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Legal Ethics
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April 02, 2024
Cole Scott Beats DQ Bid Over Partner's Past Work
The plaintiff in a car wreck injury lawsuit cannot disqualify Cole Scott & Kissane PA defense counsel from the case, a Florida federal judge has determined, finding that a firm partner's previous representation of the plaintiff in a separate suit was not enough of a connection to warrant the firm's removal.
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April 02, 2024
100-Plus Groups Rally Behind Adeel Mangi For 3rd Circ.
Over 100 federal and state advocacy groups sent a letter to senators on Tuesday urging them to support Adeel Mangi, nominee for the Third Circuit, who would be the first Muslim federal appellate judge if confirmed, amid increasing opposition to him.
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April 01, 2024
Trump's Gag Order Expands Over 'Attacks' On Judge's Family
Donald Trump has a constitutional right to respond to alleged political attacks, but he does not have a right to attack family members of the state judge overseeing his criminal case in New York, the judge ruled late Monday, expanding the former president's gag order in his hush money case.
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April 01, 2024
L'Oreal Wins Toss Of Trade Secret Suit Over Misconduct
A California federal judge tossed long-running trade secrets litigation against L'Oreal on Friday, saying that a hair coloring startup's misconduct in the case "casts doubt on the veracity and integrity of all evidence" and that axing the suit altogether is the "only appropriate sanction."
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April 01, 2024
Ga. Judicial Watchdog Wants Probate Judge Off The Bench
A three-member panel of Georgia's Judicial Qualifications Commission has recommended a Douglas County probate judge be removed from the bench following accusations that she violated the state's Code of Judicial Conduct on social media and jailed a woman seeking to amend her marriage record.
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April 01, 2024
Nat'l Security Info Ordered Sealed In $12M Somali Fraud Case
A Maryland federal judge has ordered protocols to seal confidential State Department materials amid the government's criminal fraud case charging a Maryland lawyer with misappropriating more than $12 million in Somali state assets.
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April 01, 2024
Loophole Ties Conn. Firm To Home Sale Row, Judge Told
A narrow exception to Connecticut's unfair trade practices law means an estate lawyer can be sued over how his firm handled money after the seller of a Vermont home suddenly died and his significant other was left in the lurch, an attorney for the girlfriend told a Connecticut judge on Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Shell Ordered To Hand Over Docs In Conn. Climate Dispute
Shell Oil Co. must hand over several documents by the end of April in litigation concerning the company's alleged failure to take into account climate change risks at a fuel storage facility in New Haven, Connecticut, a federal magistrate judge has ruled in an attempt to end the parties' long-running discovery dispute.
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April 01, 2024
Kirkland Atty Escapes Malpractice Suit Over Loan Docs
A Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney has secured an early win in a legal malpractice case alleging he botched an estate planning matter and lost his client millions in a later divorce, with a New Jersey federal court finding the client couldn't prove "proximate causation" of alleged damages in light of her subsequent divorce settlement.
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April 01, 2024
Judge Won't Make EEOC Pay Atty Fees For Unsuccessful Suit
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission doesn't have to pay a Georgia hospital's attorney fees after jurors found in favor of the medical center on disability bias claims, a federal judge ruled, saying the jury's siding with the hospital didn't make the agency's suit frivolous.
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April 01, 2024
Murdaugh Gets 40 Years For Financial Crimes In Fed. Court
Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced former South Carolina lawyer serving a life sentence for murder, was hit with a concurrent 40-year prison term in federal court Monday after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients.
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April 01, 2024
Schumer Warns Texas Court Not To Continue Judge Shopping
The U.S. Senate will consider legislation to curtail judge shopping after the Northern District of Texas' chief judge rejected calls for the district to take steps to end the "odious" practice on its own, the Senate leader said Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Immigration Atty Can't Challenge Suspension For Phone Use
An immigration attorney can't challenge her suspension before the Board of Immigration Appeals for refusing to stop using her phone in court, as a North Carolina federal judge has found the case moot because she failed to show how her reputation has continued to be harmed.
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April 01, 2024
NJ Courts Get Out Of Suit Alleging Ex-Judge Harassed Official
The New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts has gotten out of a lawsuit from a municipal court administrator alleging she was sexually harassed by a former municipal court judge, arguing that the woman was never an employee of the office.
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April 01, 2024
Staten Island Firm Must Face Hostile Work Environment Claim
A New York federal judge has partially dismissed an employment discrimination suit against a State Island law firm, nixing discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a Black former office manager while allowing claims over the firm's allegedly hostile work environment to proceed to trial.
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April 01, 2024
Fla. Atty Can't Escape $300K COVID Relief Fraud Conviction
A Florida attorney fell short in trying to nix her conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud when a Georgia federal court found the jury heard and saw a "plethora" of evidence to show she submitted fraudulent loan applications in an effort to obtain money meant to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 01, 2024
Jailed Atty Pleads Not Guilty To Witness Tampering In Tax Case
A Chicago-area lawyer facing more than a dozen criminal tax fraud charges pled not guilty Monday to superseding charges that he tried scripting a bookkeeper's anticipated testimony, but he'll have to wait to learn whether he'll remain jailed until his upcoming retrial.
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April 01, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Atty's Bid To Conflict Out Entire Ill. Bench
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the case of a lawyer suspended in Illinois who claimed the state's entire federal judiciary needed to recuse itself from his challenge to Illinois' attorney watchdog.
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March 29, 2024
Manhattan DA Says Trump Violated Hush Money Gag Order
Donald Trump may have already violated a New York state judge's gag order in the former president's hush money case by impugning the judge's daughter on social media, Manhattan prosecutors said, while Trump's attorneys say prosecutors are trying to improperly expand the order.
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March 29, 2024
Northern Texas Judges Won't Adopt Judge-Shopping Rule
Judges with the Northern District of Texas have opted not to make any changes to how cases are assigned, despite a recent letter from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging the district to implement an updated policy aiming to prevent litigants from judge shopping, the district's chief judge said Friday.
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March 29, 2024
UTA's Atty Hit With $125M Suit Over 'Pathological Liar' Remark
United Talent Agency's attorney has been accused of defaming MediaLink founder Michael Kassan by calling him a "pathological liar" in the press, according to a suit filed in Los Angeles County, the latest development in a fierce dispute that has seen UTA and Kassan accuse each other of fraud.
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March 29, 2024
Dem Cites 'Secret' Report Against Ticketmaster 'Rebates'
A major congressional critic of Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster highlighted an expert report from a long-running lawsuit as further proof of the ticketing juggernauts' "rampant, corrupt and abusive practices," although assertions that the report was secret and only newly unearthed may be overblown.
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March 29, 2024
Ala. Steel Mill Asks 11th Circ. To Undo $13M Default Judgment
An Alabama steel mill urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse a misconduct-triggered default judgment that led to workers being awarded $13.1 million in a wage and hour suit they filed alleging the mill shorted hundreds of workers on hourly wages, overtime pay and bonuses.
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March 29, 2024
Winston & Strawn Looks To Settle Brief-Copying IP Suit
A Winston & Strawn LLP attorney on Friday told a Manhattan federal judge that the firm is angling to settle a copyright infringement suit that accuses its attorneys of copying a motion-to-dismiss filing by a boutique intellectual property firm "nearly verbatim," saying it isn't worth the cost to all involved.
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March 29, 2024
'Antiquated' Doctrine Can't Cut Burford Unit From Turkey Suit
An Illinois federal judge has refused to block a Burford Capital investment unit from pursuing price-fixing allegations in a consolidated case against major turkey producers, saying federal law largely no longer recognizes the "antiquated" doctrine the producers cited to invalidate the claim.
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.