Legal Ethics

  • November 20, 2025

    Ex-Kline & Specter Atty's Video Hinted At Violence, Court Told

    Kline & Specter PC co-founder Shanin Specter said Thursday he was concerned for his safety after allegedly appearing in the background of a social media video in which former firm attorney Thomas Bosworth — whose departure from Kline & Specter sparked a contentious legal battle — purportedly mused about the return of duels as a means of resolving conflicts.

  • November 20, 2025

    Priest Privilege Can't Cloak Info In NY Child Sex Abuse Case

    A man who alleged he was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Brooklyn should have full access to the cleric's psychological treatment reports that were forwarded from a facility to his supervising bishop, a New York state appeals court has affirmed, denying clergy-penitent or doctor-patient privilege.

  • November 20, 2025

    Senate Passes Bill To Protect State Judges From Threats

    The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to beef up security for state and local judges.

  • November 20, 2025

    Ramey Ordered To Pay $95K For Sharing Netflix Info

    A California federal judge has ordered patent firm Ramey LLP and its founder to pay Netflix $95,000 in attorney fees for violating a court protective order by sharing confidential documents with a third-party litigation funder.

  • November 20, 2025

    Dell Says Atty's Pregnancy Bias Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    A former in-house attorney for Dell can't pursue a lawsuit alleging that the company fired her because she chose to work remotely to accommodate her high-risk pregnancy, the technology company told a Massachusetts federal judge, arguing she is bound by an arbitration agreement.

  • November 20, 2025

    Becker Secures $100K Deal In Fla. Town's Suit Over FBI Sting

    The Miami Lakes Town Council has signed off on a $100,000 settlement with Becker & Poliakoff PC to resolve the municipality's lawsuit over a former firm lobbyist's role in an FBI sting operation that led to the arrest of the town's later-acquitted mayor.

  • November 20, 2025

    NJ Panel Expands Scope Of Ex-Reed Smith Atty's Bias Claims

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a former Reed Smith LLP attorney is entitled to pursue more damages and obtain expanded wage data in her gender discrimination suit against the firm, saying a trial court incorrectly applied certain statutes when it limited the damages and data she could seek.

  • November 20, 2025

    Claims Firms Barred From Misleading Plaintiffs In Pharma MDL

    On the same day that a Philadelphia federal judge approved $58 million in settlements as part of an ongoing generic-drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation, she also ordered several claims recovery firms to correct allegedly false and misleading ads used to attract potential clients seeking to make claims on the settlements.

  • November 20, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Disbarred After Bribery Conviction

    The Illinois Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday disbarring former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who consented to the disbarment after he was convicted earlier this year on charges claiming he used his official position to steer business to his now-defunct personal law firm.

  • November 20, 2025

    Unlockd Is Latest Google Foe To Seek Judge's Recusal

    Unlockd Media has become at least the second Google antitrust foe to seek the recusal of U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. over his close relationship with Google's vice president for litigation and discovery.

  • November 20, 2025

    Ex-SDNY Chief Rejects Claim Of Broken FTX Plea Promise

    Former interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told a federal judge Thursday that she never promised crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond any kind of no-prosecute deal as the government negotiated a guilty plea with Bond's husband, former FTX executive Ryan Salame.

  • November 19, 2025

    Charlie Javice's Redo Bid Says Clerks Had Davis Polk Conflict

    Charlie Javice, who faces a seven-year sentence for conning JPMorgan Chase & Co. into buying her college financial aid startup Frank, asked a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday for a new trial, arguing that two clerks who worked on the trial had accepted jobs with the bank's firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

  • November 19, 2025

    PacifiCorp To Pay $150M To 1,400 Survivors Of 2020 Wildfires

    PacifiCorp announced Wednesday that it has reached a $150 million settlement with more than 1,400 plaintiffs who blame the Berkshire Hathaway-owned utility's equipment for sparking deadly Labor Day 2020 wildfires in Oregon.

  • November 19, 2025

    Sinclair Sanctioned For Failing To Preserve Texts In Ads MDL

    An Illinois federal judge sanctioned Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. on Tuesday over the company's failure to preserve text message data from more than 50 company-issued cellphones for discovery in multidistrict litigation targeting an allegedly illegal advertising price-fixing scheme.

  • November 19, 2025

    The House's Plan B For Repealing Provision On DOJ Lawsuits

    If the Senate does not take up a bill to repeal a provision in the government funding package allowing senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages, a Republican House member is already making contingency plans.

  • November 19, 2025

    Latham DQ'd From Sleep Apnea Device Co.'s Patent Fight

    A Delaware federal court has disqualified Latham & Watkins LLP from representing the creator of a sleep apnea implant in its patent dispute after the firm served as counsel to the rival's underwriters, saying the "appearance of impropriety is glaring."

  • November 19, 2025

    Alaska Senator Pushes For Better Vetting After Judge Scandal

    Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said on Wednesday that after a federal judge in his state resigned in disgrace last year, he decided he had to revamp his selection process for judicial nominees.

  • November 19, 2025

    Troutman Owes $3.7M In Atty Fees After $1M Malpractice Loss

    Troutman Pepper Locke LLP must pay $3.7 million in attorney fees to a healthcare tech company that won on malpractice claims against the firm in 2024 after six years of litigation and an eight-day bench trial, a New Jersey state judge has ordered.

  • November 19, 2025

    Georgia Atty Told To Arbitrate Wage Claims Against Ex-Firm

    An Atlanta attorney was ordered to arbitrate her retaliation and harassment claims against her former firm after a Georgia federal judge determined that the employment agreement between the two sides requires any disputes to be settled in that way.

  • November 19, 2025

    Paxton Deputies Seek To Block Subpoenas In Harassment Suit

    Two high-ranking attorneys in the Texas Office of the Attorney General this week blasted deposition subpoenas they got from a pair of former OAG lawyers facing a sexual harassment suit as the "epitome" of abusive discovery.

  • November 19, 2025

    Disbarred Pa. Atty Gets 15 Mos. For Forging Judge's Signature

    A disbarred central Pennsylvania attorney has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to forging a federal judge's signature on phony court orders he showed to a client as proof he'd won money for his client in a case that was never filed.

  • November 19, 2025

    Halligan Says Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment

    U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan acknowledged Wednesday that the full grand jury in the James Comey case never saw or voted on the final version of the indictment that was handed up to the court in the case. An attorney for Comey said the clarification was grounds for dismissal.

  • November 18, 2025

    Reed Smith Can't Represent Eletson By 'Repeated Incantation'

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday rejected Reed Smith LLP's latest effort to intervene on behalf of the purported former owners of international shipping company Eletson Holdings in Eletson's $102 million breach-of-contract litigation with rival Levona, saying the firm can't represent the holding company post-bankruptcy "by repeated incantation."

  • November 18, 2025

    Plaintiffs Seek Meta Research Docs On Youth Users

    Plaintiffs urged a Los Angeles judge to compel Meta to produce unredacted internal documents that they say show its attorneys changed company research about the effects of social media on the young, citing a recent order by a Washington, D.C., judge in related litigation.

  • November 18, 2025

    Court Says Keeping Tribe's Suit Alive Respects Federal Law

    An Oklahoma city can't dodge a jurisdictional challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a federal judge determined Tuesday, saying, "The boundary between state authority and tribal sovereignty in Indian Country was marked long before the dispute arose, and nothing in the record suggests Congress has moved it."

Expert Analysis

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • DOJ Faces Potential Discovery Pitfalls In Comey Prosecution

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    The unusual circumstances surrounding the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey increase the odds of a discovery misstep for the U.S. Department of Justice, offering important reminders for defense counsel on how to ensure the government fulfills its obligations, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • 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.

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