Legal Ethics

  • January 16, 2026

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Toss Of Prosecutor's Fraud Conviction

    The Fourth Circuit won't revisit a split decision tossing a mortgage fraud conviction brought against former State's Attorney of Baltimore Marilyn Mosby, despite the government's claims the ruling hinged on a decades old ruling that has been criticized as a "relic."

  • January 16, 2026

    Denver Accused Of Withholding Records From Shooting Victim

    One of the six people shot by a former Denver police officer in 2022 when firing into a crowd without cause filed a lawsuit against the city in state court on Thursday, alleging the City Attorney's Office is not complying with a public records request about the officer's legal representation.

  • January 16, 2026

    Kirkland, Ex-Judge Hit With Class Action Over Texas Romance

    An investment firm is suing Kirkland & Ellis LLP, an ex-judge, two other law firms and a lawyer for allegedly fomenting "mass corruption" in Houston's bankruptcy court and colluding to enrich themselves by controlling the outcome of large Chapter 11 cases.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Says Okla. DAs Must Face Tribal Jurisdiction Lawsuits

    Two Oklahoma district attorneys can't escape lawsuits that look to block them from prosecuting tribal citizens for crimes committed in Indian Country, a federal district court judge determined, saying arguments that the Indigenous nations have not suffered an injury are meritless.

  • January 16, 2026

    Planned Parenthood Can Challenge Heartbeat Act, Court Says

    A Texas appeals court on Friday found that Planned Parenthood has standing to challenge the state law that empowers ordinary citizens to prosecute abortion providers, saying Planned Parenthood has done enough to launch a pre-enforcement challenge to the law.

  • January 16, 2026

    Legal Nonprofit Settles EEOC Suit Over Atty Fired On Leave

    A Philadelphia legal services organization secured court approval Friday for a $240,000 deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging it unlawfully fired a staff attorney who was on leave for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judicial Candidate Nixed From Ballot Over Text To Rival

    A Texas judge ruled a candidate for a state judicial seat in Houston ineligible for the March primary election, finding the candidate violated the state's Election Code by trying to coerce her opponent into withdrawing from the race.

  • January 16, 2026

    Calif. Atty Wins Fee Appeal In Dispute With Ex-Firm

    A California appellate panel on Thursday approved an attorney fee award for a lawyer in dispute with his former firm but also denied that attorney's attempt to get attorney fees for a post-arbitration hearing.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Yanks $41M Atty Fee Award In SPAC Merger Suit

    A Texas federal judge has rescinded an attorney fee award of over $41 million to Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP and Entwistle & Cappucci LLP after the firms became engaged in a dispute over the amount of work done and the allocation of fees, among other things.

  • January 16, 2026

    Maurene Comey Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Firing Suit

    Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey has urged a New York federal court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss her firing suit, arguing her claims belong before the district court and not under the jurisdiction of a non-independent board now controlled by the president.

  • January 16, 2026

    J&J Largely Loses Bid To Toss Former Atty's NJ Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge largely shot down Johnson & Johnson's bid to scrap a former company data privacy attorney's racial and gender discrimination suit and rejected its bid to sanction her over the case.

  • January 16, 2026

    Watchdog Urges Blanche To Exit Trump Records Role

    A watchdog organization is calling on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to step aside as President Donald Trump's proxy for records from his first term as they become available next week, saying he has a conflict of interest.

  • January 16, 2026

    Law Grad's Malpractice Claims Are Time-Barred, Atty Says

    A Vanderbilt Law School graduate who said that as a teenager his lawyer bungled his criminal defense by convincing him to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit cannot pursue legal malpractice claims, according to a Connecticut lawyer, who told the federal court the suit was filed too late.

  • January 16, 2026

    Georgia Magistrate Judge Resigns Amid Ethics Investigation

    The chief judge of the Telfair County Magistrate Court in Georgia has resigned as part of a deal to resolve ethics allegations concerning his purportedly ex parte communications and "extrajudicial activity" with litigants at a rental home he owns.

  • January 15, 2026

    As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

    An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

  • January 15, 2026

    Wash. Judge Arrested For DUI Had Booze In Car, County Says​​​​​​​

    A Washington county urged a federal judge to toss a former state judge's lawsuit accusing sheriff's deputies of wrongfully stopping and arresting him on suspicion of DUI, arguing law enforcement had probable cause to detain him because he had an open alcoholic beverage in his vehicle and his speech was stumbling, slow and repetitive.

  • January 15, 2026

    Trial 'No Longer Warranted' After Judge's Stelara Reversal

    The fate of insurer CareFirst's suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of using a merger and patent fraud to anticompetitively protect immunosuppressive drug Stelara from competition is in doubt after a Virginia federal judge reversed course and nixed key claims he had previously teed up for trial.

  • January 15, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

  • January 15, 2026

    DOJ Backed US Operation To Capture Maduro, Memo Shows

    President Donald Trump's legal advisers at the U.S. Department of Justice concluded days before Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture by U.S. military that the operation "falls short of war in the constitutional sense," according to a memo recently made public.

  • January 15, 2026

    Seattle Judge Fights Removal Rec Over Forged Parking Doc

    Washington state's high court seemed split Thursday on whether to bar a substitute county judge from the bench for using an official court stamp without permission in pursuit of a parking discount, with one justice remarking she "can't even imagine" behaving that way, while another suggested removal would be a disproportionate sanction.

  • January 15, 2026

    Ex-Judge Sues Atlanta For Wrongful Arrest, Excessive Force

    A former Douglas County Probate Judge has alleged that the City of Atlanta improperly trumped up a narrative that she committed violent felony crimes — although those charges were dismissed — after a city police officer wrongfully arrested her outside of a nightclub and used excessive force, including "slamm[ing] Plaintiff head-first to the ground."

  • January 15, 2026

    Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

    The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

  • January 15, 2026

    MSG Bid To Punish Oakley Over $642K Owed Will Go Forward

    Madison Square Garden's quest to get former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley to pay court-ordered attorney fees will continue, according to a Thursday order by the New York federal judge overseeing the litigation over his 2017 arena ejection.

  • January 15, 2026

    Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

    A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

  • January 15, 2026

    Senior NY Judge Avoids $273K Fee Bid In Fla. Condo Suit

    A senior New York federal judge's pending appeal of the dismissal of his defamation action against condominium board members means that for now he can avoid their demand for nearly $273,000 in fees and costs, a Florida federal judge has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Arbitrator's Conviction Upheld

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    The Supreme Court of Spain recently upheld the criminal conviction of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa for grave disobedience to judicial authority, rejecting the proposition that an arbitrator's independence can prevail over a court order retroactively disabling the very judicial act conferring arbitral jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Reel Justice: 'One Battle After Another' And The Limits Of Zeal

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    The political thriller “One Battle After Another,” following a former revolutionary who became a recluse, offers a potent metaphor for attorneys on diligence and the ethical boundaries of zealous advocacy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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