Legal Ethics

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Can Stay Free During OneCoin Fraud Appeal

    A Manhattan federal judge Thursday granted a former Locke Lord LLP partner's motion for bail pending appeal of his 10-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of laundering around $400 million in proceeds from the global OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, saying he does not pose a flight risk given his medical conditions.

  • April 18, 2024

    SEC Faces $1.8M Atty Fee Bid After Sanctions In Crypto Case

    A court-appointed receiver and defendants in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against crypto project Debt Box requested Wednesday that the regulator pay roughly $1.8 million in sanctions to cover the fees incurred by an allegedly ill-gotten temporary restraining order and receivership.

  • April 18, 2024

    State Sen. Tells Ga. Judge It's 'Fact' He Was 2020 Elector

    Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, who was indicted alongside former President Donald Trump and over a dozen others last August, urged the judge overseeing the state's election interference case to accept as fact that he was an "elected and qualified" Republican presidential elector from Georgia during the 2020 presidential election.

  • April 18, 2024

    Dunn Can't Nix Fiduciary Breach Charge As Ethics Trial Wraps

    A California state bar judge denied Joseph Dunn's bid at the close of his disciplinary trial Thursday to toss a fiduciary breach charge, rejecting the former state bar executive director's argument that no evidence had been introduced to support the allegation.

  • April 18, 2024

    Perkins Coie 'Beating A Dead Horse' To Duck Case, Judge Says

    An Illinois judge on Thursday refused to reconsider his decision to let an investment company move ahead with its lawsuit accusing Perkins Coie of helping the company's former investment manager steal $12 million and opted not to certify questions raised by the firm about his reasoning to the Illinois Supreme Court.

  • April 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Maintains Newman Can't Invalidate Disability Law

    Suspended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has still not proven that the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has no constitutional uses and should therefore be invalidated, the Federal Circuit's judicial council told a D.C. federal judge Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    Trump Again Seeks Delay In Fla., Says Attys Tied Up In NY

    Counsel for Donald Trump in the ex-president's federal classified documents case in Florida again asked on Thursday to extend disclosure deadlines, contending that their client would be prejudiced without more time while some of them defend Trump in his hush money case in New York.

  • April 18, 2024

    Tully Rinckey Fights Suspension Bid In Atty Contract Dust-Up

    An attorney for Tully Rinckey PLLC's two founders told a D.C. legal ethics board on Thursday that a proposal to suspend his clients over restrictions the firm placed on departing lawyers was "a totally disproportionate response" to the allegations against them.

  • April 18, 2024

    Dems Propose Inspector General For High Court, Judiciary

    Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would create an inspector general's office for the judicial branch to investigate and report on allegations of misconduct lodged against U.S. Supreme Court justices, as well as judges throughout the federal judiciary.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ousted Clerk Was A 'Loose Cannon,' NC Justices Told

    An attorney who started proceedings that led to the ouster of former Franklin County Clerk of Court Patricia Chastain urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to keep her out of office, arguing that she undermined judicial authority through a series of incidents, including a "vulgar" accidental call to a magistrate judge.

  • April 18, 2024

    Feds Fight George Santos' 'Meritless' Brady Violation Claims

    Federal prosecutors are urging the Eastern District of New York to deny former U.S. Rep. George Santos' motion for a one-month delay in filing deadlines over allegations that the government withheld evidence in its fraud and campaign finance suit against him, calling the Long Island Republican's request "pretextual and meritless."

  • April 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Affirms Rosette's Win In Tribe Representation Fight

    The Ninth Circuit has backed a federal district court ruling that found Rosette LLP is not responsible for using allegedly false advertising to induce the Quechan Tribe to drop Williams & Cochrane LLP as counsel on the verge of closing a lucrative gambling contract.

  • April 18, 2024

    Atty Wants Law Firm Subpoenaed In $12M Somali Fraud Case

    A Maryland attorney accused of misappropriating more than $12 million in Somali state assets has asked a federal judge to subpoena his former firm, Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker PA, to produce his employment records.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ohio Ex-Atty Gets Prison For Bilking Real Estate Clients

    A former real estate attorney has been sentenced to four to six years of prison on charges he used his title company to steal from clients, the Ohio attorney general's office said Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    NJ Atty Fires Back At Litigation Funder's $18M Contract Claim

    A Florida-based litigation funder that is waging an $18 million breach of contract suit against a New Jersey lawyer has been hit with a countersuit alleging the business reneged on an agreement to secure funding for nationwide personal injury cases.

  • April 18, 2024

    7th Circ. Nom Heads To Senate Despite GOP Backlog Criticism

    The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced five judicial nominees Thursday, including U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado, a nominee for the Seventh Circuit, whom Republicans had questioned about a backlog of cases in her court.

  • April 18, 2024

    Conn. Ethics Office Wants Atty Suspended For Defying Audits

    The office that regulates Connecticut attorneys wants a lawyer with a decadelong history of failing to respond to grievances and information requests to be found in contempt and immediately suspended for failing to comply with a trust account audit.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Can't Get Stalking Injunction Against Influencer

    A Florida state judge on Wednesday denied a former Greenberg Traurig LLP partner's request for a cyberstalking injunction against a social media influencer, saying the petitioner did not show enough evidence to justify it.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-NJ Lawyer Can't Erase Fraud Conviction, Feds Say

    Federal prosecutors told a New Jersey federal judge Wednesday the latest bid by ex-attorney Michael Kwasnik to undo his conviction and 18-year prison sentence for defrauding his clients of $13 million should meet the same fate as his previous efforts — dismissal.

  • April 18, 2024

    Jury Of 12 Picked For Trump Hush Money Case In NY

    A jury of 12 New Yorkers was selected Thursday for the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump on charges he falsified business records to keep news of an extramarital affair from damaging his 2016 electoral prospects.

  • April 18, 2024

    Sidney Powell Dodges Sanctions From Texas Bar

    Embattled Trump attorney Sidney Powell has dodged sanctions from the Texas state bar's disciplinary wing, with a state appellate court ruling Thursday that the Commission for Lawyer Discipline didn't bring enough solid arguments to the table to merit a redo of the case.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ethics Panel Douses Judge DQ Talk In 5th Circ. CFPB Case

    A judicial ethics panel has concluded that recusal isn't automatically required for the Fifth Circuit judge whose financial disclosures have fueled calls for his disqualification from litigation challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee rule.

  • April 17, 2024

    No Sanctions For Wordy Footnotes In Google Maps Case

    A California federal judge will not sanction attorneys representing Google Maps customers in an antitrust action for their "numerous and excessively long footnotes" after the lawyers on Wednesday explained it wasn't a tactic for avoiding page limits and promised not to do it again.

  • April 17, 2024

    'It Has To End': Justices Mull Finality In 32-Year Murder Saga

    In its second review of drug-fueled, baseball bat killings during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday pondered steering an Arizona man's capital punishment challenge toward conclusion, perhaps by handling evidentiary tasks normally left to lower courts.

  • April 17, 2024

    UC Berkeley Law Dean Vouches For Dunn At Disciplinary Trial

    University of California, Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky testified as a character witness Wednesday in attorney Joseph Dunn's disciplinary trial, saying he holds the ousted California State Bar executive director in the highest regard, and his opinion is unlikely to change whatever the trial's outcome.

Expert Analysis

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS

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    After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys

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    Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.

  • Series

    Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'

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    The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.

  • What Panama Canal Award Ruling Means For Int'l Arbitration

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    As the prevalence of international arbitration grows, the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Grupo Unidos v. Canal de Panama may change how practitioners decide what remedies to seek and where to raise them if claims are rejected, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.

  • Opinion

    Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform

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    The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.

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