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Legal Ethics

  • September 16, 2025

    Federal Court Reporter Beats Transcript Omission Claim

    A court reporter for an Illinois federal judge Tuesday defeated a lawsuit brought by a pro se plaintiff alleging she failed to transcribe part of a hearing and left out statements that would be damaging to the judge in an underlying employment dispute.

  • September 16, 2025

    Disbarment Of No-Show Lawyer Among Ga. Discipline Rulings

    A Georgia criminal defense attorney was disbarred Tuesday by the state's high court on charges that he pocketed $5,000 from a client's mother, no-showed for a series of hearings and delayed a trial for more than a year after not so much as speaking to the defendant he was representing.

  • September 16, 2025

    Mich. Judge Fights Allegations Of Lying In Ethics Case

    A Michigan state judge maintains that she is being falsely accused of intentionally lying under oath about a bike rental incident at a judicial conference on Mackinac Island, while the state's judicial watchdog claims that the judge has shown a pattern of untruthfulness and attempts to shift blame.

  • September 16, 2025

    Former Judge Aims To Escape Suit Over Secret Atty Romance

    Former Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones wants out of a lawsuit claiming his secret romance scandal infected the restructuring of life insurance bond seller GWG Holdings Inc., arguing that he's clearly protected by judicial immunity.

  • September 16, 2025

    Insurer Hits Hall Booth With $10M Suit Over Botched Defense

    A former client of Hall Booth Smith PC and its attorney allege the law firm botched its legal representation in an underlying suit related to a death at an indoor shooting range and caused the insurer $10.6 million in financial harm, according to a legal malpractice suit lodged in Georgia state court.

  • September 16, 2025

    NJ Justices Suspend Atty Over Bank Loan Scheme Conviction

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended an attorney and former director of the now-shuttered Park Avenue Bank after he was convicted for his role in a scheme to profit off of a loan using a straw borrower.

  • September 16, 2025

    Conn. Ethics Watchdog Wants Immigration Atty Disbarred

    Connecticut's attorney ethics watchdog wants an immigration lawyer disbarred in the state for eight years as reciprocal discipline after he was disbarred in Massachusetts following ethics accusations that he mishandled cases, overcharged clients and brought them to the attention of immigration authorities. 

  • September 16, 2025

    Seward & Kissel, Ex-Client At Odds Over NJ Malpractice Docs

    Seward & Kissel LLP has been accused of orchestrating a "ruse" to avoid discovery obligations in a New Jersey state court malpractice suit, according to a letter filed by the wife of hedge fund Two Sigma Investments LP's founder.

  • September 16, 2025

    Guo Ch. 11 Trustee Reveals $70K Deal With NY Law Firm

    The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing Chinese exile Miles Guo's Connecticut bankruptcy estate settled a $115,600 clawback action against a New York immigration firm for $70,000, new court records show.

  • September 16, 2025

    Ga. Justices Won't Reinstate DA Willis To Trump Election Case

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a lower court's ruling disqualifying Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants.

  • September 15, 2025

    Tom Goldstein Can't Pay Attys With 'Tainted Funds,' DOJ Says

    Indicted appellate luminary Tom Goldstein cannot cover his legal bills by selling his multimillion-dollar home, because it's a "tainted asset" worth "far less" than his attorney fees, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a blistering court filing, adding that Goldstein may flee the country as his reputation and marriage collapse.

  • September 15, 2025

    Zenith Challenges $130M Tunisia Award Over Conflicts

    Canadian oil and gas company Zenith Energy Ltd. will look to revive its $130 million claim against Tunisia over a nixed oilfield concession, saying it intends to argue in annulment proceedings in Switzerland that, among other things, certain members of the tribunal improperly concealed their ties to the North African country.

  • September 15, 2025

    Ousted Public Defender's Bias Suit Meets Skeptical Judge

    A Connecticut judge on Monday seemed skeptical of a former chief state public defender's challenge to her ouster, questioning whether the lawyer could support her claim that the Public Defender Services Commission should have called live witnesses to testify during an administrative hearing that led to her termination.

  • September 15, 2025

    3 Law Firms Want Ford's 'Thermonuclear' RICO Suit Snuffed

    Knight Law Group LLP, the Altman Law Group and Wirtz Law APC have urged a California federal judge to dismantle Ford Motor Co.'s racketeering lawsuit accusing the firms of overzealous billing and conspiring to dupe unsuspecting clients in product liability and personal injury cases against automakers.

  • September 15, 2025

    Calif. Court Issues AI Hallucinations 'Warning,' Sanctions Atty

    A California appeals court has issued a published opinion "as a warning" to Golden State attorneys to personally review case law quotations made by generative artificial intelligence, and imposed a $10,000 monetary sanction on plaintiff's counsel in an otherwise straightforward appeal in an employment case.

  • September 15, 2025

    Tainted Evidence Sank Atty's Tax Court Case, 6th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Tax Court relied on tainted evidence from the IRS when it affirmed the agency's denial of an Ohio attorney's attempt to deduct a theft loss and related legal expenses, he told the Sixth Circuit, urging it to reverse the lower court's ruling.

  • September 15, 2025

    Ill. Court Backs Sanction Over 'Smoking Gun' Email In Buyout

    An Illinois state appeals court has affirmed sanctions against an export company and its counsel, citing their failure to disclose a "smoking gun" email that undermined claims the company relied on a financial summary prepared by its accounting firm and ultimately paid too much to buy out a co-owner.

  • September 15, 2025

    Sills Cummis Aims To Block Atty, Paralegal Depos In Fees Suit

    Sills Cummis & Gross PC has asked a New Jersey state court to block a former client's bid for depositions in a lawsuit alleging the law firm padded legal bills that reached about $1.5 million, arguing the testimony is "unnecessary and improper."

  • September 15, 2025

    Software Co. Defends Contempt Order Against Womble Atty

    A North Carolina federal court fairly held Womble Bond Dickinson partner Pressly Millen in contempt after he and his client made misrepresentations in a "parallel" trademark dispute abroad, U.S.-based software company Dmarcian Inc. told the Fourth Circuit on Friday.

  • September 15, 2025

    Stradley Ronon Wants Keesal Young's Poaching Suit Tossed

    Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP has moved to nix a suit by California firm Keesal Young & Logan, saying its recruitment of 10 former Keesal Young attorneys was entirely above board and that the noncompete clauses in Keesal Young's partnership agreement were not allowed under California law.

  • September 15, 2025

    Feds Urge 3rd Circ. To Restore NJ US Atty's Authority

    The federal government has urged the Third Circuit to reverse a district court ruling disqualifying acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from prosecuting two criminal cases in New Jersey after the clock allegedly ran out on her interim term, arguing that her appointment is valid and that the court erred in its interpretation of the statute.

  • September 15, 2025

    Jay-Z Opposes Sexual Assault Accuser's Bid To Shield Name

    Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter told an Alabama federal court on Friday that allowing a woman to remain anonymous in his defamation lawsuit against her and Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee would be "contrary to principles of justice and fairness" given that she continues to claim she was sexually assaulted by him and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs at a party when she was 13.

  • September 15, 2025

    Jackson Walker Wants Breakup From Judge Romance Suit

    Jackson Walker LLP says bondholders' proposed class action accusing the firm of covering up a romance between a one-time partner and bankruptcy judge is an attempt at invalidating an already confirmed Chapter 11 plan and should be tossed.

  • September 15, 2025

    Atty Claims Judge's Conduct Shows Bias In Katt Williams Suit

    An attorney representing four women suing comedian Katt Williams in Georgia federal court said that the presiding judge in the case should step down from the matter because he showed bias and questioned the lawyer's "honesty, candor and credibility" at a hearing last month that involved discussions of a brief she submitted containing artificial intelligence hallucinations.

  • September 12, 2025

    Dentons Ducks Chinese Vape-Maker's Hacking Suit

    Dentons has officially escaped allegations it helped the founder of vape distributor Next Level sabotage and usurp manufacturer Avid Holdings' brand, in part by hacking into its founder's laptop to access confidential information, according to newly filed documents.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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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.

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