Legal Ethics
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Billable Hours, Email Scandals, Ho-Love, Hogan & Hartson, Lateral Moves, Legal Ethics, Money, Partner Issues
Overbilling Gone Wild: Paying the (DLA) Piper
Can you believe the emails that went around internally at DLA Piper about this client's legal bill? Check them out -- along with news of lateral partner moves. -
Attorney Misconduct, Boutique Law Firms, Federal Judges, Lawyer of the Day, Legal Ethics, Legal Fee Voyeurism, Litigators, Plaintiffs Firms, Small Law Firms
Lawyer of the Day: Stan Chesley, Disbarred Husband of a Federal Judge
What got this prominent plaintiff-side lawyer into trouble? Hint: it's all about the benjamins.... - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Federal Government, Labor / Employment, Legal Ethics
Sequestration Creates Ethical Hurdles, Trial Suspensions
The sequester may put government lawyers in an ethical bind and is robbing some litigants of their rights.
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Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Drugs, Legal Ethics, Murder, New Jersey, Paul Bergrin, Trials, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Paul Bergrin, 'The Baddest Lawyer in the History of Jersey,' Convicted at Last
A former federal prosecutor gets convicted of murder, racketeering, and a whole host of other crimes. -
6th Circuit, Abortion, Attorney Misconduct, Judge of the Day, Legal Ethics
Judge of the Day: Wade McCree's Shameless Game Up for Debate in Judicial Misconduct Charges
Judge Wade McCree is back, this time as the subject of a 21-count misconduct complaint! -
Attorney Misconduct, California, Law Professors, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Sex, Sex Scandals, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns
California Judge Accused in 'Quid Pro Quo' Sexual Affair... With a Law Student?
In this job market, trading sex for employment is allegedly a reality. Sad. -
Biglaw, Crowell & Moring, Deaths, Insurance, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, Securities and Exchange Commission
Morning Docket: 03.07.13
* Mary Jo White isn’t the only Debevoise partner who will face high scrutiny while being vetted for the SEC. Andrew Ceresney may be up for co-chief of enforcement. [DealBook / New York Times]
* The Crowell & Moring ethics complaint alleging the firm suggested Appalachians have family circles instead of family trees was chalked up to an “inbreeding memo mishap.” [Am Law Daily]
* A panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department will hold court at St. John’s School of Law next month. Perhaps the students will be a little less embarrassed happier with the school now. [New York Law Journal]
* Patrick Fitzgerald, ex-U.S. attorney and current Skadden partner, will teach a course in national security law at Chicago Law School. Attend his class, lest his “extraordinary brilliance” go to waste. [National Law Journal]
* Looks like somebody forgot about Dre. The rapper’s headphones company, Beats By Dr. Dre, is now going after people for trying to register anything with “beat” or “beats” as trademarks. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Ross Ehlinger, a litigator who died while competing in the Alcatraz triathlon, RIP. [San Francisco Chronicle]
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Attorney Misconduct, Legal Ethics, Quote of the Day, Sex, Sex Scandals, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Technology
This Judge Was Allegedly Down For Some Courthouse 'Hanky Panky'
What's the quickest way to get underneath this judge's robes? - Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Department of Justice, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Jack Abramoff, Legal Ethics, Sentencing Law, Tim Wu, White-Collar Crime
The Kevin Ring Case Is a Scandal and a Disgrace: Five Things I Think You Should Know
A highly subjective look at the case against Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring. The writer, a friend of Ring's, argues it was a miscarriage of justice. -
General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Legal Ethics, Screw-Ups
Inside Straight: On Blabbing
In-house columnist Mark Herrmann shares a few examples of how NOT to protect client confidences. -
Attorney Misconduct, Legal Ethics, Nude Dancing, Unemployment
Florida Prosecutor Who Used Badge For Strip Club Perks Is Stripped Of His Job
Rest assured that this strip club aficionado won't be making it rain subpoenas any time soon. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Bonuses, California, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Federal Judges, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Money, Morning Docket, Munger Tolles & Olson, Partner Issues, Patents, Privacy, SCOTUS, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court, Travel / Vacation, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 02.18.13
Ed. note: Due to the Presidents’ Day holiday, we will be on a reduced publication schedule today. We will be back in full swing tomorrow. We hope that you will enjoy your day off, but please feel free to lament your lack thereof in the comments.
* “[T]hey don’t want to hear nothing.” Vedel Browne, the man accused of robbing Stephen Breyer at machete-point while the justice was vacationing in his home in the Caribbean, now claims that he’s innocent, mon. [St. Kitts-Nevis Observer]
* You know what, the farmer in the Super Bowl commercial probably didn’t have to deal with bullsh*t like Monsanto’s seed patents, but today’s farmers do, and they’ll argue their case before the Supreme Court this week. [New York Times]
* “I’m a betting man. And I would bet and give odds that Sullivan & Cromwell has never said that publicly.” Who dares question S&C’s stance in the hot mess that is Herbalife? None other than Carl Icahn. [Am Law Daily]
* Here’s an important Biglaw math lesson that’s been provided to us via California-based firms like Irell & Manella, Munger Tolles, and Orrick: a little revenue minus a lot of partners equals profitability. [Recorder]
* Amid a flurry of filings on Valentine’s Day, love must’ve been a battlefield for the embattled Dewey & LeBoeuf refugees who were in desperate search of their once promised 2011 bonuses. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* From the department of things that suck: having to defend your office’s alleged “underhanded tactics” in a $150 million wrongful conviction case while you’re trying to get re-elected as district attorney. [New York Times]
* We got bitches in the office lawyerin’ on, and they ain’t leavin’ till six in the mornin’ — unless they want to be fired. An ex-Travers Smith trainee claims she was canned for leaving the firm “early”… at 6:30 a.m. [Telegraph]
* If it weren’t for Cosmo, this woman wouldn’t have known her landlord was an alleged creeper. A Maryland lawyer now faces criminal charges for allegedly filming his female tenants in the nude. [Washington Post]
* “We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious!” The ABA officially put Florida A&M on notice that its law school accreditation may be in jeopardy if they don’t shape up in terms of bar passage. [Orlando Sentinel]
* What do you do the second you step off a cruise ship that’s been described as “a floating toilet, a floating petri dish, a floating hell”? You grab the very first lawyers you see, and sue! [Nation Now / Los Angeles Times]
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Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Legal Ethics, Trials, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Lawyer Busted Barrister of the Day: Liar Liar, Wig on Fire?
A Georgetown Law graduate finds herself in very hot water....
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Airplanes / Aviation, Antitrust, Antonin Scalia, Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, Bernie Madoff, Biglaw, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Legal Ethics, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Politics, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 02.14.13
* She loves me, she loves me not: media darling Sonia Sotomayor used to be in favor of the use of cameras during Supreme Court arguments, but she’s done a complete about-face on the issue, just like Justice Elena Kagan before her. [National Law Journal]
* Everyone and their mother knows what Antonin Scalia thinks of the State of the Union address, but let’s find out what my colleague Elie Mystal thinks about the good justice’s antics — namely, Scalia’s non-attendance for the past sixteen years. [HuffPost Live]
* American Airlines and US Airways will be merging to create the largest (and most awful) airline in the country. Perhaps the DOJ’s antitrust division can save us from this parade of horribles. [DealBook / New York Times]
* It looks like Team Togut is going to have a crappy Valentine’s Day. They thought that their partner problems were all wrapped up, but according to these filings, it seems that they’ve only just begun. [Am Law Daily]
* If Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy case, is able to get his way, money will soon be raining upon the victims of the massive Ponzi scheme at warp speed. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* This probably isn’t just a “distraction” or “silly sideshow” anymore, because Apple now says it will be fighting Greenlight’s attempt to block the tech company from restricting its issuance of preferred stock. [Bloomberg]
* Instragram has asked a federal court to toss a lawsuit over changes to the photo-sharing app’s terms of service because it contests that users still own the rights to all of their fugly Walden-filtered pictures. [Reuters]
* Remember Kenneth Kratz, the former Wisconsin prosecutor who referred to himself as “the prize”? He’s settled his sexting suit with Stephanie Van Groll, also known as the “hot nymph.” [Twin Cities Pioneer Press]
* Go to grad school at Lehigh for free: check. Sue for $1.3M over your C+: check. Get chastised by a judge over your ridiculous lawsuit: check. Whatever, we still beat Duke, and that’s really all that matters. [Morning Call]
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Biglaw, Fabulosity, Federal Government, Legal Ethics, Litigators, Litigatrix, Mary Jo White, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law, Wall Street
Just How Rich Is Mary Jo White, Debevoise Partner and Likely Future SEC Chair?
She's a longtime Debevoise partner, and she's married to a longtime Cravath partner. Let's take a look at their financial disclosures. -
Job Searches, Legal Ethics, Reader Polls
And This Is How We Turn Good People Into Unethical Lawyers
Is this offer more of a poison pill? -
Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Drugs, Legal Ethics, Murder, New Jersey, Paul Bergrin, Quote of the Day, Trials, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Quote of the Day: They Don't Call Him 'The Baddest Lawyer In The History of Jersey' For Nothing
Paul Bergrin wasn't just a lawyer -- he allegedly had a slew of other bad ass titles... -
Attorney Misconduct, Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Legal Ethics, Litigators, Partner Issues, Screw-Ups
Benchslap Update: Skadden Partners Learn Their Fates
Remember the two Skadden partners who got hit with a big benchslap, an order to show cause why they shouldn't be sanctioned? What punishment did they get from the court? -
Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Crime, Deaths, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Howrey LLP, Husch Blackwell, Legal Ethics, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Suicide
Morning Docket: 01.17.13
* The early numbers for the Am Law 100 are in, and it looks like Husch Blackwell’s gross revenue grew by six percent in 2012 after a two-year decline. Hmm… perhaps the firm is saving money by cutting back on its rejection letter proofreaders. [Am Law Daily]
* “If I can’t settle with any of those parties, I will sue them.” Howrey’s trustee, Allan Diamond, plans to sue former partners of the failed firm with a vengeance — and quite “quickly” — if they refuse to cooperate with him. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Speaking of bankrupt law firms, former Dewey partner Steven Otillar may proceed with his various claims against Citibank over the repayment of his $209K capital contribution loan. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Anyone remember Amy McTeer, the attorney who doubled as an apparent model for “faces of meth”? She resigned from the bar after allegedly helping her boyfriend escape from jail. Classy! [National Law Journal]
* Cameron Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney whose name was dragged through the mud after Aaron Swartz’s suicide, claims she intended to recommend only a six-month sentence for the deceased internet hero. [Bloomberg]
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Divorce Train Wrecks, Lawyer of the Day, Legal Ethics, Sex, Sex Scandals
When I Get That Feeling, I Want Sexual Billing
I didn't know you could bill for that.