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Legal Ethics
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December 19, 2024
Judge Says Some Paraquat Plaintiffs Being Left In Dark
Amid a hearing targeting fall 2025 for a first bellwether trial over the alleged link between the pesticide paraquat and Parkinson's disease, an Illinois federal judge told plaintiffs' lawyers to keep in better touch with their clients after her chambers received calls from plaintiffs wondering what's happening with their cases.
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December 19, 2024
VLSI Says PQA's Disclosure Fears Are Its Own Fault
VLSI Technology LLC urged a Virginia federal judge Thursday to make Patent Quality Assurance LLC's ownership disclosure public, saying the company actively chose to remove the litigation to a forum where it knew those disclosures were required.
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December 19, 2024
Another Dispute Over Michael Avenatti's Jet Flies Into Court
A California law firm is going after the incarcerated Michael Avenatti and others to get its hands on proceeds from the sale of a private jet the onetime attorney for Stormy Daniels purchased with money he stole from clients in the latest legal action over the seized plane.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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Alleged $636M Deal Error Highlights Ethics Considerations
Adelman v. Proskauer, a malpractice suit that allegedly arose from a cut-and-paste error resulting in potential damages of $636 million, presents an intriguing juxtaposition of facts and legal issues — and practical ethical considerations for transactions attorneys, says Richard Leisner at Trenam Law.
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5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices
The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.
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Alleged $636M Deal Error Shows Value Of Old-School Methods
Though Proskauer Rose has now settled claims involving a copy-paste error in deal documents that could have resulted in $636 million in damages, the debacle reminds attorneys that classic revision methods using paper copies can help avoid drafting errors and actually save time in the long run, says Richard Leisner at Trenam.
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Twitter Sanction Highlights Privacy Law's Complexity
The D.C. Circuit's recent decision to uphold a sanction against X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, for failing to produce account records in response to a subpoena highlights the importance of understanding the Stored Communications Act, particularly when deciding to produce or not produce data, says Cary Aronovitz at Holland & Knight.
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Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees
The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Series
Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Opinion
Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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How To Protect Atty-Client Privilege While Using Generative AI
When using generative artificial intelligence tools, attorneys should consider several safeguards to avoid breaches or complications in attorney-client privilege, say Antonious Sadek and Christopher Campbell at DLA Piper.
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How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth
Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.
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Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics
X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.
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ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act
While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.