ABA Journal

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New ABA data shows increase in jobs for recent law grads

“The higher percentage of graduates in the bar passage required or JD advantage jobs likely reflects a modest increase in the number of jobs nationwide, perhaps due to the legal market’s recovery from the impact of the pandemic,” said Bill Adams, managing director of ABA accreditation and legal education. “This is encouraging given there was also a 3.8% increase in the number of total graduates.”



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California bar overlooks patterns of ethical wrongdoing, report says; one lawyer had 165 complaints

The State Bar of California has failed to hold some lawyers accountable for misconduct because of weaknesses in the attorney discipline system, according to a report by the state auditor.



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Refugee lawyer describes harrowing invasion of Ukraine

A Ukrainian lawyer described the harrowing scenes she witnessed after the Russian invasion, telling an ABA panel on April 7 that she was forced to flee her country with her three young children and leave behind her husband.



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Judge refuses to toss criminal charge against former Perkins Coie partner in special counsel probe

A former Perkins Coie partner failed to win dismissal of a criminal charge against him Wednesday, when a federal judge ruled that the dispute can’t be resolved in advance of trial.



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SEC alleges Las Vegas lawyer shot by FBI was part of a $449M Ponzi scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges in a lawsuit that a Las Vegas lawyer and his law firm were involved in a $449 million Ponzi scheme that sold investments in fictitious insurance tort settlements.



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‘Seasoned litigator’ fails to persuade 7th Circuit that sanction was demeaning and too harsh

A federal appeals court has refused to disturb a sanction imposed against a Chicago lawyer for “repeatedly asserting baseless claims” to support personal jurisdiction and then dodging discovery on the issue through his client’s evasive answers.



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Deputy who witnessed 'skivvies'-clad colleague baptize woman after traffic stop can't escape suit, federal judge rules

A woman who claims that she allowed a “skivvies”-clad Tennessee sheriff’s deputy to baptize her based on his promise of leniency can continue to pursue her lawsuit against another deputy who witnessed the “desacralized rite,” a federal judge has ruled.



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Painter donates $1M for undergraduate and law school students

The artist who painted the Vanity Fair cover portrait of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was shot and killed by Kentucky police during a botched home raid, has donated proceeds from the work to the University of Louisville in Kentucky for law school fellowships and undergraduate scholarships.



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New law allows this state’s judges to personally solicit campaign donations; ethics opinion adds wrinkle

A new Tennessee law allows judges to personally solicit and accept campaign contributions, but judicial candidates should “be mindful” of other ethics rules that could be implicated, according to a March 29 ethics opinion.



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Following a boost in 2021, national average score for February 2022 MBE drops

After increasing to 134 in 2021, the national mean scaled score for the February Multistate Bar Examination has decreased to 132.6 for 2022, which was the same as it was in 2020—just before COVID-19-related quarantines started in many jurisdictions.



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