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Legal Ethics

  • May 05, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Palin, Fox, Crime Podcasters

    In this month's review of ongoing defamation fights, Law360 looks back on developments in two voting technology companies' cases against news organizations that claimed they helped rig the 2020 election.

  • May 05, 2025

    7th Circ. Judge Slams University's Args In En Banc Denial

    The Seventh Circuit on Friday denied en banc review of a panel's decision to revive a Chicago law professor's retaliation suit after he was disciplined for including a redacted racist slur on an exam, with one judge suggesting the university's failure to invoke arguments over its right to academic freedom meant the appeal didn't justify consideration by the full court.

  • May 05, 2025

    Critical Deadline For Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin Nears

    The clock might be ticking on Ed Martin's tenure as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

  • May 05, 2025

    Pa. District Paid Female Teachers Thousands Less, Jury Told

    Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania unfairly paid female teachers less than their male counterparts, in some cases by tens of thousands of dollars despite holding the same jobs, a federal jury was told Monday.

  • May 05, 2025

    7th Circ. Affirms Funder's Loss In Fraud Suit Against Law Firm

    The Seventh Circuit on Friday upheld an Illinois federal court's rulings ending a litigation funder's claims that a law firm illegally dropped the funder to represent a former employee and her competing venture, saying the lower court's detailed orders show it carefully resolved the issue.

  • May 05, 2025

    Ex-Seton Hall President Asks To Add Conspiracy Claim To Suit

    Seton Hall University's former president is seeking to add claims to his whistleblower suit against the school alleging that it conspired to "disparage" him in the press partly in retaliation for reporting sexual abuse-related allegations about the school's current president.

  • May 05, 2025

    Shutts & Bowen Takes Aim At Malpractice Suit Over Club Sale

    Florida firm Shutts & Bowen LLP and one of its partners pushed back against a real estate corporation's malpractice lawsuit alleging they sank the sale of a country club with a motion requesting the court either transfer or dismiss the case.

  • May 05, 2025

    Calif. Justices Adjust Bar Exam Passing Score Amid Turmoil

    In an en banc ruling, the California Supreme Court approved adjustments to the passing score for the state bar's embattled February bar exam in line with a formal request by the California Bar Association, resulting in the highest passing rates for the exam in close to five years.

  • May 05, 2025

    Morgan & Morgan Pushes To Arbitrate Malpractice Claims

    Morgan & Morgan is urging a Georgia federal court to send a former client's malpractice class claims into arbitration and reject his bid to move the case to state court, arguing the matter belongs there, and the client agreed to arbitrate such disputes.

  • May 05, 2025

    Justice Dept. Seeks To Nix ABA Suit Over Terminated Grants

    The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to throw out the American Bar Association's lawsuit over the termination of grants to the ABA's Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, arguing the courts lack power to force the government to honor a contractual obligation.

  • May 05, 2025

    Agri Stats Wants Judge Recused From DOJ Case

    Agri Stats asked the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the government's case accusing the data firm of helping meat processors exchange sensitive information to recuse himself because one of his law clerks previously worked on the case for one of the state enforcers.

  • May 05, 2025

    Veterans Look To Bar Firm's Contacts With Potential Class

    Veterans urged a North Carolina federal judge to bar a consulting firm from contacting potential class members about litigation accusing the firm of charging illegal fees, saying it has emailed tens of thousands of them asking to help with the firm's defense.

  • May 05, 2025

    Justices Skip Recusal Case Over Fitbit Judge's Google Ties

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a patent owner's argument that a California federal judge should have recused herself from an infringement suit against Fitbit due to her alleged financial ties to the wearable tech company's parent, Google.

  • May 02, 2025

    Judge Axes Trump's Perkins Order With Shakespearean Flourish

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday struck down as unconstitutional President Donald Trump's retaliatory executive order targeting Perkins Coie LLP, permanently blocking enforcement of the directive and likening the president's action to a Shakespeare character's suggestion that the way to amass power is to "kill all the lawyers."

  • May 02, 2025

    Omnitracs Alleges Religious Bias In IP Trial Tainted Outcome

    A fleet management company relied on making "improper religious and racial insinuations" to a jury, along with other concerning behavior, in order to beat a rival's infringement claims, the patent owner told a California federal judge.

  • May 02, 2025

    Plaintiffs Seek Redo Over Sterilization Co.'s Trial Tactics

    Four women who claimed a Colorado sterilization company caused their cancers asked a state court to order a new trial, arguing the business won a favorable verdict with prejudicial evidence about law firm ads and by suggesting the women are not "real victims but pawns in a scheme orchestrated by their lawyers."

  • May 02, 2025

    NY Officials Say Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Fair Game

    New York officials told a federal judge on Friday that a mistakenly filed memo from the federal government detailing its weak rationale for trying to cancel Manhattan's congestion pricing program is fair game and cannot be shielded after media outlets widely reported on it.

  • May 02, 2025

    Cannabis Drink Co. Accuses Stoel Rives Attorneys Of Fraud

    A startup that develops nonalcoholic cannabis beers has claimed in a California state court action that attorneys from Stoel Rives LLP and others conspired on a scheme to defraud the company out of millions by allegedly trying to sell an unlicensed marijuana business.

  • May 02, 2025

    A Look At Trump's Pick For The 6th Circuit

    President Donald Trump's first judicial nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer, who's been tapped for a seat Democrats tried to fill while Joe Biden was in the White House, has been part of litigation on several politically charged issues due to her job with the Tennessee Attorney General's office.

  • May 02, 2025

    FIFA Seeks Fees After Citation Mistakes In Antitrust Case

    FIFA is demanding attorney fees from plaintiffs for misusing artificial intelligence in an antitrust suit against the soccer federation in Puerto Rico, with a formatting error revealing that it is seeking more than $50,000 for work performed by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and a local firm, according to court documents.

  • May 02, 2025

    JC Penney Says Emails Show Jackson Walker Hid Romance

    The wind down estate of J.C. Penney beefed up its allegations that Jackson Walker covered up a relationship between a former bankruptcy partner and Texas bankruptcy judge in an updated lawsuit to recover over $1 million in legal fees from its 2020 Chapter 11, shedding light on the firms emails with a public relations firm and outside ethics counsel.

  • May 02, 2025

    Connecticut Firm Can't Reargue Ruling In Lawsuit Over Scam

    Connecticut law firm Mancini Provenzano & Futtner LLC may not reargue an attorney fee and prejudgment interest awarded to a former client who was tricked by a fraudster into wiring $90,586 to an incorrect account due to the firm's lax security, a state superior court judge has ruled.

  • May 02, 2025

    NJ Atty Fights 'Over Punitive' DQ Ruling In Biz Dispute

    A New Jersey lawyer urged a federal court to undo a more than $63,000 sanction against him connected to his disqualification from a cosmetics business dispute on Friday, arguing that the decision to disqualify him failed to show that he acted in bad faith.

  • May 02, 2025

    Houston Atty Can't Beat Sanctions In Hospital Firing Suit

    A Texas state appellate court has said a Houston attorney is on the hook for more than $11,000 in fees for ignoring an area hospital's discovery requests and failing to appear in court in a wrongful termination lawsuit the attorney filed on behalf of a podiatrist.

  • May 02, 2025

    Ex-Aide Hits Morgan & Morgan With Disability, Age Bias Suit

    A former legal assistant for personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan PA has launched a disability and age discrimination suit against the personal injury firm in Florida state court alleging she received more work than younger employees and was told to work on the weekends without overtime pay.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Lawyers Must Be Careful When Using Listservs

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    The American Bar Association's formal opinion from May correctly states that attorneys must obtain clients' consent before posing related questions to listservs, but potential risks and drawbacks of using listservs go beyond those highlighted by the ABA, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

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