Legal Ethics

  • May 20, 2025

    Apple Can't Get Quick Pause Of App Store Order At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit agreed Monday to expedite briefing in Apple's appeal challenging a lower court's new injunction mandating certain App Store policy changes, but the panel declined to rule on Apple's emergency request to pause the injunction as Apple and Epic Games brief the hotly contested dispute.

  • May 20, 2025

    Texas Bar Bans Cos. From Hiring Out In-House Attys

    For-profit companies in Texas can't provide legal services to customers, even if they offer those services on an "at cost" basis, the State Bar of Texas has said.

  • May 20, 2025

    Veterans Seek Certification For VA Consultant Fee Claims

    A proposed class of veterans urged a North Carolina federal judge to certify their claims against a consulting firm they allege charged them millions in illegal fees, arguing that the individual claims of thousands all hinge on a single statutory interpretation.

  • May 19, 2025

    Goldstein Assails 'Radical' DOJ Case, Probe Of 'Sexual Habits'

    In his most forceful attack on tax evasion charges that have roiled the U.S. Supreme Court bar, indicted appellate icon Thomas C. Goldstein is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of embracing "breathtaking" legal theories and revealing prurient information about him "to bias the grand jury."

  • May 19, 2025

    Posner Wins Ex-Staffer's $170K Wage Suit

    A former executive at retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner's short-lived pro bono legal services organization lost his bid for $170,000 in back pay he claimed to be owed on Monday when an Indiana federal court found claims to be untimely.

  • May 19, 2025

    Va. State Judge Clears VLSI's Fraud Suit Against PQA

    Patent Quality Assurance and an associated attorney must face litigation accusing them of fraud during an inter partes review against VLSI Technology, a Virginia state judge has concluded.

  • May 19, 2025

    DuPont And Garden State Clash In PFAS Trial Opener

    New Jersey and E.I. du Pont de Nemours were at odds on Monday in federal court over the risks and cleanup of "forever chemical" contamination at a Salem County manufacturing facility, with the state claiming it was intentionally misled and DuPont arguing the state is changing the rules.

  • May 19, 2025

    Apple's Refusal To Put Fortnite On App Store Prompts Hearing

    A California federal judge issued an order Monday requiring Apple to show why she should not find that the company has violated her recent injunction requiring changes to its App Store policies, after Epic Games complained that the tech giant is refusing to put Fortnite back on its U.S. online storefront.

  • May 19, 2025

    Amazon Asks 9th Circ. To Flip 'Inadvertent' Discovery Ruling

    Amazon asked the Ninth Circuit to reverse a Washington federal court's ruling that refused its bid to claw back documents inadvertently produced in proposed antitrust class actions, saying companies need to be able to fix mistakes made when designating privileged documents.

  • May 19, 2025

    Trump Signs Anti-Revenge Porn Bill Into Law

    President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law a bipartisan bill to combat deep fake revenge porn, a major priority for first lady Melania Trump that has been met with criticism from some technology groups over security and constitutional concerns.

  • May 19, 2025

    CFTC Should Pay $3M Atty Fees After Sanctions, Firm Says

    A foreign exchange firm that won dismissal of a U.S. Commodity Futures Exchange Commission case after a New Jersey federal judge sanctioned the agency for bad faith behavior now says the CFTC should have to pay nearly $3 million for failing to own up to its mistake sooner.

  • May 19, 2025

    Cos. Fight Recusal Bid In Antitrust Case Over Clerk Ties

    The Minnesota federal judge overseeing a major pork price-fixing case shouldn't have to recuse himself just because one of his clerks worked at plaintiffs-side firms, pork purchaser plaintiffs say, calling the defendants' request a cynical ploy that comes on the eve of trial.

  • May 19, 2025

    Investment Adviser Seeks Cadwalader Notes In Fraud Case

    An investment manager who used to be represented by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche when Blanche was a partner at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP has asked a Brooklyn federal judge to order the firm to turn over documents that he called "critical" to his defense on fraud and money laundering charges.

  • May 19, 2025

    Fla. Judge Resigns Amid Call For Removal Over 'Bigot' Remark

    A Florida judge who accused her opponent of antisemitism and bigotry said she will resign from the bench after the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission "reluctantly, but of necessity" recommend her removal.

  • May 19, 2025

    Atty Says Texas Firm Fired Her For Taking Protected Leave

    A former associate at a prominent Texas personal injury firm who claims she was fired after she took medical leave for a disabling eye condition and bereavement leave upon her mother's death has brought a disability discrimination suit against the firm and associated entities in federal court in Houston.

  • May 19, 2025

    Ex-Staffer Fights NJ Law Firm Blume Forte's Arbitration Bid

    A former staff member who is suing personal injury law firm Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari PC, alleging disability discrimination, is disputing an assertion that she signed a valid arbitration agreement with the firm, arguing that any such agreement is unenforceable in New Jersey state court.

  • May 19, 2025

    Ex-Bank GC Fights $7.4M Fraud Restitution Schedule

    A former Webster Bank general counsel has opposed part of a government plan for repaying the $7.4 million he pled guilty to taking by fraud, saying he will be in prison for four years, resigned as an attorney, remains unemployed and cannot work in banking once he's free.

  • May 19, 2025

    Ex-Litigator Settles Disability Bias Suit Against Wilson Elser

    A former Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP litigator on Monday agreed to permanently drop his federal disability bias suit against the firm, after the sides came to a confidential resolution.

  • May 19, 2025

    Avenatti Rips 'Draconian' Bid To Add 13 Years To Sentence

    Former high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti asked a California federal judge to reject the government's request to tack on more than 13 years to his prison term, saying such a "draconian" result would conflict with a Ninth Circuit ruling wiping out a previous sentence in the fraud case.

  • May 19, 2025

    Pa. County Must Face Suit Over Ex-DA's Sex Assault

    The government of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, can't duck a lawsuit brought by a woman who claims the county should have stopped its then-district attorney from stalking, harassing and sexually assaulting her, a federal judge ruled Monday.

  • May 19, 2025

    Partner Hire Kills Jurisdiction In Referral Suit, Mass. Firm Says

    A Boston law firm told a Massachusetts federal court on Monday that it plans to refile its suit seeking a referral fee from a Minnesota firm that served as co-lead counsel in a salmon purchaser antitrust case, after the latter firm's hiring of a Massachusetts-based partner defeated federal court jurisdiction.

  • May 16, 2025

    9th Circ. Mulls DOJ Shield Of Jones Day VW Documents

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday questioned whether it could force the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over confidential Volkswagen documents it obtained through a grand jury subpoena that were part of Jones Day's internal investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal.

  • May 16, 2025

    Anthropic's AI-Hallucinated Errors Taint Filing, Publishers Say

    Music publishers suing Anthropic for copyright infringement accused the artificial intelligence company on Friday of downplaying the seriousness of errors in a filing caused by Anthropic's own Claude AI tool, saying the company's counsel violated a judge's standing order and arguing that the filing at issue should be tossed.

  • May 16, 2025

    Injured Ross Shopper Sanctioned For Discovery Violations

    A woman suing Ross Dress for Less Inc. for injuries she suffered in a fall was sanctioned for failing to disclose that she received medical treatment stemming from a car accident two years prior, but a Florida federal judge stopped short of granting the "ultimate" sanction of dismissal.

  • May 16, 2025

    Attys With 'Borrowed' Claims Can't Skip Inquiry, Lumen Says

    Telecommunications company Lumen has told the Colorado Supreme Court that attorneys still need to conduct their own "objectively reasonable inquiry" when borrowing claims from outside litigants, in the hopes of beating a shareholder suit that took allegations from other cases despite attorneys not speaking to the witnesses.

Expert Analysis

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

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