Legal Ethics

  • January 13, 2025

    Ex-NJ Public Defender, Atlantic City End Bias Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by a former municipal public defender against Atlantic City and her onetime supervisor after the parties settled.

  • January 13, 2025

    FedEx Drivers Rip Company's 'Desperate' Bid To Duck OT Suit

    FedEx drivers working for intermediate employers have pressed a Massachusetts federal judge to keep alive one of a handful of overtime lawsuits against the shipping giant, blasting the company's "desperate" bid to have the case kicked as a sanction to the drivers' lawyers.

  • January 13, 2025

    Proskauer Faces Revived DQ Bid In NJ Hospital Antitrust Fight

    CarePoint Health is once again pushing to have Proskauer Rose LLP disqualified as counsel for healthcare network RWJBarnabas Health Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, asserting that a magistrate judge erred in previously denying its request.

  • January 13, 2025

    Smith Gambrell Faces DQ Bid In Major Lindsey Suit

    A former Major Lindsey & Africa employee with a lengthy legal history with the recruiter is seeking to disqualify Smith Gambrell from representing Major Lindsey in her $75 million federal defamation suit, arguing three attorneys are key witnesses to help determine liability.

  • January 10, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Porn ID Check & Retiree Discrimination

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for a full argument session, in which the justices will debate whether a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify their visitors aren't minors violates the First Amendment and if retirees have the right to sue former employers for benefits discrimination. 

  • January 10, 2025

    Colorado Conduct Panel Dings Judges For Disclosure Lapses

    A Colorado judicial commission on Friday criticized 48 judges for failing to file state-mandated personal financial disclosure reports in 2023, saying the lapses "cast a shadow" over the state's judiciary but did not warrant public discipline because no judges were dishonest or improperly secretive.

  • January 10, 2025

    MSG Wants Ex-Knick's Assault Case Booted Over Lost Texts

    Madison Square Garden told a federal judge Thursday that longtime New York Knick Charles Oakley deserves to have his long-running assault case thrown out and his lawyers sanctioned because he allegedly discarded text messages, a day after Oakley's own spoliation claim.

  • January 10, 2025

    Disbarred Atty Hit With Third Judgment For Ghosting Client

    A Colorado state judge on Friday ordered a disbarred attorney to pay $650,000 in damages to a former client after he failed to appear in a legal malpractice suit, in the third default judgment against the former lawyer for missing key deadlines and failing to respond to clients.

  • January 10, 2025

    Feds Want 16 Mos. For Oath Keepers' Atty In Jan. 6 Case

    A former attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group should be sentenced to 16 months in prison for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors have told a D.C. federal judge, saying her conduct and lack of remorse warrants a significant sentence.

  • January 10, 2025

    SafeMoon CEO Wants 'Misleading' Reddit Post Explained

    The CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency asset company SafeMoon LLC asked a Brooklyn federal judge Friday to order the government to explain whether it had a role in a social media user's "misleading" post that promised to connect SafeMoon investors with the U.S. government.

  • January 10, 2025

    Abbott Taps Military Vets For Judicial Conduct Commission

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced two new appointments to the state's 13-member Commission on Judicial Conduct, an unpaid board that investigates claims of judicial misconduct and incapacity and recommends discipline for judges found to have committed wrongdoing.

  • January 10, 2025

    Fani Willis Seeks Return To Trump Election Interference Case

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate her in the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, arguing she was the first Georgia DA to be ejected from a case "without the existence of an actual conflict of interest."

  • January 10, 2025

    NJ Watchdog's New Chief Resigns Amid Residence Questions

    The new chief executive of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation resigned Friday after questions were raised in a news report about her residency and a second full-time job she holds out of state.

  • January 10, 2025

    Giuliani Held In Contempt Again, This Time In DC

    A D.C. federal judge Friday held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to repeat false claims that two Georgia poll workers meddled with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, marking the second time in a week the former New York City mayor has been found in civil contempt.

  • January 10, 2025

    Holland & Knight Balks At 'Tactical' DQ Bid In Benefits Fight

    Holland & Knight LLP urged a Georgia federal court to reject a "purely tactical move" seeking to disqualify the law firm from representing doctors accusing its former client, Polaris Spine and Neurosurgery PC, of botching the distribution of their retirement benefits, arguing its prior representation of Polaris isn't related to the suit.

  • January 10, 2025

    J&J Talc Claimants Seek Sanctions Over Morelli No-Show

    A group of attorneys representing talc claimants in Johnson & Johnson unit Red River Talc's Chapter 11 case has urged a Texas bankruptcy judge to sanction Morelli Law Firm PLLC's founding partner, Benedict Morelli, for allegedly failing to appear in person at a December hearing and falsely claiming to have resolved a dispute with the talc group.

  • January 10, 2025

    Ex-Yale Student's Suit Over Amici Remarks Is Tossed

    A Connecticut state court judge has dismissed claims brought by an expelled Yale University student against a Michigan law firm, an attorney and numerous nonprofit organizations over a rejected amicus brief that contained remarks about a sexual assault case that ended in his acquittal, finding that the litigation privilege shields all 16 defendants.

  • January 10, 2025

    11th Circ. Backtracks, Ends Ousted Fla. Atty's DeSantis Suit

    Suspended Florida prosecutor Andrew Warren's yearslong legal battle against Gov. Ron DeSantis has all but come to an end after the Eleventh Circuit on Friday vacated a previous opinion and called the case moot after Warren's term in office expired.

  • January 10, 2025

    Wright Must Detail $108M Damages Claim Against Accusers

    Joshua Wright, a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, must reappear for a deposition to answer previously unanswered questions posed by two women he's suing for defamation on the details of his $108 million damages claim against them, a Virginia judge ruled Friday.

  • January 10, 2025

    Lawyer Seeks New Trial Against Blank Rome Attorneys

    A lawyer who lost her malicious-litigation case against Blank Rome LLP attorneys and an aviation company in Philadelphia last month has moved for a new trial in Pennsylvania federal court, citing what she called "numerous errors committed by the district court" in her first trial.

  • January 10, 2025

    Trump Avoids Jail As Judge Points To Presidential Status

    A New York state judge on Friday spared President-elect Donald Trump any incarceration for his 34-count felony hush money conviction, citing the changed legal landscape, which affords the chief executive with "extraordinary legal protections."

  • January 09, 2025

    Alec Baldwin Sues New Mexico Prosecutors For Rust Charges

    Actor-producer Alec Baldwin on Thursday accused the Santa Fe, New Mexico, district attorney, two special prosecutors and other local officials of mishandling evidence, defaming him and maliciously abusing the judicial process in their unsuccessful pursuit of charges against him in the wake of the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set.

  • January 09, 2025

    CFPB Bars Ex-Agency Attys From Revived Innovation Policies

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said it will not consider applications for its rebooted no-action letter and compliance sandbox policies when those applications are submitted by financial service companies represented by former bureau attorneys as outside counsel.

  • January 09, 2025

    Vape Laptop Hacking Suit Belongs In Court, Co. Says

    A vape-maker has urged a California federal court to deny a bid by the founder of vape distributor Next Level to arbitrate the manufacturer's claims that he broke into a laptop to access its confidential information, saying he's not a signatory to an underlying arbitration agreement.

  • January 09, 2025

    Law Firm Cleared, Murdaugh Pal Liable In Insurance Trial

    A federal jury in South Carolina has found that a lawyer tied to Alex Murdaugh owes insurer Nautilus over $1 million for a role in an insurance fraud that was perpetrated when Murdaugh's housekeeper died, while a law firm was cleared of liability.

Expert Analysis

  • What Law Firms Should Know Amid Rise In DQ Motions

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    As disqualification motions proliferate, law firms need to be aware of the types of conflicts that most often lead to disqualification, the types of attorneys who may be affected and how to reduce their exposure to these motions, says Matthew Henderson at Hinshaw.

  • Data Protection Steps To Consider After Biden Privacy Order

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    A recent White House executive order casts a spotlight on the criticality of securing sensitive content communications, presenting challenges and necessitating a recalibration of practices, especially for lawyers, says Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks.

  • Surveying Legislative Trends As States Rush To Regulate AI

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    With Congress unlikely to pass comprehensive artificial intelligence legislation any time soon, just four months into 2024, nearly every state has introduced legislation aimed at the development and use of AI on subjects from algorithmic discrimination risk to generative AI disclosures, say David Kappos and Sasha Rosenthal-Larrea at Cravath.

  • How Duty Of Candor Figures In USPTO AI Ethics Guidance

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    The duty of candor and good faith is an important part of the artificial intelligence ethics guidance issued last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and serious consequences can visit patent and trademark applicants who violate that duty, not just their attorneys and agents, says Michael Cicero at Taylor English.

  • Series

    Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues

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    Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

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