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Legal Ethics
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June 04, 2025
High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist
A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.
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June 04, 2025
Fed. Circ. Pushes Back As Ramey Fights Fee Award To Google
A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned Ramey LLP managing partner William Ramey's challenge to one of several sanctions that have recently been imposed on his firm in patent cases, with some judges suggesting that the order in question in a case against Google LLC appeared warranted.
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June 04, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: TikTok Tussle And Merger Melee
Spring has sprung momentous decisions and quiet resolutions in some of the North Carolina Business Court's top cases, from clearing for trial the attorney general's suit over a hospital's post-merger standard of care to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP dropping its coverage dispute over a 2022 data breach.
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June 04, 2025
FIFA Slams Atty's Bid To 'Circumvent' DQ In Puerto Rico Case
A Puerto Rican attorney may not sidestep a disqualification order by dropping his personal claims from an antitrust case against FIFA in which he is both counsel and plaintiff, the organization told a federal judge Wednesday, arguing the lawyer is a "necessary fact witness" and therefore a conflict is unavoidable.
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June 04, 2025
Ill. Atty Faces 1 Year Suspension, Left Watchdog 'Baffled'
An Illinois attorney who was sanctioned $1 million alongside his client for frivolously litigating a condominium governance fight and later helped that client engage in knowingly improper bankruptcy conduct should be suspended for a year and complete a professionalism seminar, a state disciplinary watchdog says.
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June 04, 2025
FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries
The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.
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June 04, 2025
Last Defendant In 'Shell Factory' Scheme Gets 1½ Yrs
A Florida federal judge Wednesday sentenced the final defendant rounded up in the "Shell Factory Fraud" to 18 months in prison for his role in creating fake shell companies as part of a pump-and-dump scheme.
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June 04, 2025
Pa. Firm Defends Informal Biz Arrangement In Coverage Bid
A Philadelphia law firm and its insurer sparred Wednesday in Pennsylvania court over whether the firm needed to be an incorporated business entity to have standing for a coverage lawsuit, with the firm's attorney saying that the insurer never questioned the informal business arrangement that consisted of two seasoned lawyers sharing office space and a secretary.
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June 04, 2025
Ex-Ga. Strip Club Workers Slam Bid To DQ Attys In Wage Suit
Lawyers for a pair of former Atlanta strip club workers called on a federal judge Wednesday to reject an "extremely untimely" bid to disqualify them by the clubs' owners, arguing the owners don't bother to substantiate their claims that the plaintiffs can't be represented by the same counsel because one was the other's supervisor.
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June 04, 2025
SEC Says Accountant Errors Don't Doom Crowdfunding Case
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Michigan federal judge Wednesday that mistakes in one of its accountant's declarations do not warrant the dismissal of its first crowdfunding enforcement action, arguing the SEC's lawyers acted in good faith when they alerted the court to the errors.
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June 04, 2025
NJ Judge Suspended Over Pro-Police 'Likes' On Facebook
A New Jersey municipal court judge was hit with a two-month suspension without pay beginning Wednesday after an advisory committee took issue with his Facebook activity indicating support for pro-police movements, political candidates, individual lawyers and law firms.
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June 04, 2025
Judge Won't Block Amazon From Talking To Depo Witnesses
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Federal Trade Commission's bid, in its antitrust case against Amazon, seeking to block lawyers representing the e-commerce giant from conferring with witnesses during breaks in their depositions.
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June 04, 2025
NJ Mayor Expands False Arrest Suit Against US Atty
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday added a false light count to his defamation and malicious prosecution complaint against interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba over his May 9 arrest outside an immigration detention center.
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June 04, 2025
Conn. Attorney Failed To Split $165K Fee, Watchdog Says
Connecticut attorney J. Xavier Pryor breached four rules of professional conduct when he failed to split a $165,000 fee from a personal injury settlement with the lawyer who referred the case to him, the state's attorney ethics watchdog said in a disciplinary complaint.
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June 04, 2025
MoFo Can't Escape Perkins Coie's 'Taint' In IP Suit, Court Told
Biometric security company FaceTec told a California federal judge that Morrison & Foerster LLP should be barred from representing identity verification platform Jumio in a patent suit, arguing that its participation is "tainted" by the actions of disqualified co-counsel Perkins Coie LLP.
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June 04, 2025
Orlando Says $1 Typo Cost It Win In Workers' Unpaid OT Suit
A $1 typo should not doom Orlando's bid for a pretrial win in a suit by district fire chiefs alleging they were wrongly denied overtime, the city told a Florida federal court, arguing the workers' salaries actually do fall under the overtime exemption.
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June 03, 2025
Ga. Judge Can't Escape Ethics Charges, Panel Told
Georgia's Judicial Qualifications Commission urged a hearing panel to reject a Fulton County judge's request to quash her ethics charges due to what she characterized as "improper failures to disclose information and recuse" by two JQC members.
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June 03, 2025
Foes Urge Court To Assume Google Hid Evidence
Advertisers, publishers and other users of Google's online advertising placement technology come armed with receipts of the search giant's personnel apparently knowingly avoiding their discovery obligations, as the multidistrict litigation plaintiffs tee up a bid to sanction the company with a court presumption that deleted chats hide key evidence of monopolization.
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June 03, 2025
Valve Patent Troll Case Paused Over Legal Fee Dispute
A Washington federal judge paused video game company Valve Corp.'s lawsuit over alleged patent trolling on Tuesday to give the defendants time to find new legal counsel, as their current attorneys seek to exit the dispute, claiming unpaid legal bills.
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June 03, 2025
Consumers Defend Amending Apple, Amazon Antitrust Case
Consumers accusing Apple and Amazon of reaching a deal to restrict the sale of Apple devices on the e-commerce site told a Washington federal court there's no need to reconsider letting them amend the complaint despite the original lead plaintiff dropping out of the case.
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June 03, 2025
Judge Blocks Foreign Enforcement In $102M Award Fight
A New York federal judge has ordered the former owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings Inc. to drop proceedings they initiated in Greece and the United Kingdom to enforce a $102 million arbitral award while he determines whether the award is fraudulent.
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June 03, 2025
Conn. Real Estate Execs Say Investors Weaponized Courts
Three executives for a real estate development firm have accused their former business partners in Connecticut Superior Court of weaponizing the courts to lodge "a multi-year, multi-forum legal assault" with "fabricated" claims.
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June 03, 2025
State Farm, Inventor Agree To End Driver Tech Patent Feud
An inventor of driver monitoring technology has agreed to end a Texas federal suit accusing State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. of using aspects of his technology without his authorization.
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June 03, 2025
License Lapse Gets Atty Suing NFL's Cardinals Suspended
The attorney representing former Arizona Cardinals Vice President Terry McDonough in his defamation suit against the NFL team and its owner has been suspended for one year from practicing in Arizona for continuing to represent McDonough while his state bar dues remained unpaid.
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June 03, 2025
Groups Ask California Bar To Discipline Google's Kent Walker
Four organizations are citing new court developments involving Google Inc. Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker's alleged mishandling of evidence in again asking the State Bar of California to discipline him.
Expert Analysis
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How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition
Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate
While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.
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Series
Birding Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Observing and documenting birds in their natural habitats fosters patience, sharpens observational skills and provides moments of pure wonder — qualities that foster personal growth and enrich my legal career, says Allison Raley at Arnall Golden.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw
The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.
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Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield
Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind
As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.
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How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence
As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.
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Series
Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer
With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw
Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.
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Justices' False Statement Ruling Curbs Half-Truth Liability
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Thompson v. U.S. decision clarified that a federal statute used to prosecute false statements made to bank regulators only criminalizes outright falsehoods, narrowing prosecutors’ reach and providing defense counsel a stronger basis to challenge indictments of merely misleading statements, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.
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Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist
Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Opinion
We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment
As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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Deportation Flights May End Up A Legal And Strategic Error
Officials in the Trump administration could face criminal contempt charges if a D.C. judge finds that they flouted his orders last weekend to halt deportation flights to El Salvador, which could ultimately make mass deportations more difficult — and proving noncompliance a self-defeating strategy, says Ethan Greenberg at Anderson Kill.
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Series
Performing Stand-Up Comedy Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Whether I’m delivering a punchline on stage or a closing argument in court, balancing stand-up comedy performances and my legal career has demonstrated that the keys to success in both endeavors include reading the room, landing the right timing and making an impact, says attorney Rebecca Palmer.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From SEC To BigLaw
As I adjusted to the multifaceted workflow of a BigLaw firm after leaving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, working side by side with new colleagues on complex matters proved the fastest way to build a deep rapport and demonstrate my value, says Jennifer Lee at Jenner & Block.