Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Legal Ethics

  • June 02, 2025

    Retired Judges Call Wis. Judge's Prosecution 'Dangerous'

    The Trump administration's prosecution of a Wisconsin state judge who refused to help federal agents arrest an immigrant is an "extraordinary and direct assault on the independence of the entire judicial system," according to a bipartisan group of 138 former state and federal judges.

  • June 02, 2025

    J&J Again Seeks To Block Beasley Allen In NJ Talc Litigation

    Johnson & Johnson has opposed a New Jersey talc claimant's motion for the pro hac vice admission of two attorneys from The Beasley Allen Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Firm, claiming the partners' conduct in its talc unit's bankruptcy proceedings warrants denial of the application.

  • June 02, 2025

    Womble Bond Atty Asks 4th Circ. To Undo Contempt Order

    A series of federal court errors led to a Womble Bond Dickinson partner being wrongly held in contempt over a $28 million trademark dispute between a Dutch technology company and its former U.S. partner, the lawyer told the Fourth Circuit in a brief Friday, urging the appeals panel to reverse the order.

  • June 02, 2025

    MSG Tries Again To Have Ex-Knick's Assault Suit Tossed

    Madison Square Garden has returned fire against former New York Knicks icon Charles Oakley in their battle in New York federal court over his 2017 ejection from a game, demanding summary judgment in an assault suit he brought against it and asking for sanctions against Oakley six weeks after he requested sanctions against the organization.

  • June 02, 2025

    Union Loses Atty DQ Bid In NJ Wrongful Termination Dispute

    A longshoremen's union has lost its bid to disqualify an attorney from representing a former member in a wrongful termination suit in New Jersey federal court that alleges the union gave him bad advice that prevented him from properly fighting claims that led to his termination.

  • June 02, 2025

    Immunity Shields Mich. AG From Flint Water Prosecution Suit

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a wrongful prosecution lawsuit brought by a former aide to ex-Gov. Rick Snyder against the Michigan attorney general and Wayne County prosecutors, ruling that immunity shields the prosecutors from liability over their handling of charges against officials in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis.

  • June 02, 2025

    Schumer Pledges To Fight GOP's Limits On Court Power

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has vowed to challenge a provision in House Republicans' budget reconciliation package that would curtail courts' ability to issue contempt citations.

  • May 30, 2025

    No Sanctions For Stamford In Zoning Fight Over Gyms

    A Connecticut judge declined to sanction the Stamford Board of Representatives after a real estate company accused it of withholding and destroying documents relevant to their zoning fight, ruling that "the evidence of withheld discovery was equivocal at best."

  • May 30, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    Saying that June's circuit court calendars include important arguments in all practice areas would be hyperbolic — but just slightly. That's because significant showdowns are imminent involving appellate procedure principles, "click-to-cancel" rules, government procurement protests, judiciary employment protections and litigation risk insurance — as well as President Donald Trump's felony convictions and extraordinary deportation measures.

  • May 30, 2025

    Texas Panel Keeps Intact Judge's LGBTQ+ Wedding Challenge

    A Texas appeals court, in a Friday opinion, kept intact a judge's lawsuit against the state judicial ethics commission over sanctions for her refusal to officiate same-sex marriages, but left the issue of merits for the trial court to hash out.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ace Says Ga. Insureds Wrongly Added Atty To Coverage Fight

    Ace Property and Casualty Insurance Co. has launched a sanctions bid in Georgia federal court against two policyholders and their counsel in a coverage suit, alleging they abused the judicial process by adding outside counsel as a defendant just to defeat diversity jurisdiction and remand the case to state court.

  • May 30, 2025

    Banks, Class Action Admins Ran Kickback Scheme, Suit Says

    A group of class action settlement administrators and banks conspired to rip off settlement class members by offering lower bank interest rates in exchange for kickbacks, according to three identical lawsuits filed in three states.

  • May 30, 2025

    Wash. Judge Doubts Valve's Suit Alleging Arbitration Scheme

    A Washington state appellate judge pushed back Friday against Valve Corp.'s stance that it could sue an attorney over an alleged scheme to manipulate arbitration pacts between the gaming giant and its customers, suggesting the company opened the door for such conduct by previously forcing gamers to arbitrate antitrust claims individually.

  • May 30, 2025

    AI Video Pushes Boundaries Of Victim Impact Statements

    At the beginning of May, an Arizona state court judge permitted an artificial intelligence-generated victim impact statement of a deceased victim at a sentencing hearing, leaving some attorneys concerned about how admitting these types of videos might affect sentencing in other cases.

  • May 30, 2025

    $28M Jury Verdict Shows The Power Of The Monell Doctrine

    A federal jury awarded $28 million to John Walker Jr., a man wrongfully convicted of murder nearly 50 years ago, after finding that prosecutors in Erie County, New York, systematically ignored criminal defendants' constitutional rights. The verdict hinged on the Monell doctrine, a hard-to-prove legal theory that allows civil rights plaintiffs to hold governments liable for constitutional violations stemming from official policy, custom, or widespread failure to supervise public officials.

  • May 30, 2025

    DC Circ. Keeps Block On Texas AG's Media Matters Probe

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld an order barring the Texas attorney general from demanding internal records from Media Matters about the left-leaning media watchdog's reporting on the social media platform X.

  • May 30, 2025

    Workplace Bullying Can't Be A Rite Of Passage For Attys

    As more than half of young lawyers cite workplace toxicity as the reason they left their jobs, a panel of attorneys said Friday that many of the professionals they've listened to aren't willing to dismiss bullying as a rite of passage.

  • May 30, 2025

    Texas Review Panel Trims Ethics Claims Against Judge

    A review panel this week nixed all but one charge of misconduct by a Texas trial court judge and said the judge should receive a private reprimand rather than the public admonition ordered by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct in December.

  • May 30, 2025

    AI Not Slowing Down Despite Ethical Risks, Experts Say

    Following its rapid evolution in the past half-year alone, McDermott Will & Emery LLP Chief Information Officer Michael Shea predicted during a panel conversation Friday that artificial intelligence tools would see "pretty significant changes" over the next 12 months despite the challenges of putting guardrails around them.

  • May 30, 2025

    Insurer Seeks Win In Margolis Edelstein Malpractice Dispute

    Margolis Edelstein should not be allowed to escape GMG Insurance Agency's legal malpractice suit, the agency told a Delaware Superior Court, saying the law firm admitted that it was not competent to handle an underlying noncompete dispute that resulted in a $1.2 million settlement.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ex-NJ Councilman Cops To Taking Bribe From Town Atty

    A former member of a New Jersey borough council pled guilty to pocketing a $7,000 bribe to help grease the wheels for an attorney's reappointment as municipal counsel, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced Friday.

  • May 30, 2025

    Diaz Reus Sued For Fraud, Conflict In Failed Miami Water Park

    A Florida consultant has sued law firm Diaz Reus & Targ LLP over allegations it created an adverse conflict of interest in ownership over a failed Miami water park when the firm's managing partner and his brother, another firm member, attempted to "strong-arm" him into reducing his interest in the venture.

  • May 30, 2025

    Texas Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Firm Beats Atty's Suit Over Stock Redemption

    A Texas state appeals court has upheld Friedman Suder & Cooke PC's win in its decade-long dispute with a former shareholder over the redemption of his shares when he was let go, affirming a trial court ruling declaring the redemption "effective and operative."

  • May 29, 2025

    Panel Clears Hospital Of Contempt In 'Audit Trail' Dispute

    An Illinois appeals court on Thursday vacated a trial court's finding of contempt against a hospital in a suit over a newborn's injuries, saying there was insufficient evidence that a certain type of "audit trail" metadata existed in electronic health records.

  • May 29, 2025

    Restaurant Liable After Fraudster Steals $475K Settlement

    A California appeals court has found in a case of first impression that a restaurant is responsible for $475,000 in settlement funds that its attorneys sent to a fraudster impersonating the other party in a personal injury suit, saying it missed a number of red flags in the impostor's correspondence.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • Opinion

    Firing Of Jack Smith's Team Is A Threat To Rule Of Âé¶¹´«Ã½

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    The acting attorney general’s justifications for firing prosecutors who worked on the criminal cases against President Donald Trump rest on a mischaracterization of legal norms, and this likely illegal move augurs poorly for the rule of law, say Bruce Green at Fordham University and Rebecca Roiphe at New York Âé¶¹´«Ã½ School.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

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    In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

  • Navigating Arbitration Confidentiality Challenges In Age Of AI

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    Artificial intelligence is already significantly involved in various aspects of arbitration and posing challenges for maintaining confidentiality, but relatively quickly implementable practices can be utilized as safeguards as AI tools continue to be integrated, says David Coher at CoherADR.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.

  • Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

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    Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.

  • What Insurers Should Know About AI Use In Litigation

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    As the use of artificial intelligence in litigation evolves, insurers should note standing court orders, instances of judges utilizing AI to determine policy definitions and the application of evidentiary standards to expert evidence that incorporates AI, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

  • Series

    Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yer

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    While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Âé¶¹´«Ã½yers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Despite Political Divide, FEC Found Common Ground In '24

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    The Federal Election Commission, although evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, reached consensus in consequential advisory opinions, enforcement actions and regulations last year, offering welcome clarity on some key questions facing campaigns, PACs and parties, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

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    If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

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