ĂŰĚŇĘÓƵ

Legal Ethics

  • August 05, 2025

    Judge Mulls Sanctioning Hagens Berman In Thalidomide Suits

    The Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over dozens of product liability actions against manufacturers of the morning sickness drug thalidomide Tuesday ordered Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP to explain why it shouldn't be sanctioned for allegedly conducting "grossly inadequate" pre-suit inquiries, obstructing discovery and doctoring evidence.

  • August 05, 2025

    OptumRx Urges Panel To DQ Motley Rice In LA Opioid Suit

    OptumRx told a California appellate panel Tuesday that Motley Rice should be disqualified from representing Los Angeles County in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid crisis, saying the firm violated state law by using confidential information obtained in the case in other lawsuits it's handling against Optum.

  • August 05, 2025

    Cannabis Co. Can't Blame Defaults On Neglectful Attorney

    A defunct Los Angeles dispensary and its operators cannot undo default entries issued against them by investors who seek more than $325,000, a California state judge has ruled, rejecting the company's attempt to pin the loss on their attorney who "lost track" of the case.

  • August 05, 2025

    Lead Kicked From Pharma Investor Case Over Rogue Emails

    The lead plaintiff in a securities class action against Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in Manhattan federal court was removed from the case Tuesday when a federal judge found he broke confidentiality rules by going behind his lawyers' backs in an attempt to push his own settlement plan and fixating on unrelated conspiracy theories.

  • August 05, 2025

    Ex-Patent Examiner Fights USPTO Exclusion At High Court

    A former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review his exclusion from practicing before the agency, saying the justices should look at issues relating to a suspension he received and also federal civil rights protections.

  • August 05, 2025

    Stone Hilton Rips Claims As 'Slinging Mud' For Prosecutor

    Stone Hilton PLLC pushed Tuesday to strike certain claims from a former aide's sexual harassment lawsuit, arguing that they were made against the firm — founded by former top prosecutors in the Texas attorney general's office — as a means of "slinging mud" on behalf of Attorney General Ken Paxton's second-in-command.

  • August 05, 2025

    Blake Lively Wants Baldoni's Atty Sanctioned For Comments

    Actress Blake Lively has asked a Manhattan federal judge to sanction the attorney representing "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni in her ongoing defamation case, alleging the lawyer repeatedly defied a February court order blocking extrajudicial statements likely to prejudice the case.

  • August 05, 2025

    Law Profs Urge 11th Circ. To Toss Judge-Shopping Sanctions

    A group of seven law school professors is urging the Eleventh Circuit to toss a sanctions ruling against three attorneys for judge shopping, arguing that federal law does not forbid the practice and citing the "potentially chilling effect the order will have on counsel, especially those involved in pro bono representation."

  • August 05, 2025

    Disbarred North Carolina Atty Admits To Wire Fraud Scheme

    A disbarred lawyer in North Carolina has copped to criminal wire fraud charges stemming from the misuse of his trust account after federal prosecutors said he used escrow funds earmarked for the sale of personal protective equipment to pay back another company.

  • August 05, 2025

    Court Trims Most Of Contractors' Suit Against NJ Prosecutors

    A New Jersey federal judge has trimmed the majority of claims brought against the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office by two contractors alleging they were illegally targeted in a criminal investigation over a business rivalry with an assistant prosecutor, ruling that the agency is protected by sovereign immunity.

  • August 05, 2025

    Mass. Appellate Court Upholds Atty's $1M Fee Win

    An attorney's $1.17 million judgment against a former client for unpaid legal fees was affirmed Tuesday by a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court, which also found that the client had waited too long to lodge a legal malpractice claim.

  • August 05, 2025

    Law Firm, Ex-Client Want La. Malpractice Fight Moved To NJ

    A doctor pursuing malpractice claims against New Jersey firm Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC in New Orleans federal court has agreed to take the fight up north, with the two sides filing a joint motion to transfer the venue to the District of New Jersey.

  • August 04, 2025

    Roundup Judge Threatens Sanctions For Unpaid Plaintiff Fees

    The California federal judge presiding over multidistrict personal injury litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer has threatened to sanction 37 plaintiffs' firms that have not held back a percentage of their recovery fees for a common benefit fund.

  • August 04, 2025

    Inventor Sanctioned In Water Meter Patent Case

    A Delaware federal judge has sanctioned an attorney and president of a company that sued utility meter reading company Mueller Systems for patent infringement, blocking him from reading any material in the case designated for attorneys' eyes only.

  • August 04, 2025

    Judge Newman Contests Suspension Renewal At DC Circ.

    The Federal Circuit's recent recommendation to continue U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's suspension makes clear her colleagues are looking to permanently remove her, the judge's attorney told the D.C. Circuit Monday.

  • August 04, 2025

    NY Atty Found Guilty Of Duping Lender Who Backed Lien Biz

    A Manhattan federal jury on Monday convicted a former compliance lawyer of pilfering from a $20 million line of credit extended to his tax-lien business by a subsidiary of Emigrant Bank.

  • August 04, 2025

    Mississippi Judge Won't Explain TRO Errors In Suit Over DEI

    A Mississippi federal judge won't explain how his decision pausing enforcement of a state law barring diversity, equity and inclusion in public schools contained nonexistent allegations, wrongly identified plaintiffs and defendants and quoted terms that don't appear in the legislative text, ruling that the court isn't obligated to do so.

  • August 04, 2025

    Ga. Lawyer Sues Opposing Counsel For Insulting Email

    A Georgia lawyer has launched a defamation lawsuit in state court against opposing counsel in a passport dispute for sending an email that called him a liar and the "epitome of antiquated false male dominance."

  • August 04, 2025

    CFO Looks To Jettison Widow's Fight Over Founder's Assets

    The chief financial officer of a company behind a college athletics database has argued in an early exit bid that he has no connection to the state of North Carolina, where he's been accused in a civil lawsuit of driving the company's founder to take his own life amid allegations of embezzlement.

  • August 04, 2025

    DOJ Fights Md. Judges' Bid To Ax Suit Over Habeas Orders

    The Department of Justice is standing by its lawsuit challenging a standing order in the District of Maryland that temporarily blocks the deportation of detained noncitizens who file habeas petitions, saying a recent dismissal bid misses the mark because "even a small delay" is "irreparable harm to sovereign interests."

  • August 04, 2025

    Connecticut Justices Say Atty Due Extra $300K For ID Theft

    The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on Monday that an attorney whose identity was stolen by scammers can receive punitive damages under the state's unfair trade practices statute in addition to a separate award of treble damages under a different law, holding that a lower court misjudged the allowable recovery.

  • August 04, 2025

    DuPont Inks $2.5B Deal With NJ Over PFAS Pollution

    E.I. du Pont de Nemours and New Jersey have reached a more than $2 billion landmark deal to remedy long-standing "forever chemical" contamination at the company's manufacturing sites across the Garden State, including a longtime facility in Salem County.

  • August 01, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: Midyear Highlights For Every Circuit

    In this special edition of Wheeling & Appealing, we're spotlighting key decisions and developments in every circuit court during the first half of 2025, while also previewing August's most intriguing oral arguments, including a remarkably "fierce" showdown between Edible Arrangements and 1-800-Flowers with millions of dollars in attorney fees on the line.

  • August 01, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Epstein, Macron, Lindell

    In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 reviews U.S. President Donald Trump's suit against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his connections to deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a Second Circuit decision about the potential unsealing of documents in a since-settled, Epstein-related defamation suit.

  • August 01, 2025

    NJ Court Will Mull Legality Of Habba's US Atty Appointment

    If Alina Habba was illegally appointed acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, a pair of defendants in a drug trafficking case are not entitled to dismissal of the indictment, but it "appears appropriate" that Habba would be barred from prosecuting them, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

    Author Photo

    As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

    Author Photo

    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Reel Justice: 'Oh, Hi!' Teaches Attys To Return To The Statute

    Author Photo

    The new dark comedy film “Oh, Hi!” — depicting a romantic vacation that turns into an inadvertent kidnapping — should remind criminal practitioners to always reread the statute to avoid assumptions, meet their ethical duties and finesse their trial strategy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Series

    Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

    Author Photo

    While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

    Author Photo

    As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Opinion

    Prosecutors' Duty To Justice Sometimes Demands Mea Culpa

    Author Photo

    Two recent cases — U.S. v. Lucas and U.S. v. Echavarria — demonstrate that prosecutors’ special ethical duty to seek justice can sometimes be in tension with other obligations and incentives, but it nonetheless requires them to concede their mistakes in the interests of justice, say Eastern District of Texas law clerk Ian Stephens and Texas A&M University law professor Jemila Lea.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

    Author Photo

    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

    Author Photo

    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Unpacking DOJ's Suit Against Maryland Federal Bench

    Author Photo

    Political hoopla aside, the Trump administration’s suit naming the Maryland federal district court and all of its judges, which challenges a standing order that delays deportation upon the filing of a habeas petition, raises valid questions about both the validity of the order and the DOJ’s approach, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • How Patent Attys Can Carefully Integrate LLMs Into Workflows

    Author Photo

    With artificial intelligence-powered tools now being developed specifically for the intellectual property domain, patent practitioners should monitor evolving considerations to ensure that their capabilities are enhanced — rather than diminished — by these resources, say attorneys at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

    Author Photo

    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

    Author Photo

    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here