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Legal Ethics
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June 16, 2025
Firm Slams Insurer's Bid To Exit Malpractice Coverage Suit
A Berkshire Hathaway unit can't use misdirection to duck a negligence suit claiming the insurer's failure to defend a negligence lawsuit against a Georgia personal injury law firm led to a $2.6 million default judgment against the firm, according to a recent filing in Georgia federal court.
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June 16, 2025
Calif. Bar Panel Upholds Recommending Eastman Disbarment
A panel of the California State Bar Court's Review Department has affirmed the March 2024 recommended disbarment of President Donald Trump's former attorney, John Eastman, over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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June 16, 2025
Fake NY Lawyer Admits To Stealing Over $290K From Clients
A New York man admitted Monday that he posed as a lawyer to steal over $290,000 from people who thought he was doing class action, discrimination and other legal work, copping to larceny and fraud charges in state court.
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June 16, 2025
Biz Seller Seeks Atty Fees After Win In 'Frivolous' Fraud Case
The former owner of a North Carolina concrete company is seeking attorney fees after defeating a buyer's fraud suit in a rare midtrial victory, saying her opponent should have to cover her legal costs for bringing claims to trial that were both "frivolous" and "malicious."
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June 16, 2025
Fla. Judge Denies Ethics Breach Over Fake Recording
A judge in Broward County, Florida, pushed back on ethics charges accusing her of publicly sharing a fabricated recording of a chief judge disparaging another judge in her 2024 election campaign, saying her actions did not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.
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June 16, 2025
Texas Bar Limits Attorney Nondisparagement Clauses
In a formal ethics opinion this month, the State Bar of Texas said nondisparagement clauses dealing with the practice of law cannot apply to lawyers licensed in the state, but attorneys could be subject to provisions involving their personal speech.
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June 13, 2025
Wash. Judge Tosses IUD Suit Against Bayer For Good
Bayer has beat a negligence lawsuit filed by a woman who claims its Mirena IUD perforated her uterus and migrated after the patient failed to oppose the company's motion to dismiss, a Washington federal judge ruled.
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June 13, 2025
Quinn Emanuel Drops Binance Founder Amid $8M Fraud Suit
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the founder of Binance amid an $8.1 million lawsuit against him, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the former cryptocurrency exchange executive has breached an agreement with the law firm and moved for arbitration against it.
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June 13, 2025
Calif. State Bar Is Immune From Atty's ADA Suit, 9th Circ. Says
The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to revive an attorney's claims alleging the California State Bar violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not granting extra time to respond to disciplinary action based on outstanding debt, finding the bar, as an arm of the state, is entitled to sovereign immunity.
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June 13, 2025
The Law Firm Loophole: How Debt Cos. Snare NC Consumers
To get around bans in North Carolina and many other states, debt relief companies set up facade law firms — companies that are law firms in name only, with a tiny number of lawyers nominally serving thousands of clients, consumer advocates and regulators say.
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June 13, 2025
Wash. High Court Suspends Atty Amid Delays In Bar Probe
The Washington State Supreme Court has suspended an Evergreen state attorney's legal license, at the state bar association's request, for allegedly stalling disciplinary investigations into her work representing student families in two federal lawsuits against school districts.
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June 13, 2025
Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Gets 7½ Years For Bribery
An Illinois federal judge on Friday sentenced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to seven and a half years in prison and fined him $2.5 million for his conviction on bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud charges, saying his determination that Madigan perjured himself on the stand at trial impacted the stiff penalty.
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June 13, 2025
Ga. Judge Makes Final Push To Toss 'Tainted' Ethics Charges
A Georgia superior court judge who's in the midst of an ethics trial over misconduct allegations urged the state's judicial ethics commission Friday to toss the charges against her, saying that investigators never disclosed their financial backing of one of her electoral opponents.
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June 13, 2025
Akerman Seeks To Move Malpractice Suits From Medical Cos.
Akerman LLP has asked to have two malpractice cases from medical laboratories moved from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, where the firm's related unpaid fees case against Rennova Health Inc. is being litigated.
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June 13, 2025
Grassley Budget Bill Calls For More Use Of Injunction Bonds
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released his portion of the budget reconciliation text, which would bolster the use of injunction bonds to raise the stakes for plaintiffs seeking to halt White House initiatives.
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June 13, 2025
Ex-Defender Urges 4th Circ. To 'Fortify' Workplace Protections
A former assistant public defender has doubled down on efforts to revive her sex bias suit against the federal judiciary, telling the Fourth Circuit that siding with the judiciary would further discourage its employees from speaking up or reporting abuse out of fear of retaliation.
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June 13, 2025
Jackson Walker, Ex-Judge Facing Class Action Over Romance
A former bankruptcy judge and Jackson Walker LLP have been hit with another lawsuit over the judge's secret romance with a former firm partner, this time a proposed class action from a group of bondholders of financial company GWG Holdings Inc.
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June 13, 2025
7 Willkie Partners Join Cooley Over Trump EO Deal
Seven partners have left Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, including both managing partners of the firm's San Francisco office, to join Cooley LLP, reportedly over their former employer's decision to strike a deal with the Trump administration related to a potential executive order.
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June 13, 2025
Ex-Judges Slam DOJ Bid To Block Them In Wis. Judge Case
A group of retired judges is urging a Wisconsin federal judge to deny the U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to keep them out of a criminal case against a state judge charged with hindering an arrest by immigration authorities, saying there is "neither factual nor legal support" for their amicus brief to be declined.
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June 13, 2025
Communication Lapses Topped Conn. Ethics Issues For Attys
Connecticut attorneys whose conduct drew attention from state disciplinary authorities over the past year were most often accused of failing to adequately communicate with clients, followed by general allegations of misconduct, a panel of ethics lawyers told a gathering of attorneys in Hartford on Friday.
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June 13, 2025
Firms Get $275K Refund After $5M Overbilling Probe
Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP, Thornton Law Firm LLP and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP will get a total of about $275,000 back after collectively spending more than $5 million on a lengthy investigation into overbilling and other fee improprieties, a Massachusetts federal judge said Friday.
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June 13, 2025
NJ Law Firm Accused Of Retaliation Over Maternity Leave
New Jersey law firm Ragan & Ragan PC is facing a discrimination suit filed by its former collections manager in state court, alleging that the firm and its name partner engaged in a "calculated and malicious campaign of retaliation" against her for taking maternity leave.
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June 12, 2025
'I Want Names': YouTube Attys' MDL Redactions Face Scrutiny
A California federal magistrate judge ordered YouTube on Thursday to provide him with unredacted versions of documents it produced in sprawling multidistrict litigation over claims social media is addictive, and demanded that YouTube identify counsel who made its relevance-redaction determinations, saying. "I want names and I want teams."
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June 12, 2025
Turkey Buyers Fight Burford Units' Objection To Cargill Deal
Direct purchasers of turkey have told the Illinois federal judge handling consolidated turkey price-fixing litigation that he should disregard two litigation funding subsidiaries' untimely attempt to lodge what they called a meritless challenge to a nearly finalized price-fixing settlement with Cargill Inc.
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June 12, 2025
Charter Flight Co. Sanctioned In 'Hot Start' Damage Suit
A Kansas federal judge sanctioned charter flight company Sky Jet M.G. Inc. on Thursday in its suit alleging an aviation repair company improperly overhauled an engine component leading to a "hot start," finding Sky Jet deliberately tried to prevent the repair company from finding out about cockpit recordings of the incident.
Expert Analysis
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Opinion
NY Should Pass Litigation Funding Bill To Protect Plaintiffs
New York state should embrace the regulatory framework proposed in the Consumer Litigation Funding Act, which would suppress the unregulated predatory lenders that currently prey on vulnerable litigants but preserve a funding option that helps personal injury plaintiffs stand up to deep-pocketed corporate defendants, says Alan Ripka at Alan Ripka & Associates.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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High Court Injunction Case Could Shake Up Fee-Shifting Rules
In agreeing to review a Virginia case rendered statutorily moot before final judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court could finally settle the question of if — and when — a preliminary injunction can win attorney fees for a prevailing party, but all possible answers could disrupt fee-shifting schemes written into major laws, says Laurens Wilkes at Winston & Strawn.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.