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Legal Ethics
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June 06, 2025
Fox Rothschild Settles Suit Over $3M Real Estate Deal
Fox Rothschild LLP has settled a Colorado real estate investor's legal malpractice lawsuit over a $3 million development deal that went wrong, according to a new order filed in state court directing the parties to file for dismissal within a month.
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June 05, 2025
Med Mal Juror Misconduct Claim Won't Mean New Trial
An Indiana state appeals court Thursday upheld a defense win in a medical malpractice trial despite a juror's post-verdict revelation that she had previously heard of a defense expert witness.
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June 05, 2025
Ex-Atty Says IRS Suit Over Property Sale Tactic Is Retaliatory
A former attorney has asked an Idaho federal court to toss the government's suit accusing him and his company of promoting an abusive tax scheme, arguing that the underlying property sale transactions were above board but the government targeted him as punishment for suing the IRS and to gain backdoor access into confidential business records.
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June 05, 2025
Paralegal Gets Firm's Extortion Counterclaim Nixed
A law firm's counterclaim accusing a paralegal of launching an unpaid overtime wages lawsuit against it in order to try to extort it for money cannot proceed, a Texas federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the claim isn't sufficiently linked to the underlying dispute.
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June 05, 2025
Dems, GOP Question Contempt Section Of Reconciliation Bill
Senate Democrats have vowed to do whatever they can to defeat a provision in the budget reconciliation that would limit federal courts' ability to hold federal officials in contempt, and some Republicans are wary of it as well.
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June 05, 2025
Fla. Justices Set New Atty Suspension Rule For Felony Cases
Florida attorneys who are charged with a felony will soon be given the opportunity to respond before the issuing of an interim suspension under a new rule created by the Florida Supreme Court Thursday.
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June 05, 2025
Judge Rejects DC Bid To Toss Black Atty's Bias Suit
A D.C. federal judge allowed a city attorney's discrimination and retaliation lawsuit to proceed to discovery Thursday, rejecting the D.C. government's motion to toss the claims that a city administrative law judge discriminated against Black women and paid the plaintiff attorney less than her male peers.
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June 05, 2025
Sills Cummis Slams 'Woefully Inadequate' Docs In Fees Suit
Sills Cummis & Gross PC is asking a New Jersey state court to order a former client to produce documents to back up allegations the law firm padded legal bills that reached about $1.5 million, saying the man's responses have been "inadequate" and "vaguely written."
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June 05, 2025
Girardi's Son-In-Law Admits Contempt In Illinois Theft Case
Tom Girardi's son-in-law pled guilty to criminal contempt Thursday in Illinois federal court, admitting he knew the once-celebrated plaintiffs lawyer failed to pay millions of dollars in plane crash settlement funds they had been ordered to distribute to their clients "as soon as practical."
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June 05, 2025
Convicted Fla. Atty Urges 11th Circ. To Reexamine Sentence
A Florida lawyer sentenced to 75 months in prison over a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme has asked the Eleventh Circuit to rehear her sentencing en banc, arguing the appellate court should reexamine the district court's so-called Keane statement allegedly disregarding sentencing guidelines.
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June 05, 2025
Conn. Atty Seeks Digital Data To Unmask Alleged ID Thief
Claggett Sykes & Garza LLC partner Andrew Garza told a Connecticut state court judge Thursday that someone used his identity to open bank accounts and file a fraudulent registration for his former law firm with the Secretary of the State's office, and he needs the court to order U.S. Bank and other companies to give him information that could reveal the perpetrator.
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June 05, 2025
Foley & Lardner Says Palestine Support Didn't Doom Job Offer
Foley & Lardner LLP urged an Illinois federal judge to dismiss a bias suit by a former summer associate, arguing her job offer was rescinded not due to her Arab Muslim identity but because her public comments on Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel "violated the firm's core values" and showed "incredibly poor judgment."
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June 05, 2025
Atty Coalition Asks Fla. Bar To Open Ethics Probe Into Bondi
A group of lawyers, law professors and former judges asked the Florida Bar on Thursday to open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying she has pushed U.S. Department of Justice attorneys to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of "zealous advocacy."
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June 05, 2025
Senate Panel Advances Picks For Nat. Sec. Post, Iowa US Atty
The Senate voted 52-43 along party lines on Thursday to confirm John Andrew Eisenberg to be assistant attorney general for national security.
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June 05, 2025
Ga. Law Firm, Insurer Settle Over $6.4M Hotel Injury Case
An insurance company that sued a law firm for malpractice in Georgia federal court after paying more than $6.4 million following a worker injury jury verdict against a construction company it insured, said Thursday that it had settled with the firm in connection with its representation of the company.
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June 05, 2025
Bernstein Litowitz Can Hire Ex-SEC Atty Over Musk Objection
A New York federal judge on Thursday gave the all-clear for investor-side firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP to hire the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's former litigation chief over the objections of Elon Musk.
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June 04, 2025
Apple Loses Bid To Pause App Store Order Amid Appeal
A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday refused to lift a lower court's injunction mandating certain App Store policy changes while Apple appeals it, saying that it wasn't "persuaded that a stay is appropriate" in the high-profile litigation brought by Epic Games.
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June 04, 2025
Skadden Foundation Chief Exits, Urging Pro Bono 'Courage'
The executive director of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Fellowship Foundation, which funds public interest legal work, announced her resignation Wednesday, two months after the firm struck a deal with President Donald Trump to avert an executive order that could have interfered with its business.
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June 04, 2025
High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist
A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.
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June 04, 2025
Fed. Circ. Pushes Back As Ramey Fights Fee Award To Google
A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned Ramey LLP managing partner William Ramey's challenge to one of several sanctions that have recently been imposed on his firm in patent cases, with some judges suggesting that the order in question in a case against Google LLC appeared warranted.
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June 04, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: TikTok Tussle And Merger Melee
Spring has sprung momentous decisions and quiet resolutions in some of the North Carolina Business Court's top cases, from clearing for trial the attorney general's suit over a hospital's post-merger standard of care to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP dropping its coverage dispute over a 2022 data breach.
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June 04, 2025
FIFA Slams Atty's Bid To 'Circumvent' DQ In Puerto Rico Case
A Puerto Rican attorney may not sidestep a disqualification order by dropping his personal claims from an antitrust case against FIFA in which he is both counsel and plaintiff, the organization told a federal judge Wednesday, arguing the lawyer is a "necessary fact witness" and therefore a conflict is unavoidable.
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June 04, 2025
Ill. Atty Faces 1 Year Suspension, Left Watchdog 'Baffled'
An Illinois attorney who was sanctioned $1 million alongside his client for frivolously litigating a condominium governance fight and later helped that client engage in knowingly improper bankruptcy conduct should be suspended for a year and complete a professionalism seminar, a state disciplinary watchdog says.
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June 04, 2025
FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries
The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.
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June 04, 2025
Last Defendant In 'Shell Factory' Scheme Gets 1½ Yrs
A Florida federal judge Wednesday sentenced the final defendant rounded up in the "Shell Factory Fraud" to 18 months in prison for his role in creating fake shell companies as part of a pump-and-dump scheme.
Expert Analysis
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Opinion
More Guidance Needed On Appellate Amicus Recusals
Instead of eliminating the right for amici to file briefs on consent, as per the recently proposed Federal Appellate Rules amendment, the Judicial Conference's Committee on Codes of Judicial Conduct should issue guidance on situations in which amicus filings should lead to circuit judge recusals, says Alan Morrison at George Washington University Law School.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law
The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement
Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.