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Legal Ethics

  • September 25, 2025

    Ex-FBI Head Comey Indicted Days After Va. US Atty Replaced

    A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday indicted former FBI Director James B. Comey on making a false statement and obstruction of Congress charges, just days after Donald Trump's former personal attorney took over as interim U.S. attorney in the district.

  • September 25, 2025

    Justice Thomas Says High Court Precedent Isn't 'Gospel'

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Thursday that he doesn't view the high court's prior rulings as "the gospel," and that any precedent that doesn't respect the U.S. Constitution or the country's legal traditions is ripe for reconsideration.

  • September 25, 2025

    Girardi's Son-In-Law Urges No Prison For Chicago Contempt

    Tom Girardi's son-in-law has argued he should not receive prison time following his contempt plea over millions of dollars in settlement funds Girardi stole from several Lion Air crash clients, saying he fought for months to get the clients paid but recognizes he "could and should" have done more.

  • September 25, 2025

    Ex-Highland CEO Tells High Court Judge's Novels Show Bias

    The founder and president of hedge fund Highland Capital Management has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a bankruptcy judge's refusal to recuse herself from proceedings involving the company after she published two novels that he says contain veiled commentary about the case.

  • September 25, 2025

    Hagens Berman Not Very Contrite About AI Errors, Judge Says

    A California federal judge chided attorneys from Hagens Berman on Thursday over what he called a lack of contrition after submitting briefs that contained errors lifted from ChatGPT in a proposed class action against the online platform OnlyFans, saying the attorneys seemed more interested in excuses.

  • September 25, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Snubs Patent Atty's Bid To Join Toddler Mat IP Case

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday denied an attorney's bid to appear in a patent infringement case over toddler dining mats, in which the lower court found that his misrepresentation of prior art during prosecution was "purposeful, deliberate, and egregious."

  • September 25, 2025

    Judge Grants Limited Sanctions In Sports Betting Secrets Suit

    A Nevada federal judge has granted some sanctions requested by a gambling technology company locked in a trade secrets case, finding that the rival litigant won't be allowed to introduce some evidence.

  • September 25, 2025

    Convicted Atty Lacks Moral Fitness, Ethics Panel Says

    Connecticut's statewide grievance committee says an attorney convicted 10 years ago for filing false federal tax returns doesn't have the moral character to return to the legal profession.

  • September 25, 2025

    Atty's 'Horrible' Mistake Rooted In Firm Biz, NJ Justices Hear

    Former Sacks Weston attorney Scott Diamond's counsel urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday to refrain from disbarring him for fraudulently resolving cases behind his former firm's back, arguing during a hearing that his actions stemmed from a "bona fide" business dispute.

  • September 25, 2025

    AI-Created Attack Video Among Threats Facing State Judges

    State judges sounded the alarm Thursday over "disturbing" threats leveled against them and fellow jurists across the country, from unsolicited pizza deliveries to an artificial intelligence-generated video of a jurist being murdered with a hatchet.

  • September 25, 2025

    Pence Group Backs 7th Circ. Pick Attacked By Conservatives

    Former Vice President Mike Pence's organization has come out in support of Seventh Circuit nominee Rebecca Taibleson following attacks against her from other conservative groups.

  • September 25, 2025

    Margolis Edelstein Denies Repping Insurer Claiming Malpractice

    Margolis Edelstein has asked a New Jersey state court to throw out an insurance company's malpractice suit over an alleged overvaluation in a settlement, arguing it had not represented the insurer in the settlement and therefore the malpractice claim "obviously" cannot survive.

  • September 25, 2025

    Texas Atty Loses Appeal In Ex-Client's Fraud Suit

    A Texas appellate court ruled Thursday that a Lone Star State lawyer's counterclaims against a former client suing him for fraud should be tossed under the state's free speech law, and denied the attorney's bid for dismissal under the anti-SLAPP statute because it was filed past the deadline.

  • September 25, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Debt Collection Suit Against NJ Firm

    The Third Circuit rejected a bid Thursday from a woman suing Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP to revive her proposed class action over allegedly unfair debt collection practices after a federal trial court ruled that she filed her suit too late.

  • September 25, 2025

    Jackson Walker Reaches 2 New Deals Over Judge Romance

    Jackson Walker LLP has reached two new settlements to resolve claims related to a concealed romance between a former firm attorney and a onetime bankruptcy judge, marking at least five such settlements since the scandal broke.

  • September 25, 2025

    'Jailhouse Lawyer' Gets 16½ Years For Defrauding Inmates

    A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a recidivist fraudster to 16½ years in prison Thursday, saying the "jailhouse lawyer" cheated inmates out of at least $550,000 by getting them to pay for unauthorized legal filings and calling him an "incorrigible" con man.

  • September 25, 2025

    Driver Says Mazda's Sanctions Bid Is Itself Sanctionable

    The leader of a proposed class of Mazda drivers suing over an alleged oil burning defect is firing back at the automaker's call for sanctions for what it called "frivolous" postjudgment filings, saying Mazda's filing is legally baseless and filled with ad hominem attacks on his attorney, so the company is the one that should face sanctions.

  • September 25, 2025

    Bondi Faces Key 'Test' As Trump Orders Prosecutions

    Attorney General Pam Bondi has reached a crossroads less than eight months into her tenure as she faces an extraordinary directive from President Donald Trump to wield the U.S. Department of Justice against his political enemies.

  • September 25, 2025

    Coalition Urges Senate To Block Bills Threatening DC Law

    More than 270 individuals and organizations, including law firms, bar associations and advocacy groups, on Thursday urged the Senate to reject two House bills that they say would usurp the judicial selection process in Washington, D.C., and the independence of D.C.'s attorney general.

  • September 25, 2025

    NY Judge Who Left For Anderson Kill Had Faced Ethics Case

    A longtime New York judge who joined Anderson Kill last week had resigned from the bench amid ethics charges for alleged "demeaning" conduct toward his court staff and claims that he threatened retaliation against a witness and attorneys for the state's judicial ethics watchdog.

  • September 24, 2025

    Boies Schiller Partner Admits AI Errors In Scientology Case

    A Boies Schiller Flexner LLP partner representing women who allege the Church of Scientology harassed them for reporting convicted actor Daniel Masterson's sexual assaults has asked a California appeals court to strike a brief containing artificial intelligence-generated citation errors, saying he "very much regrets" the errors, but they shouldn't impact his clients' case.

  • September 24, 2025

    Minn. Judge Suspended For Attempting To Boost Staffer's Pay

    A Minnesota state judge should not have presided over proceedings to increase his longtime court reporter's salary, the state Supreme Court said, disciplining him with a public censure and a suspension for nine months without pay.

  • September 24, 2025

    Trump Lawyer Chesebro Suspended From DC Circ.

    Kenneth Chesebro, the former attorney for President Donald Trump who was indicted for plotting to enlist fake electors to swing the 2020 election result, was suspended Wednesday from practicing in the D.C. Circuit.

  • September 24, 2025

    Pa. Court Will Reconsider Opinion In Probation Violation Case

    A Pennsylvania state appeals court has thrown out its ruling that a man on probation for a bar fight couldn't be found in violation of release conditions for harassing his attorney and judge without being criminally charged and will reconsider the case.

  • September 24, 2025

    DOJ Likely Crossed Line With Mangione Remarks, Judge Says

    Top officials at the U.S. Department of Justice are in hot water for linking alleged insurance CEO killer Luigi Mangione to left-wing terrorism and potentially violating his right to a fair trial, a New York federal judge said Wednesday as she threatened sanctions for future violations.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Must Probe Misconduct Claims, Even If It's The AG

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    The Florida Bar’s recent refusal to look into misconduct allegations against Attorney General Pam Bondi is dangerous for the rule of law, and other lawyer disciplinary bodies must be prepared to investigate credible claims of ethical lapses against any lawyer, no matter their position, say attorneys James Kobak and Albert Feuer.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

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