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Legal Ethics

  • July 25, 2025

    NJ Judge Hit With Ethics Complaint After DWI Arrest

    The New Jersey Supreme Court's judicial ethics advisory committee has filed amended charges against a municipal judge it says violated conduct rules in connection with an investigation related to his 2024 arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

  • July 25, 2025

    Paxton Deputies Seek To Toss Ex-Colleagues' Conspiracy Suit

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's first assistant penned an email alleging sexual misconduct by a former deputy because he genuinely feared for his safety, according to a bid to dismiss a civil rights complaint filed by two former deputies who claim a conspiracy among officials in the Texas Office of the Attorney General to retaliate against them.

  • July 25, 2025

    11th Circ. Calls Dismissal Of Ga. Bar Bias Suit 'Indefensible'

    An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared all but certain Friday that it would revive a Georgia attorney's race bias suit against the state's bar association, calling a federal district court's dismissal of her claims that the bar has a two-tiered disciplinary system "indefensible."

  • July 25, 2025

    Former Jan. 6 Prosecutor, 2 Other Ex-DOJ Employees File Suit

    A former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has filed a federal lawsuit along with two other ex-Department of Justice employees alleging they were unlawfully fired.

  • July 25, 2025

    Boston Atty To Cop To Stealing $2M From Clients

    A Boston lawyer will plead guilty to stealing more than $2 million from clients and may face more than four years in prison per the terms of his plea deal, Massachusetts federal prosecutors announced.

  • July 25, 2025

    Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

    When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Court Axes Deported Man's Drug Plea Over Atty Advice

    A California appeals court has vacated the drug conviction of a Mexican national and U.S. resident and has told the lower court to set a trial on the charge, finding he wasn't properly told by his lawyer that pleading guilty would lead to deportation.

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Atty To Pay SEC Fine Over Alleged Prime Bank Fraud Role

    A New Jersey attorney and a California man will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a total of $134,000 as part of agreements to resolve the regulator's allegations they helped bilk an older couple out of over $150,000 through a so-called prime bank scheme. 

  • July 24, 2025

    Alina Habba Says She Is Now Acting US Atty In NJ

    Alina Habba posted on social media Thursday that she is now the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, two days after the federal district court declined to extend her tenure in the interim position.

  • July 24, 2025

    Shipowner Settles Longshoreman's Personal Injury Claims

    A Georgia longshoreman and a cargo ship owner have settled a federal lawsuit accusing the company of negligence after a gangway handrail collapse that injured the worker, according to a judge's order dismissing the case.

  • July 29, 2025

    CORRECTED: Nonprofit Attys Get OK To Appear In Yale Defamation Suit

    The Connecticut Appellate Court on July 23 allowed six out-of-state attorneys representing special interest groups to appear in an appeal questioning whether an unapproved amicus brief in a separate case defamed an acquitted ex-Yale student.

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Attys Warn RICO Case Revival Would 'Chill' Lawyering

    The New Jersey State Bar Association told a Garden State appellate court that lawyers across the state will be chilled from zealously advocating for their clients if it revives the state's racketeering indictment against two politically connected attorneys, making it the second attorney advocacy group to file a proposed amicus curiae brief in the case.

  • July 24, 2025

    Akerman Faces $45M Malpractice Suit From Health Biz In Fla.

    Akerman LLP and one of its attorneys have been hit with a $45 million malpractice lawsuit in Florida state court from a former client who develops healthcare facilities and claims the firm botched a commercial lease form.

  • July 24, 2025

    Jay-Z Defends Extortion Claims Against Buzbee, Other Attys

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is urging an Alabama federal court to send toward trial his extortion lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm, a New York City lawyer and her firm, and a client of theirs who accused him of rape and then dropped her case.

  • July 24, 2025

    Ex-Calif. Judge Says 'Trying To Do Too Much' Led To Backlog

    A former California state appellate justice said health problems and a strong work ethic harmed his ability to handle his caseload quickly, leading to delays in hundreds of cases that precipitated ethics charges, telling a watchdog he "can only be faulted for trying to do too much under the circumstances."

  • July 24, 2025

    Butler Snow Attys DQ'd For Fake AI Citations In Prisoner Case

    Three Butler Snow LLP attorneys have been publicly reprimanded and removed from representing the former commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections in an incarcerated man's federal civil rights case, after a judge found they had filed motions including "hallucinations" generated by ChatGPT.

  • July 24, 2025

    Bets On Atty's Lien Biz Lost Millions, Investor Tells Jury

    A seasoned investor told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he heavily backed a tax-lien fund controlled by a lawyer now accused of fraud, ultimately losing $2.9 million in supposedly low-risk bets where such losses were "not supposed to be possible."

  • July 24, 2025

    Buzbee Gets Ex-Client's Fraud Claims Moved To Arbitration

    A Louisiana federal court has granted Houston personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee's request for arbitration in a lawsuit by an injured seaman who claims the Texas lawyer and his firm bilked him out of settlement funds in a Jones Act lawsuit.

  • July 24, 2025

    Chamberlain Hrdlicka Wins Bid To Arbitrate Malpractice Claim

    Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Autry PC won a Texas state appellate decision Thursday forcing a former client to arbitrate his claims that the firm's alleged malpractice over a business restructuring ultimately cost him millions in a divorce.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Fed. Judge Pulls Opinion Flagged With Nonexistent Quotes

    A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday withdrew his decision declining to dismiss a securities class action against CorMedix Inc. after an attorney for the biopharmaceutical firm pointed out the opinion contained "a series of errors," including nonexistent quotes and misstated decisions.

  • July 23, 2025

    Hinshaw Must Face Malpractice Suit, Fla. Panel Says

    A Florida appeals panel overturned Wednesday a lower court decision favoring Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in a malpractice claim brought by a pilot safety training company, ruling that the company didn't abandon its claims by settling an underlying arbitration.

  • July 23, 2025

    Oakley Penalized For Failing To Preserve Texts In MSG Spat

    A New York federal judge Wednesday declined to dismiss the assault and battery lawsuit launched by former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley against Madison Square Garden and said it will not impose monetary sanctions, related to destroyed text messages, against two law firms representing him.

  • July 23, 2025

    Ex-Cannabis Co. CFO OK'd To Argue Good Faith In SEC Case

    A former executive of cannabis company Acreage Holdings Inc., accused of falsifying the company's financials, will be permitted to argue that he was acting in good faith, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday, finding it was too early to know whether attorney-client privilege would block his defense.

  • July 23, 2025

    ACLU's Brief Rejected In Ex-Yale Student's Defamation Suit 

    The ACLU's Connecticut litigation arm and five other legal advocacy groups cannot file friend-of-the-court briefs in former Yale University student Saifullah Khan's defamation case against 16 others that filed a rejected amici brief in a separate state Supreme Court matter, a state appeals court has ruled.

  • July 23, 2025

    Sen. Collins Opposes Bove For 3rd Circ. Over Bias Concerns

    Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will oppose the confirmation of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has also indicated her likely opposition.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • Opinion

    Third-Party Funding Transparency Is Key In Patent Suits

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    Third-party litigation funding is a growing industry that could benefit from enhanced disclosure standards to ensure transparency, as challenges in obtaining discovery of such funding can complicate patent litigation against nonpracticing entities, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • Atty Insurance Implications Of Rising Nonclient Cyber Claims

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    As law firms are increasingly targeted in cyberattacks, claims by clients as well as nonclients against lawyers are also on the rise, increasing the scope of exposure that attorneys face in their practice, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Why Attys Should Get Familiar With Quantum Computing

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    Quantum computing is projected to pose significant updates to current practices in cryptography, making the issue relevant to policymakers and the legal profession generally, particularly when it comes to data storage, privacy regulations and pharmaceutical industry market changes, say professors at the University of San Francisco.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

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    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals

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    If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.

  • Series

    Playing Football Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    While my football career ended over 15 years ago, the lessons the sport taught me about grit, accountability and resilience have stayed with me and will continue to help me succeed as an attorney, says Bert McBride at Trenam.

  • 10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks

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    The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing

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    Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

  • 10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master

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    As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

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    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

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