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Legal Ethics
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September 24, 2025
Ex-Mass. Judge Fined For Giving Dad $450/Hour Role In Case
A now-former Massachusetts Probate and Family Court justice will pay a $4,000 civil penalty for appointing his father to a $450 an hour special master role in a divorce case, the State Ethics Commission said.
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September 24, 2025
Dems Probing Skadden, Kirkland, Paul Weiss' Work For Trump
Top Democratic legislators are investigating whether pro bono work reportedly being performed by聽Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP for the U.S. Department of Commerce is in violation of聽federal law, according to letters the lawmakers sent the firms Wednesday.
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September 24, 2025
Firm Sues For $1.7M Fees In Texas Mass Shooting Case
A Texas law firm is stepping up its litigation efforts to recover $1.7 million in fees it claims it is owed for work performed on behalf of victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, namely by filing its third lawsuit in state court this month.
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September 24, 2025
Conn. Judges Add 'No-Tolerance' AI Warnings To New Dockets
Federal judges in Connecticut have begun entering warnings on new case dockets notifying litigants and their counsel of a "no-tolerance policy" when it comes to briefs that include hallucinated arguments and citations, regardless of whether artificial intelligence was used.
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September 23, 2025
Attys Must Pay $24K For AI Citations In FIFA Antitrust Case
Counsel representing the now-shuttered Puerto Rico Soccer League in its antitrust suit against FIFA must pay more than $24,000 in attorney fees and litigation costs to the soccer federation and other defendants for filing briefs that appeared to contain errors hallucinated by artificial intelligence, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
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September 23, 2025
Watchdog Calls For DC, Md. Bar Investigations Into Carr
A government accountability watchdog brought a complaint against Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr to the D.C. Bar Association on Tuesday, claiming Carr violated conduct rules when he threatened to bring FCC action against ABC if it declined to discipline Jimmy Kimmel over his remarks following Charlie Kirk's murder.
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September 23, 2025
No Early Out For NY Firm In Insurer's Malpractice Coverage Suit
A New York-based law firm cannot throw out an insurance company's lawsuit seeking to be let off the hook from covering the firm against a malpractice claim, a Philadelphia federal judge has found, determining that factual questions in the case meant early dismissal was not an option.
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September 23, 2025
Atty-Trustee Conflicts Doom Scaife Estate's $26M Tax Refund
A Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky attorney was also acting as Mellon heir Richard Scaife's lawyer, trustee and media executive when he signed releases that kept Scaife's spending of his inheritance secret from his children, so a resulting $200 million settlement between the children and Scaife's estate was not a bona fide tax-exempt expense, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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September 23, 2025
Conn. Atty Denies Blame For Title Co.'s $920K Refinancing Loss
A Connecticut lawyer sought to fend off arguments in state court by Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. that his alleged mistakes on a $2.5 million refinancing led to a $920,000 loss for the insurer, claiming he and the company owed distinct duties to a policy-holder.
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September 23, 2025
Law Firms Sued Over La. Hurricane Claim Fee Scheme
Two law firms and certain attorneys engaged in a scheme to "grossly and blatantly" inflate damages estimates for hurricane-related property insurance claims in order to "collect an exorbitant fee which they would all share," a group of seven Louisiana residents told a Louisiana federal court.
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September 23, 2025
Former NJ Workers' Comp Judge's Firing Suit Trimmed
New Jersey has been granted partial summary judgment in its defense of a suit from a former workers' compensation judge who alleges that she was unconstitutionally removed from her job,聽with a state judge聽tossing her due process claims but letting certain discrimination claims proceed.聽
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September 23, 2025
Ga. Atty Can't Block State Bar's Revived Bid To Toss Bias Suit
A Georgia federal court has rejected an attorney's bid to stop the state bar's request to expand its motion to dismiss her racial discrimination lawsuit to include information about her disciplinary proceedings being resolved with no discipline.
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September 23, 2025
NJ Justices Won't Hear Challenge To State Bar Diversity Plan
The New Jersey Supreme Court has allowed to stand an appellate decision approving a New Jersey State Bar Association system for fostering diversity in its leadership, which a state attorney accused of being a discriminatory quota system.
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September 23, 2025
Fla. Judge Denies NY Atty's Early Exit From Malpractice Suit
A Miami federal judge has denied a New York lawyer an early win in a malpractice case stemming from advice she gave a client in an underlying SEC action, finding "reasonable minds" may disagree on whether the lawyer's actions breached the duty of care.
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September 22, 2025
Trump Appoints 'Loyal' Aide Following Va. US Atty's Exit
One of President Donald Trump's White House aides and former personal attorneys Monday was sworn in as聽interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a day after the resignation of the office's previous Senate-approved top prosecutor, who had declined to bring charges against two of the president's foes.
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September 22, 2025
Baker McKenzie Says Atty Is 'Trolling' Firm With Assault Claims
A former Baker McKenzie tax associate who has flooded social media with allegations that she was sexually assaulted by the leader of the international law firm's D.C. office is now facing a defamation lawsuit accusing her of "trolling" the firm with false claims.
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September 22, 2025
Newman Urges Full DC Circ. To Let Judges Sue Their Courts
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has invoked a D.C. Circuit panel's "implicit invitation" for the full court to reconsider precedent limiting the rights of disciplined judges, as she continues to fight her suspension.
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September 22, 2025
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Last week, Match.com secured approval for a $30M settlement over its 2019 reverse spinoff from IAC, and Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn urged decorum among Delaware lawyers, comparing recent legal turmoil to dark times in British monarchy history. Here's the latest from the Chancery Court.
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September 22, 2025
Calif. County Defender To Pay $200K In Harassment Probe
A California public defender's office has agreed to pay $200,000 to an employee to resolve the worker's claims that a superior sexually harassed them on the job through inappropriate comments and unwanted touching, the state's Civil Rights Department announced Monday.
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September 22, 2025
Conn. Board Seeks To Cement Win Over Tax Atty's Firing
The Connecticut Employees' Review Board has asked an appellate court not to rehear a fired tax attorney's unsuccessful appeal en banc, arguing that she has failed to show any fatal flaws in a three-judge panel's decision against her.
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September 22, 2025
Girardi Loses Bid To Avoid Prison During Appeal
Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi will have to wait in prison while he appeals his wire fraud conviction for stealing from his own clients, a California federal judge has ruled.
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September 22, 2025
Crime-Fraud Exemption Applies To Eletson Docs, Judge Says
Reed Smith LLP has until the end of the day on Monday to turn over a dozen client files related to its prior representation of shipping company Eletson Holdings amid a dispute with rival Levona, after a Manhattan federal judge found probable cause that a fraud was committed in an underlying arbitration.
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September 22, 2025
Social Media Co. Calls For Disqualification Of Influencer's Atty
A social media optimization company has moved to disqualify a social media influencer's attorney from a copyright infringement suit in Texas federal court, saying attorneys from the same firm had previously met with the company in meetings where confidential information was discussed.
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September 22, 2025
Law Firms Spar Over Affidavit In Cannabis Malpractice Fight
Trif & Modugno LLC faced repeated questioning at a Monday hearing in New Jersey state court over its argument that Lowenstein Sandler LLP's claims against the firm must be dismissed because Lowenstein Sandler never filed an affidavit of merit in a suit over the collapse of a cannabis dispensary.
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September 22, 2025
3rd Circ. Slams Attys For Debt Disputes Designed To Fail
Pittsburgh law firm J.P. Ward & Associates sent rambling, handwritten debt dispute letters in its clients' names that were intended to fail so the attorneys could sue collectors for not recognizing the dispute, a Third Circuit panel said Monday in upholding sanctions against the firm in a pair of lawsuits.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners 鈥 though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional 鈥渢rusted adviser鈥 paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient 鈥 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鈥檚 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 鈥 punctuality, memorization, creativity and more 鈥 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 鈥渃ollaboration drag鈥 鈥 characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent 鈥 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 鈥 a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round 鈥 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.