Legal Ethics

  • May 27, 2025

    Expert Says DuPont Knew Of PFAS Risk At NJ Site

    A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy adviser told a New Jersey federal court on Tuesday that E.I. du Pont de Nemours knew of the risk of "forever chemicals" and failed to disclose that risk to federal and Garden State regulators despite its obligation to do so.

  • May 27, 2025

    Philly Atty Suspended 3 Years For Sexual Conduct With Client

    Philadelphia personal injury lawyer Brian Dooley Kent has been suspended from the practice of law for three years for engaging in sexual conduct with a client he represented while investigating claims against the Church of Scientology.

  • May 27, 2025

    DOJ Pushes Back Against Agri Stats Recusal Bid

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a Minnesota federal judge Friday there is no reason to recuse himself from a case accusing Agri Stats of helping meat processors exchange sensitive information because the clerk who allegedly created a conflict is not working on the case.

  • May 27, 2025

    Ga. Firms Accused Of Misleading Client After Crash Suit Error

    A Georgia couple said two personal injury law firms wrongly left out the accused driver's employer — which had $2.5 million in insurance coverage — as a defendant and fraudulently convinced them to delay a legal malpractice claim.

  • May 27, 2025

    Ex-Firm Leader Pushes To Remand Whistleblower Suit In Fla.

    The former Jacksonville, Florida, office managing partner of Matthiesen Wickert & Lehrer SC is asking a Florida federal court to send back to state court her whistleblower lawsuit alleging she was forced to leave her position because she attempted to stop a paralegal from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

  • May 27, 2025

    Fla. Justices Urged To Stop Agency's Prosecution 'Overreach'

    A man accused of election fraud has filed his opening brief with the Florida Supreme Court over claims that the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution doesn't have the authority to pursue the charges against him, calling the organization a "creature of limited jurisdiction."

  • May 27, 2025

    ArentFox Schiff Says Workers' 'Antics' Should Get Suit Tossed

    An Illinois federal judge handling age discrimination claims from two longtime former ArentFox Schiff LLP information technology contractors should permanently dismiss their lawsuit as a consequence for routinely destroying case evidence and discarding their mobile phones while the litigation has been pending, the firm says.

  • May 27, 2025

    Auto Co. Seeks Judge's Recusal For Pushing Bias Settlement

    A Pennsylvania magistrate judge has been improperly pushing an automotive dealership to settle a former manager's suit claiming she faced daily sexual advances and inappropriate comments from her boss, the company said, arguing the judge needs to step aside before an upcoming trial.

  • May 27, 2025

    Calif. Bar Seeks More Remedies After Problematic Feb. Exam

    The state bar of California has formally asked the state Supreme Court to approve measures including a limited provisional licensure program and a more direct pathway to admission for out-of-state attorneys, in the state bar's latest attempt to seek equitable remedies amid the fallout from the bungled February 2025 California bar exam.

  • May 27, 2025

    'I Need To Be Careful': Judge Wades Into Musk-Firm Conflict

    A New York federal judge questioned his authority to weigh in on Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP's hiring decisions after it sought permission to employ a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney who Elon Musk claims could disadvantage him in a shareholder lawsuit, asking the firm and Musk to brief him on what may be an issue of first impression.

  • May 27, 2025

    Feds Can't Turn Off NY Funding In Congestion Pricing Fight

    A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked as "arbitrary and capricious" a Trump administration threat to withhold federal transportation funds from New York as part of a White House effort to undo New York City's congestion pricing program.

  • May 23, 2025

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, a handful of attorneys secured billions of dollars in settlements and judgments for both classes and individual plaintiffs against massive companies and organizations like Facebook, Dell, the National Association of Realtors, Johnson & Johnson, UFC and Credit Suisse, earning them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2025.

  • May 23, 2025

    USPTO Asks Fed. Circ. To Deny Both VLSI, OpenSky In IP Row

    The acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday stepped into a patent review dispute between VLSI Technology and OpenSky Industries at the Federal Circuit following a $2.18 billion jury verdict against Intel Corp., urging the appellate court to reject both sides' arguments.

  • May 23, 2025

    4 Top Paul Weiss Attys Exit In Wake Of Firm's Deal With Trump

    Four top Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partners who have represented Google, Amazon and other major companies in high-profile litigation left the firm Friday, in the wake of its decision to make a deal with the Trump administration to defuse an executive order targeting the BigLaw firm's business.

  • May 23, 2025

    Cooley Beats Malpractice Claim In NJ Investor Suit, For Now

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday trimmed a securities fraud lawsuit alleging Cooley LLP and its attorneys deliberately hid from an investor fraud claims against a startup's CEO, dismissing legal malpractice allegations against Cooley and four attorneys, but keeping alive other claims and letting the plaintiff amend his suit.

  • May 23, 2025

    Detroit Judge Can't Yet Invoke Immunity Over Teen's Mock Trial

    A Michigan federal judge said a Detroit judge's decision to put a teenager through a livestreamed "judicial-like" proceeding akin to "Scared Straight" for falling asleep in his courtroom while on a field trip may have fallen outside the bounds of judicial immunity, denying a bid to toss the teen's lawsuit against the judicial officer.

  • May 23, 2025

    NC Judge Censured For Drunken Driving With His Child In Car

    The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday censured a state judge after he was found guilty of drunken driving with his minor daughter in the vehicle, calling the discipline the "minimum acceptable consequence" for the judge's wrongdoing.

  • May 23, 2025

    Atty, Stepdaughter Face $600K Workers' Comp Fraud Charges

    The Orange County District Attorney's Office has charged a California attorney and his stepdaughter with conspiring to defraud a police department she was employed at by filing fraudulent workers' compensation payments.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ill. Justices Ice Attys Who Stacked Jobs, Flubbed Cases

    A lawyer who triple-dipped jobs against Illinois attorney general rules and another who collected excessive fees and mishandled two clients' criminal matters were included alongside several other attorneys named in the Illinois Supreme Court's latest disciplinary order.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ga. Judge Acted As 'Jury And Executioner,' Ethics Panel Told

    A Georgia woman told a state judicial ethics tribunal Friday that she was "humiliated" by a Fulton County judge's decision to lock her in a cell during her parents' divorce hearing, recalling that she felt the judge had claimed for herself the additional titles of "jury and executioner," while the woman's father came to the judge's defense.

  • May 23, 2025

    Texas Atty Still Disbarred For Failing To Report Client's Death

    A Texas appeals court has upheld the disbarment of an attorney who was found by a jury to have engaged in professional misconduct, in part, by failing to report the death of a client he had represented in an attempt to recover the value of bounced checks.

  • May 23, 2025

    Law Prof Rebuked For Trying To End Sister's Conservatorship

    Colorado appellate judges have said a Northwestern University law professor lacked standing to request termination of a conservatorship over his sister, citing the professor stealing at least $1.5 million from his sister's inheritance and calling him "the antithesis" of a person interested in her welfare.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ga. Bar OKs Real Estate Deals Via Video

    The State Bar of Georgia has adopted a formal ethics opinion allowing attorneys to close real estate deals via video conference, finding that the remote appearances satisfy lawyers' duty to be "present" at closings.

  • May 23, 2025

    Split DC Circ. Affirms Ax Of Ex-Trump Aide's Surveillance Suit

    A split D.C. Circuit affirmed Friday the dismissal of claims by former Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page that the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and former top officials violated privacy statutes in surveilling him as part of a Russian election interference probe.

  • May 23, 2025

    Philly Firm Dodges DQ Despite 'Troubling' Discovery Conduct

    Philadelphia-based construction law specialists Horn Williamson LLC can't be disqualified from a batch of negligence lawsuits against home builder Toll Brothers Inc. over "troubling" misconduct involving third-party subpoenas, a Pennsylvania Superior Court said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

  • What Law Firms Should Know Amid Rise In DQ Motions

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    As disqualification motions proliferate, law firms need to be aware of the types of conflicts that most often lead to disqualification, the types of attorneys who may be affected and how to reduce their exposure to these motions, says Matthew Henderson at Hinshaw.

  • Data Protection Steps To Consider After Biden Privacy Order

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    A recent White House executive order casts a spotlight on the criticality of securing sensitive content communications, presenting challenges and necessitating a recalibration of practices, especially for lawyers, says Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks.

  • Surveying Legislative Trends As States Rush To Regulate AI

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    With Congress unlikely to pass comprehensive artificial intelligence legislation any time soon, just four months into 2024, nearly every state has introduced legislation aimed at the development and use of AI on subjects from algorithmic discrimination risk to generative AI disclosures, say David Kappos and Sasha Rosenthal-Larrea at Cravath.

  • How Duty Of Candor Figures In USPTO AI Ethics Guidance

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    The duty of candor and good faith is an important part of the artificial intelligence ethics guidance issued last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and serious consequences can visit patent and trademark applicants who violate that duty, not just their attorneys and agents, says Michael Cicero at Taylor English.

  • Series

    Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues

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    Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

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