Ed. note: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup, here.
Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.
Happy Monday!
What Biglaw Can Learn From Personal Injury Firms
How a former insurance agent built a Houston injury practice around systems, empathy, and disciplined advocacy.
The past week has been a whirlwind of celebrations and quality time with family. My daughter Grace graduated from high school and heads off to the University of Michigan in the fall.
I still managed to make time to scour the headlines, so let’s dive right in.
AI Is Reshaping Legal Practice—But Tools Aren’t The Real Differentiator.
Explore the mindset, cultural shifts, and training strategies that define the AI‑savvy lawyer, revealing why human judgment, standardized competence, and integrated learning—not technology alone—will shape the future of the profession.
Highlights from Last Week – Top Ten Headlines
#1 “Sex, Lies, And Inadequate Supervision Of Law Clerks.” From David Lat in Original Jurisdiction: “The salacious allegations against Judge Eleanor Ross have overshadowed a more important issue: judges delegating too much responsibility to their clerks.” Read more here.
#2 “Losing Trust in Justice Dept., Judges Call Out Its Lawyers’ Behavior.” From The New York Times: “The federal courts have long assumed that the government’s lawyers are trustworthy. Now judges across the country are criticizing their lack of candor.” Read more here (gift link).
#3 “Outrage Over Justice Alito’s Son Distracts From Real Scandals.” From Gabe Roth (Fix the Court) in Bloomberg Law: “Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito cannot participate in any cases involving the Treasury Department because his son Phil works as an attorney there. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has two adopted children from Haiti, so she should be disqualified from hearing an ongoing case involving Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Chief Justice John Roberts must disqualify himself from cases argued by attorneys from the firms where wife Jane, a legal recruiter, has made placements. Each of these assertions is wrong as a matter of common sense — and of law. Nevertheless, critics are inventing or overstating scandals, often against the justices whose decisions they oppose, as the public becomes increasingly frustrated with the results of many high-profile cases. But spotlighting tenuous or unfounded allegations makes meaningful reform that much harder to achieve. If everything’s an outrage, then nothing is.” Read more here.
#4 “High-Profile Discipline Brings Unique Challenges.” From Bloomberg Law: “When a disciplinary complaint concerns a high-profile attorney, lawyers who routinely handle disciplinary matters face additional layers of complication relating to fairness, confidentiality, transparency, and public confidence. These issues were explored in ‘Process and Public Trust Facets of High-Profile Lawyer Investigation,’ a session at the American Bar Association’s 51st National Conference on Professional Responsibility in Los Angeles. Panelists agreed that a lawyer’s notoriety shouldn’t affect regulators’ decision to pursue discipline. ‘It’s not fair for notoriety to matter,’ explained Ellen C. Brotman, of BrotmanLaw in Philadelphia.” Read more here.
#5 “Luxury Trips, Bird Hunting, Football Tickets: Here Are Gifts Alabama’s Federal Judges Accepted.” From AL.com: “There were Alabama football tickets, plus a flight to the 2016 game against Tennessee. Five pistols and a shotgun, $6,200 worth of gravel, a mission trip to Honduras. Even a German shorthaired bird dog. And at least 23 bird hunting trips over the past two decades.” Read more here.
#6 “This Federal Judge Ruled Against Trump. Then the Death Threats Rolled In.” From 60 Minutes: “Federal judges say criticism from President Trump can put their safety at risk. The White House says the president ‘understands the dangers of political violence.’” Read more and watch here.
#7 “Blanche Says Justice Dept. Won’t Proceed With Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund.” From The New York Times: “The acting attorney general told lawmakers that he would leave in place an order forcing the I.R.S. to drop investigations into President Trump, his family and his businesses.” Read more here (gift link).
#8 “Trump’s Chief Nevada Prosecutor Shirks DOJ Orders, Boosts Allies.” From Bloomberg Law: “President Donald Trump’s top Nevada prosecutor, Sigal Chattah, pushed to launch investigations at the behest of former clients and friends while repeatedly bypassing Justice Department orders recusing her from cases, according to three people with direct knowledge.” Read more here.
#9 “Lawyer Reprimanded for Claiming He Had Dementia to Get Excused From Case.” From ABA Journal: “An Iowa lawyer who was appointed to represent a criminal defendant was recently reprimanded for claiming that he had dementia, so that he could be excused from the case.” Read more here.
#10 “America’s Top Women Lawyers On Career Success, AI, And Raising The Bar.” From Forbes: “The discussion, which has been edited for length and clarity, centered on AI disruption and the future of law practice, the qualities clients value most, what it takes to reach the top and how women can succeed.” Read more here.
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Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics and is a Professor of Law at the University of Houston. Check out more of her writing at the Legal Ethics Roundup. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @reneeknake or Bluesky at legalethics.bsky.social.