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Legal Ethics
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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."
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June 20, 2025
Veterans Can't Stop Defendant's Outreach To Potential Class
A group of veterans can't stop a consulting firm from contacting potential class members for help with the firm's defense in a lawsuit alleging it charged millions of dollars in illegal fees, a North Carolina federal magistrate judge has ruled from the bench.
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June 20, 2025
New Trial Ordered Over $25M Fee Split In Verizon Injury Case
A New Jersey appellate panel has ordered a new jury trial to decide how to split a $25 million fee award stemming from a $125 million personal injury settlement with Verizon, finding several errors in a previous lower court bench trial.
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June 20, 2025
Florida Judge Barred From Keeping Police Credentials
Florida's judicial ethics watchdog said a sitting judge who was formerly a police officer in the same county in which the judge presides may not recertify law enforcement credentials, saying it could affect the judge's impartiality.
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June 20, 2025
Conn. Atty Agrees To Suspension After Court No-Shows
A Connecticut estates attorney has agreed to an interim suspension of her law license and will undergo a medical examination after failing to attend scheduled court dates four times in the last 60 days, records in her professional discipline case show.
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June 20, 2025
NJ Court Greenlights Beasley Allen Attys In Talc Litigation
A New Jersey state judge will allow two Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent a California couple in their suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling carcinogenic talc-based baby powder and appear pro hac vice despite the company's vehement opposition.
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June 20, 2025
Mich. Judge Won't Step Aside In Atty Voting Machine Case
A Michigan state judge on Friday said he would not remove himself from overseeing criminal charges against an attorney who is accused of accessing voting machines after the 2020 presidential election, finding there was no evidence to support her claims that he is biased.
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June 20, 2025
Patent Suit Against Alibaba Dropped After Sanctions Bid
Cooperative Entertainment Inc. has ended its patent lawsuit against Alibaba Cloud US LLC after the latter company sought to have the case thrown out earlier this month as a sanction for what it said was "extreme" conduct by opposing counsel.
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June 20, 2025
Boies Schiller Fights DQ Bid In Law Firms' Fee Dispute
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP pushed back on a bid to disqualify the firm in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, in which Boies Schiller is both representing itself as a defendant and its co-defendants, arguing there is no conflict because all their defenses are the same.
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June 20, 2025
Wisconsin Judge Gets Court To Weigh Dismissal Before Trial
A Wisconsin federal judge overseeing the government's prosecution of a state judge for allegedly helping an unauthorized immigrant evade arrest canceled a jury trial scheduled for July, saying he will rule on her motion to dismiss first.
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June 18, 2025
Toyota Says DOJ Has Closed Thai Bribery Probe
Toyota said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed a long-running Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation concerning allegations of bribery at its Thai subsidiary, the latest such probe to be dropped under the Trump administration.
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June 18, 2025
Nurse Staffing Exec Can't Nix Conviction, Sanctions Floated
A Nevada federal court has refused a nurse staffing executive's bid to undo his conviction on wage-fixing and wire fraud charges, and threatened his attorneys with sanctions for allegedly making repeated misrepresentations to the court.
Expert Analysis
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases
Evidence issues in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents cases involving former President Donald Trump offer an opportunity to restudy elements and implications of the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, noting the courts' careful scrutiny of these matters, say Robert Hoff and Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.
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Series
Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.
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Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession
About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Opinion
AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Series
Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Opinion
More Guidance Needed On Appellate Amicus Recusals
Instead of eliminating the right for amici to file briefs on consent, as per the recently proposed Federal Appellate Rules amendment, the Judicial Conference's Committee on Codes of Judicial Conduct should issue guidance on situations in which amicus filings should lead to circuit judge recusals, says Alan Morrison at George Washington University Law School.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.