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Legal Ethics

  • July 17, 2025

    LA Ex-Judge Admonished For 'Discourteous,' 'Demeaning' Talk

    California's Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished a retired Los Angeles state judge for a pattern of "discourteous, undignified and impatient" behavior that also involved "demeaning" remarks toward women, findings that the judge said don't reflect "the full complexity of the circumstances."

  • July 17, 2025

    FedEx Must Face Drivers' OT Suit After Sanctions Bid Fails

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday denied FedEx's motion for sanctions seeking to dismiss one of several overtime lawsuits filed on behalf of drivers who worked for the shipping giant through intermediary employers, rejecting the company's assertion that the litigation seeks to "harass FedEx into settlement."

  • July 17, 2025

    SEC Atty Exits After Hiding Revoked License, OIG Says

    A longstanding employee of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resigned after it was discovered that they had falsely reported being in good standing with a state bar association, according to the regulator's inspector general.

  • July 17, 2025

    6 Cases For Patent Attys To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    The Federal Circuit is considering major questions about when delays in prosecuting patents become bad faith and whether the acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director is legally allowed to apply new rules retroactively. Here's what you need to know about these cases and others that attorneys are keeping an eye on for the rest of the year.

  • July 17, 2025

    5 Things To Know As California Courts Decide On AI Rule

    Fourteen months after California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero first convened a task force to study potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence in the court system, the Judicial Council of California is poised Friday to consider the proposed rules and standards the task force developed.

  • July 17, 2025

    J&J Loses Bid To DQ Beasley Allen From Talc MDL Committee

    A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday denied Johnson & Johnson's bid to remove the Beasley Allen Law Firm from the plaintiffs steering committee in the multidistrict talc litigation but said that changes would be made to the committee's structure.

  • July 17, 2025

    Mich. Atty's Disbarment Reversed Over 'Unreasonable' Delays

    A Michigan criminal defense attorney accused of taking client money without performing promised legal work has had his disbarment reduced to a four-year suspension after the state's disciplinary arm for attorney misconduct found that a years-long unexplained delay in filing charges against him was unreasonable.

  • July 17, 2025

    US Bank, NetSpeed Must Help In Conn. Atty's ID Theft Probe

    A Connecticut state court judge has directed U.S. Bancorp and internet service provider NetSpeed to provide documentation to an attorney who is alleging his identity was stolen and used to open fraudulent bank accounts.

  • July 17, 2025

    Fla. Law Firm Zumpano Patricios Hit With Data Breach Suit

    Miami-headquartered national law firm Zumpano Patricios is facing a proposed class action in Florida federal court accusing the firm of failing to protect sensitive information, including dates of birth and healthcare payments, that was compromised in a May data breach.

  • July 17, 2025

    US Trustee Says Constitution Bars Jackson Walker Jury Trial

    The federal government's bankruptcy watchdog told a Texas federal judge that under the Seventh Amendment, Jackson Walker LLP isn't entitled to a jury trial in its fee dispute stemming from a former bankruptcy judge's secret relationship with a onetime partner.

  • July 17, 2025

    Paralegal Fights Saltz Mongeluzzi's Bid To Dismiss Bias Suit

    Personal injury firm Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky PC shouldn't escape an Afro-Latina former paralegal employee's lawsuit claiming she was forced to put up with colleagues' racist remarks and sexual advances, the worker told a Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday, arguing her allegations are detailed enough for the suit to advance.

  • July 17, 2025

    Watchdog Raises Concerns On 9th Circ. Nominee's Crypto Work

    President Donald Trump's nominee for the Ninth Circuit has a long record of representing cryptocurrency companies, which a watchdog group fears could aid what it calls the president's "self-enrichment" with digital currency.

  • July 16, 2025

    Pittsburgh Defense Atty Suspended After Soliciting 'Teen' Decoy

    A Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney agreed to have his law license suspended after he was convicted and sentenced to up to seven years in state prison for soliciting sex from what he thought was a 15-year-old girl, according to an order filed Wednesday with Pennsylvania's Supreme Court.

  • July 16, 2025

    Disbarred Atty Urges 9th Circ. To Nix $243M Loan Scam Order

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of a disbarred attorney's bid to unwind an order requiring the lawyer to pay $243 million for his role in a student loan scam, pressing back against his claim that he had no opportunity to depose two witnesses because he was in custody.

  • July 16, 2025

    Fired Davis Polk Associate Claims BigLaw Stifles Dissent

    A former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP associate who says he was fired last month after writing a series of columns critical of the Trump administration is speaking out about what he claims are BigLaw policies that stifle dissenting voices in the legal profession.

  • July 16, 2025

    Ga. Prosecutor Resigns Amid DUI Handling Feud With Judge

    A Georgia prosecutor announced his resignation from a county solicitor's post Wednesday amid a public feud with a state court judge and dueling allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

  • July 16, 2025

    Fish & Richardson Avoids DQ From GM Patent Fight

    A Chicago federal judge has declined to disqualify intellectual property firm Fish & Richardson PC from representing General Motors Co. in a suit over patents for fender designs, rejecting arguments that the firm sought to target a paralegal who had previously handled the case for opposing counsel.

  • July 16, 2025

    Tech Co. Can't DQ MoFo In IP Suit After Perkins Coie Ouster

    A California federal judge denied on Wednesday a motion by the biometric security company FaceTec to disqualify Morrison & Foerster LLP from representing a competitor in its ongoing patent infringement lawsuit.

  • July 16, 2025

    Jeanine Pirro Scrutinized On Jan. 6, Ex-Husband's Pardon

    Former Fox News host and New York state judge Jeanine Pirro, nominated to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, fielded questions from senators Wednesday on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and President Donald Trump's pardon of her ex-husband, ahead of the anticipated committee vote on her nomination.

  • July 16, 2025

    Biz Seeks To Drive Ga. Law Firm Fee Fight Out Of Arbitration

    A former client of Herman Jones LLP urged a Georgia state appeals court to overturn a trial judge's decision to send a lawsuit over legal fees to arbitration, arguing that the law firm waived arbitration and the trial court should have decided a pending anti-SLAPP motion before ruling on the firm's bid to arbitrate.

  • July 16, 2025

    WilmerHale Can't Stay As Verizon's Attys In Texas Patent Trial

    A federal judge in Texas has sided with a magistrate judge who found that a pair of WilmerHale lawyers representing Verizon in a dispute with Headwater Research LLC should be disqualified because the firm previously represented the owner of the patents at issue.

  • July 15, 2025

    Jackson Walker, US Trustee Tell Court 'There's No Deal'

    Jackson Walker LLP and the federal government's bankruptcy watchdog told a Texas federal judge Tuesday that they have not reached an agreement to resolve a fee dispute stemming from a former bankruptcy judge's previously undisclosed romantic relationship with a onetime partner of the firm.

  • July 15, 2025

    Ex-NY Attorney Pleads Guilty To Stealing $4.7M From Clients

    A former New York lawyer admitted to stealing millions from clients, including draining more than $4.4 million from the attorney escrow account of a company seeking to buy 500,000 boxes of hard-to-find latex gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr., announced Tuesday.

  • July 15, 2025

    Former IP Partners' Names Worth $52K, Expert Testifies

    The names of two deceased law partners are worth between $28,000 and $52,000 per year to a Connecticut intellectual property boutique, an expert testified Tuesday during a federal court hearing in a valuation dispute between two of the late lawyers' colleagues.

  • July 15, 2025

    Judge Denies Early Win For Family Of Atty Seeking 9/11 Fees

    A D.C. federal judge denied an early win for the estate of a 9/11 families attorney suing the firm that contracted him over fees Tuesday, lambasting the contracts at the center of the litigation for their lack of clarity and suggesting that a trial might be the only way to discern their meaning.

Expert Analysis

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    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.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    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.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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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