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Legal Ethics

  • August 18, 2025

    Fried Frank Escapes Sanctions Over Flawed RICO Patent Suit

    A Florida federal court has rejected sanctions motions leveled against Tristar Products Inc. and its counsel at Fried Frank for bringing a doomed anti-racketeering patent fraud lawsuit against Telebrands Corp., finding that the claims were not frivolous despite "myriad" flaws and "sloppy lawyering."

  • August 18, 2025

    NJ Firms End Battle Over $25M Fee In Verizon Pole Injury Case

    Several New Jersey firms have ended a long dispute over a $25 million fee from a personal injury case against Verizon in a suit that already went to trial in 2021 and recently had another trial ordered.

  • August 18, 2025

    NJ Seeks To Toss Ex-Judge's 'Second Bite' In Firing Suit

    New Jersey on Friday asked a state court to award it a victory over some claims by a former workers' compensation judge that she was unconstitutionally removed from her job after similar claims in a separate suit of hers were rejected in December.

  • August 18, 2025

    McCarter & English Fights Family's Bid For $4.6M Set-Aside

    Family members of a deceased Connecticut shopping mall developer are not entitled to a $4.6 million damages placeholder in an asset mismanagement lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP, the law firm and an attorney's estate are arguing in opposing the demand in state court.

  • August 18, 2025

    Mass. Justices Affirm 3-Year Suspension For Bankruptcy Atty

    Massachusetts' highest court on Monday affirmed a three-year license suspension for a Boston bankruptcy attorney over a series of rules violations, including misrepresentations to federal and state courts, since 2014.

  • August 15, 2025

    US Trustee Blasts Deals Over Jackson Walker-Judge Romance

    The U.S. trustee for the Southern District of Texas on Friday objected to Jackson Walker LLP's proposed settlements with former bankruptcy clients meant to resolve fee disputes related to the concealed romance of a former lawyer with the firm and a former bankruptcy judge, arguing they should be denied or considered at trial.

  • August 15, 2025

    Justices Told Texas Cedes Ground In Right-To-Counsel Case

    A man who was denied the opportunity to consult fully with his lawyer during an overnight break in his testimony said, ahead of U.S. Supreme Court arguments, that one opponent, the state of Texas, has already ceded serious legal ground in its briefing.

  • August 15, 2025

    Judiciary Starts Rule Debate Spanning AI, Subpoenas, More

    The federal judiciary's comment clock officially started ticking Friday for rulemaking efforts spanning a smorgasbord of subjects, from high-tech testimony utilizing artificial intelligence to the low-tech tasks of hand-delivering subpoenas and paying witness fees.

  • August 15, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Baker Donelson In Malpractice Dispute

    A Sixth Circuit panel said Friday that Baker Donelson was correctly dismissed from a legal malpractice suit brought by the founder of an urgent care facility because it cannot be established that the underlying shareholder dispute claims that the firm was accused of fumbling would have been successful.

  • August 15, 2025

    NJ Watchdog Fights File Disclosure In Hospital Antitrust Suit

    The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation on Thursday challenged a federal judge's refusal to protect investigative materials that RWJBarnabas Health Inc. wants to subpoena as it defends an antitrust suit by CarePoint Health Systems Inc., arguing the ruling violates precedent giving such records the same secrecy protections as grand jury materials.

  • August 15, 2025

    Defense Attys Predict Rise In Shareholder Suits, Report Says

    Nearly three-quarters of defense attorneys surveyed by high-risk insurance firm Inigo believe there will be an increase in private securities litigation over the next year, especially in the area of artificial intelligence, according to a report released by Inigo.

  • August 15, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Says He's 'Exhausted' By Atty's Antics

    A Texas federal judge told an attorney he was "exhausted" by his alleged antics in helping supposedly erstwhile clients dodge judgments, asking Friday why the attorney seemingly worked two clients after a disciplinary panel barred him from representing them.

  • August 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Asylum-Seeker's Suit Over Her Atty's Error

    The Fourth Circuit has revived a Salvadoran woman's bid for asylum based on threats from a gang, saying in a published opinion that the woman's previous attorney proposed a legal theory during her removal proceedings that was "dead on arrival."

  • August 15, 2025

    Calif. Panel Trims Hunter Biden Atty's Suit Against Activist

    A California appellate panel has further trimmed a suit by an attorney for Hunter Biden against an activist whom he alleges impersonated a Democratic Party fundraiser to obtain personal information about the then-president's son, allowing three of five claims to survive and sending the case back to Los Angeles Superior Court.

  • August 15, 2025

    Perkins Coie Beats Claims It Aided Client's Alleged $12M Theft

    Perkins Coie LLP has defeated an investment company's lawsuit in Illinois state court accusing the firm of helping the plaintiff's onetime investment manager fleece $12 million from company accounts and playing a "critical" role in the theft and cover-up.

  • August 15, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Sun Life Can't Nix Worker's Benefits Challenge

    A split Second Circuit panel resuscitated a worker's suit challenging Sun Life's decision to deny her long-term disability benefits, ruling a release she signed with her employer didn't bar her from suing the insurance company because she was assured the agreement wouldn't block her ability to collect benefits.

  • August 15, 2025

    New Jersey AG Slams Power Broker's 'Flawed' Appeal Brief

    South Jersey power broker George Norcross used a flawed argument in pushing back against New Jersey's effort to revive a dismissed criminal case against him, Attorney General Matthew Platkin has argued in a reply brief filed in state appellate court.

  • August 15, 2025

    Conn. Lawyer Defends $165K Fee Split Amid Ethics Probe

    A Connecticut attorney has asked a state court judge to dismiss a disciplinary case against him over a soured fee split deal with his former law firm, saying ethics authorities failed to meet their burden on claims that he failed to safeguard funds or otherwise prejudiced justice.

  • August 15, 2025

    'Creative' $2.5B DuPont Deal In NJ Is PFAS Road Map For AGs

    After six years of litigation between New Jersey and E.I. du Pont de Nemours, including a series of bench trials, the chemical manufacturer agreed to a deal that committed more than $2 billion to cleaning up the Garden State from "forever chemical" contamination at four of its facilities, in the largest environmental settlement ever achieved by a single state.

  • August 15, 2025

    Boies Schiller Seeks To End Fla. Fee Suit Between Law Firms

    Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and related defendants have moved to dismiss a Florida state lawsuit brought by a pharmaceutical mass tort law firm and related parties to block their former counsel from collecting fees after being fired for allegedly insufficient representation. 

  • August 15, 2025

    Judge Punts On ProPay Sanctions In TelexFree Suit

    A Massachusetts magistrate judge sent a motion for sanctions against ProPay to a district judge for ruling, saying the payment company failed to take steps to preserve electronic documents but the plaintiffs hadn't proven its intent to destroy evidence in a case over its alleged involvement in TelexFree's "hybrid Ponzi-pyramid scheme."

  • August 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Sides With Judiciary In Ex-Defender's Sex Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit shot down a former assistant public defender's effort to revive her sexual harassment suit against the federal judiciary, finding Friday that her belief that the judiciary's internal complaint process was unfair, leading her to quit, was not reasonable.

  • August 15, 2025

    Judge Removes Atty From Case Over 'Egregious' Citations

    An Arizona federal judge has revoked a Washington state-based attorney's ability to practice in the Grand Canyon State and removed her as counsel in a social security disability lawsuit over a court filing containing fake and misleading case citations.

  • August 15, 2025

    Judge Questions How New Jersey US Atty Ascended To Role

    A federal judge tasked with deciding if acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba was legitimately serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor was curious about how she ascended to the role in the first place, suggesting at one point during a hearing Friday that the government proposed a game of "musical chairs" designed to "shoehorn" her into the position.

  • August 15, 2025

    Atty Urges Texas High Court To Take On Suit Over Firm Ouster

    A former Branscomb PC partner is asking the Texas Supreme Court to reject a lower court's order compelling him to arbitrate a suit he brought against the firm's other partners accusing them of wrongfully ousting him.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence

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    Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

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    Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

  • Series

    Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • Applying ABA Atty Role Guidance To White Collar Matters

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    The American Bar Association’s recently published guidance, clarifying the duties outside counsel owes to both organizational clients and those organizations' constituents, provides best practices that attorneys representing companies in white collar and other investigative matters should heed, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Disciplinary Rule Updates Every Texas Lawyer Needs To Know

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    Sweeping amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that recently went into effect provide essential clarity and modernity to rules governing conflicts of interest, client confidentiality and duties to prospective clients, says Robert Tobey at Johnston Tobey.

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