Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Business of Law
-
March 27, 2024
Weil Latest Firm To Cut Back On China Presence
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is the latest to join a growing list of major international law firms scaling down their operations in China, confirming Wednesday that it has closed its Beijing office and is considering consolidating its Shanghai office with its operation in Hong Kong.
-
March 27, 2024
Rosen Tells Ethics Panel Jeffrey Clark Was 'Out Of Bounds'
Former acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen testified Wednesday that his onetime subordinate, former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Clark, went far beyond the scope of his duties in the final days of the Trump administration, as Clark faces disciplinary charges from a Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel.
-
March 27, 2024
Ex-SDNY Clerk Can't Skirt Prison For Bribe Plot, Feds Say
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York pushed back on a former court clerk's request for no prison time after he was convicted of scheming to refer clients to a defense attorney for kickbacks, calling for a sentence of 41 to 51 months.
-
March 26, 2024
Meridian Capital Taps Former Top Regulator As New CEO
Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that it has appointed top banking executive and former financial regulator Brian Brooks as its CEO and chairman amid a breakdown in the firm's relationship with Freddie Mac.
-
March 26, 2024
Sedgwick Judge Rips Attys 'Playing Games' In Clawback Trial
A California federal judge presiding over the Sedgwick LLP trustee's bid to claw back $1.1 million from two ex-partners overruled defense objections to Sedgwick's financial statements, asking, "How am I supposed to do this without numbers?" and telling counsel, "You're playing games with me on this, because I need to see numbers."
-
March 26, 2024
Trailblazing SEC Commissioner Roberta Karmel Dies At 86
Roberta Karmel, a well-regarded legal scholar who pushed back against early-career sexism to become the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first female commissioner, died over the weekend at the age of 86, according to the law school where she taught for decades.
-
March 26, 2024
Judge Declines 'Mini-Trial' Over Fees In 'Reply All' TM Suit
A federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn has awarded nearly $1.1 million in legal fees to Spotify's Gimlet Media while calling out "the extensive finger-pointing and mutual accusations" from a software company and its lawyers over who owes fees after bringing a failed trademark suit targeting the "Reply All" podcast.
-
March 26, 2024
Meta, Porn Stars Fight Over Fate Of OnlyFans Suit
Meta traded barbs with adult entertainment performers about how to end a suit claiming the social media giant conspired with OnlyFans to boost the risqué platform over competitors, with the performers fighting to drop their California federal court allegations in a way that they could still be refiled.
-
March 26, 2024
Trump Hit With Gag Order In NY Criminal Trial After Threats
The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money case on Tuesday imposed a limited gag order on the former president, barring him from speaking publicly about jurors or witnesses and limiting what he can say about any attorneys in the case, prosecutors, court staff or their families.
-
March 26, 2024
In Abortion Case, Gorsuch Frets 'Rash' Of National Injunctions
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch renewed his criticisms of nationwide injunctions Tuesday, saying a Texas judge's universal order limiting access to popular abortion medication mifepristone turned a potentially small legal challenge into a national debate.
-
March 26, 2024
Girardi Fraud Trial Moved To Aug. 6
A California federal judge has agreed to postpone disgraced California plaintiffs attorney Tom Girardi's trial to Aug. 6, setting the proceedings to begin 16 months later than originally required at the outset of the case.
-
March 26, 2024
Calif. Atty Tapped To Be RFK Jr.'s Running Mate
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that a Silicon Valley lawyer will be his running mate as the pair make a longshot bid for the White House this year.
-
March 26, 2024
Legal Aid Union Fights Subpoena Over Palestine Resolution
The New York Civil Liberties Union on Monday backed the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys in its fight against a subpoena from the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce following the union's adoption of a resolution in support of the Palestinian cause.
-
March 26, 2024
Ex-CLO Must Arbitrate Firing Suit Against Gambling Co. GAN
Online gaming and sports betting company GAN Ltd. has won its bid in California federal court to force its former chief legal officer into arbitration over claims in his wrongful firing complaint alleging his termination was motivated in part by his whistleblowing and objections to a hostile work environment.
-
March 26, 2024
Approach The Bench: Justice Stewart Blasts Partisan Races
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart has some choice words for a colleague who chose to challenge her reelection bid rather than run for the seat he occupies now.
-
March 26, 2024
Fox Rothschild Wants Gag Order To Silence Atty's 'Bombast'
Fox Rothschild LLP has doubled down on its request for a gag order against an attorney pursuing a malpractice suit against the firm over allegedly mishandled immigration work, telling a New Jersey federal court that the attorney's "bombast and recklessness needs to end."
-
March 26, 2024
Ailing Health Co. Steward Owes Attys $600K, Firm Says
A small Boston law firm that represented Steward Health Care System in a variety of cases says the beleaguered healthcare provider has strung it along with promises to pay fees that now total more than $600,000.
-
March 26, 2024
Ex-DOJ Official Clark's Atty Discipline Hearing Begins In DC
D.C. Bar authorities told a Washington, D.C., ethics panel on Tuesday that former U.S. Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark attempted to leverage the DOJ to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on a lie, while Clark's attorney denounced the ethics charges against his client as "absurd."
-
March 25, 2024
In High Court Sentencing Case, It's Everyone V. Gibson Dunn
As the U.S. Supreme Court scrutinizes severe sentencing of repeat offenders, one view is backed by the Biden administration, defense bar groups, incarceration reformers and a household name among appellate advocates. And then there's the view backed by a few lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
-
March 25, 2024
Backstabbing 'Just How Law Firms Work': Sedgwick Judge
A California federal judge told counsel during bench trial openings Monday that the Sedgwick LLP trustee's bid to claw back $1.1 million from two ex-partners isn't a "blame game," and "partners stab each other in the back every day and move on to the next one" — "it's just how law firms work."
-
March 25, 2024
Sunday Ticket Plaintiffs Rip NFL For 'Privileged' Name Games
The plaintiffs in the antitrust class action against the NFL over its Sunday Ticket broadcast package have accused the league of hiding behind a front-office executive, with an inaccurate job title, to claim that vital documents were privileged and did not need to be disclosed.
-
March 25, 2024
Plaintiffs' Attys Found Not Violating Soliciting Rules In OT Suit
Current and former employees of a Pennsylvania coal company earned conditional certification and did not violate soliciting rules for a collective action accusing management of violating overtime rules by not compensating time spent attending to gear before and after shifts, a federal judge ruled.
-
March 25, 2024
Jackson Walker Dismissal Bid Says Atty Lied About Romance
A former Jackson Walker LLP partner at the center of an ethics scandal over her relationship with a then-Texas bankruptcy judge was dishonest when questioned about the romance, the firm said Friday in seeking to escape a federal racketeering lawsuit.
-
March 25, 2024
Trump Ally Jeffrey Clark Faces Disbarment In DC Hearing
In a case one expert called "the single most significant" in the history of the Washington, D.C., bar, a former U.S. Department of Justice official is set to go before an ethics panel this week to face charges over his role in former President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election.
-
March 25, 2024
Law Firm Closures Hit Lowest Since 2019 As Premiums Dip
Closures of law firms have fallen to the lowest level since October 2019 as more businesses negotiate their professional indemnity insurance premiums amid a general fall in insurance costs, research published on Monday suggested.
Expert Analysis
-
Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms
Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.
-
Without Stronger Due Diligence, Attys Risk AML Regulation
Amid increasing pressure to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks in gatekeeper professions, the legal industry will need to clarify and strengthen existing client due diligence measures — or risk the federal regulation attorneys have long sought to avoid, says Jeremy Glicksman at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
-
Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
-
Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas
Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.
-
Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
-
Generative AI Brings A New Generation Of Legal Issues
Aside from ethical and potential bias concerns, the rise of generative artificial intelligence also raises intellectual property infringement and breach of contract issues that will likely be negotiated, navigated and litigated for years to come, say Reeya Thakrar and Ira Kalina at Faegre Drinker.
-
Opinion
Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
-
Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
-
Opinion
Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
-
Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
-
Opinion
Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.
-
Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts
With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
-
Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier
For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.
-
ABA Opinion Should Help Clarify Which Ethics Rules Apply
A recent American Bar Association opinion provides key guidance on interpreting ABA Model Rule 8.5's notoriously complex choice-of-law analysis — and should help lawyers authorized to practice in multiple jurisdictions determine which jurisdiction's ethics rules govern their conduct, say attorneys at HWG.
-
4 Ways To Reboot Your Firm's Stalled Diversity Program
Law firms that have failed to see real progress despite years of diversity initiatives can move forward by committing to tackle four often-taboo obstacles that hinder diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, says Steph Maher at Jaffe.