Legal Ethics

  • April 30, 2026

    Ga. Panel Scraps Sanctions Over Special Master's Unpaid Bill

    A Georgia appellate panel threw out Thursday a contempt order entered against plaintiffs suing a host of chemical companies for toxic tort claims after they failed to pay a special master's legal fees, ruling that a trial court wrongly disregarded their protests that they couldn't afford his services.

  • April 30, 2026

    Jones Day Beats Sanctions Bid In $2M Fee Dispute

    An Illinois state judge has ruled that Jones Day can pursue punitive damages on several of its claims in a lawsuit alleging a former client made a series of unlawful transactions to avoid paying over $2 million in legal fees, and also denied sanctions sought by the ex-client against the firm.

  • April 30, 2026

    Cannabis Dispute Ends With Plaintiff Co. Facing $1.34M Default

    A California state court snuffed out a Los Angeles cannabis company's fraud lawsuit against its investors and landlords, which were accused of stealing $40 million and wrecking its cannabis license, opening the door for the ex-business partners to score a $1.34 million default judgment.

  • April 30, 2026

    'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

    A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

  • April 30, 2026

    Ex-Shareholders, Reed Smith Seek End To Eletson Suit

    Former shareholders of Eletson Holdings on Thursday joined with their ex-Eletson counsel at Reed Smith to ask a New York bankruptcy judge to dismiss a suit claiming they had schemed to seize control of Eletson assets in defiance of the company's Chapter 11 plan.

  • April 30, 2026

    Netflix's 'Tiger King' Funeral Clip Was Fair Use, 10th Circ. Says

    The Tenth Circuit on Thursday said Netflix Inc. made fair use of a minutelong funeral clip in its popular "Tiger King" docuseries, holding in a precedential opinion that the streaming platform's use of the footage was "significantly transformative," departing from its earlier ruling that reached the opposite conclusion.

  • April 30, 2026

    Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

    A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

  • April 30, 2026

    Ga. Lawyer Says Fraud Coverage Ruling Misread State Law

    A Georgia attorney on Wednesday urged a federal judge to undo a recent ruling declaring his professional liability insurer doesn't owe him coverage in an underlying lawsuit alleging the lawyer schemed with a client to enrich themselves, arguing the court erred by finding his alleged conduct didn't fall under the policy.

  • April 30, 2026

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Corporate Raid, MV Realty Settlement

    A major case settled in the North Carolina Business Court in April as new lawsuits emerged, including a complaint by health information technology company IQVIA Holdings Inc. accusing its former top brass of orchestrating a corporate raid and defecting to a competitor. In case you missed this story and others, here are the highlights.

  • April 30, 2026

    J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

    Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

  • April 30, 2026

    5th Circ. Tosses FCA Suit Against IT Firm Over Visa Fraud

    The Fifth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a man's claims that an India-based information technology and professional services firm violated the False Claims Act via fraudulent visa applications and improper tax withholding, finding no specific payment obligations under the FCA itself.

  • April 30, 2026

    Wyden Asks IRS To Probe Lawyers For Puerto Rico Tax Advice

    Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Thursday that he has asked the IRS to investigate whether two attorneys "inaccurately advised" wealthy individuals that they could avoid taxes on capital gains accrued in the U.S. before becoming residents of Puerto Rico.

  • April 30, 2026

    Kratom Seller Sanctioned For Deleting Blog During Suit

    A California federal judge has sanctioned Ashlynn Marketing Group Inc. in a suit alleging it hid kratom's dangerous and addictive effects, finding that it deliberately deleted a blog containing statements about kratom after the suit was filed.

  • April 29, 2026

    WordPress Judge Calls Deleted Message Claims 'Concerning'

    A federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in an antitrust lawsuit against WordPress parent Automattic Inc. and its CEO Matthew Mullenweg said plaintiff WPEngine Inc. "plausibly contends" Mullenweg "deleted relevant documents or allowed such documents to be deleted after an obligation to preserve was triggered."

  • April 29, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Death Sentence For Murder In Habeas Case

    A man must face the death penalty for the rape and murder of a California woman, a Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday, reversing the grant of a habeas petition and finding that his attorney was not constitutionally ineffective.

  • April 29, 2026

    5th Circ. Calls Firm's Bid To Arbitrate $70M Award 'A Stretch'

    A Fifth Circuit panel seemed dubious of a law firm's argument that a federal court lacked jurisdiction over a claim that it shuffled assets to avoid paying an arbitration award that totaled $70 million, saying Wednesday that the firm's argument was "a stretch."

  • April 29, 2026

    New Emails Can't Revive Adidas TM Suit, 2nd Circ. Affirms

    Attorneys for the luxury fashion brand Thom Browne Inc. did not commit misconduct when they failed to turn over four emails to Adidas during a trademark dispute, and because the documents "probably" would not have changed the verdict, the case will not be restored, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • April 29, 2026

    Fla. Judge DQ'd In Trump Library Suit Over Courtroom Hug

    A Florida state appellate panel disqualified a trial judge overseeing a suit accusing a Miami college of transferring land for a President Donald Trump library without proper notice, agreeing Wednesday that the judge's thanking and hugging the man who brought the suit was improper.

  • April 29, 2026

    Texas Couple Drops Data Suit Against Personal Injury Firm

    A Houston couple who accused a law firm and a since-dismissed Progressive unit of conspiring to share the private information of car crash victims has dropped federal claims against the firm after reportedly finding no evidence that it engaged in the conduct they alleged. 

  • April 29, 2026

    3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In May

    The Federal Circuit's May argument slate includes appeals of invalidity decisions and sanctions tied to VLSI Technology's multibillion-dollar chip patent dispute with Intel, as well as Amazon's challenge to a cloud storage patent verdict against it for over half a billion dollars.

  • April 29, 2026

    9th Circ. Reverses Stay In App Store Commissions Case

    The Ninth Circuit has reversed its own order that stayed a ruling on an injunction barring Apple from charging developers high commissions on in-app purchases until a district court judge sets up narrower guardrails, saying Epic Games had persuaded it that Apple was unlikely to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal.

  • April 29, 2026

    Coupang, Ex-In-House Lawyer To Drop Iran Whistleblower Suit

    South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang and a former in-house compliance attorney have agreed to dismiss the lawyer's suit claiming he was wrongly fired for bringing attention to the company's alleged illegal business dealings with Iran, according to a joint filing Wednesday in Seattle federal court.

  • April 29, 2026

    3rd Circ. Skeptical Law Prof Harmed By NJ Employment Policy

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday appeared skeptical that an attorney has standing to challenge the constitutionality of a workplace policy for New Jersey employees, asking what imminent harm she faces now that she is no longer subject to the policy.

  • April 29, 2026

    Nadine Menendez Denied Bail During Bribery Conviction Appeal

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday denied a bid from Nadine Menendez for bail while she appeals her conviction on a bribery scheme carried out with her ex-senator husband, ruling that her motion doesn't raise a substantial question of law.

  • April 29, 2026

    Florida Atty Settles SEC Claims Over Gem Investment Fraud

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a Florida attorney will pay more than $26,000 to settle claims in Georgia federal court that he aided a million-dollar gold and diamond investment fraud scheme by receiving and disbursing investor funds and ignoring red flags.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Arbitrator's Conviction Upheld

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    The Supreme Court of Spain recently upheld the criminal conviction of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa for grave disobedience to judicial authority, rejecting the proposition that an arbitrator's independence can prevail over a court order retroactively disabling the very judicial act conferring arbitral jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Reel Justice: 'One Battle After Another' And The Limits Of Zeal

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    The political thriller “One Battle After Another,” following a former revolutionary who became a recluse, offers a potent metaphor for attorneys on diligence and the ethical boundaries of zealous advocacy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

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