Legal Ethics

  • January 15, 2025

    NJ Prosecutors Can Shield Certain Docs In Atty Bribe Cases

    New Jersey prosecutors won't have to turn over certain documents related to investigations involving potential crimes committed by a tax attorney who was a cooperating witness in a bribery case against three former public officials, a state appeals panel has ruled.

  • January 15, 2025

    Attys Must Show They Obeyed Candor Rule In Shell Discovery

    A Delaware federal court has ordered attorneys from Heyman Enerio Gattuso & Hirzel LLP, Wachtel Lipton Rosen & Katz, and White & Case LLP to show why they should not be found in violation of professional conduct rules over their handling of discovery requests while defending corporate clients amid a Shell Chemical LP antitrust proceeding in the Netherlands.

  • January 15, 2025

    McElroy Deutsch Can Go After Ex-Exec's $1M Home

    A former business development director for McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP, whose husband pled guilty to stealing millions of dollars from the law firm, where they were both employed, cannot duck her onetime employer's legal claim on her $1 million house, a New Jersey state court judge has ruled.

  • January 15, 2025

    Trump's AG Pick Tries To Assure Congress On Independence

    President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general attempted to assuage uneasiness from Democrats on Wednesday, saying the U.S. Department of Justice will be free of politics and will not go after perceived enemies.

  • January 15, 2025

    Elusive Cognizant Witness Ready To Testify, Gov't Says

    A witness from India whose 2023 absence on the brink of the foreign bribery trial of two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives set off a lengthy delay is now willing to testify, federal prosecutors said, despite stating they were under no obligation to respond to defense counsel's concerns.

  • January 15, 2025

    Mass. Atty Charged In $2.5M Embezzlement Schemes

    A Massachusetts attorney blamed an addiction to prostitutes and a failed spa investment for his embezzling a total of $2.5 million from a couple and their multiple businesses, according to federal prosecutors.

  • January 15, 2025

    Boston Lawyers Accused Of Bungling Exec's Bias Claim

    A former executive at roofing manufacturer GAF Materials is accusing her former lawyers of mishandling a potential age and gender discrimination case by failing to meet a key procedural deadline, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • January 14, 2025

    London Judge Affirms Wind Energy's Non-Liability Award

    A London judge on Tuesday refused to set aside an arbitral award finding that Thai renewable energy company Wind Energy Holding was not responsible for paying defense costs incurred by former board members in litigation that ended with a $1 billion judgment against them.

  • January 14, 2025

    Mich. Judge Won't Step Aside After Atty Turnover Quip

    A Michigan federal judge refused to step aside from overseeing a lawsuit from a pastor who alleges a township's zoning ordinance discriminates against religious entities, ruling Monday that comments he made about the number of attorneys the pastor has had or praise he gave prior counsel do not show any bias against the plaintiffs.

  • January 14, 2025

    DA Says Trump's Appeals To Intervene In NY Case Now 'Moot'

    Counsel for the Manhattan district attorney urged both a federal and a state appeals court to toss out Donald Trump's lingering invitations to intervene in his hush money case now that he's been sentenced, arguing there's no need for a "bizarre mechanism" when Trump can appeal normally.

  • January 14, 2025

    RNC Preempts Dem Attacks Ahead Of AG Nominee's Hearing

    Ahead of the confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general nominee on Wednesday, the chair of the Republican National Committee and other Trump allies brushed off concerns about Pam Bondi's possible conflicts of interest and close ties to the president-elect.

  • January 14, 2025

    Meta Atty Quits IP Case Over Zuckerberg's 'Toxic Masculinity'

    An attorney helping defend Meta Platforms in copyright litigation brought by artists who claim their content was used to train the large language model Llama has dropped the tech company as his client, citing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's "descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness" in a LinkedIn post.

  • January 14, 2025

    Justices Suggest 7th Circ. Revisit False Statement Decision

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed ready Tuesday to ask the Seventh Circuit to review a former Chicago alderman's conviction for lying about money he borrowed from a now-shuttered bank under a narrower standard, but the justices appeared skeptical that he would beat the case even with a fresh look.

  • January 14, 2025

    Ex-Cognizant Execs Seek Update On Elusive Gov't Witness

    A vital prosecution witness whose unavailability delayed the highly anticipated 2023 trial of two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives on foreign bribery charges in New Jersey federal court might again be missing in action as the new trial date of March 3 approaches, according to court filings.

  • January 14, 2025

    NJ Atty Disbarred For Stealing From Firm To Gamble Online

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney for stealing at least $16,000 from his firm by using its credit card to buy tokens for an online casino video game under the guise of buying office supplies.

  • January 14, 2025

    Trump Org. Taps Quinn Emanuel Atty For Ethics Adviser

    A co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has been selected to step into the role of outside ethics adviser for the Trump Organization, President-elect Donald Trump's real estate conglomerate, according to an announcement by its executive vice president.

  • January 14, 2025

    Fed. Court, Judges Beat Atty's Challenge To 'Gag Order' Rule

    Sovereign immunity bars a Nashville civil rights lawyer from challenging a U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee rule barring attorneys from making "any extrajudicial statements" about cases pending in the district, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

  • January 14, 2025

    NJ State Court Exec Alleges Retaliatory Probe, Firing

    A former assistant finance manager for Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey has sued the vicinage and its trial court administrator, alleging that in retaliation for reporting a colleague's racist remark she was subjected to a discriminatory investigation and ultimately terminated.

  • January 14, 2025

    Attys Say Conn. Firm's Vexatious Litigation Claims Can't Stand

    A pair of attorneys have urged a Connecticut state judge to reject claims that they filed a frivolous unfair trade practices lawsuit against Hayber McKenna & Dinsmore LLC, arguing that the firm failed to show the case had been terminated in its favor.

  • January 14, 2025

    Pillsbury Wants Out Of Chancery Suit Against Auto Seller Biz

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP wants to escape or force arbitration of an aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty claim that was asserted in Delaware Chancery Court by a stockholder and former director of Quantum Automotive Intelligence Inc., saying a "broad arbitration provision" exists between the law firm and company.

  • January 14, 2025

    Allred Seeks To Ax 'Absurd' Defamation Suit Over Diddy Case

    High-profile women's rights litigator Gloria Allred and her client have fired back at Sean "Diddy" Combs' former head of security, calling his defamation claims arising from the rape suit they filed against him and the embattled music mogul "absurd" and worthy of sanctions.

  • January 14, 2025

    Giuliani Atty Chided For 'Higher Power' Remark Ahead Of Trial

    A Manhattan federal judge pushed back Tuesday against Rudy Giuliani's lawyer ahead of a trial on whether the former New York City mayor must turn over his Florida condo and World Series rings to help cover a $148 million defamation judgment, after Giuliani's counsel said a precluded witness "answers to a higher power than this court."

  • January 14, 2025

    Connecticut Transfer Station Cases Settle Ahead Of Trial

    On the eve of jury selection, a lawsuit that started as a dispute over a $3 million transfer station performance bond and bloomed into a multipronged contract and unfair trade practices battle, as well as a companion case, have settled, Connecticut state court records show.

  • January 13, 2025

    Stanford AI Expert Reamed For Erroneous AI-Generated Brief

    A Minnesota federal judge on Friday threw out an erroneous expert declaration prepared by a Stanford University expert on artificial intelligence in litigation over the state's law on deepfakes, finding that the fake, AI-generated sources in his declaration "shatters his credibility with this court."

  • January 13, 2025

    IPRs Aren't 'Voluntary,' Dish Tells Justices In Fee Fight

    Dish Network LLC is kicking up a fight at the U.S. Supreme Court over the question of whether filing petitions at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is "voluntary" or not, in a bid to get "exceptional" plaintiffs to pay for litigation costs there.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

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