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Legal Ethics
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March 28, 2024
Telecom Co. Wants Rival Sanctioned In Contract Row
Florida telecom Local Access LLC is again seeking sanctions against the Chicago-based rival it's suing over a contract dispute, claiming that Peerless Network destroyed records and refuses to turn over revenue information it's been seeking since 2017, even after a Florida federal judge directed the company to do so.
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March 28, 2024
Wells Fargo Sued Over Role In Texas Atty's Carbon Tech Scam
Wells Fargo and an advisory group including an attorney and accountant from California facilitated a yearslong Ponzi scheme that deceived investors to put money into a fraudulent gas industry carbon capture technology venture, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.
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March 28, 2024
Texas Judge Sanctions Atty For No-Showing At Hearing
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman sanctioned an attorney who didn't appear at a show cause hearing, saying Thursday the court has been inundated with smaller cases and if law firms want to remove cases to the Fort Worth division of the Northern District of Texas they need to follow local rules.
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March 28, 2024
Prolific Consumer Atty Beats Fireball Maker's Sanctions Bid
An Illinois federal judge has declined to sanction a prolific plaintiffs' attorney over alcoholic beverage company Sazerac Co. Inc.'s allegations the attorney sues without regard to the facts and law, saying the complaint "was not entirely baseless" and the suit was dropped within a "safe harbor" period under civil procedure rules.
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March 28, 2024
Feds Say Ex-OneCoin Atty Should Serve 'Substantial' Time
Manhattan federal prosecutors have requested a "substantial" amount of prison time for a Bulgarian woman who worked on the legal team at the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency exchange, but said the sentence should fall below the guidelines range of 10 years.
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March 28, 2024
Texas Judge Lifts Discovery Stay On Google's Bidding Deals
A Texas federal judge agreed to lift a discovery stay in the Texas-led antitrust suit challenging Google's ad technology, allowing the 16 plaintiff states and Puerto Rico access to additional information about a network bidding agreement between Google and Facebook that they claim stymied competition in the digital advertising market.
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March 28, 2024
Fees Awarded For 'Feeble' Milk Vitamin Eligibility Argument
A Delaware federal judge has ordered ChromaDex Inc. and Dartmouth College to pay attorney fees to Elysium Health for making a "feeble" and failed argument defending their milk vitamin patents from an eligibility challenge, saying he's rarely been more confident that a suit was unreasonable.
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March 28, 2024
NC Atty Says Career Coaching Business Stiffed Him On Pay
A North Carolina lawyer said this week that he hasn't been paid for his work at a career coaching business in which he owns a minority stake after he discovered the company was bleeding funds and rife with mismanagement, according to an amended state business court complaint.
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March 28, 2024
Morgan Lewis Accused Of Age, Race Bias By Patent Specialist
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP gave preferential treatment to younger white co-workers of a Black patent prosecution specialist, including more overtime and better pay, according to a complaint filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court.
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March 28, 2024
Pillsbury Ducks Malpractice Suit At 3rd Circ. Over Bankruptcy
A Third Circuit panel on Thursday shot down a bid from a group of hotel investors to sue Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP for malpractice, finding a Delaware bankruptcy court was right in denying the request sought months after a Chapter 11 plan had been finalized.
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March 28, 2024
Pa. Atty Strikes Out Again In Fee Fight With Co-Counsel
A Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled Philadelphia lawyer Bruce Chasan can't recover contingency fees and damages from a California attorney he worked with to represent ex-NFL player Lenwood Hamilton in a suit over the athlete's likeness, saying another court already disposed of the matter twice.
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March 28, 2024
Ohio Justices Split On Attorney's Sanction For Hiding His Past
The Ohio Supreme Court has given a Cleveland attorney a six-month stayed suspension for omitting information in his application for a physician assistant license about multiple name changes and prior proceedings against him for having child pornography on his computer, which he had created via photo editing to demonstrate a point while serving as a defense expert.
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March 28, 2024
NYC Firm Hit With $2.3M Suit Over Botched 9/11 Claim
The family of a former Cantor Fitzgerald partner killed in the 9/11 attacks sued a personal injury boutique firm in New York state court over claims it botched their chance at recovering more than $2 million from a federal compensation fund.
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March 28, 2024
Ex-BigLaw Atty Calls For Injunction Amid Online Harassment
A former Greenberg Traurig LLP patent attorney locked in litigation in Florida federal court with a social media influencer over claims the influencer mounted a campaign to get him fired and destroyed his reputation reiterated his request for a cyberstalking injunction Thursday as he detailed disturbing recent instances of online harassment he has received.
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March 28, 2024
Disbarring Jeffrey Clark Would Chill Gov't Dialogue, Prof Says
A Yale Law School professor said Thursday that he does not believe former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Clark should face punishment for advocating to send a letter to Georgia officials purporting to identify significant concerns with the 2020 election, testifying before a Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel that such discipline would devastate free dialogue within government agencies.
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March 28, 2024
McCarter & English Wins Extra $1.8M In Client Billing Suit
A Connecticut federal judge has found that McCarter & English LLP is entitled to another $1.8 million on top of the $1.85 million it has already been granted as a prejudgment remedy in a contract dispute, saying the former client on the hook for the award must also disclose assets under oath that could support the total $3.65 million award.
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March 28, 2024
Grading Garland: Attys Give AG Mixed Reviews 3 Years In
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's name won't be on the ticket in November, but his performance three years into his tenure is a subplot in the 2024 presidential election.
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March 28, 2024
Fired Alston & Bird Aide Fights Arbitration Of Vax Claims
An Alston & Bird LLP staffer fired after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19 told a Georgia federal court that it should refuse to force her discrimination suit into arbitration, since her employment contract was not a matter of interstate commerce.
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March 28, 2024
Bankman-Fried Gets 25 Years For 'Very Bad Bet' Of FTX Fraud
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for stealing more than $11 billion from customers, investors and lenders of his now-collapsed cryptocurrency empire, with a Manhattan federal judge saying the infamous risk-taker "made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught."
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March 28, 2024
Judge Nixes Aviation Atty's Defamation Suit Against Blogger
A Connecticut federal judge has permanently dismissed a defamation suit brought by an aviation attorney against a Connecticut-based blogger and journalist, stating the claims are barred by the state's statutes of limitations and cannot be saved by equitable tolling arguments based on federal law.
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March 27, 2024
Judge Agrees To Training For 'Overly Harsh' Workplace
The Judicial Council for the Second Circuit has declined to review the dismissal of a law clerk's complaint against a federal judge, who acknowledged the clerk's claims of their "overly harsh" management style and agreed to participate in workplace conduct counseling and training.
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March 27, 2024
Pool Co. Says Objection To Trial Attys Leaving Is 'Misplaced'
A swimming pool equipment maker has hit back at objections to some of its counsel exiting the case after a nearly $15 million trial loss over false ad claims in North Carolina, saying its rival's grievances are "misplaced."
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March 27, 2024
Malpractice Suit Against Texas Magnate's Atty Revived
A Texas appeals court has revived claims that a longtime family attorney violated his duty as trustee to their fortune by using his position to enrich himself and undercut the heir to a Lone Star State business empire.
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March 27, 2024
Farm Data Co. Wants To Bar Carlton Fields Atty From IP Suit
Lawyers for an agricultural industry data software outfit want a Carlton Fields lawyer banned from participating in a patent dispute with a rival startup because of her in-house involvement at the rival and work on an older trade secrets suit involving the same technology.
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March 27, 2024
Calif. Judge Decries DOJ's Broken Promises In Travel Ban Suit
A California federal judge reprimanded U.S. Department of Justice attorneys for causing delays, breaking promises and hobbling the administration of justice while granting class certification to individuals who sought waivers to former President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting mostly Muslim-majority countries.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How Much Information Should Cos. Share With Auditors?
Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cases highlight the challenges that companies face in determining how much information about regulatory investigations should be shared with auditors, as the risk of waiving protections must be balanced against transparent communication, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Minn.'s New Common Interest Doctrine: A Primer
In its recent ruling in Energy Policy Advocates v. Ellison, the Minnesota Supreme Court adopted the common interest doctrine, extending confidentiality to communications between an attorney and client that include a third party — but successful use of the doctrine will require care, preparation and attention to detail, says George Singer at Ballard Spahr.
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Refining Info Governance As E-Discovery Gets More Complex
Courts are increasingly requiring litigants to produce chats and other conversations recorded on business collaboration platforms as evidence, so companies should develop strategies for preserving and organizing such data to timely comply with e-discovery requests and to protect sensitive information, say attorneys at Akerman.
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DOJ Interview With Trump Atty Spotlights Privilege Exception
Christina Bobb, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, allegedly disclosed client and intra-legal team communications during a recent voluntary interview with the U.S. Department of Justice, demonstrating when the self-defense exception to attorney-client privilege may apply, say William Drake and Nicholas Silverman at Steptoe & Johnson.
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Risk Mitigation In Face Of Rising Legal Malpractice Claims
As the recent rise in frequency and cost of legal malpractice claims is expected to continue amid global high inflation and economic uncertainty, law firms and insurers would be wise to evaluate key risk areas and consider six steps to minimize exposure, say Nicole Shapiro and Cory Stumpf at Atheria Law.
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Series
Keys To A 9-0 High Court Win: Look For Common Ground
When arguing for the petitioner in Golan v. Saada before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, a focus was placed on appealing to multiple judicial philosophies with the aim of not only winning each justice’s vote, but also achieving clear guidance from the court’s opinion, says Karen King at Morvillo Abramowitz.
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Limiting The Scope Of Representation Is Critical For Lawyers
A Mississippi federal court's recent decision in Kee v. Howard L. Nations PC highlights the importance of well-written engagement letters, and shows why it is vital for attorneys to specify exactly which services they intend to supply, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Attys Shouldn't Assume Judicial Critique Is Protected Speech
As it becomes more commonplace to see criticism of the judiciary in the media, licensed attorneys are well advised to remember that they may have less freedom than nonlawyers to make protected speech critical of the judiciary, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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Series
Keys To A 9-0 High Court Win: Practicality Over Perfection
When I argued for the petitioner in Wooden v. U.S. last year, I discovered that preparation is key, but so is the right kind of preparation — in giving decisive answers to the U.S. Supreme Court justices' hypothetical questions I was not aiming for perfection, just the best response available, says Allon Kedem at Arnold & Porter.
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What New Bar Exam Means For Law Students And Schools
Stephanie Acosta at UWorld discusses how law students and law schools can start preparing now for the new bar exam launching in 2026, which is expected to emphasize real-world lawyering skills-based tasks over rote memorization.