Legal Ethics

  • September 14, 2026

    DOJ Derides Anti-Weaponization Fund Discovery

    The Justice Department is asking a Virginia federal judge to reverse a magistrate judge's order compelling discovery in a suit challenging the Trump administration's "anti-weaponization fund," claiming the plaintiffs lack standing and are merely attempting to set out on a fishing expedition that would intrude on executive privilege.

  • September 14, 2026

    Big Biz Coalition Backs Litigation Funding Disclosure Rule

    Big U.S. businesses and insurers like Amazon, Anthropic, Chubb and Walmart asked the federal judiciary on Monday to tighten disclosure requirements for litigation finance, claiming the lack of guardrails allows funders to operate "in the shadows."

  • September 14, 2026

    State Farm Attorney Sanctioned $999.99 For AI Hallucinations

    An attorney for State Farm who filed several motions citing nonexistent cases and fabricated quotes generated by AI software must pay a $999.99 sanction, a Los Angeles judge ruled, an amount one cent below the threshold that would have triggered a mandatory notice to the State Bar of California under state law.

  • September 14, 2026

    Fla. Judges Cleared To Make Informational Social Media Posts

    Florida judges can operate social media pages even if they identify themselves as sitting judges, as long as the posts are solely informational, according to a new opinion from the state's judicial ethics advisory committee.

  • September 14, 2026

    UNC Claims Immunity From Law School Grad's Lockout Suit

    The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and university officials have cited immunity defenses in urging a federal court to toss a former law school student's complaint alleging they initiated an unconstitutional disciplinary process after criminal charges stemming from "Cop City" protests in Atlanta were filed against the student.

  • September 14, 2026

    1st Circ. Rejects Judge's Standing Order On Deportations

    The First Circuit struck down a federal district judge's standing order that prohibited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting criminal defendants unless the government resolved or permanently dropped the pending charges.

  • September 14, 2026

    Carlton Fields Pushes To Demand Fees In Miss America Fight

    Carlton Fields has urged a Florida federal court to adopt a magistrate judge's recommendation that the firm be allowed to intervene in a dispute involving its charging lien for unpaid legal fees in a $500 million dispute over the ownership of the Miss America competition.

  • September 14, 2026

    Jackson Lewis Removes Ex-Atty's Bias Suit To Federal Court

    Jackson Lewis PC has moved a former associate's suit accusing the firm of refusing to accommodate her temporary work restrictions following her medical leave to California federal court, saying state court wasn't the right venue for dispute.

  • September 14, 2026

    Indiana Atty Hit With $10K Sanction Over False Citations

    An Indiana federal judge on Friday adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to sanction a local attorney $10,000 after finding that five briefs in a consumer credit case included citations to nonexistent cases.

  • September 11, 2026

    Attys Must Arbitrate $8 Oil To Fight $625K Sanction: 9th Circ.

    Class action lawyers slapped with six-figure sanctions for suing Walmart Inc. based on erroneous purchase information can't yet challenge the discipline, the Ninth Circuit ruled, suggesting they may first need to arbitrate grievances over an $8 bottle of avocado oil.

  • September 11, 2026

    Ex-Wash. Bench Officer Censured Over Explicit Texts, Emails

    The Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct censured a former Okanogan County Superior Court commissioner Friday, finding that Robert Colbert violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by engaging in what a stipulated agreement describes as "unprofessional, inappropriate communications" with a court employee that involved "sexually explicit language."

  • September 11, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs $620K Award In Radiology Contract Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld a $620,000 arbitration award in favor of an Indian teleradiology company against a radiology provider, finding the arbitrator did not exceed his authority by interpreting the parties' long-standing services agreement.

  • September 11, 2026

    OB-GYN Hits Conn. Law Firm With $60M Malpractice Lawsuit

    A $60 million lawsuit brought against Ryan Ryan Deluca LLP and two attorneys claims the firm failed to notify an obstetrician-gynecologist of a "reasonable" settlement offer in a medical malpractice case, subjecting the doctor and her employer to a $50 million judgment favoring a patient injured during childbirth.

  • September 11, 2026

    Trial Errors 'Crippled Goldstein's Defense,' 4th Circ. Hears

    Appellate luminary Tom Goldstein unveiled a sweeping and forceful critique aimed at erasing his felony fraud convictions, telling the Fourth Circuit that prosecutors were hell-bent on convicting him "no matter the facts or law," disregarded a star witness' "incompetence" and benefited from a trial judge's "inexplicable" rulings.

  • September 11, 2026

    Midterm Wins Could Help Dems Probe Trump's BigLaw Deals

    If the Democrats take back one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, a big item on their oversight agenda will be to step up ongoing investigations of the deals that nine major law firms cut with the Trump administration last year.

  • September 11, 2026

    Greenberg Traurig, Eckert Seamans Hit By Data Breaches

    Greenberg Traurig LLP and Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC have publicly revealed that they've been hit by data breaches, adding to the dozens of cybersecurity incidents U.S. law firms have suffered this year.

  • September 11, 2026

    Cooley, Investor Settle NJ Malpractice Suit Over Startup Deal

    Cooley LLP and an investor who had accused the firm of malpractice over a deal to invest in a dry-cleaning delivery startup have resolved the case, they told a New Jersey federal court this week.

  • September 11, 2026

    New Mexico Atty Hit With $5K Fine For Bot-Tainted Brief

    The New Mexico Supreme Court has slapped a criminal defense attorney with a $5,000 fine after he admitted to using a brief containing errors created by generative text as part of a murder conviction appeal.

  • September 11, 2026

    Engineering Co. Calls Atty-Ouster Bid Retaliatory In Wage Suit

    An engineering company urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reject a bid to remove its lawyer from a wage case, arguing the worker is retaliating because the company tried to disqualify one of his attorneys from a separate case.

  • September 10, 2026

    JPMorgan Aided Ex-Atty Kossoff's $18.5M Theft, Trustee Says

    The Chapter 7 trustee representing bankrupt firm Kossoff PLLC on Wednesday sued JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, claiming the bank helped the firm's principal steal at least $18.5 million from clients, and it "should be made to account."

  • September 10, 2026

    Fla. Panel Tosses Teen's Conviction Over Atty's Omission

    A Florida state appeals court has reversed a teenager's manslaughter conviction and sentence, finding the teen's attorney let him enter an open plea without telling him that his statements to police potentially could have been suppressed for Miranda rule violations.

  • September 10, 2026

    Jay-Z Can't Undo Buzbee's Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

    A California state appeals court has refused to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted music superstar Jay-Z by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying the case was properly thrown out under California's free speech statute.

  • September 10, 2026

    DOJ Says Records Act Chills 'Candid' White House Advice

    The Justice Department urged the D.C. Circuit to vacate a lower court's order requiring the White House to comply with the Presidential Records Act, arguing in a new brief that the 1978 statute intrudes on executive power by requiring preservation of a wide range of documents.

  • September 10, 2026

    Hospital Says Saul Ewing Atty's 'Revenge' Drove FCA Suit

    A Saul Ewing LLP attorney who quit a Pittsburgh-area hospital's board turned his representation of two whistleblower nurses into an act of "revenge," but failed to make the clients' accusations against their co-workers into a viable False Claims Act suit, the hospital said.

  • September 10, 2026

    TransX, Georgia Driver End Personal Injury Suit Over Crash

    A Georgia resident reached an agreement Thursday to end his personal injury lawsuit accusing TransX Ltd. of negligence for allowing an unsafe driver to use the truck that crashed into his vehicle.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • What Jury Holdouts Can Teach Trial Lawyers About Strategy

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    Though a hung jury can be a disappointment, a psychological understanding of jury holdouts can help trial lawyers shape their damages arguments and understand leadership and group composition as a function of jury selection, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

  • The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

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    With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • Series

    Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

  • 2 AI Snafus Show Why Attys Can't Outsource Judgment

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    The recent incident involving Sullivan & Cromwell where citations in a filed motion were fabricated by artificial intelligence, as well as a punitive ruling from the Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Farris, demonstrate that the obligation to supervise AI has belonged and always will belong to lawyers, says John Powell at the Kentucky School Boards Association.

  • Series

    Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

  • Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

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    An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

  • Series

    Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Draft Pleadings

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    Most law school graduates step into their first jobs without ever having drafted a complaint, answer, motion or other type of pleading, but that gap can be closed by understanding the strategy embedded in every filing, writing with clarity and purpose, and seeking feedback at every step, says Eric Yakaitis at Haug Barron.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

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    Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

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