animal law — conceived of as an ecocentric approach to protecting the most vulnerable nonhumans who depend on the natural environment — is essential to restoring the Earth and safeguarding the future of humanity, says Carter Dillard at the Fair Start Movement.

  • The Ethics Of Accepting Advanced Legal Fees In Crypto

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    State and local bar associations have been weighing in on whether attorneys may accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment in advance of providing legal services, but the answer is frequently a fact-specific inquiry that demands close reading of the rules of professional conduct, say Matthew Feinberg and Jeffrey Cunningham at Goldberg Segalla.

  • How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

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    Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 5 Gifts That May Run Afoul Of Government Ethics Rules

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    As the holiday season ramps up, it’s essential to keep in mind that government officials and employees are all subject to specific gift rules, and related violations can lead to consequences far worse than coal in one’s stocking, say Mark Renaud and Rob Walker at Wiley.

  • 3 Defense Takeaways From The Bankman-Fried Trial

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    FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction offers several key lessons for future white collar defendants, from the changing nature of cross-examination to the continued risks of taking the stand, say Jonathan Porter and Gregg Sofer at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.

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