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Legal Ethics

  • June 24, 2025

    Another Musk Case, Another Judge Recusal

    A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday became the latest federal judge to recuse from a case involving Elon Musk, this time stepping down from handling his lawsuit challenging OpenAI's now-abandoned transition to a for-profit enterprise.

  • June 24, 2025

    Apple Assails 'Fundamentally Unfair' App Order At 9th Circ.

    Apple urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to nix a district court's "unduly punitive" mandate blocking it from charging any commission on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems, arguing an Epic Games injunction redux goes far beyond the original order and attacks conduct that's not illegal under California law.

  • June 24, 2025

    3rd Circ. Pick Told DOJ To Defy Courts, Whistleblower Says

    A top career official at the U.S. Department of Justice who was fired has come forward with a whistleblower complaint alleging Third Circuit judicial nominee Emil Bove, who was acting deputy attorney general at the beginning of the year, sought to defy court orders.

  • June 24, 2025

    Co. Slams 'Overheated' Reed Smith Brief In Shipping Row

    Reed Smith should not be allowed to halt court proceedings amid its effort to hold onto a client file sought by postbankruptcy owners of Eletson Holdings Inc., a reorganized international shipping company, amid its ongoing dispute with Levona Holdings Ltd., according to briefs both sides filed before the Second Circuit.

  • June 24, 2025

    Boeing Says COVID-Era Docs Needed In Suit Over 737 Sales

    Boeing is urging a Washington federal court to compel a defunct South African airline to turn over documents about its financial state and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business from 2019 to 2021, as the plane maker fights a suit alleging it hid the flaws of its 737 Max line.

  • June 24, 2025

    Gaming Co. Asks 11th Circ. To Uphold Malpractice Coverage

    A gaming company and a law firm asked the Eleventh Circuit to reject an insurer's bid to avoid representing the firm in a malpractice case, arguing that if at least one claim in an underlying complaint was covered, the insurer couldn't apply a misappropriation exclusion.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ex-J&J Atty's Race Bias Suit Lacks Facts, Company Argues

    Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. told a New Jersey federal court this week that a former in-house data privacy attorney suing the pharmaceuticals giant for discrimination failed to plead any facts supporting her allegation that the company passed her over for a job in favor of a less qualified candidate.

  • June 24, 2025

    10th Circ. Rejects Ex-GC's Sanctions Bid Against Loeb & Loeb

    The Tenth Circuit has sided with a district court's decision dismissing a bid by the former general counsel of a medical device company to have Loeb & Loeb LLP sanctioned for bringing what he said was a baseless lawsuit against him on behalf of his former employer.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ex-Staffer For Judge Wants Wage Theft Appeal Outside Circuit

    A former staffer for retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner has followed through on his pledge to appeal his district court loss of wage theft claims against the ex-judge, filing a motion to have his appeal heard in a different circuit and a request to unseal a medical document.

  • June 23, 2025

    Florida Judge Denies Bid To DQ Boies Schiller In Fee Suit

    A Florida state court judge on Monday denied a bid to disqualify Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in a lawsuit brought by pharmaceutical mass tort companies to block their former counsel from collecting fees after he was dismissed for alleged insufficient representation.

  • June 23, 2025

    Amazon Sanctioned For Hidden Discovery

    A Washington federal judge sanctioned Amazon.com Monday by limiting its use of company documents produced during discovery while giving the Federal Trade Commission more time for discovery, siding with the FTC's allegations that the online retail giant improperly claimed privilege over tens of thousands of documents in the Prime "dark patterns" lawsuit.

  • June 23, 2025

    Fubo Streamers Demand Own Attys In Disney Suit Settlement

    Subscribers to the Fubo streaming service asked a California federal judge to name them and their attorney the leads in the recent proposed settlement with Disney over the carriage fees for its sports streaming service, and to be "wary" of a motion to appoint the attorney for the two other classes of streaming customers as lead counsel.

  • June 23, 2025

    Boston Firm Says Competitor Had Secret Deal With Shareholder

    A Boston law firm is accusing a smaller personal injury practice of secretly steering cases and work to a now-former shareholder, including one case that led to a $5 million settlement, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in a Massachusetts state court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Litigation Funders Fight 'Kill Shot' In 'Big Beautiful Bill'

    Litigation funders are in panic mode over a provision in the massive federal spending bill that would impose a 41% punitive tax on the $16 billion industry, with one executive calling it a "kill shot" and an academic warning it amounts to "unprecedented" weaponization of the U.S. tax code.

  • June 23, 2025

    Dems Demand Info On Emil Bove's Alleged Misconduct

    Ahead of Emil Bove's hearing on Wednesday for his judicial nomination, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are pressing for information on complaints alleging his misconduct while at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and Main Justice earlier this year.

  • June 23, 2025

    Convicted Pot Ring 'Consigliere' Denied Return To Pa. Bar

    An attorney convicted of federal crimes after serving as a "consigliere" to a drug trafficking ring has been denied reinstatement to the Pennsylvania bar, with the state's Supreme Court siding with a disciplinary board report that flagged "his efforts to downplay his misconduct."

  • June 23, 2025

    Conflict Forces Transfer Of Seton Hall Whistleblower Case

    Seton Hall University's former president's whistleblower suit against the school will be heard in a New Jersey state court in Hudson County after an Essex County judge confirmed her decision to move the case due to a potential conflict of interest involving the daughter of one of the defendants.

  • June 23, 2025

    Dems Laud Axing Of Budget Bill's Injunction Bond Provision

    A provision meant to up the ante for plaintiffs filing lawsuits against the federal government by increasing the use of injunction bonds has been ruled ineligible for inclusion in the budget reconciliation package.

  • June 23, 2025

    Conn. Firm's Claims Against Restaurant Attys Trimmed

    Connecticut employment law firm Hayber McKenna & Dinsmore LLC may advance vexatious litigation claims, but not abuse of process claims, against attorneys for several restaurants who previously accused the firm of violating state unfair trade practices laws to target potential clients, a state trial court judge has ruled.

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices To Review Liability For Forcing Prisoner's Haircut

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a former Louisiana prisoner's case for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, removing the dreadlocks he maintained as part of his Rastafarian religion.

  • June 20, 2025

    Mich. Judge Denies Ethics Charges, Says He Was Spied On

    A Michigan state judge accused of disparaging the district court's chief judge during official proceedings as well as secretly recording a conversation with her has responded to formal charges against him, refuting the allegations and additionally claiming the court has spied on him.

  • June 20, 2025

    Atty Interaction Prompts Recusal In Google AI Suicide Suit

    A Florida federal judge and former Gunster shareholder has recused himself from a suit accusing Character.AI and Google of causing the suicide of a teen who was addicted to an artificial intelligence chatbot, after a Munger Tolles & Olson LLP attorney said he discussed the case with the then-attorney last year.

  • June 20, 2025

    Off The Bench: Lakers Sale, NASCAR Antitrust, NIL Appeals

    In this week's Off The Bench, the Lakers fetch a $10 billion valuation as a new owner takes control of the franchise, a federal judge urges litigants in the NASCAR antitrust brawl to settle, and appeals pile up against the NCAA's landmark $2.78 billion athlete compensation settlement.

  • June 20, 2025

    Attys Face Sanctions For 'Sweeping' Copying Of Firm's Motion

    A California federal judge has ordered The Neil Jones Food Co.'s defense counsel to explain why she shouldn't sanction them for filing a dismissal motion that appears to plagiarize a losing motion filed by another firm in another case in the district, slamming the "sweeping copy and paste" conduct as "patently unacceptable."

  • June 20, 2025

    Wash. Municipal Judge Fights State Board's Removal Petition

    A suspended Washington municipal court judge has urged the state Supreme Court to reject a judicial board's recommendation that she be removed from the bench for allegedly mistreating staff and attorneys, saying she has been unfairly punished for her former attorney's actions "in a racially charged environment."

Expert Analysis

  • Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement

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    Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • 5 Defense Lessons From Prosecutors' Recent Evidence Flubs

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    The recent dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges, and the filing of an ethics complaint against a former D.C. prosecutor, both provide takeaways for white collar defense counsel who suspect that prosecutors may be withholding or misrepresenting evidence, say Anden Chow at MoloLamken and Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases

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    The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

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