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Legal Ethics

  • June 16, 2025

    Canadian Atty Must Pay SEC $323K Over Stock Promotion

    A Canadian securities attorney will pay over $323,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he drafted and executed sham consulting agreements at the heart of a scheme to conceal pay-for-play promotion of two so-called Regulation A offerings.

  • June 16, 2025

    TM Registration Co. Sanctioned Over Attorney Signatures

    A Mumbai-based business that offers trademark registration services was blocked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from submitting any more trademark documents, after an investigation found it forged counsel signatures.

  • June 16, 2025

    Colo. Justices Allow Malicious Prosecution Case To Proceed

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that a plaintiff may still have probable cause in a malicious prosecution case even if they were unable to win in the original case at summary judgment.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fla. Justices To Weigh 'Blindfolded' Jury Selection Procedure

    The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a so-called blindfolded jury selection method was fair to a man serving a life sentence for a murder conviction.

  • June 16, 2025

    Winery Can't Overcome Ex-Atty's 'Negligence' In Noise Suit

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court held in a precedential ruling that the negligence of a winery's former counsel in failing to communicate with the winery during litigation over operating in a neighborhood isn't a good enough reason to reverse an order shutting it down.

  • June 16, 2025

    Convict's Outbursts Didn't Warrant DQ, Conn. Justices Rule

    A Connecticut trial court judge acted within his power to consider and then add three criminal contempt sentences to a murder convict's prison term after the defendant hurled a series of racial and profane attacks at the court when a habeas corpus hearing concluded, the state's highest court ruled Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ga. Judge Won't Revive Attorney's Lien On Former Client

    The former attorney of a onetime Georgia county auditor cannot recover attorney fees from her earlier representation of the auditor in a whistleblower suit, a federal judge has ruled, finding she failed to prove she was prevented from fully and fairly litigating her case.

  • June 16, 2025

    NJ Atty Disciplined For Private Law Work On GC Role Time

    A former general counsel for a New Jersey public agency previously fined for ethics breaches has now been censured, with the state Supreme Court issuing the discipline after finding he operated a private law practice out of his office at the agency.

  • June 16, 2025

    Firm Slams Insurer's Bid To Exit Malpractice Coverage Suit

    A Berkshire Hathaway unit can't use misdirection to duck a negligence suit claiming the insurer's failure to defend a negligence lawsuit against a Georgia personal injury law firm led to a $2.6 million default judgment against the firm, according to a recent filing in Georgia federal court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Calif. Bar Panel Upholds Recommending Eastman Disbarment

    A panel of the California State Bar Court's Review Department has affirmed the March 2024 recommended disbarment of President Donald Trump's former attorney, John Eastman, over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fake NY Lawyer Admits To Stealing Over $290K From Clients

    A New York man admitted Monday that he posed as a lawyer to steal over $290,000 from people who thought he was doing class action, discrimination and other legal work, copping to larceny and fraud charges in state court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Biz Seller Seeks Atty Fees After Win In 'Frivolous' Fraud Case

    The former owner of a North Carolina concrete company is seeking attorney fees after defeating a buyer's fraud suit in a rare midtrial victory, saying her opponent should have to cover her legal costs for bringing claims to trial that were both "frivolous" and "malicious."

  • June 16, 2025

    Fla. Judge Denies Ethics Breach Over Fake Recording

    A judge in Broward County, Florida, pushed back on ethics charges accusing her of publicly sharing a fabricated recording of a chief judge disparaging another judge in her 2024 election campaign, saying her actions did not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.

  • June 16, 2025

    Texas Bar Limits Attorney Nondisparagement Clauses

    In a formal ethics opinion this month, the State Bar of Texas said nondisparagement clauses dealing with the practice of law cannot apply to lawyers licensed in the state, but attorneys could be subject to provisions involving their personal speech.

  • June 13, 2025

    Wash. Judge Tosses IUD Suit Against Bayer For Good

    Bayer has beat a negligence lawsuit filed by a woman who claims its Mirena IUD perforated her uterus and migrated after the patient failed to oppose the company's motion to dismiss, a Washington federal judge ruled.

  • June 13, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Drops Binance Founder Amid $8M Fraud Suit

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the founder of Binance amid an $8.1 million lawsuit against him, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the former cryptocurrency exchange executive has breached an agreement with the law firm and moved for arbitration against it.

  • June 13, 2025

    Calif. State Bar Is Immune From Atty's ADA Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to revive an attorney's claims alleging the California State Bar violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not granting extra time to respond to disciplinary action based on outstanding debt, finding the bar, as an arm of the state, is entitled to sovereign immunity.

  • June 13, 2025

    The Law Firm Loophole: How Debt Cos. Snare NC Consumers

    To get around bans in North Carolina and many other states, debt relief companies set up facade law firms — companies that are law firms in name only, with a tiny number of lawyers nominally serving thousands of clients, consumer advocates and regulators say.

  • June 13, 2025

    Wash. High Court Suspends Atty Amid Delays In Bar Probe

    The Washington State Supreme Court has suspended an Evergreen state attorney's legal license, at the state bar association's request, for allegedly stalling disciplinary investigations into her work representing student families in two federal lawsuits against school districts.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Gets 7½ Years For Bribery

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday sentenced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to seven and a half years in prison and fined him $2.5 million for his conviction on bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud charges, saying his determination that Madigan perjured himself on the stand at trial impacted the stiff penalty.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ga. Judge Makes Final Push To Toss 'Tainted' Ethics Charges

    A Georgia superior court judge who's in the midst of an ethics trial over misconduct allegations urged the state's judicial ethics commission Friday to toss the charges against her, saying that investigators never disclosed their financial backing of one of her electoral opponents.

  • June 13, 2025

    Akerman Seeks To Move Malpractice Suits From Medical Cos.

    Akerman LLP has asked to have two malpractice cases from medical laboratories moved from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, where the firm's related unpaid fees case against Rennova Health Inc. is being litigated.

  • June 13, 2025

    Grassley Budget Bill Calls For More Use Of Injunction Bonds

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released his portion of the budget reconciliation text, which would bolster the use of injunction bonds to raise the stakes for plaintiffs seeking to halt White House initiatives.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Defender Urges 4th Circ. To 'Fortify' Workplace Protections

    A former assistant public defender has doubled down on efforts to revive her sex bias suit against the federal judiciary, telling the Fourth Circuit that siding with the judiciary would further discourage its employees from speaking up or reporting abuse out of fear of retaliation.

  • June 13, 2025

    Jackson Walker, Ex-Judge Facing Class Action Over Romance

    A former bankruptcy judge and Jackson Walker LLP have been hit with another lawsuit over the judge's secret romance with a former firm partner, this time a proposed class action from a group of bondholders of financial company GWG Holdings Inc.

Expert Analysis

  • Rebuttal

    Forced Litigation Funding Disclosure Threatens Patent Rights

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    A recent Law360 guest article argued that courts should adopt stronger disclosure requirements for third-party litigation funding, but rather than enabling fairness or transparency, such measures would only undermine patent holders' access to capital and weaken their ability to assert valid patent rights, says Anup Misra at Curiam Capital.

  • The Ins And Outs Of Consensual Judicial References

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    As parties consider the possibility of judicial reference to resolve complex disputes, it is critical to understand how the process works, why it's gaining traction, and why carefully crafted agreements make all the difference, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    The BigLaw Settlements Are About Risk, Not Profit

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    The nine Am Law 100 firms that settled with the Trump administration likely did so because of the personal risk faced by equity partners in today's billion‑dollar national practices, enabled by an ethics rule primed for modernization, says Adam Forest at Scale.

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Poker is a master class in psychology, risk management and strategic thinking, and I’m a better attorney because it has taught me to read my opponents, adapt when I’m dealt the unexpected and stay patient until I'm ready to reveal my hand, says Casey Kingsley at McCreadyLaw.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Becoming A Firmwide MVP

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    Though lawyers don't have a neat metric like baseball players for measuring the value they contribute to their organizations, the sooner new attorneys learn skills frequently skipped in law school — like networking, marketing, client development and case evaluation — the more valuable, and less replaceable, they will be, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • $38M Law Firm Settlement Highlights 'Unworthy Client' Perils

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    A recent settlement of claims against law firm Eckert Seamans for allegedly abetting a Ponzi scheme underscores the continuing threat of clients who seek to exploit their lawyers in perpetrating fraud, and the critical importance of preemptive measures to avoid these clients, say attorneys at Lockton Companies.

  • Series

    Teaching Business Law Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching business law to college students has rekindled my sense of purpose as a lawyer — I am more mindful of the importance of the rule of law and the benefits of our common law system, which helps me maintain a clearer perspective on work, says David Feldman at Feldman Legal Advisors.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Discovery

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    The discovery process and the rules that govern it are often absent from law school curricula, but developing a solid grasp of the particulars can give any new attorney a leg up in their practice, says Jordan Davies at Knowles Gallant.

  • Alternative Business Structures Raise Ethics Questions

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    The new KPMG law firm, launched in Arizona following that state's repeal of the prohibition on fee sharing with nonlawyers, raises a number of important practice questions, both for the firm and those law firms seeking to partner with it, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Series

    Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

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    The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

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