Legal Ethics

  • May 26, 2026

    NY Murder Conviction Stands Despite 'Blah Blah' Transcript

    New York's highest court has affirmed the murder conviction of a man who, along with his wife, killed a neighbor, finding on Tuesday that though his trial transcript was "utterly inexcusable" — frequently containing "blah blah blah," "omitted" or "undecipherable characters instead of the words actually spoken" — it was sufficiently reconstructed.

  • May 26, 2026

    Fla. Panel Orders Atty To Explain AI Citations In Roofing Case

    A Florida state appeals court has thrown out a breach of contract dispute following the parties' agreement to dismiss it, but ordered an attorney representing a roofing company to explain why he shouldn't be penalized after his brief apparently contained artificial-intelligence-generated legal citations.

  • May 26, 2026

    Beasley Allen Fails To Overturn J&J Talc Disqualification

    A New Jersey federal judge affirmed the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder on Tuesday, determining that the firm has failed to provide a valid reason to back its attempt at a stay and temporary reinstatement into the matter.

  • May 26, 2026

    Mintz Gets Patent Malpractice Suit Sent From Texas To Mass.

    A former Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC client's professional negligence suit against the firm over its handling of a patent case belongs in Massachusetts rather than Texas federal court, according to a Tuesday order.

  • May 26, 2026

    Justices To Consider Taking Judge Newman Case On June 11

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to take up U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's petition seeking to overturn her suspension from the Federal Circuit on June 11, according to a notice posted Tuesday.

  • May 26, 2026

    Diversion Plan Ordered For Pa. Judge With 'Book of Grudges'

    A Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, magisterial judge has entered a judicial diversion program to resolve a disciplinary investigation into reports that she kept a "book of grudges" with detailed and profane personal complaints about people she encountered in her courtroom.

  • May 26, 2026

    DHS Pauses ICE Home Entries Under Administrative Warrants

    Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Democratic senator earlier this month he's paused immigration agents' use of administrative warrants to enter private property, but has not officially revoked the controversial policy issued last year.

  • May 26, 2026

    Pirro, Blanche Fight DQ Bid In Attempted Assassination Case

    U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are fighting a bid from the California man accused of an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner to disqualify them from handling the case.

  • May 26, 2026

    2nd Circ. Eyes Bail For Bribe Case Cooperator: 'Why Not?'

    A Second Circuit judge on Tuesday questioned a Manhattan federal judge's decision to deny bail to prolific cooperator Jona Rechnitz while he appeals a five-month sentence for facilitating bribery inside the New York Police Department and in a law enforcement union, saying the lower court appeared "annoyed" when bail was mentioned.

  • May 22, 2026

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, 10 lawyers across the country at plaintiffs' firms big and small helped secure millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for their clients, going up against powerful defendants like Google, Monsanto and the Trump administration, earning the attorneys recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2026.

  • May 22, 2026

    PFAS Judge Wary Of Bid To Sanction Town For 'About-Face'

    A Montana federal judge on Friday seemed slightly reluctant to sanction Connecticut municipalities for moving firefighter turnout gear PFAS claims to his jurisdiction after roughly two years of litigation on the East Coast, suggesting the process of shipping purchaser claims across the nation is typical when complex cases arise.

  • May 22, 2026

    Attys Hijacked 1,000 Storm Cases In 'Shakedown,' Suit Says

    Two Louisiana law firms and a group of politically connected attorneys engaged in a "shakedown" to steal about 1,000 cases filed by hurricane survivors who had hired and built cases with a different firm, alleged a RICO suit filed Thursday in Houston federal court.

  • May 22, 2026

    Mich. Panel Upholds $20M Verdict Despite Improper Closing

    The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a $20.6 million verdict for a man who was severely injured when a van struck him while he was snow-blowing his driveway, ruling that the defense could not challenge plaintiff counsel's inflammatory closing arguments because it failed to object at trial.

  • May 22, 2026

    Ala. Atty Suspended Over 'Atrocious' Bid To Cover Up AI Use

    A federal judge has suspended an attorney from practicing in the Northern District of Alabama after the attorney deleted his ChatGPT account in a bid to cover up his use of the chatbot to write an erroneous brief, saying the court never imagined having to deal with such "atrocious conduct."

  • May 22, 2026

    Ga. Panel Rejects 'Disingenuous' Bid To Dodge Settlement

    A Georgia appellate panel has backed a trial court's decision to enforce a separation settlement between a metro Atlanta city and its former city manager, ruling that he could not escape his attorney's clear-cut acceptance of the city's offer when she wrote that "we have a deal."

  • May 22, 2026

    Texas Bar Says Attorney Neglected Child Support Cases

    The State Bar of Texas' disciplinary arm has filed a disciplinary petition against attorney Richard Jordan Riley in Harris County court, accusing him of neglecting a client's two child support matters, failing to meaningfully communicate for months and never refunding unearned fees after she ended the representation.

  • May 22, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Atty's Hospital Fraud Claims Not Med Mal

    The Fourth Circuit has revived an attorney's suit against a Maryland hospital, saying while the claims may be related to medical malpractice that he alleges he suffered under a doctor working at the hospital, the fraud and conspiracy claims are not medical malpractice.

  • May 22, 2026

    Opioid Plaintiffs Want Sanctions Over McKinsey Deletions

    A group of plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation against McKinsey & Co. is urging a California federal court to sanction the company for deleting communications with Purdue Pharma and other opioid-makers, saying the court should enter a default judgment against the consulting firm.

  • May 22, 2026

    Nelson Mullins Faces $2B Suits Over Alleged Conflicts

    The former wives of two insurance mogul brothers have sued Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP for $2 billion, claiming a partner there set up the couples' estates while quietly conspiring with the brothers to shield marital assets from the wives in the event of divorce.

  • May 22, 2026

    Md. Docs Seek $50M After DOJ's Failed Russia Case

    Two Maryland physicians sued the U.S. Department of Justice and federal health agencies alleging an outdated news release still portrays them as threats to national security despite the dismissal of criminal charges alleging they leaked medical records to Russia, ostracizing them from medicine and costing them millions. 

  • May 22, 2026

    DOJ Hid Grand Jury Misconduct In ICE Case, Ill. Judge Says

    An Illinois federal judge said Thursday her trust in U.S. Department of Justice attorneys had been "broken" after reviewing unredacted grand jury transcripts in a criminal case against anti-ICE protesters that revealed prosecutorial misconduct, shortly after which Chicago's top federal prosecutor moved to dismiss the charges.

  • May 22, 2026

    Discipline Upheld For Fed. Judge Who Had Sex In Chambers

    The federal judiciary signed off Friday on a private reprimand for a district judge within the Eleventh Circuit for misconduct that included having an extramarital affair with a law enforcement officer and sexual intercourse in their chambers within earshot of the judge's staff.

  • May 22, 2026

    Sills Cummis, Ex-Rock Musician Manager Ink Pretrial Deal

    Sills Cummis & Gross PC and the former manager of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee suing the firm over malpractice claims have reached a deal just days before the case was set to go to trial, according to a letter filed in New Jersey state court.

  • May 22, 2026

    Justices Won't Upend Ruling Making Ga. Ethics Claims Public

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to vacate an Eleventh Circuit ruling that allowed Georgia's judicial watchdog to publicize allegations that two unsuccessful Georgia Supreme Court candidates violated ethics rules, shortly after the pair argued the election did not moot the case.

  • May 22, 2026

    Ex-Public Defender, Ex-Boss Spar Over Bias Suit Discovery

    The administrative office overseeing indigent defense in metro Detroit has asked a Michigan federal judge to end bias claims a former public defender brought against the office, arguing she ignored discovery orders, while the lawyer asked the court to reconsider an April discovery order, arguing the defendants omitted facts in the motion to compel.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • 6th Circ. FirstEnergy Ruling Protects Key Legal Privileges

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent grant of mandamus relief in In re: First Energy Corp. confirms that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections apply to internal investigation materials, ultimately advancing the public interest, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Series

    Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

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