/legalethics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section Latest articles for: Legal Ethics Copyright 2026 sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½. en-US Fri, 09 Jan 2026 22:40:47 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428365?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428365 The Federal Circuit spent part of its Friday morning mulling whether it is the court's job to, in the words of the judge who killed the trade secrets claims brought by a MasterCard unit against two McKinsey consultants, "do APT's job for it by mining its trade secrets from the raw materials." Fri, 09 Jan 2026 22:31:11 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428709?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428709 Prosecutors urged a Brooklyn federal judge Friday to disqualify three attorneys who represent a former heavyweight boxer accused of participating in a $1 billion cocaine trafficking scheme, arguing that one of the lawyers is under investigation related to the alleged attempted bribery of a juror at his client's trial. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 21:06:26 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428754?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428754 A Maryland federal judge on Friday barred prosecutors from pre-admitting Thomas Goldstein's statements in a New York Times article as evidence in the SCOTUSblog co-founder's tax fraud trial, but she left open the possibility for the government to call either Jeffrey Toobin, the article's author, or a Times fact-checker, as a witness. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:18:53 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428664?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428664 The Seventh Circuit on Friday kept in place the conviction and 32-month prison sentence of a Chicago real estate developer and former attorney for offering legal work to ex-Alderman Edward Burke as a bribe for help with a zoning permit, finding the government presented sufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict and arguments to the contrary were "unavailing." Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:09:32 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428645?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428645 Patent attorney Bill Ramey has avoided sanctions requested by BlackBerry Corp. for what the smartphone company called the "frivolous and unreasonable" way he litigated a case brought on behalf of Silent Communications LLC. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:39:25 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428566?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428566 A federal judge who told a man that a plea deal for distributing methamphetamine could be rescinded if he did not agree to it did not act inappropriately, a unanimous Tenth Circuit panel ruled Friday, finding the lower court had not interfered with negotiations by providing factual information. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:11:07 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428637?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428637 The Texas Supreme Court on Friday told the Fifth Circuit that judges can refuse to perform same-sex marriages on moral or religious grounds, opening the door for the federal appeals court to find that state judges can refuse to perform the unions. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:59:44 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428558?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428558 A business owner has filed a lawsuit accusing five attorneys from five different small California law firms of conspiring with his ex-business partner to steal assets from a company the two had jointly owned. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:42:25 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2426620?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2426620 A D.C. federal judge issued an order on Friday preventing Edwards Lifesciences Corp. from moving ahead with its planned $945 million deal for JenaValve Technology Inc., torpedoing the merger challenged by the Federal Trade Commission. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:38:39 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2427109?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2427109 Champions for improved judicial administration should reject the unfounded criticisms driving recent Senate proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit and instead seek to replicate the court's unique strengths and successes, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:20:47 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428349?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428349 A former Kentucky state prosecutor must serve 41 months behind bars after a Sixth Circuit panel upheld his conviction on wire fraud and government bribery charges tied to his alleged criminal scheme of assisting a criminal defendant in exchange for sexual favors and explicit photos. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:10:21 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428219?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428219 Former Connecticut Assistant Attorney General Joseph Nielsen and his law firm, Lowey Dannenberg PC, should not be disqualified from representing insurers in multidistrict litigation over generic drug price-fixing because he did not have any special knowledge that the states suing drugmakers hadn't already shared with the private plaintiffs, according to a special master's report and recommendation. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:39:47 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428344?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428344 A proposed wage and hour class action that drew the legal world's attention in November after the plaintiff's counsel admitted to using a half-dozen artificial intelligence tools to prepare a botched motion has now ended, with a Northern California federal judge granting a joint dismissal following a settlement agreement. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:20:51 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428409?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428409 Lawyers should not be barred outright from using artificial intelligence tools to prepare court documents, a New York court system advisory committee said in its annual report on Thursday. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:58:58 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428392?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428392 When constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein entered an appearance as counsel for former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro on Tuesday, it was without having ever spoken to the client, according to a Thursday filing by Maduro's attorney Barry Pollack seeking to remove Fein from the case. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:07:51 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428107?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428107 Law firm Williams Simons & Landis PC is suing a group of its former clients, saying they breached a representation contract by failing to pay more than $11 million owed to the firm after a successful trade secrets suit against Walmart. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 10:34:49 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428223?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428223 A California state appeals court ruled that a Los Angeles personal injury law firm was entitled to over $3 million in payout from a $6 million settlement even though the firm initially entered into the deal without its client's consent and was later fired. Thu, 08 Jan 2026 23:14:28 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428252?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428252 A California state judge has agreed to resign and plead guilty to a felony fraud charge after prosecutors alleged he knowingly hired a physician previously convicted of healthcare fraud to prepare medical reports to submit to the state's workers' compensation program, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:56:00 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428170?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428170 A Chicago federal judge on Thursday ordered a host of Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers to pay Walgreens more than $392,000 in attorney fees and expenses for discovery misconduct in their suit that accuses the drugstore company of fraudulently overcharging for prescription drugs. Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:14:45 +0000 /legalethics/articles/2428198?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /legalethics/articles/2428198 Venezuela pressed the Third Circuit Thursday to overturn an order greenlighting the nearly $6 billion sale of Citgo to satisfy billions of dollars of the country's debt, arguing that the underlying attachment orders are void and that the proceeding was marred by "obvious" conflicts of interest.