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Legal Ethics

  • August 01, 2025

    NC Atty Says Ex-Wife Has No Claim To Firm's Future Earnings

    An intellectual property lawyer in North Carolina told the state's top court that his ex-wife isn't entitled to half the value of his law firm in their divorce, arguing that whatever he earns from the firm's goodwill in the future can't be divvied up as part of the marital estate.

  • August 01, 2025

    OptumRx Moves To DQ Motley Rice In Utah Opioid Case

    Pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx has moved to disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing the state of Utah in an opioid crisis lawsuit, claiming the firm clearly violated ethical rules by investigating OptumRx on behalf of government entities, then suing OptumRx in a private capacity.

  • August 01, 2025

    Firms Say Lien Discharge Row Was Not Vexatious Litigation

    The law firms Neubert Pepe & Monteith PC and Cuddy & Feder LLP told a Connecticut state court they should not have to face a lawsuit from a couple who claim they misused the judicial system to delay payouts from a property owner, arguing that the complaint does not sufficiently allege they engaged in vexatious litigation.

  • August 01, 2025

    DC Panel Calls For Former DOJ Official Clark's Disbarment

    The majority of a Washington, D.C., lawyer ethics panel has called for the disbarment of Jeffrey Clark, a White House official and ally of President Donald Trump, over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

  • August 01, 2025

    Ex-Bank GC Must Pay $2.5M Fraud Restitution By Oct. 1

    A former Webster Bank general counsel who pled guilty to bank fraud must pay by Oct. 1 the remaining $2.5 million he owes in restitution, a federal judge has ruled, finding that the man's bank accounts and securities are enough to cover the difference.

  • August 01, 2025

    Judge Denies Memphis Bid To Sanction Tyre Nichols' Lawyers

    A Tennessee federal judge has decided not to issue sanctions against high-profile civil rights lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci over a press release that claimed a civil lawsuit against the city over the police beating death of Tyre Nichols would not bankrupt the Memphis government because the city's insurance would foot the bill.

  • July 31, 2025

    3 DOJ Attys Face Bar Complaints Over Ƶ Representation

    A legal watchdog group Thursday lodged bar complaints against a trio of U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, accusing them of making misleading and false statements in court filings while defending the Trump administration in litigation over its attempt to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

  • July 31, 2025

    'Abusive Behavior' Spurs $195M Add To Phillips 66 IP Verdict

    A California state judge added $195 million in exemplary damages to a $605 million trade secrets verdict against oil giant Phillips 66 following its "abusive behavior" toward startup and onetime acquisition target Propel Fuels.

  • July 31, 2025

    Tyson Says Interference Claim 'Lays Bare' Burford's Greed

    Tyson Foods urged an Illinois federal judge on Thursday to reject Burford Capital's bid to ditch allegations that the litigation funder improperly thwarted a near-final price-fixing settlement with Sysco Corp., arguing the counterclaim "lays bare" Burford's systematic effort to obtain a greater investment return.

  • July 31, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Brokers Owe Atty Fees Over Case Removal Row

    A unanimous Fourth Circuit panel has affirmed a South Carolina federal judge's order requiring several financial firms to pay more than $63,000 in legal fees for improperly trying to remove a securities class action to federal court for a second time, but said they don't have to pay additional fees to cover the cost of the appeal.

  • July 31, 2025

    Wis. Judge Pushes For Immunity In ICE Arrest Case

    A Wisconsin state judge is pushing for the dismissal of criminal charges alleging she hindered an immigration enforcement arrest, reiterating her argument that she has immunity against what she called the "overreaching federal prosecution of a state court judge for acts within her official duties."

  • July 31, 2025

    ABA Seeks To Toss Race Bias Suit Over Scholarship Program

    The American Bar Association urged an Illinois federal court to throw out a lawsuit from The American Alliance for Equal Rights alleging the association's Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund constitutes race-based discrimination, arguing that the claims are simply a "'desire to vindicate' a particular 'view of the law.'"

  • July 31, 2025

    8th Circ. Says Firm's Conspiracy Suit Wrongly Tossed

    The Eighth Circuit on Thursday revived a law firm's suit alleging that the defendants in a wrongful death suit conspired to have the firm withdraw from that suit after raising false accusations, saying the trial court "took a trip back in time" to an older interpretation of court doctrine.

  • July 31, 2025

    1st Circ. Denies Marathon Bomber's Bid To DQ Trial Judge

    The First Circuit on Thursday denied a request by convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to have the judge who presided over his 2015 trial removed from conducting a probe into whether some of the jurors who sentenced him to death were biased.

  • July 31, 2025

    Conn. Atty Pins Failed Redaction On Tech In Gunmaker Suit

    A third party's ability to bypass redactions and view protected documents was due to a software issue, a Connecticut civil litigator has told a federal judge, urging the court not to authorize sanctions for what he said was a "good faith" effort at redacting filings amid his dueling lawsuits with gunmaker Sig Sauer.

  • July 31, 2025

    MSG Makes Play For $1.5M Fees In Oakley Dispute

    Madison Square Garden is seeking $1.5 million in attorney fees from former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley, laying out the efforts it took to uncover Oakley's efforts to destroy text messages connected with his long-running assault and battery suit against the arena.

  • July 31, 2025

    Baldwin Eyes Deal Over Failed 'Rust' Trial With Suit Dormant

    Alec Baldwin's lawsuit in New Mexico state court against prosecutors and others involved in his botched involuntary manslaughter case in the "Rust" film shooting has been temporarily thrown out, but the actor-producer's attorneys said Thursday that they've been in settlement discussions and will move to reinstate the suit if the talks fail.

  • July 30, 2025

    US Atty Swap Was 'Calculated' To Evade Senate, NJ Court Told

    The reappointment of Alina Habba from interim to acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey was an unconstitutional maneuver "calculated to bypass Senate confirmation," a defendant seeking dismissal of his drug trafficking indictment told a federal judge Wednesday, while prosecutors opposed the motion as a "dispute over titles, not authority."

  • July 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Live Well Founder's Bond Fraud Convictions

    The Second Circuit affirmed convictions for Live Well's founder for inducing lenders to extend credit by jacking up bond valuations to increase its debt and borrow against it, ruling Wednesday jurors had enough evidence to determine he misrepresented the value of collateral to secure loans and did so with fraudulent intent.

  • July 30, 2025

    Walmart Hoverboard Fire, Injury Case Ends After AI Scandal

    A Wyoming family of five that sued Walmart after a hoverboard they bought exploded, destroying their home and causing serious burns, has agreed to permanently end litigation in a case marred by plaintiffs counsel getting caught pushing case law "hallucinated" by artificial intelligence.

  • July 30, 2025

    High Court Urged To Review Ineffective-Counsel Case

    A man who threatened to sue his civil lawyer for malpractice has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his case and find that such a situation creates an automatic conflict of interest when the same lawyer was also defending him in a criminal case.

  • July 30, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Ga. Atty's Race Bias Suit Against State Bar

    The Eleventh Circuit has revived a Georgia attorney's suit accusing the state's bar association of racial bias, finding that a district court wrongly dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

  • July 30, 2025

    TMX Customers Seek Final OK Of $42M Data Breach Suit Deal

    Customers of the title loan and payday lender TMX Finance have asked a Georgia federal judge to grant final approval of their $42 million settlement of claims arising from a data breach that affected an estimated 4.8 million people.

  • July 30, 2025

    Calif. Sens. Slam Trump's US Atty 'Hijacking' To Keep LA Ally

    California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff issued a statement Wednesday condemning the Trump administration's decision to "circumvent the law" and appoint Bill Essayli as acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, in a move echoing the recent appointment of Alina Habba as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

  • July 30, 2025

    Insurer Atty 'Error' Dooms Arbitration Bid In Fla. Injury Suit

    A Florida appellate court on Wednesday agreed with a trial court that a West Palm Beach prep school has abandoned its right to arbitrate cheerleading injury claims brought by a student by filing a response to the complaint, rejecting the school's argument that its insurer-provided lawyer was unauthorized to represent it.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

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