Legal Ethics

  • March 18, 2024

    Trump Can't Use Quasi-Advice Of Counsel Defense In NY Trial

    Donald Trump cannot use an informal "presence of counsel" defense in the Manhattan district attorney's hush money case against him, a New York judge ruled Monday, rejecting a strategy that would have allowed the former president to blame his ex-attorneys without having to divulge details about the purported legal advice.

  • March 18, 2024

    Atty For Ex-Overstock CEO Admits Dominion Discovery Leaks

    A lawyer representing former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne against a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems admitted to a D.C. federal judge on Monday that she shared Dominion's discovery documents with law enforcement as Dominion's attorneys decried the leak as a flagrant violation of a court protective order.

  • March 18, 2024

    SEC Sanctioned Over 'Bad Faith Conduct' In Crypto Case

    A Utah federal judge sanctioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday over misstatements its counsel made to obtain emergency measures against crypto project Debt Box, ordering the regulator to pay both the defense's and receiver's attorney fees as well as legal costs arising from the regulator's "bad faith conduct."

  • March 18, 2024

    Plaintiffs Call For Sanctions Over PFAS MDL Deal Threat

    A proposed class in multidistrict litigation against DuPont and others alleging they contaminated drinking water with PFAS chemicals is urging a South Carolina federal court to sanction attorneys for a California water service, saying they violated court rules in their latest objections to a settlement.

  • March 18, 2024

    Mass. Law Firm Can't Escape Ex-Client's Data Breach Case

    A small Massachusetts law firm will have to face an ex-client's proposed class action claiming it was negligent and failed to protect her and others' personal information from hackers who breached the firm's computers and stole data, a Boston federal judge has ruled.

  • March 18, 2024

    NC Judge Axes Wage Suit After Attys Flout Pretrial Deadlines

    A North Carolina judge has cast out an employment dispute between a funeral home and its former president on the eve of trial after both sides neglected deadlines, saying he'll dismiss the case in its entirety with a chance to refile and "clean the slate."

  • March 18, 2024

    Kirkland Wants To Escape Suit Over Ex-Judge's Relationship

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP wants to bring down the hammer on a racketeering lawsuit claiming the firm "conspired" to profit from a Texas bankruptcy judge's secret romance scandal, saying the "flimsy" suit should be dismissed, and both the plaintiff and his attorneys at Bandas Law Firm PC should be sanctioned for filing it.

  • March 18, 2024

    Seton Hall Aims To Erase Ex-President's 'Sensational' Suit

    Seton Hall University has called on a New Jersey state court to throw out its former president's claims he was forced out for blowing the whistle on alleged misconduct by former board chair and prominent criminal defense attorney Kevin Marino, saying the suit is "what can best be described as gamesmanship, and at worst sheer dishonesty."

  • March 18, 2024

    Major Lindsey Followed Rules In Sex Assault Suit, Judge Says

    A Chicago-based attorney who represents Major Lindsey & Africa LLC in an ex-employee's New York sexual assault suit did not run afoul of court requirements by sending a letter demanding that she drop the claims, a judge held Monday.

  • March 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Revives Widows' Collections Suit Against Law Firm

    The Fifth Circuit has revived a proposed class action against Louisiana law firm Shows Cali & Walsh LLP regarding its efforts to recoup grant funds awarded in connection with Hurricane Katrina, saying a reasonable jury could find the law firm violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

  • March 18, 2024

    DC Panel Explains Denial Of Ethics Subpoena On Ex-DOJ Atty

    A subpoena from D.C. attorney ethics authorities demanding that former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Clark produce documents pertaining to his alleged role in promoting Donald Trump's stolen election narrative would be "sufficiently testimonial and potentially incriminating" to implicate the Fifth Amendment, a D.C. Court of Appeals panel ruled.

  • March 18, 2024

    Trump, Co-Defendants Seek Appeal Of Willis DQ Ruling

    Former President Donald Trump on Monday asked a Georgia judge to let him appeal a ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting him and his co-defendants in the state's election interference case.

  • March 18, 2024

    Pa. Firm Partner's Equity Suit Sent Back To State Court

    A dispute between two firm partners is being remanded to Pennsylvania state court after a U.S. district judge ruled Friday that the case lacks the geographic diversity required to be in federal court because both attorneys remain members of the firm, despite one submitting notice of her intent to withdraw.

  • March 18, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Multimillion-dollar e-cigarette settlements, $4 billion in stock buybacks and a $6.1 million appraisal tweak were among the big-dollar items logged in the Delaware Court of Chancery's ledger last week. Also on the docket: a Panama port project, a news outlet's defamation case, drone disputes and a flood of mail from Tesla shareholders. In case you missed it, here's all the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Doctor Can't Yank NBA Fraud Plea, Feds Insist

    Prosecutors have told a Manhattan federal judge that a doctor accused of assisting a group of NBA players in creating false documents to defraud the league's healthcare plan shouldn't be allowed to yank his guilty plea, arguing evidence shows his guilt and that too much time has passed.

  • March 18, 2024

    Attorney For Sen. Menendez's Wife Conflicted, Feds Say

    Nadine Menendez, the wife of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and his co-defendant in a federal corruption trial in Manhattan, may be disadvantaged at trial due to her counsel's having "personal knowledge of certain facts relevant to this matter" that could compel him to testify as a witness, federal prosecutors said.

  • March 18, 2024

    NJ Official Says Court System Can't Avoid Harassment Suit

    A municipal court administrator has hit back against the New Jersey state court system's claim that she is not an employee in its bid to escape a state lawsuit over a former judge's alleged sexual harassment.

  • March 18, 2024

    'Hotel California' Trial Collapse Reveals Privilege Rift

    The recent midtrial implosion of a Manhattan district attorney case over Eagles frontman Don Henley's allegedly stolen album notes had both sides crying ethical fouls — exposing thorny questions about what happens when the attorney-client privilege of a witness comes into conflict with a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment rights.

  • March 15, 2024

    Trump Case DA Won DQ Battle, But Legal War Far From Over

    The resignation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' former romantic partner and top lieutenant in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others will not end the legal wrangling or intense scrutiny over Willis' presence in the high-profile case, experts told Law360.

  • March 15, 2024

    Firm, Mont. Tribal Council To Settle Violence Dispute

    Greenberg Traurig LLP, its longtime counsel and a Montana tribal council are looking to settle a dispute in which the law firm and attorney are accused of devising a financial scheme that led to violence over a decision to remove the board of directors of the tribe's economic entity.

  • March 15, 2024

    Ga. Juror's Google Search Sinks Child Cruelty Conviction

    A Georgia court of appeals threw out in part a man's conviction in a sexual battery and cruelty to children case after a juror looked up the charges on Google during re-deliberation, finding Friday that he is entitled to a new trial on one of the seven counts against him.

  • March 15, 2024

    Trump's NY Trial Delayed After Late Document Dump

    A New York judge on Friday postponed for at least several weeks the Manhattan district attorney's hush money trial against Donald Trump, citing a last-minute deluge of discovery from federal prosecutors.

  • March 15, 2024

    Texas Justices To Review Tossed $22M Malpractice Verdict

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a split appellate decision that tossed a real estate brokerage's $22 million malpractice award against a Dallas law firm after finding that improper jury instructions influenced the verdict.

  • March 15, 2024

    NJ Panel Says Pro Se Attys Can Talk To Opposing Parties

    An ethics committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court has issued an opinion that pro se attorneys may talk to a party without consent of that party's counsel, calling the American Bar Association's 2022 finding that such communication breaks a rule of professional conduct a "tortured and counterintuitive construction" of the rule.

  • March 15, 2024

    Attys, Broker Fight For Advice-Of-Counsel Defense In Tax Trial

    Two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent staring down criminal tax charges in North Carolina federal court said the government can't prevent them from relying on advice-of-counsel defenses at their upcoming trial, arguing they've handed over all the information prosecutors need to prepare.

Expert Analysis

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • For Now, Generative AI Is Risky For Class Action Counsel

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    Although a recent survey showed most in-house counsel think that their outside counsel should be using generative artificial intelligence "in some way" in class action work, the technology is more a target for class actions than it is a tool to be used in practice at present, says Matthew Allen at Carlton Fields.

  • When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case

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    Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.

  • Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case

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    With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Verizon Benefits Ruling Clears Up Lien Burden Of Proof

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    A Rhode Island federal court recently ruled that a Verizon benefits plan could not recoup a former employee’s settlement funds from the attorney who represented her in a personal injury case, importantly clarifying two Employee Retirement Income Security Act burden of proof issues that were previously unsettled, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

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