Analysis

Alito Flag Report Fuels Ethics Debate, But Likely No Recusal

By Katie Buehler

Responses to a report that an upside-down American flag flew outside U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home following the 2020 presidential election broke along partisan lines Friday, with conservatives decrying it as a smear campaign and liberals calling for his recusal from pending election-related cases and for general court ethics reform.

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Trump Hush Money Judge Warned For Biden Donation

By Frank G. Runyeon

The judge presiding over Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial was quietly cautioned after making a political campaign contribution to President Joe Biden and a Democratic group, disposing of an ethics investigation into the donation, it was confirmed Friday.

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Texas Justices Let Fen-Phen Atty Malpractice Fight Roll On

By Daniel Connolly

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that roughly 4,000 former clients of a Houston mass tort lawyer can continue pressing their claims that the lawyer improperly kept millions of dollars in fen-phen diet drug settlement money.

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Calif.'s Top Judge Launches Task Force To Probe AI Uses

By Lauren Berg

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero has created a new task force to look into how generative artificial intelligence could benefit the court system and its users, while also evaluating its potential risks, the court announced Friday.

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Judge Bias Claim Can't Sink Mayo Clinic Ariz. Malpractice Win

By Rose Krebs

An Arizona appellate court has affirmed a lower court bench ruling that let the Mayo Clinic in Arizona off the hook on malpractice claims lodged by a man who suffered serious complications after an abdominal procedure, in part ruling that he didn't show judicial bias requiring recusal.

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Calif. Bar Approves Plan To Expunge Nondisbarment Records

By Lynn LaRowe

The State Bar of California approved a plan to automatically expunge records of attorney disciplinary actions after eight years, so long as there was no disbarment and the lawyer stayed out of trouble — a move designed to bring greater fairness to the state's attorney disciplinary system.

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Jenner & Block Sued For Firing Worker Over Vax Refusal

By Henrik Nilsson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee filed a discrimination suit against the law firm Friday, claiming she was fired after the firm refused to provide a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate despite her belief that taking the vaccine would make her complicit in abortion.

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Calif. OKs Rule For Judges To Work Remotely In Civil Cases

By Henrik Nilsson

California's Judicial Council on Friday approved a new rule of court to allow judges to preside remotely under limited circumstances over civil proceedings from a location other than a courtroom.

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AG Garland Held In Contempt By House Committees

By Courtney Bublé

Two House committees voted late Thursday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of the president and his ghostwriter speaking with special counsel Robert Hur for his investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

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Dozens Of Pro Bono Attys Back 3rd Circ. Nominee Mangi

By Courtney Bublé

Forty-nine pro bono partners, counsel and chairs from major law firms and organizations wrote to Senate leadership on Friday with concerns that the staunch opposition against Third Circuit nominee Adeel Mangi over his pro bono work will have a chilling effect on future attorneys seeking judgeships, according to a letter shared with Law360.

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Analysis

Trump's Potential Witness Could Be Defense 'Dynamite'

By Phillip Bantz

As Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan nears its end, experts say criminal defense attorney Robert Costello, who once advised the former president's ex-fixer and key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, has surfaced as a potentially bombshell witness for the defense.

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Menendez Bribery Trial: 5 Things To Know About Week 1

By Carla Baranauckas

Explosive opening statements, closed-door jury questioning and an FBI agent's recount of the moment he found a treasure trove of gold bars and cash highlighted the first week of trial in the government's second corruption case against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

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Ex-Baltimore State's Atty Says 20-Month Sentence Too Harsh

By Emily Sawicki

Former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby has asked a federal judge to cut down prosecutors' requested 20-month prison sentence after she was convicted of abusing a COVID-19-era program to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, arguing the proposal "stray[s] from the reality of this case."

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Baldwin Wants 'Rust' Case Tossed, Says Grand Jury Was Duped

By Phillip Bantz

Alec Baldwin's attorneys urged a New Mexico state judge during a hearing Friday to throw out involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor in the "Rust" movie shooting, arguing prosecutors misled the grand jury in the case.

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DC Circ. Affirms Ex-HUD Official's Conviction For False Docs

By Elliot Weld

The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld the documents falsification conviction of a former high-ranking staffer within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General, rejecting his arguments that prosecutors had diverged at trial from the charges laid out in an indictment.

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NJ Atty Escapes Malpractice Suit Over UPS Bias Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday refused to revive a legal malpractice lawsuit from a UPS driver alleging his ex-lawyer did not disclose his working relationship with Day Pitney LLP, the firm that represented the delivery company in the driver's underlying racial discrimination suit.

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NJ Panel Cites Bad Expert Opinion In Tossing Malpractice Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey appellate court upheld Thursday the dismissal of a legal malpractice dispute accusing an attorney of botching a woman's suit over a restaurant attack where she ended up recovering the minimum award.

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Philly Surgeon Settles Sex Bias Case With Jefferson Hospital

By P.J. D'Annunzio

An orthopedic surgeon who sued Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for gender discrimination over its handling of sexual assault allegations has settled his case with the hospital after a $15 million award in his favor was erased.

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1st Circ. Rejects Ex-Immigration Judges' Bid For Asylum Redo

By Elliot Weld

The First Circuit's full bench refused to reopen a Salvadoran woman's case seeking asylum, despite former immigration judges weighing in to say that the judge who denied her asylum didn't follow a legal requirement to ensure her record was complete.

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Pa. Federal District Judge Gene Pratter Dead At 75

By James Boyle

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who joined the bench in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2004 and presided over several landmark cases, died Friday at the age of 75, according to a statement from the court.

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Baker McKenzie Ends FOIA Suit Over IRS Partnership Audits

By Ali Sullivan

A Baker McKenzie attorney has dropped a public records lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that sought to compel the agency to turn over documents pertaining to its scrutiny of large partnerships.

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ABA's Education Section Endorses Alternative Atty Licensing

By Matt Perez

The American Bar Association's national accrediting arm for law degree programs announced during a council meeting Friday the adoption of a report that effectively recognizes alternative methods of attorney licensing outside the bar exam.

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Menendez Texts With Wife A Legislative Promise, Judge Says

By Pete Brush

Emoji-laden texts between Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife about an arms sale constitute a legislative promise, a Manhattan federal judge reiterated Monday, as the government seeks to prove the power couple had a corrupt agreement with a New Jersey businessman.

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Girardi Wants To Probe Jurors' 'Real Housewives' Exposure

By Brandon Lowrey

Public defenders for Tom Girardi want to ask prospective jurors in his upcoming fraud trial whether they have seen his wife's reality television show and news reporting about his law firm's massive scandal, according to a recent motion in Los Angeles federal court.

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McElroy Deutsch Says Ex-Exec's Guilt Boosts Home Claim

By Emily Sawicki

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP doubled down on its attempt to seize the home of two former firm executives following a guilty plea on criminal embezzlement charges earlier this month by one of them, the firm's former chief financial officer.

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Trial In Blackmail Case Over Judge's Photos Delayed

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state judge agreed Monday to push back the trial in a Palm Beach County judge's suit accusing an attorney of trying to blackmail her with nude photographs, after the defendant cited discovery delays and an ongoing bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation against Chiquita that is tying up the schedule of two key witnesses.

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Georgia's 1st Female Chief Appellate Judge Dies

By Madison Arnold

The first woman both appointed and elected to the Court of Appeals of Georgia, Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley, is remembered by her colleagues for the glass ceilings she shattered as well as for two important words she had inscribed in the courtroom.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Leslie A. Pappas

Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

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