Legal Ethics

  • March 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Sides With NLRB On Reconsidered Exxon Ruling

    The National Labor Relations Board didn't overstep by wiping out and rethinking a decision involving an Exxon Mobil unit after learning a member had a stake in the company, the Fifth Circuit said, enforcing the board's ruling that the company sabotaged negotiations with a union.

  • March 13, 2025

    Solicitor General Pick, 2 More DOJ Noms Go To Full Senate

    The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted out of committee the nomination of President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, Dean John Sauer, to be solicitor general and two other nominees for major U.S. Department of Justice roles, all along party lines.

  • March 13, 2025

    ​​​​​​​Alex Jones' Sandy Hook Atty Suspended Over Info Release

    Former Alex Jones attorney Norm Pattis will be suspended from practicing law for two weeks, a Connecticut judge has ruled, capping a three-year ethics saga that started when Pattis asked an associate to send Sandy Hook families' medical records to the Infowars host's Texas bankruptcy lawyer.

  • March 12, 2025

    7th Circ. Revives Suit By Law Professor Disciplined Over Exam

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday revived a retaliation claim from a University of a law school professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago who was disciplined for including a redacted racist slur on an exam, saying the professor has plausibly alleged that his academic speech is protected by the First Amendment.

  • March 12, 2025

    Panel Decries Judge's Watergate Remarks, Axes $2M Verdict

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday vacated a $2 million verdict in a slip-and-fall suit against Walmart, saying the trial court's comments that allegedly missing video evidence was akin to Nixon's actions in the Watergate scandal signaled his preconceived notion that the company improperly destroyed evidence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ex-Atty Gets 3 Years In Prison For Using Fake IDs To Get Jobs

    A former attorney has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to using false identification in order to obtain jobs at multiple law firms in Florida, California and elsewhere following his disbarment in Ohio, according to federal prosecutors.

  • March 12, 2025

    COVID Test Device Maker Settles Fed. Circ. Feuds With Rival

    A company that makes saliva collection devices used for COVID-19 tests says it will drop out of Federal Circuit appeals fights with Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics stemming from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceling 183 of Longhorn's patent claims as a punishment for "egregious abuse of the PTAB process."

  • March 12, 2025

    Willkie Beats Malpractice Suit Over ERISA Ch. 11 Advice

    An Ohio federal judge affirmed Tuesday a bankruptcy court's decision tossing legal malpractice claims filed by a coal company executive's estate against Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, rejecting the estate's arguments it sufficiently alleged Willkie was grossly negligent in failing to warn the estate about a potential $6.5 billion ERISA liability.

  • March 12, 2025

    Kroger Waited Too Long To Seek Sanctions, Judge Says

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday denied Kroger's bid to sanction prolific consumer advocate lawyer Spencer Sheehan for filing a meritless suit over the effectiveness of its lidocaine patches, saying the amount of time it took to file the motion "is not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination."

  • March 12, 2025

    Judge Blocks Order Limiting Perkins Coie Government Access

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday halted enforcement of the Trump administration's executive order against law firm Perkins Coie LLP that cited issues including its representation of Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run, calling the order "viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple."

  • March 12, 2025

    As Perkins Coie Fights Order, How Will Other Firms Respond?

    Perkins Coie LLP, represented by Williams & Connolly LLP, is challenging President Donald Trump's executive order revoking its security clearance and launching investigations into its diversity efforts. But other firms have remained silent, raising questions about the order's potential effects on how firms handle public policy litigation, publicly support their right to defend all clients and pursue hiring initiatives.

  • March 12, 2025

    Widow Blames Lawyer's Death On Heat From Atty, Biz Partner

    A lawyer who co-founded a successful college athletics database took his own life after both his former business partner and his personal attorney falsely accused him of stealing from the company and sought to take control of his assets as repayment, his family said in a state court complaint that seeks to sort through the "financial wreckage."

  • March 12, 2025

    US Trustee Seeks Sanctions Against NY Lawyer

    The federal bankruptcy watchdog asked a New York judge Wednesday to sanction a lawyer who allegedly concealed her conflicts of interest while representing a debtor and a buyer in two separate Chapter 11 cases.

  • March 12, 2025

    Drew Eckl Can't Keep Breakaway Firm In Arbitration Over Fees

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday found that Burke Moore Law Group LLP — founded by former Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP partners and others — cannot be subject to arbitration over fees between Drew Eckl and those ex-firm partners since Burke Moore did not sign the agreement at issue.

  • March 12, 2025

    Buzbee, Ex-Client Say Roc Nation Can't Exit Conspiracy Suits

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's company Roc Nation "spearheaded" efforts to launch malpractice suits against the Buzbee Law Firm in retaliation for a lawsuit the firm filed accusing the rap star of rape, so it cannot exit a Texas federal suit over that effort by claiming a lack of jurisdiction, the firm said.

  • March 12, 2025

    Tony Buzbee Accused Of Duping Another Seaman

    Texas personal injury attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm have been hit with another lawsuit from a seaman who alleges that the firm misappropriated payments he received after a 2020 ship injury.

  • March 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds Sanctions In Chinese Billionaire's Ch. 11

    The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday torpedoed an appeal from the daughter of bankrupt Chinese exile Miles Guo — also known as Ho Won Kwok — and her attorney seeking to overturn a nearly $83,400 discovery sanction, saying the contempt ruling was merited.

  • March 12, 2025

    McCarter & English Wins $3.77M From Ex-Client In Billing Spat

    McCarter & English LLP is entitled to nearly $3.77 million from Jarrow Formulas Inc., a nutritional supplement company that refused to pay its legal bills after losing a trade secrets trial and a subsequent malpractice claim against the firm, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled.

  • March 12, 2025

    Atty Wants Early Win In NJ Malpractice Suit Over Land Dispute

    New Jersey sisters who sued Fox Rothschild and a firm attorney over the handling of their late stepfather's estate lack standing to bring their claims, the lawyer argued in a motion for summary judgment, also telling the trial court that the plaintiffs were decades late in filing.

  • March 11, 2025

    Russian Can't Claim Seized $300M Superyacht, Judge Rules

    A New York federal judge ruled Monday that a Russian billionaire cannot claim ownership of a seized $300 million superyacht, saying the evidence shows he is a "straw" owner of the vessel in a ruling that moved the government closer to selling it at auction.

  • March 11, 2025

    Medical Device Co. Seeks Fed. Circ. Redo Over Patent Trial

    A medical device manufacturer is asking the full Federal Circuit to reconsider a panel decision reviving a patent infringement case against it, arguing a lower court judge was fine to allow tardy testimony from a witness who took its side.

  • March 11, 2025

    Perkins Coie Slams Trump's Executive Order Retaliation

    Perkins Coie LLP sued the Trump administration Tuesday over an executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its representation of certain political figures including former Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, calling the order "an affront to the Constitution" that aims to chill future representation of certain clients.

  • March 11, 2025

    5th Circ. Hopes For 'Sanity' In Backing Legal Malpractice Arb.

    Untangling a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory awards in a legal malpractice dispute, the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed three awards and most of another, adding that the parties are "free to arbitrate another day" in the hope that their disagreements will be resolved "for the sake of sanity."

  • March 11, 2025

    Rising Caseloads Call For 71 New Judges: Judicial Conference

    The Judicial Conference of the United States on Tuesday asked Congress to create dozens of new judgeships in districts across the country in an effort to address what it calls a "worsening shortage" of judges amid mounting caseloads, months after then-President Joe Biden vetoed a bill to add 63 new permanent judgeships over partisan concerns.

  • March 11, 2025

    GPB Capital Execs Denied New Trial In Fraud Case

    Two GPB Capital executives were denied a new trial by a Brooklyn federal judge who said a jury was reasonable in finding them guilty of running their funds like a Ponzi scheme, using investor capital to make distribution payments to give the appearance of a healthy portfolio.

Expert Analysis

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

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