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Legal Ethics
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December 19, 2024
4th Circ. Says Temporary BIA Judges Can Be Reappointed
Judges can be temporarily appointed to the Board of Immigration Appeals for a term "not to exceed six months," but they can also be reappointed as many times as the attorney general sees fit, the Fourth Circuit has ruled in a case that challenges the seating of such a judge.
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December 19, 2024
The Spiciest Quotes Heard In Mass. Courts In 2024
Another year of hard-fought litigation was replete with quips, barbs, and both attorneys and defendants put on blast — plus one litigant who simply wished for the return of a nine-foot bedazzled grand piano.
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December 19, 2024
Ex-Knick Oakley Denies Scrapping Evidence In MSG Feud
Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley testified to a federal judge Thursday that he never intentionally deleted text messages about his 2017 altercation with Madison Square Garden security, as the damages litigation in its eighth year meandered toward trial.
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December 19, 2024
Rival Firms End $2M Client Poaching Suit
A lawsuit by Chicago law firm Loftus & Eisenberg Ltd. accusing an attorney with "a very limited skill set" of stealing clients while jumping to Good Law Group PC has been dismissed, after Good Law said the "venomous allegations" were not backed by hard evidence.
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December 19, 2024
Denmark Says $500M Recovered In Dividend Tax Fraud Suits
Denmark's tax administration has recovered a total of 3.6 billion Danish kroner ($500 million) in money lost to suspected dividend tax refund fraud after entering settlements of civil cases in several countries in 2024, Denmark's tax minister announced.
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December 19, 2024
Girardi's Allies See Fallen Champion; Victims See Deceiver
As Tom Girardi's sentencing loomed, his friends and relatives wrote letters to the judge envisioning a grim and undeserved death in prison for the 85-year-old former legal luminary. But former clients who accused him of steailng from them told the court that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
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December 19, 2024
Bain Capital Wants Out Of Bias Claims From Attorney
Bain Capital has asked a New Jersey state court to toss discrimination claims brought by a former in-house attorney for a chemicals company it had acquired, alleging she was unlawfully dismissed after she discussed taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.
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December 19, 2024
New Jersey Power Broker Says RICO Case Isn't Fit For Jury
Defendants dubbed the "Norcross Enterprise" are fighting back against New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's assertion that their bid to toss a criminal indictment accusing them of engaging in a sprawling racketeering scheme is out of place, claiming the state misunderstands the roles of judge and jury.
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December 19, 2024
The Year In Legal Ethics: AI, Judicial Scandal And More
A number of legal ethics topics dominated the conversation in 2024, including artificial intelligence and the fallout of an undisclosed relationship between a Texas bankruptcy judge and an attorney whose firm appeared before him for years.
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December 19, 2024
Calif. Judge Accused Of Misconduct With Former Secretary
A California state judge is accused of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and violating numerous ethics canons amid his relationship with his then-secretary, including misrepresenting himself as her lawyer, engaging in inappropriate conversations with her and using public resources for private purposes.
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December 19, 2024
Fani Willis DQ'd From Trump's Georgia Prosecution
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified Thursday from the prosecution of Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, as a split state appellate court found that "no other remedy" was enough to scrub away what a trial court had previously called an "odor of mendacity" about the prosecution.
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December 19, 2024
Del. Justices Affirm Toss Of Co.'s Suit Against Gusrae Kaplan
Delaware's Supreme Court has affirmed a trial court's dismissal of an Applied Energetics Inc. suit accusing Gusrae Kaplan Nusbaum PLLC and a former partner of launching a frivolous securities fraud suit in order to hobble other litigation against the laser weapons maker's former CEO.
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December 18, 2024
Girardi Gets Sentencing Delayed For Dementia Probe
A Los Angeles federal judge pushed back Tom Girardi's sentencing for his embezzlement conviction on Wednesday, ordering a psychiatric evaluation and special hearing to determine whether the 85-year-old disbarred attorney should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.
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December 18, 2024
Calif. Panel Splits On Judge's 'Little Chinese Woman' Remark
A California appellate court has reversed itself and decided to publish an opinion in which a panel was divided over whether a trial judge's reference to a plaintiff as a "little Chinese woman" showed judicial bias and stereotyping.
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December 18, 2024
Pilgrim's Pride Gets Chicken Exit OK Under Contested Deal
Pilgrim's Pride is able to formally duck Sysco chicken price-fixing claims picked up by a Burford Capital LLC unit after an Illinois federal judge once again ruled that the companies are bound by a settlement between Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco that the litigation funding giant contested as too small.
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December 18, 2024
Funding Bill Takes In Broadband, Ticketing, Privacy
A congressional spending package that would fund the federal government through March is set to include a slew of bipartisan proposals aimed at digital security, online pricing transparency and rural broadband access.
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December 18, 2024
Destroyed Docs Merit Harsher Sanctions, Mich. Panel Says
A Michigan appellate panel on Tuesday said fees awarded to the estate of a man who died after choking in an adult foster care facility were likely too low, finding a lower court erred by limiting the scope of available sanctions over the destruction of "copious amounts" of digital evidence.
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December 18, 2024
Jay-Z, Quinn Emanuel Accused Of Paying Ex-Buzbee Clients
Texas personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee added a new front to his feud with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter on Wednesday, accusing the rapper's company Roc Nation and law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP of recruiting and paying former clients to bring malpractice claims.
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December 18, 2024
Wash. AG Says Atty Forged Order To Block Client's Arrest
Washington's attorney general has accused a defense attorney of forging a court order and a judge's electronic signature to deceive law enforcement officers and prevent her client's arrest for allegedly violating an anti-harassment order related to an assault charge.
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December 18, 2024
DA Willis Tears Into Trump's Try At Ducking Election Case
The Georgia Court of Appeals should reject President-elect Donald Trump's "procedurally and legally inadequate" effort to scuttle the state election interference case against him since "president-elect immunity" does not exist, prosecutors told the court in a scathing filing.
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December 18, 2024
Atty Seeks Grievance Doc's Disclosure In Alleged Abuse Case
A Massachusetts lawyer who filed a grievance alleging that a law professor sexually assaulted her when she was a student has asked a federal court in Brooklyn to order a state attorney grievance committee to make its formal decision in the matter public, arguing the committee violated her First Amendment rights by withholding the records.
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December 18, 2024
Talc Law Firm Seeks Judge's DQ In Beasley Allen Suit
An Alabama federal judge's prior representation of Montgomery-based Beasley Allen Law Firm is grounds for The Smith Law Firm PLLC's motion filed Wednesday calling for the judge's recusal from Beasley Allen's breach of contract suit against the Smith firm regarding alleged owed expenses from a joint venture the two firms shared.
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December 18, 2024
Lowenstein Sandler Dispensary Fee Suit Must Fail, Court Told
Lowenstein Sandler LLP sunk its own $766,000 breach of contract and unjust enrichment suit by failing to give proper notice prior to filing, a New Jersey cannabis dispensary told the state court, hitting back against the firm's claims that its complaint is a continuation of an "ancillary legal action" — a bankruptcy proceeding.
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December 18, 2024
Hagens Berman Says Apple, Amazon Doc Demand Is Off Base
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is firing back against Apple and Amazon's bid to force the turnover of texts and emails with a client who disappeared from a putative class action against the tech giants, calling the spat an opportunistic attack "based on a fiction."
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December 18, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Faces DQ Bid In NJ Cosmetics Spat
A New Jersey cosmetics company suing a former investor alleging breach of contract has asked a federal court to disqualify Greenberg Traurig LLP as defense counsel, telling the court that it previously consulted with the firm about suing the investor and gave away its "playbook" for the litigation.
Expert Analysis
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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What Panama Canal Award Ruling Means For Int'l Arbitration
As the prevalence of international arbitration grows, the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Grupo Unidos v. Canal de Panama may change how practitioners decide what remedies to seek and where to raise them if claims are rejected, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats
Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.