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Legal Ethics
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April 19, 2024
Banking Boss Seeks First Bite In Lawyer-Linked Debt Services
Connecticut's banking commissioner says a trial court judge misapplied case law by sidelining his authority to investigate complaints against a debt collection operation attached to a law firm, saying his office should be the first to decide whether he or the judicial branch has authority over the matter.
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April 19, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Abortions & Presidential Immunity
The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the term's final week of oral arguments, during which it will consider several high-stakes disputes, including whether a federal healthcare law can preempt state abortion bans and whether former President Donald Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal charges related to official acts.
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April 19, 2024
Pa. Judges Duck Lawsuit From Atty Jailed For Contempt
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against two Allegheny County judges brought by an attorney whom they jailed for contempt of court, saying the judges had jurisdiction to carry out their actions and thus had absolute immunity.
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April 19, 2024
Trump's Trial Is Unprecedented. Attys On Juries? Not So Much
With two BigLaw attorneys tapped for the jury box in Donald Trump's first-in-history criminal case, Law360 spoke to trial vets who said their own experience in this tables-turned situation shows lawyers can make for highly engaged jurors under the right circumstances.
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April 19, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Faces Class Action Over Fla. Fee Agreements
The wife of luxury home developer Nir Meir, who was charged with falsifying records and defrauding investors, is hoping to avoid paying more than $360,000 in attorney fees to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in a proposed class action, saying her husband forged her signature on a fee agreement with the firm.
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April 19, 2024
Del. Justices Revive Margolis Edelstein Malpractice Suit
Delaware's Supreme Court has reversed a lower-court decision that let Margolis Edelstein off the hook on claims that its incompetence caused GMG Insurance Agency to have to settle a case for $1.2 million, saying more consideration is needed to determine whether the firm was negligent.
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April 19, 2024
Gibbons Atty Won't Testify In Menendez Bribery Trial
A Gibbons PC lawyer who is counsel for one of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's co-defendants in his federal bribery trial set to start next month will not be called to the witness stand after defense lawyers and prosecutors agreed Friday to a stipulation about the facts that would have been part of his testimony.
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April 19, 2024
Lawyer Too Late To Collect Fees From Aretha Franklin Estate
Michigan appellate judges have upheld the denial of a bid for attorney fees for a lawyer who complained he was not properly paid for work he did for Aretha Franklin, with judges determining the claims were time-barred.
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April 19, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Fights Sanctions Bid Over Musk Deposition
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has protested a move by a man suing Elon Musk for defamation to sanction partner Alex Spiro for his conduct during a deposition of Musk, telling a Texas state court Spiro was simply speaking up to protect Musk's interests and that the plaintiff was taking part in "school-yard antics."
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April 19, 2024
Ex-Defender Says High Court Ruling Backs Bias Claims
A former assistant federal defender urged a North Carolina district court to consider a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in her sexual harassment lawsuit, arguing the high court's decision backs her claims for employment discrimination against the federal judiciary.
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April 19, 2024
Paxton Can't Duck Ethics Suit Over 2020 Election Challenge
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face the State Bar of Texas' ethics lawsuit over his attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election since the suit is against Paxton in his personal capacity and does not violate the separation of powers, a Texas appellate court has ruled.
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April 19, 2024
Law Firm Warns Mich. Justices Of Malpractice Fee Deluge
A Michigan law firm has urged the state's Supreme Court not to lower the bar for seeking attorney fees as legal malpractice damages, saying doing so would invite clients to find reasons to sue their lawyers to recover fees even when they won the underlying case.
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April 19, 2024
Sills Cummis Aims To Sink Atty Depo In Rock Musician Suit
Sills Cummis & Gross PC fought back against a move to force the deposition of one of its partners in a malpractice suit this week, arguing the plaintiff, the former manager of musician Nile Rodgers, has "manufactured" the dispute by refusing to hold up his end of a deal to be deposed first.
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April 19, 2024
Atty In Tax Fraud Case Gets Supervised Release, $25K Fine
A former Houston lawyer whose conviction in connection with an $18 million tax scheme was overturned told a federal judge Friday that not testifying in his 2019 trial was "one of the worst mistakes" of his life as he was sentenced to a year of supervised release as part of a plea deal.
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April 19, 2024
Antitrust Case Judge Reveals Husband's Ties With Apple
A New Jersey federal magistrate judge assigned to the U.S. Department of Justice's recent iPhone antitrust case disclosed on Friday that her husband has ties to Apple, but told the parties she does not believe she needs to recuse herself.
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April 19, 2024
Hedge Fund Founder Fights Bid For Seward & Kissel Call Logs
The billionaire founder of hedge fund Two Sigma Investments LP told a New Jersey state court it should quash a subpoena his wife served on his phone provider for records of his calls to attorneys at Seward & Kissel LLP in the wife's suit accusing the firm of helping cheat her out of marital assets when she filed for divorce.
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April 19, 2024
Cohen Seglias Suit Says DOD Must Unblock Its Web Domain
Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC has sued a communications arm of the Department of Defense over claims a government software system mistakenly flagged the firm's web domain as malware, asking the agency to clear a "bureaucratic quagmire" and lift the block keeping DOD officials from contacting its lawyers.
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April 19, 2024
Self-Immolation Near Trump Trial Prompts Security Review
The New York Police Department is reviewing security protocols for former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial after a fatal incident in which a man set himself on fire across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where the proceeding was taking place Friday, underscoring safety concerns.
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April 19, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Says Judge 'Coercive' In SEC Contempt Case
A former pharmaceutical executive facing criminal contempt charges for using an alias to flout a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban says a Massachusetts federal judge was "coercive" in suggesting he might avoid prosecution if he cooperated with the agency.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Practice With Passion
First Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí recalls how Suffolk University Law School's Joseph Glannon taught the importance of the law as both a tool and a profession, and that those who wish to practice law successfully must do so with love, enthusiasm and passion.
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Questions To Ask Before Making A Lateral Move As Partner
Law firm partners considering lateral moves should diligently interview prospects — going beyond standard questions about compensation to inquire about culture, associate retention and other areas that can provide a more comprehensive view, says Lauren Wu at VOYLegal.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Argue Open-Mindedly
Queens College President Frank Wu reflects on how Yale Kamisar’s teaching and guidance at the University of Michigan Law School emphasized a capacity to engage with alternative worldviews and the importance of the ability to argue for both sides of a debate.
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ABA's No-Contact Rule Advice Raises Questions For Lawyers
The American Bar Association's ethics committee recently issued two opinions concerning the no-contact rule — one creates an intuitive and practical default for electronic communications, while the other sets a potential trap for pro se lawyers, say Lauren Snyder and Deepika Ravi at HWG.
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4 Key Skills For An Effective Attorney Coaching Conversation
As BigLaw firms are increasingly offering internal coaching as one of many talent strategies to stem ongoing lawyer attrition, Stacey Schwartz at Katten discusses how coaches can help attorneys achieve their goals.
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Perspectives
How Civilian Attorneys Can Help Veterans
With legal aid topping the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' annual list of unmet needs of veterans facing housing insecurity, nonmilitary volunteer attorneys can provide some of the most effective legal services to military and veteran clients, say Anna Richardson at Veterans Legal Services and Nicholas Hasenfus at Holland & Knight.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned That Culture Shapes Law
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York considers how a class with Jerry Cohen at Harvard Law helped him understand culture and history’s influence on jurisprudence, and how even seemingly settled law can evolve — all while espousing a more humanistic approach to teaching that restored Judge Rakoff's pride in being a lawyer.
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9 Legal Ethics Considerations In Natural Disaster Preparation
Since natural disasters like Hurricane Ian do not relieve lawyers of their ethical obligations to clients, law firms should focus their preparedness efforts on specific areas crucial to continuity of representation and ethics compliance, like business and communications contingency planning, record redundancy and more, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Put Law Into Practice
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins looks back at how Judge Charles Spurlock's trial advocacy class at Northeastern University School of Law challenged her to apply what she had already learned about civil and criminal procedure, evidence and criminal law to solving real-world problems.
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What To Consider When Leaving BigLaw To Go Solo
Attorneys contemplating leaving their once-ideal job in BigLaw to start their own business should take certain concrete steps before they depart, such as saving money and drafting a business plan, and prepare for some common challenges, says Claudia Springer at Novo Advisors.
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Series
My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned Education Never Ends
D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel reflects on what made Bernard Meltzer a brilliant teacher and one of his favorite professors at the University of Chicago Law School, and how Meltzer’s teachings extended well past graduation and guided Judge Tatel through some complicated opinions.
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Opinion
New-Parent Attorneys Need Automatic Litigation Stays
To facilitate parental leave for solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys excluded from the Family and Medical Leave Act's protections, the American Bar Association should amend its rules to implement automatic litigation stays for attorneys welcoming a new child, says attorney Gabriel Levy.
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Associate Skills That Impress Firms In A Cooling Job Market
With the lateral hiring market calming down and law firms no longer overlooking resume deficiencies when evaluating candidates, associates at all levels should be cognizant of the skills and attributes that make them marketable to prospective employers, says J.B. Pullias at VOYlegal.
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Weighing Advice-Of-Counsel Defense If Trump Is Charged
If former President Donald Trump faces criminal charges stemming from the storage of government documents at Mar-a-Lago or efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, he could theoretically avoid conviction by claiming he relied on his lawyers’ advice — but for practical reasons, he's unlikely to use this defense, say Barbara Gillers and Stephen Gillers at New York University School of Law.
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High Court Could Resolve Thorny Atty-Client Privilege Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted review in a federal grand jury proceeding that presents a rare opportunity to clarify — and possibly significantly expand — the scope of the attorney-client privilege for complex mixed-purpose communications with counsel, says David Greenwald at Jenner & Block.