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Legal Ethics
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June 05, 2025
Senate Panel Advances Picks For Nat. Sec. Post, Iowa US Atty
The Senate voted 52-43 along party lines on Thursday to confirm John Andrew Eisenberg to be assistant attorney general for national security.
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June 05, 2025
Ga. Law Firm, Insurer Settle Over $6.4M Hotel Injury Case
An insurance company that sued a law firm for malpractice in Georgia federal court after paying more than $6.4 million following a worker injury jury verdict against a construction company it insured, said Thursday that it had settled with the firm in connection with its representation of the company.
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June 05, 2025
Bernstein Litowitz Can Hire Ex-SEC Atty Over Musk Objection
A New York federal judge on Thursday gave the all-clear for investor-side firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP to hire the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's former litigation chief over the objections of Elon Musk.
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June 04, 2025
Apple Loses Bid To Pause App Store Order Amid Appeal
A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday refused to lift a lower court's injunction mandating certain App Store policy changes while Apple appeals it, saying that it wasn't "persuaded that a stay is appropriate" in the high-profile litigation brought by Epic Games.
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June 04, 2025
Skadden Foundation Chief Exits, Urging Pro Bono 'Courage'
The executive director of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Fellowship Foundation, which funds public interest legal work, announced her resignation Wednesday, two months after the firm struck a deal with President Donald Trump to avert an executive order that could have interfered with its business.
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June 04, 2025
High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist
A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.
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June 04, 2025
Fed. Circ. Pushes Back As Ramey Fights Fee Award To Google
A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned Ramey LLP managing partner William Ramey's challenge to one of several sanctions that have recently been imposed on his firm in patent cases, with some judges suggesting that the order in question in a case against Google LLC appeared warranted.
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June 04, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: TikTok Tussle And Merger Melee
Spring has sprung momentous decisions and quiet resolutions in some of the North Carolina Business Court's top cases, from clearing for trial the attorney general's suit over a hospital's post-merger standard of care to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP dropping its coverage dispute over a 2022 data breach.
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June 04, 2025
FIFA Slams Atty's Bid To 'Circumvent' DQ In Puerto Rico Case
A Puerto Rican attorney may not sidestep a disqualification order by dropping his personal claims from an antitrust case against FIFA in which he is both counsel and plaintiff, the organization told a federal judge Wednesday, arguing the lawyer is a "necessary fact witness" and therefore a conflict is unavoidable.
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June 04, 2025
Ill. Atty Faces 1 Year Suspension, Left Watchdog 'Baffled'
An Illinois attorney who was sanctioned $1 million alongside his client for frivolously litigating a condominium governance fight and later helped that client engage in knowingly improper bankruptcy conduct should be suspended for a year and complete a professionalism seminar, a state disciplinary watchdog says.
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June 04, 2025
FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries
The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.
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June 04, 2025
Last Defendant In 'Shell Factory' Scheme Gets 1½ Yrs
A Florida federal judge Wednesday sentenced the final defendant rounded up in the "Shell Factory Fraud" to 18 months in prison for his role in creating fake shell companies as part of a pump-and-dump scheme.
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June 04, 2025
Pa. Firm Defends Informal Biz Arrangement In Coverage Bid
A Philadelphia law firm and its insurer sparred Wednesday in Pennsylvania court over whether the firm needed to be an incorporated business entity to have standing for a coverage lawsuit, with the firm's attorney saying that the insurer never questioned the informal business arrangement that consisted of two seasoned lawyers sharing office space and a secretary.
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June 04, 2025
Ex-Ga. Strip Club Workers Slam Bid To DQ Attys In Wage Suit
Lawyers for a pair of former Atlanta strip club workers called on a federal judge Wednesday to reject an "extremely untimely" bid to disqualify them by the clubs' owners, arguing the owners don't bother to substantiate their claims that the plaintiffs can't be represented by the same counsel because one was the other's supervisor.
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June 04, 2025
SEC Says Accountant Errors Don't Doom Crowdfunding Case
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Michigan federal judge Wednesday that mistakes in one of its accountant's declarations do not warrant the dismissal of its first crowdfunding enforcement action, arguing the SEC's lawyers acted in good faith when they alerted the court to the errors.
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June 04, 2025
NJ Judge Suspended Over Pro-Police 'Likes' On Facebook
A New Jersey municipal court judge was hit with a two-month suspension without pay beginning Wednesday after an advisory committee took issue with his Facebook activity indicating support for pro-police movements, political candidates, individual lawyers and law firms.
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June 04, 2025
Judge Won't Block Amazon From Talking To Depo Witnesses
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Federal Trade Commission's bid, in its antitrust case against Amazon, seeking to block lawyers representing the e-commerce giant from conferring with witnesses during breaks in their depositions.
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June 04, 2025
NJ Mayor Expands False Arrest Suit Against US Atty
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday added a false light count to his defamation and malicious prosecution complaint against interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba over his May 9 arrest outside an immigration detention center.
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June 04, 2025
Conn. Attorney Failed To Split $165K Fee, Watchdog Says
Connecticut attorney J. Xavier Pryor breached four rules of professional conduct when he failed to split a $165,000 fee from a personal injury settlement with the lawyer who referred the case to him, the state's attorney ethics watchdog said in a disciplinary complaint.
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June 04, 2025
MoFo Can't Escape Perkins Coie's 'Taint' In IP Suit, Court Told
Biometric security company FaceTec told a California federal judge that Morrison & Foerster LLP should be barred from representing identity verification platform Jumio in a patent suit, arguing that its participation is "tainted" by the actions of disqualified co-counsel Perkins Coie LLP.
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June 04, 2025
Orlando Says $1 Typo Cost It Win In Workers' Unpaid OT Suit
A $1 typo should not doom Orlando's bid for a pretrial win in a suit by district fire chiefs alleging they were wrongly denied overtime, the city told a Florida federal court, arguing the workers' salaries actually do fall under the overtime exemption.
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June 03, 2025
Ga. Judge Can't Escape Ethics Charges, Panel Told
Georgia's Judicial Qualifications Commission urged a hearing panel to reject a Fulton County judge's request to quash her ethics charges due to what she characterized as "improper failures to disclose information and recuse" by two JQC members.
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June 03, 2025
Foes Urge Court To Assume Google Hid Evidence
Advertisers, publishers and other users of Google's online advertising placement technology come armed with receipts of the search giant's personnel apparently knowingly avoiding their discovery obligations, as the multidistrict litigation plaintiffs tee up a bid to sanction the company with a court presumption that deleted chats hide key evidence of monopolization.
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June 03, 2025
Valve Patent Troll Case Paused Over Legal Fee Dispute
A Washington federal judge paused video game company Valve Corp.'s lawsuit over alleged patent trolling on Tuesday to give the defendants time to find new legal counsel, as their current attorneys seek to exit the dispute, claiming unpaid legal bills.
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June 03, 2025
Consumers Defend Amending Apple, Amazon Antitrust Case
Consumers accusing Apple and Amazon of reaching a deal to restrict the sale of Apple devices on the e-commerce site told a Washington federal court there's no need to reconsider letting them amend the complaint despite the original lead plaintiff dropping out of the case.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
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.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
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.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
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.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
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.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
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.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
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.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
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.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
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.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
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.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
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.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
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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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.