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Legal Ethics

  • 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.

  • August 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Restores Boeing's $72M Loss In Electric Jet IP Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel reinstated a $72 million jury verdict against Boeing in an electric jet startup's trade secret case on Thursday and said a new judge should handle future proceedings, flagging the trial judge's late disclosure that his spouse acquired Boeing stock through an IRA during the litigation.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fla. Judge Warns Of Split Claims In Detention Center Suit

    A Florida federal judge on Thursday warned parties in a proposed class action over attorney access for individuals confined at the Everglades immigrant detention center that some claims in the lawsuit appear to belong in a neighboring district, saying that he could issue a ruling reflecting this determination. 

  • August 14, 2025

    Va. Woman Asks 4th Circ. For Resentence Over Atty Failures

    A Virginia woman has told the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals she should be resentenced because her attorney provided bad advice, resulting in her receiving a 30-year prison term for selling her boyfriend's property while he was incarcerated.

  • August 14, 2025

    Judge Says Patents In $50M Amgen Jury Loss Unenforceable

    A Delaware federal judge on Thursday found that two Lindis Biotech immunotherapy patents at the heart of the German company's $50.3 million infringement verdict against Amgen are unenforceable.

  • August 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Damages In Litigation Support Services Dispute

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a Nevada federal court's judgment awarding a litigation support services company a combined $350,000 in liquidated damages and attorney fees after finding a competitor breached their years-old settlement and violated its trademark, determining the district court had not selectively enforced the rules.

  • August 14, 2025

    OptumRx Flags Email Accidentally Sent To Opioid MDL Parties

    UnitedHealth subsidiary OptumRx Inc. is seeking a ban on secret communications with the Ohio federal judge overseeing sprawling national opioid litigation after the court-appointed special master accidentally sent the company an email, intended for the judge, celebrating a "gambit" that prevented objections to his decision.

  • August 14, 2025

    Colo. Healthcare Biz Blames Atty For Defamation Case Loss

    A Colorado healthcare solutions company accused of falsifying records to state medical officials in order to obtain millions in funding for COVID-19 vaccination centers said Thursday that its prior attorney is at fault for the dismissal of a defamation case against a local journalist who broke the story.

  • August 14, 2025

    NC Mortgage Lender Seeks Coverage For Fraud Claims

    A mortgage lender said it is owed $540,000 from a title insurer after a borrower filed a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Justice about fraudulent activity related to his loan, telling a federal court the insurer shirked its obligations under the policy and related coverage documents.

Expert Analysis

  • Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases

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    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.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    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.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    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.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    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.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    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.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    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.

  • Opinion

    More Guidance Needed On Appellate Amicus Recusals

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    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.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    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.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

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