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Legal Ethics
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June 23, 2025
Justices To Review Liability For Forcing Prisoner's Haircut
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a former Louisiana prisoner's case for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, removing the dreadlocks he maintained as part of his Rastafarian religion.
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June 20, 2025
Mich. Judge Denies Ethics Charges, Says He Was Spied On
A Michigan state judge accused of disparaging the district court's chief judge during official proceedings as well as secretly recording a conversation with her has responded to formal charges against him, refuting the allegations and additionally claiming the court has spied on him.
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June 20, 2025
Atty Interaction Prompts Recusal In Google AI Suicide Suit
A Florida federal judge and former Gunster shareholder has recused himself from a suit accusing Character.AI and Google of causing the suicide of a teen who was addicted to an artificial intelligence chatbot, after a Munger Tolles & Olson LLP attorney said he discussed the case with the then-attorney last year.
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June 20, 2025
Off The Bench: Lakers Sale, NASCAR Antitrust, NIL Appeals
In this week's Off The Bench, the Lakers fetch a $10 billion valuation as a new owner takes control of the franchise, a federal judge urges litigants in the NASCAR antitrust brawl to settle, and appeals pile up against the NCAA's landmark $2.78 billion athlete compensation settlement.
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June 20, 2025
Attys Face Sanctions For 'Sweeping' Copying Of Firm's Motion
A California federal judge has ordered The Neil Jones Food Co.'s defense counsel to explain why she shouldn't sanction them for filing a dismissal motion that appears to plagiarize a losing motion filed by another firm in another case in the district, slamming the "sweeping copy and paste" conduct as "patently unacceptable."
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June 20, 2025
Wash. Municipal Judge Fights State Board's Removal Petition
A suspended Washington municipal court judge has urged the state Supreme Court to reject a judicial board's recommendation that she be removed from the bench for allegedly mistreating staff and attorneys, saying she has been unfairly punished for her former attorney's actions "in a racially charged environment."
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June 20, 2025
Veterans Can't Stop Defendant's Outreach To Potential Class
A group of veterans can't stop a consulting firm from contacting potential class members for help with the firm's defense in a lawsuit alleging it charged millions of dollars in illegal fees, a North Carolina federal magistrate judge has ruled from the bench.
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June 20, 2025
New Trial Ordered Over $25M Fee Split In Verizon Injury Case
A New Jersey appellate panel has ordered a new jury trial to decide how to split a $25 million fee award stemming from a $125 million personal injury settlement with Verizon, finding several errors in a previous lower court bench trial.
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June 20, 2025
Florida Judge Barred From Keeping Police Credentials
Florida's judicial ethics watchdog said a sitting judge who was formerly a police officer in the same county in which the judge presides may not recertify law enforcement credentials, saying it could affect the judge's impartiality.
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June 20, 2025
Conn. Atty Agrees To Suspension After Court No-Shows
A Connecticut estates attorney has agreed to an interim suspension of her law license and will undergo a medical examination after failing to attend scheduled court dates four times in the last 60 days, records in her professional discipline case show.
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June 20, 2025
NJ Court Greenlights Beasley Allen Attys In Talc Litigation
A New Jersey state judge will allow two Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent a California couple in their suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling carcinogenic talc-based baby powder and appear pro hac vice despite the company's vehement opposition.
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June 20, 2025
Mich. Judge Won't Step Aside In Atty Voting Machine Case
A Michigan state judge on Friday said he would not remove himself from overseeing criminal charges against an attorney who is accused of accessing voting machines after the 2020 presidential election, finding there was no evidence to support her claims that he is biased.
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June 20, 2025
Patent Suit Against Alibaba Dropped After Sanctions Bid
Cooperative Entertainment Inc. has ended its patent lawsuit against Alibaba Cloud US LLC after the latter company sought to have the case thrown out earlier this month as a sanction for what it said was "extreme" conduct by opposing counsel.
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June 20, 2025
Boies Schiller Fights DQ Bid In Law Firms' Fee Dispute
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP pushed back on a bid to disqualify the firm in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, in which Boies Schiller is both representing itself as a defendant and its co-defendants, arguing there is no conflict because all their defenses are the same.
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June 20, 2025
Wisconsin Judge Gets Court To Weigh Dismissal Before Trial
A Wisconsin federal judge overseeing the government's prosecution of a state judge for allegedly helping an unauthorized immigrant evade arrest canceled a jury trial scheduled for July, saying he will rule on her motion to dismiss first.
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June 18, 2025
Toyota Says DOJ Has Closed Thai Bribery Probe
Toyota said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed a long-running Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation concerning allegations of bribery at its Thai subsidiary, the latest such probe to be dropped under the Trump administration.
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June 18, 2025
Nurse Staffing Exec Can't Nix Conviction, Sanctions Floated
A Nevada federal court has refused a nurse staffing executive's bid to undo his conviction on wage-fixing and wire fraud charges, and threatened his attorneys with sanctions for allegedly making repeated misrepresentations to the court.
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June 18, 2025
Ex-Drug Exec Must Testify, But Keeps 5th Amendment Rights
Sandoz, Teva, Actavis and Taro can again subpoena the deposition testimony of a former Actavis and Teva executive, but a Pennsylvania federal judge is still allowing the witness to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, even though the Justice Department dropped the criminal charges against him.
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June 18, 2025
Pa. Injury Atty With 'No Idea Who He Is Suing' Faces Discipline
A Pennsylvania federal judge reprimanded Simon & Simon attorneys Tuesday for letting paralegals file a "cookie-cutter" slip-and-fall lawsuit against Walmart without a presuit investigation and adding store managers as a ploy to beat federal jurisdiction, criticizing counsel for racing through courts "wearing blinders" with "no idea who he is suing."
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June 18, 2025
Atty Accused Of Forgery, Stealing Client's Settlement
An attorney and his firm have been accused by a former client in Colorado state court of negotiating a settlement without his knowledge, forging his signature on the deal and keeping the money for himself.
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June 18, 2025
Judge Warns Overeager Samsung, ZTE Attys Not To Bug Staff
A California federal judge has issued a short, stern warning to counsel in Samsung's antitrust fight against ZTE over its standard essential patents' licensing practices, telling counsel not to contact court staff again about the status of their pending stipulation and noting "future improper communications to court staff may result in sanctions."
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June 18, 2025
FTC, Amazon Trade Blows Over Attempts To End Prime Case
The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon have slammed one another in federal court filings over their competing bids to win regulators' case targeting Prime subscription enrollment practices, continuing to spar over the applicability of a consumer protection law shielding online shoppers.
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June 18, 2025
NJ Justices Take On Shielding Atty ID In Public Records Case
The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed this week to weigh in on whether a municipal prosecutor must turn over the identity of a third-party attorney who provided her with collegial legal advice in a traffic infraction case under public records access laws.
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June 18, 2025
Atty Told To Fix AI 'Train Wreck' In Multiple Fla. Courts
A Florida federal judge expressed outrage toward an attorney's reliance on artificial intelligence to draft filings with fake legal citations, ordering counsel in a fight over a $5 million Canadian judgment to submit supplemental briefs in order to fix a "train wreck" that spans several cases in multiple courts.
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June 18, 2025
California Bar Exam Woes Latest Chapter In Ongoing Scrutiny
Recent headline-grabbing blunders with the February California bar exam represent a stumbling block in a yearslong effort to reshape the exam, with an eye toward equity and accessibility for the more than 10,000 applicants who sit for the exam each year.
Expert Analysis
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
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.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
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.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
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.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
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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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law
The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement
Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.
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Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.