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Legal Ethics
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May 29, 2024
Weinstein Could Face Added Assault Charges In Retrial
New York prosecutors planning to retry Harvey Weinstein this fall after his rape conviction was overturned said Wednesday they may file an expanded indictment after hearing from new sexual assault claimants.
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May 29, 2024
NC House Advances Bill To Let Attys Expunge Ethics Records
The North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill that would allow attorneys to clear certain disciplinary records, putting the proposal one step closer to becoming law.
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May 29, 2024
Contractor Talking To Juror Warrants Contempt, NC Panel Told
A general contractor interfered with the court when he spoke to a juror during a civil trial involving his company, state prosecutors told a North Carolina appellate court in seeking to have the contractor's contempt conviction upheld.
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May 29, 2024
Ga. Justices Reprimand Atty Over Flubbed Settlement
A Georgia solo practitioner was hit with a public reprimand by the state's highest court Wednesday after admitting that he bungled a personal injury settlement by delegating the negotiations to his assistant.
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May 29, 2024
Menendez Trial Judge Sticks With Order Barring Texts
The federal judge presiding over the corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez announced Wednesday that he is holding firm to his decision barring prosecutors from using text messages to bolster their claims that the New Jersey Democrat took bribes in exchange for authorizing millions of dollars in aid for Egypt.
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May 29, 2024
Alito Won't Recuse From Jan. 6 Cases Over Flag Controversy
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito announced Wednesday that he will not recuse himself from deciding cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol or former President Donald Trump's criminal immunity following reports that two flags used by protesters of Trump's 2020 election loss were flown outside his houses.
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May 29, 2024
Whistleblower Counsel Can't Get 'Exorbitant' $11.5M Fee
A Boston federal judge slashed an "exorbitant" $11.5 million fee request made by counsel for a False Claims Act whistleblower in a case involving lab testing company Fresenius Medical Care, hammering the attorneys for inflated hourly rates, inflated time entries and a host of questionable billing practices.
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May 29, 2024
Coverage Recap: Day 1 Of Deliberations In Trump's NY Trial
Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from the first day of deliberations Wednesday.
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May 28, 2024
Wash. Justices Doubt Atty's Response In Disbarment Case
Washington State justices were skeptical Tuesday of an appeal from an attorney facing disbarment who asserts that he did nothing wrong in response to misconduct allegations including that he embezzled from investors in a failed venture to build a cannabis industrial park.
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May 28, 2024
Trump Atty Calls Cohen 'MVP Of Liars' As NY Trial Closes
Donald Trump's counsel repeatedly assailed the credibility of star witness Michael Cohen Tuesday in a final pitch to the New York jury that will decide whether to convict the former president of falsifying business records, calling Cohen "an MVP of liars" and "the human embodiment of reasonable doubt."
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May 28, 2024
SEC Ordered To Pay $1.8M Over Crypto Case Sanctions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is on the hook for more than $1.8 million in attorney and receiver fees arising from its allegedly ill-gotten temporary restraining order against crypto project Debt Box, though a Utah federal judge allowed the agency the opportunity to refile the enforcement case despite protests from the defendants.
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May 28, 2024
Colo. Justices To Mull Atty Advice Defense In Securities Cases
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the advice a defendant's business attorney gave him is relevant to his state of mind in a securities fraud case, according to an order Tuesday granting the state's petition for appeal.
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May 28, 2024
Mich. Judge Tosses Ex-Prosecutor's Suit Over Firing
A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a fired assistant prosecutor alleging he lost his job at the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office for speaking out about harassment and retaliation, after the county asked for sanctions because the plaintiff wasn't complying with discovery requirements and missed a deposition.
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May 28, 2024
Absent Atty Irks Judge In Girardi-Linked Bar Corruption Case
A California judge on Tuesday chastised a lawyer representing former clients of Tom Girardi accusing the state bar of "rampant corruption," telling the attorney over the phone that he is "nonplussed" as to why he attempted to skip the hearing on the bar's motion to toss the case.
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May 28, 2024
High Court Passes On Collection Firm's CFPB Funding Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that it won't take up a now-shuttered debt collection law firm's fight against an investigative demand by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, turning down a case that covered the same constitutional ground as one that the justices recently decided in the agency's favor.
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May 28, 2024
Int'l Judge Pushes Back Against Russia Amicus Allegations
Prominent arbitrator and international Judge Charles Brower is pushing back against claims from the Kremlin that conflicts of interest should bar his amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit in support of Yukos Oil Co. shareholders' $50 billion arbitration enforcement.
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May 28, 2024
Colo. Justices Say Actual Bias Not Needed To Recuse Judges
Colorado justices on Tuesday said that litigants don't need to prove actual bias to disqualify a judge but still need to get pretty close to that standard, finding a judge who was shot at in her car did not need to step down from a road rage case.
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May 28, 2024
Ex-Florida Atty Accused Of Failing To Deliver Condo Proceeds
A disbarred attorney was sued in Florida state court by a client who alleged fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in a Miami Beach condominium foreclosure action, saying he misappropriated more than $68,000 in proceeds.
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May 28, 2024
Ex-Ill. Prosecutor Arrested, Charged For Woodchipper Threat
A former assistant state's attorney in suburban Chicago's DuPage County has been arrested and charged with threatening the children of two Illinois state representatives in an online post in which he allegedly suggested he would put them into a woodchipper.
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May 28, 2024
Wisconsin Atty Gets 5½ Years For $2.3M Fraud, Tax Evasion
An attorney licensed in Wisconsin has been sentenced to 5½ years in federal prison and ordered to pay around $2.3 million in restitution for her involvement in multiple fraud schemes, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
American To Cut Attys Who Blamed Child Filmed In Bathroom
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP attorneys are on the brink of being removed as counsel for American Airlines in a Texas state lawsuit over an ex-flight attendant's secret bathroom recording of a 9-year-old girl.
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May 28, 2024
Coverage Recap: Day 17 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial
Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day 17.
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May 28, 2024
Calif. Judge Cops To Ethics Charges, Agrees To Step Down
A California judge censured and barred for multiple ethics violations, including drug use, inappropriate personal relationships with attorneys and making inappropriate comments, including antisemitic remarks, about litigants and attorneys, has resigned as of Monday.
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May 28, 2024
Ga. Law Firm Beats Sanctions Over Fatal Crash Mistrial
The Georgia Court of Appeals has thrown out sanctions against an Atlanta civil litigation law firm requiring the firm to pay more than $584,000 in attorney fees and costs for not uncovering a purported conflict that caused a mistrial in a fatal crash lawsuit, finding the trial court's decision was excessive and not supported by evidence.
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May 28, 2024
Trump's Florida Prosecutors Scolded For Gag Order Filing
The Florida federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case on Tuesday temporarily rejected the government's request for a limited gag order and admonished prosecutors for what she said was a lack of "substance and professional courtesy" in their conferral with defense attorneys before filing the motion.
Expert Analysis
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Noncompetes Hold Atty Privilege Pitfalls For Health Industry
Providers negotiating with medical professionals bound by enforceable restrictive covenants must tread carefully due to not only risk of breaching physicians' covenants but also risk of wrongful conduct that pierces attorney-client privilege, says Scott O'Connell at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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Opinion
Guardrails Needed Against Politically Motivated Atty Discipline
As illustrated by revelations about disbarred attorney Tom Girardi’s influence, there is a need to revamp attorney discipline to protect the public, but any reforms to misconduct rules must also consider how bar-directed disciplinary hearings are increasingly used as a political weapon, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Groundbreaking Nev. Law May Alter Insurance Landscape
The Nevada Legislature recently passed a law prohibiting insurers from issuing liability policies with eroding limits provisions that has the potential to create massive shifts in the marketplace — and specifically in areas like professional liability, cyber, and directors and officers insurance, says Will Bennett at Saxe Doernberger.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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Durham Hearing Shows Common Cross-Examination Errors
Trial attorneys can glean several key cross-examination lessons from the mistakes made by several members of the U.S. House of Representatives during a recent hearing on special counsel John Durham’s FBI probe, say Luke Andrews and Asha Laskar at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
When Corporate Self-Disclosure Threatens Individuals' Rights
The prosecution of former Cognizant executives in New Jersey federal court demonstrates how the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate enforcement policy can contravene the constitutional rights of individual defendants who are employed by cooperating companies, says Gideon Mark at the University of Maryland.
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Pitfalls Of Attorney AI Use In Brief Prep Has Judges On Alert
Some lawyers are attempting to leverage generative artificial intelligence as a brief drafting tool, which may serve to greatly reduce the burden of motion practice, but several recent cases show that generative AI is not perfect and blind reliance on this tool can be very risky, say Matthew Nigriny and John Gary Maynard at Hunton.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.
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Insurance Coverage For ChatGPT Legal Fiasco: A Hypothetical
William Passannante at Anderson Kill draws on the recent case of an attorney sanctioned by the Southern District of New York for submitting a ChatGPT-authored brief to discuss what the insurance coverage for the attorney's hypothetical claim might look like.
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Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification
With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.