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Legal Ethics
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September 08, 2025
Calif. Judge Convicted Of Murdering Wife Seeks Trial Do-Over
A California judge convicted of murdering his wife earlier this year moved for a new trial, arguing the court's denial of his request to postpone the retrial was a "miscarriage of justice" because it limited his expert witness testimony and violated his right to present his defense that the shooting was accidental.
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September 08, 2025
VLSI Argues PQA Was Formed Illegally In Renewed Fraud Suit
VLSI Technology LLC is once again trying to persuade a Virginia state judge that Patent Quality Assurance LLC owes it more than $3 million for misconduct at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, raising a new argument Monday that PQA's existence as a limited liability company was never legal.
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September 08, 2025
Atty In Judge Newman Suspension Feud Moves To DOJ
An attorney who has been representing Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman in the legal battle over her suspension has jumped from the New Civil Liberties Alliance to work at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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September 08, 2025
FDIC Bests Farella Braun In Dispute Over SVB Legal Fees
A California federal judge has sided with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a dispute over $48,800 in unpaid legal bills that Farella Braun & Martel LLP sought for work it did before Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, finding the firm's invoices lacked key details like hours and billing rates.
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September 08, 2025
FisherBroyles Can't Nix Stem Cell Patent Malpractice Claim
A California judge on Monday denied FisherBroyles LLP's motion to toss a claim in a $10 million malpractice suit brought against it by a stem cell treatment center, ruling the firm missed a deadline to file the motion.Â
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September 08, 2025
Grassley Blocked On Quick US Attorney Confirmations
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tried Monday to quickly confirm 10 nominees for U.S. attorneys, but was blocked by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
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September 08, 2025
Atty Tells Disciplinary Panel $250K Demand Wasn't Blackmail
A Pennsylvania attorney facing discipline for allegedly threatening to blackmail a client's debtor was rightfully trying to collect on a long-standing, highly litigated debt, a state disciplinary hearing panel heard Monday.
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September 08, 2025
Exotic Dancers Too Early With Quick Win Bid In Wage Suit
A former exotic dancer for an Illinois club cannot snag a partial win in a lawsuit claiming she and her coworkers were misclassified as independent contractors and faced illegal kickbacks, a federal judge ruled Monday, saying she "put the cart before the horse."
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September 08, 2025
9th Circ. Backs Trump Donor's Tax, Foreign Agent Convictions
A venture capitalist whose 12-year prison term for evading taxes and making illegal campaign contributions through foreign clients was commuted by President Donald Trump did not plead guilty to the crimes involuntarily, the Ninth Circuit found in affirming his convictions, rejecting his claim that his attorney hid information from him.
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September 08, 2025
Watchdog Wants Discipline For Atty Ensnared In Murder Case
Connecticut's legal ethics watchdog is targeting an attorney who was convicted of interfering with an officer in a high-profile murder case, saying in a court filing that he's "guilty of misconduct" and should face discipline from the state.
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September 08, 2025
Attys Accused Of Filing Fake Docs In Miss America Dispute
A real estate developer, his associates and his current and past attorneys submitted fake contracts as evidence of their ownership of the company that runs the Miss America pageant in a $500 million lawsuit and should face sanctions, the plaintiffs — who allege they're the rightful owners — told a Florida federal judge Saturday.
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September 08, 2025
Conn. Tax Atty Wants Full Appeals Court To Rethink Her Firing
Connecticut's former tax legal director has asked the full Connecticut Appellate Court to reconsider an appellate panel's ruling that found her firing was proper after she used her work computer to send unauthorized draft legislation to a lobbyist, arguing that as a case of first impression it is important for the full court to weigh in.
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September 08, 2025
Appeal Limited To NJ US Atty DQ Ruling, 3rd Circ. Told
The federal government and defense counsel have agreed that the scope of a Third Circuit appeal is limited to the disqualification of New Jersey Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from overseeing two cases.
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September 08, 2025
Dems Again Ask NY Ethics Body To Investigate Bove
Two Democratic senators filed an updated ethics complaint with the New York State Courts' attorney ethics body against recently confirmed Third Circuit Judge Emil Bove, citing what they called his "quid pro quo deal" to drop criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other alleged ethical violations.
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September 08, 2025
NC High Court Snapshot: Pot Smell Test, Atty's Divorce Feud
North Carolina's top court will return from its summer hiatus in September to address whether law enforcement can rely on the smell of marijuana alone in the age of legalized hemp to justify a warrantless search. Here are some highlights of the high court's September lineup.
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September 08, 2025
Mass. Justices Asked To Find Atty Had Duty To Seek Plea Deal
A man who has spent more than four decades in prison for a 1983 murder asked Massachusetts' high court Monday to find that his defense attorney's failure to pursue a plea bargain with prosecutors entitles him to a new trial, in a case that could alter the standard for finding a lawyer's work was ineffective.
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September 08, 2025
Timeshare Biz Fights Law Firm's Arbitration Bid In Fee Fight
Timeshares Direct Inc. urged a Florida federal court to reject an arbitration bid from Watstein Terepka LLP in a dispute over approximately $25,000 in legal fees because the company claimed the firm "flip-flopped" on its stance on arbitration.
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September 08, 2025
Texas Couple Fights Firm's Sanctions Bid In Crash Data Suit
A Houston couple who accused a law firm and a since-dismissed Progressive unit of conspiring to share car crash victims' private information told a Texas federal court that their suit is "neither frivolous, unreasonable, nor improper" as they pushed back against the law firm's sanctions request.Â
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September 08, 2025
Ex-Judge Says Wash. DA, Court Sabotaged Election Bid
A Washington state attorney and former pro tem judge in Seattle has filed a lawsuit alleging she was racially discriminated against when a county prosecutor's office had her disqualified from hearing cases due to rulings she made from the bench.
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September 05, 2025
OnlyFans Users May Face Sanctions Over AI 'Misuse'
OnlyFans users who have alleged the site employs professional "chatters" to impersonate content creators are facing possible sanctions in their case, as a California federal judge ordered their attorneys to appear in court for filing briefs with nonexistent citations and quotations generated by an AI chatbot.
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September 05, 2025
Munchkin Says 'Unhinged' GC Was Fired For Good Reason
Munchkin Inc. says it had multiple legitimate reasons to terminate the baby company's general counsel for cause after he launched a "retaliatory and vindictive campaign" against another executive, calling him "unhinged" and slamming his suit against the company as "harassing," according to a filing in California state court.
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September 05, 2025
DOJ Pushes To DQ Attorney Over Conflict In Fraud Case
Federal prosecutors in Georgia are seeking to disqualify an attorney from representing a defendant accused of making false statements in relation to a criminal fraud investigation of Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Inc., arguing the lawyer was previously disqualified from representing the company's CEO for a conflict and that "the same is true now."
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September 05, 2025
Judge Awards Over $6M In Atty Fees In Bluetooth Co.'s IP Suit
A Colorado federal judge has awarded the attorneys representing a Bluetooth technology company more than $6 million after the company won on the bulk of its claims at trial last year in its trade secrets and breach of confidentiality case against a Massachusetts display technology company.
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September 05, 2025
Fed. Circ. Sinks Inventor's Bid To Escape $214K In Sanctions
The Federal Circuit on Friday denied efforts by the inventor of a patent covering a type of marking tape to escape a nearly $214,000 sanctions order from a lower court, saying it had previously upheld the award for bad faith litigation and won't alter it now.
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September 05, 2025
Judicial Nominee Expands On Testimony About Ky. Pardons
A judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Kentucky continues to distance himself from the controversial pardons issued by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, for whom he was counsel.
Expert Analysis
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Rebuttal
BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation
A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.
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5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust
Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.
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Series
Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.
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Opinion
Time For Full Disclosure Of Third-Party Funding In MDLs
It is appropriate that the Federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules is considering a rule to require disclosure of third-party litigation funding in civil litigation — something that is particularly needed in multidistrict litigation, which now comprises more than half of all civil cases in the federal courts, says Eric Hudson at Butler Snow.
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DC Circ. Ruling Augurs More Scrutiny Of Blanket Gag Orders
The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in In re: Sealed Case, finding that an omnibus nondisclosure order was too sweeping, should serve as a wake-up call to prosecutors and provide a road map for private parties to push back on overbroad secrecy demands, says Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills
I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.
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Opinion
Bar Exam Reform Must Expand Beyond A Single Updated Test
Recently released information about the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam highlights why a single test is not ideal for measuring newly licensed lawyers’ competency, demonstrating the need for collaborative development, implementation and reform processes, says Gregory Bordelon at Suffolk University.
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A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations
As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.
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Series
Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.
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Supreme Court's Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review
Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s criminal law decisions in its recently concluded term proved underwhelming by many measures, their opinions revealed trends in how the justices approach criminal cases and offered reminders for practitioners, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Opinion
The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable
As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions
In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Opinion
Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions
After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.
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Reel Justice: 'Oh, Hi!' Teaches Attys To Return To The Statute
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.
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Series
Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.