DC Disciplinary Counsel Enlists Nonprofit In DOJ Fight

By Emily Sawicki

The D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel has turned to Sydney Foster, a former U.S. Department of Justice leader now with the Washington Litigation Group, to represent it in a lawsuit from the federal government accusing the ethics office of "partisan and ideological bias."

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Brief

Todd Blanche Officially Nominated To Be AG

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday officially nominated Todd Blanche to be attorney general.

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100+ Ex-Prosecutors Question Chicago US Atty's Leadership

By Celeste Bott

More than 100 former Illinois federal prosecutors issued a statement Monday saying there's been a "failure of leadership" in the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago and that "once-forbidden political considerations are infecting prosecutorial decisions" in the wake of an Illinois federal judge accusing the office of mishandling grand jury proceedings in a case against six immigration activists.

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King & Spalding May Be Sanctioned In $300M Fraud Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

Two King & Spalding LLP partners face a sanctions hearing in a $300 million fraud lawsuit to determine whether they violated a rule requiring candor to the tribunal by falsely claiming attorneys for other parties were copied on letters to two Connecticut jurists, according to two state court orders.

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NY AG Alleges 'Sham' Arbitration Co. 'In Cahoots' With Lender

By Katryna Perera

New York is suing online arbitration platform Mediation and Civil Arbitration Inc. and its two founders, alleging the company fraudulently presents itself as a neutral arbitration forum while, in reality, it is "in cahoots" with a merchant cash advance company and hands out unfair arbitration judgments against small businesses.

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Colorado Gov. Signs Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Non-Attys

By Emma Cueto

Colorado has enacted a ban on lawyers sharing fees with nonlawyer-owned firms, such as alternative businesses in Arizona, as well as a prohibition on deals with managed services organizations that involve paying a percentage of firm income.

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NJ Senators Advance Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey state senators on Monday advanced legislation that would require disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements over the objections of trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives, who warned that the bill could discourage funding for plaintiffs involved in costly cases.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein's Sentencing Delayed To July

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge has agreed to push SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's sentencing to July, after federal prosecutors speculated that his defense attorneys might come to the previously scheduled June hearing and declare that they aren't ready to proceed.

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Another Lawmaker Joins Impeachment Push For Ga. Judge

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican House member on Monday introduced articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia after she was reprimanded for having sex with a police officer in her chambers within earshot of staff.

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9th Circ. Judge Faces Inquiry, Charges After Idaho Altercation

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Monday identified a judicial misconduct complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson after he was charged with misdemeanor battery stemming from an argument in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended with him allegedly stomping a man's eyeglasses on the asphalt.

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Suspended Ex-PD Expected To Return To Court With DA Office

By James Boyle

A former public defender whose license to practice in Pennsylvania was suspended after he pled guilty to using his office to help elect a judge is poised to return to the courtroom as a prosecutor in Dauphin County.

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Law Student's Kirk Comment Discipline Stays During Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Monday kept intact a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk during an appeal, saying that the student "again seeks the wrong remedy" in her request.

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DOJ Says Maurene Comey's Firing Was Constitutional

By Adrian Cruz

Following an April ruling that cleared former New York federal prosecutor Maurene Comey's suit challenging the legality of her firing, the U.S. Department of Justice reiterated its position Friday that her firing was constitutional based on the executive powers of the president.

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Conn. ​​​​​​​Prosecutor Admits To Snooping On Romantic Rival

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state prosecutor admitted Monday to accessing two protected computer databases to view information about a romantic rival, but told a judge that she had been trying to honor her ethical obligations as an attorney after the woman's arrest.

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Okla. Firm Urges Dismissal Of EDNY Misclassification Suit

By Andrea Keckley

Oklahoma-based Arnold & Smith Law PLLC on Friday asked a New York federal judge to dismiss a New York attorney's lawsuit accusing the firm of misclassifying employees as contractors to avoid paying benefits, saying there is no reason to believe any of the alleged misconduct happened in New York.

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Georgia Justices To Hear Atty's Claim Of Shady Solicitation

By Christine DeRosa

The Georgia Supreme Court is set to consider a lawsuit filed by a Gainesville personal injury attorney against rivals he accused of stealing clients from other lawyers through dubious solicitation practices.

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Trump Attys Ordered To Explain Missed Deadline In $10B Suit

By Lauren Berg

The Florida federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation suit accusing the British Broadcasting Corp. of tarnishing his reputation through an edit in a documentary ordered the president Monday to explain why his attorneys shouldn't be sanctioned for "their apparent disregard of court deadlines."

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Baker Donelson Owes $2.8M After Ponzi Trial, Court Told

By Emily Sawicki

A court-appointed receiver argued Friday that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is on the hook for at least $2.8 million following a jury's verdict finding the firm committed negligent supervision amid a Mississippi timber company's $164.5 million Ponzi scheme.

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Judge Awards $2.2M In Sanctions In $500M Miss America Spat

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida businessman who claims that he owns the Miss America pageant and his attorney were ordered Monday to pay $2.2 million in sanctions for submitting fraudulent documents in a $500 million dispute over ownership of the pageant and using them to put the company into bankruptcy.

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Ex-Judge Says DarrowEverett Atty Cut Secret Deal For Estate

By Julie Manganis

A retired Massachusetts chief family court justice serving as personal representative for an estate has claimed in a suit filed on Monday that a DarrowEverett attorney he hired to pursue funds for a beneficiary secretly negotiated a settlement that ignored his specific requests.

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Shoals Solar Patent Dispute Kept Alive By NC Court

By Adam Lidgett

A North Carolina federal court has refused to find that three Shoals Technologies Group solar energy patents were unenforceable in the company's infringement suit but said the court would keep certain issues in mind should the case result in a damages verdict.

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Opinion

Congress Must Bolster Wrongful Conviction Framework

The Trump administration's recent decision to abandon its flawed “anti-weaponization” fund should not end the conversation about compensating those wronged by the U.S. justice system, — it should open the door for Congress to build a principled system that strengthens and expands the existing framework, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

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Gibson Dunn, PE Firm Pay Charity $1M For Knicks VIP Seats

By Dorothy Atkins

Gibson Dunn and private equity firm Veritas Capital split the $1 million winning bid for two "Celebrity Row" seats in a Knicks fundraiser ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the team's parent company announced Monday.

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Groom Law Joins Firms Matching New Milbank Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

Washington, D.C.-based Groom Law Group is the latest firm to match a new pay scale for associates that was set earlier this month by Milbank LLP, according to media reports Monday.

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Analysis

How A Texas Pastor Beat Mark Zuckerberg In Landmark Trial

By Craig Clough

Jurors who reached a landmark $6 million verdict in March finding Meta Platforms Inc. and Google liable for harming a teen's mental health didn't find Mark Zuckerberg credible, an impression that the plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier credited to putting the well-prepared executive off his guard.

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Trump Taps DC Appeals Court Picks To Fill Final Vacancies

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has announced two picks for the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will fill the remaining vacancies on the District of Columbia's top court.

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Mich. Dems Back Trump Judicial Pick After Blue-Slip Review

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's Democratic U.S. senators, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, announced on Monday they've returned their blue slips for the nomination of Michael Martin, a veteran career prosecutor, to be a judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Chapman Law School Dean Says He Was Fired For Being Gay

By Hailey Konnath

The former dean of Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law says the university unlawfully fired him because he's gay and married to a man, according to a complaint filed in California state court.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Elizabeth Cabraser

By Emily Field

When Elizabeth Cabraser began working with Robert Lieff as a clerk at his small practice in Northern California in the late 1970s, fresh out of law school, her job was to help him dispose of his remaining cases so he could retire early and become a winemaker.

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