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Legal Ethics
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June 09, 2025
COVID Funds Bribery Scheme Gets Ex-Calif. Official 5 Years
A former member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors was sentenced to five years in prison Monday in California federal court after admitting to steering $10 million worth of COVID-19 relief funds to a nonprofit linked to his daughter, in return for more than $500,000 in bribes.
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June 09, 2025
Judge Denies Obstructing ICE As Disciplinary Hearing Begins
An attorney for a Massachusetts state judge, who was accused of plotting to let a man wanted by immigration agents escape out of a back door of a courthouse in 2018, said at the start of a disciplinary inquiry Monday that the judge did not know about the plan, pointing the finger at the wanted man's lawyer.
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June 09, 2025
'No Question' DuPont Polluted Delaware River, NJ Court Told
New Jersey told a federal judge on Monday that it was clear E.I. du Pont de Nemours discharged "forever chemicals" into the Delaware River, wrapping up the majority of a first-of-its-kind series of bench trials over whether the company is liable for contamination at a longstanding manufacturing facility.
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June 09, 2025
Madigan Denied Acquittal, New Trial Ahead Of Sentencing
An Illinois federal judge on Monday denied former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's bid for acquittal or a new trial, clearing the way for him to be sentenced for bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy later this week.
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June 09, 2025
FEMA Dodges Atty's Bias And Retaliation Suit, For Now
A California federal judge dismissed an attorney's lawsuit alleging two federal agencies fired her after she complained that a male colleague harassed her, saying the excessive length and repetitiveness of her claims makes an adequate response a "practical impossibility."
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June 09, 2025
Ga. Judge Argues Ethics Charges Are 'Irreparably Tainted'
An Atlanta trial judge urged a hearing panel to throw out the ethics charges leveled against her despite the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission's arguments that her motion to quash was untimely.
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June 09, 2025
2nd Circ. Nixes Doc's Power Of Atty Deal In Patient ERISA Suit
The Second Circuit ruled Monday that a doctor couldn't use a power-of-attorney arrangement to sue on behalf of a patient who said their union's health plan illegally stuck them with a $150,000 medical bill, but directed a trial court to determine if the patient can pursue the case.
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June 09, 2025
NJ Bar Pushes To Keep Limit On Nonclient Malpractice Claims
The New Jersey State Bar Association is asking that state's Supreme Court not to expand plaintiffs' ability to sue attorneys for malpractice when they weren't those lawyers' clients, according to a Monday announcement.
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June 09, 2025
5th Amendment Can't Shield Ex-Exec, Drugmakers Argue
Generic-drug makers urged a Pennsylvania court to compel a former executive to sit for a deposition in ongoing price-fixing litigation despite his invocation of the Fifth Amendment, arguing his testimony is crucial to their defense.
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June 09, 2025
Fitch Even's Ex-IP Client Wants Firm's Patent Suit Tossed
Prenatal-Hope Inc. and its chief executive officer are asking an Illinois federal judge to dismiss a suit in which law firm Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP seeks a declaration that the CEO isn't the inventor behind a prenatal test patent.
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June 09, 2025
Alibaba Wants Patent Suit Axed Over Atty's 'Extreme' Conduct
Cloud products and services company Alibaba Cloud US LLC has moved to dismiss a patent suit against it by Cooperative Entertainment Inc. as a sanction for "extreme" conduct by its attorney, which continued after he was referred to a disciplinary committee.
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June 09, 2025
Boies Schiller Faces DQ Bid In Law Firms' Battle In Florida
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and its attorney Sashi C. Bach are facing a disqualification bid in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, with the suing firms arguing that Boies Schiller cannot represent its co-defendants because of a conflict.
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June 09, 2025
Pro Bono Civil Counsel Not A Guarantee, 7th Circ. Rules
In a precedential ruling, the Seventh Circuit has found that a federal court in Peoria, Illinois, did not err when it ended the search for a pro bono attorney to represent a prisoner in a civil rights suit over medical care provided behind bars because it could not find willing counsel.
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June 09, 2025
Pa. Firm, Insurer End Suit Over Legal Malpractice Coverage
A Philadelphia law firm has dropped its bad faith lawsuit against an insurer stemming from a dispute over coverage for a legal malpractice case that ended in a $600,000 judgment against the estate of one of the attorneys, according to a recent filing.
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June 09, 2025
Feds Can Sell Russian Oligarch's Seized $230M Superyacht
A New York federal judge has determined the government can proceed with an auction of a superyacht that once belonged to a sanctioned Russian billionaire, rejecting an argument that a potential sale would undercut the vessel's full value.
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June 09, 2025
Fla. Bar Rejects Ethics Probe Of Bondi While She's In Office
The Florida Bar has told a group of lawyers, law professors and former judges that it will not open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying in a letter that it doesn't "investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office."
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June 09, 2025
Nadine Menendez Says Counsel Shake-Up Erases Conviction
Former Sen. Robert Menendez's wife, Nadine Menendez, has asked a Manhattan federal judge to vacate the jury's guilty verdict in her bribery case, arguing that her Sixth Amendment rights were violated when she was denied her choice of legal representation.
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June 06, 2025
Willkie Atty's Ex-Landlord Says NY Post Leak Wasn't His Idea
A Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner's onetime landlord asked for a pretrial victory in a federal feud with his former tenants, telling a Connecticut court Friday he did not participate in his ex-attorney's leak of unflattering allegations about A. Mark Getachew and his wife to the New York Post.
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June 06, 2025
Stewart Says PTAB Should 'Never' Cancel IP As A Sanction
The acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revived Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC patent claims on Thursday that her predecessor had invalidated to punish Longhorn for misconduct.
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June 06, 2025
Teachers Want $218K In Costs After Pay Bias Trial Win
Counsel representing two female teachers should receive nearly $218,000 in costs following a jury trial in which the workers were awarded $165,000 over claims that a Pennsylvania school district paid them less than men, the teachers told a federal court.
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June 06, 2025
Ex-Wells Fargo Atty Wins Arbitration Bid In Trade Secrets Suit
A former senior in-house counsel for Wells Fargo Advisors won his bid to make the bank arbitrate claims he absconded with confidential information and coordinated a mass resignation of other staff when he left to work at a competing advisory firm.
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June 06, 2025
Flaws Remain In Bar Fitness Queries, Summit Panelists Say
Many current state bar character and fitness tests fail to identify bad actors, and at the same time, certain aspects of the queries can hurt efforts to increase diversity in the profession, according to panelists at the American Bar Association's 2025 Virtual Equity Summit on Friday.
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June 06, 2025
Calif. Bar Hires Investigator To Review Exam Snafu
The State Bar of California's board of trustees voted to approve a $185,000 contract with a nonprofit to review "exam scoring irregularities and testing accommodations" from its fraught February 2025 bar exam.
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June 06, 2025
NJ Firm Says It Has No Business Being Sued In Louisiana
New Jersey-based Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC asked a Louisiana federal judge to dismiss a doctor's suit accusing the firm of driving him into bankruptcy, arguing that there's no jurisdiction that would justify continued litigation in the state.
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June 06, 2025
Texas Justices Say 'Reciprocal' Discipline Is Time-Limited
Texas' four-year time limit on attorney discipline applies to "reciprocal" discipline cases, in which a lawyer is sanctioned in Texas after being similarly sanctioned in another state, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Opinion
NY Should Pass Litigation Funding Bill To Protect Plaintiffs
New York state should embrace the regulatory framework proposed in the Consumer Litigation Funding Act, which would suppress the unregulated predatory lenders that currently prey on vulnerable litigants but preserve a funding option that helps personal injury plaintiffs stand up to deep-pocketed corporate defendants, says Alan Ripka at Alan Ripka & Associates.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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High Court Injunction Case Could Shake Up Fee-Shifting Rules
In agreeing to review a Virginia case rendered statutorily moot before final judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court could finally settle the question of if — and when — a preliminary injunction can win attorney fees for a prevailing party, but all possible answers could disrupt fee-shifting schemes written into major laws, says Laurens Wilkes at Winston & Strawn.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.