Legal Ethics

  • September 03, 2026

    Dutch Software Co. Asks Justices To Halt TM Trial

    A Dutch software company has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a rapidly approaching trial in a trademark dispute with an American rival while it petitions for review of an injunction and contempt order that it said threaten to taint the entire proceedings.

  • September 03, 2026

    Leon Black Says 'Intrusive' Epstein Subpoenas Are Invalid

    Rather than appear for a deposition about his connection to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black sued the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its chairman in Washington, D.C., federal court Thursday, saying subpoenas seeking private nondisclosure agreements exceed the committee's authority.

  • September 03, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Judge's Post-Decision Recusal Won't Lead To Redo

    U.S. Circuit Judge Richard G. Taranto's decision to recuse himself from a case based on newly inherited Amazon stock is not enough to justify reconsidering the opinion he'd already issued, the Federal Circuit has ruled.

  • September 03, 2026

    NJ Judge Strikes Experts In Faegre Drinker Malpractice Suit

    A New Jersey state judge has struck the expert reports in a legal malpractice suit against Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, barring the experts from testifying unless the Sept. 14 trial over a real estate deal gone awry is postponed.

  • September 03, 2026

    Ga. City, Ex-Court Admin To Mediate Retaliation Dispute

    A federal judge has stayed a former court administrator's suit alleging the city of East Point, Georgia, fired her for complaining about a city council member's attempt to have a relative's court fine withdrawn, saying the parties intend to mediate.

  • September 03, 2026

    Federal Judge Warns Threats Imperil Judicial Independence

    U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida told Law360 that judges and members of the bar need to educate the public on the judiciary's important role in American democracy to combat increasing threats, speaking following the release of two reports this week that warn of safety concerns for judges and that defiance of court orders is undermining the federal judiciary's independence.

  • September 03, 2026

    Law Firm, Closing Agents Faulted For Not Flagging Fraud

    A Pittsburgh-area real estate settlement company wrongfully released the money from a divorcing couple's property sale to a fraudster, and the law firm that was supposed to get the money didn't notice until nearly a month later, the couple claim in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania state court.

  • September 03, 2026

    Pirro Urges House Ethics Panel To Refer Crime Claims To DOJ

    U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has told the House Ethics Committee that as cases involving criminal misconduct come before it, her office should be involved too.

  • September 03, 2026

    Whistleblower Says She Wasn't Going Around Hospital Attys

    Attorneys representing a western Pennsylvania hospital misconstrued a conversation a whistleblower nurse had with another employee, the nurse told a Pennsylvania federal court on Wednesday in opposing the hospital's motion for a protective order preventing her from speaking with her co-workers about the lawsuit.

  • September 03, 2026

    Philly Firm Says Recent Discovery Dooms Uber's RICO Suit

    Philadelphia personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to dismiss Uber's complaint accusing it of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to inflate settlements, claiming it learned through discovery that the company has not been damaged by the payouts.

  • September 03, 2026

    Fox Rothschild Says Adult Day Care Suit Rehashes Claims

    Fox Rothschild LLP is urging a New Jersey state court to toss claims against the firm and one of its attorneys in a complaint related to the firm's prosecution of a fraudulent loan lawsuit that led to a $65,000 sanction against the firm.

  • September 03, 2026

    Husch Blackwell Gets Early Win In Ex-Partner's 401(k) Suit

    A Missouri federal court granted Husch Blackwell LLP an early win over a former employee's proposed class action alleging the firm illegally withheld retirement contributions and mismanaged its employee 401(k) plan, finding the ex-partner couldn't prove violations of federal benefits law.

  • September 03, 2026

    Ex-IRL App CEO Says Prosecutors Ignored Ethics Breaches

    The co-founder of defunct social app IRL is fighting fraud charges by claiming that the U.S. attorney's office prosecuting him is conflicted because an attorney who formerly defended IRL in an SEC investigation and is now with the office pushed for him to be charged — and he is disputing prosecutors' denial of impropriety. 

  • September 03, 2026

    Former Girardi Keese CFO Drops Appeal Of 5-Year Fraud Term

    The Seventh Circuit has granted onetime Girardi Keese financial chief Christopher Kamon's request to drop the appeal he lodged fighting an Illinois federal judge's order adding five concurrent years onto the 10 he is already serving for his role helping Tom Girardi, the head of the firm, steal millions from plane crash clients who settled cases in Chicago.

  • September 03, 2026

    Boutique Firms Emerge As Trump Admin's 'Achilles' Heel'

    Less fearful of retribution than some of their BigLaw counterparts, small law firms are taking on an outsize role handling cases seen as adversarial to the Trump administration.

  • September 02, 2026

    Walmart Says IP Suit Docs Can't Be Used In Malpractice Case

    Walmart has asked an Arkansas federal court to order food tech startup Zest Labs to comply with a protective order from the parties' settled trade secret dispute and block it from disclosing Walmart's confidential information in Zest's malpractice suit against its former attorneys.

  • September 02, 2026

    House Rejects Amendment To Fix Court At 9 Justices

    The House failed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would keep the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.

  • September 02, 2026

    Dems Call Subpoenas' Secrecy Request 'Abuse Of Authority'

    Democratic lawmakers Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Wash., have called for an investigation into subpoenas issued from federal law enforcement to private companies that contain nondisclosure provisions and carry threats of legal consequences for noncompliance.

  • September 02, 2026

    Conn. Firm Sued Over $718K Personal Injury Settlement

    Connecticut law firm Weber & Rubano LLC has sued successor counsel at another firm, The Quinn Law Firm LLC, in state court, claiming it is owed a nearly $41,000 cut of a $717,500 personal injury settlement it helped procure.

  • September 02, 2026

    GOP Reps Question Georgia Judge's 'Lenient Punishment'

    Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee have demanded answers from the federal judiciary after a Georgia federal judge was privately reprimanded for lying about having sex in her chambers and attending a political event.

  • September 02, 2026

    ABA Outlines Attys' Duties To Clients With Intellectual Limits

    Attorneys have the same obligations to clients with decision-making limitations, should abide by those clients' decisions regarding their representation and must work to maintain an ordinary client-lawyer relationship as much as possible, the American Bar Association said in an opinion released Wednesday.

  • September 02, 2026

    Hall Booth Can't Pause NC Malpractice Claims, Court Told

    A court-appointed receiver has blasted Hall Booth Smith PC's bid in the North Carolina state appeals court to pause legal malpractice claims against the firm related to a wrongful conviction judgment, calling the move "nothing but a collateral attack" in state court on a federal order appointing the receiver.

  • September 02, 2026

    JPMorgan Seeks Stay Of $20M Javice, Amar Fee Order

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday to pause enforcement of an order requiring it to advance more than $20 million in disputed legal fees to convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, arguing the bank could permanently lose the money before it gets a chance to challenge the ruling.

  • September 02, 2026

    Texas Atty Charged With Ponzi Scheme, SEC Obstruction

    Federal prosecutors have charged a Texas attorney accused of running a $1.5 million Ponzi scheme and then lying to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an attempt to dodge liability.

  • September 02, 2026

    Calif. Bill Regulating Atty AI Use Heads To Newsom's Desk

    A bill regulating attorneys' and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence has unanimously passed the California State Legislature and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • 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.

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