ABA Journal

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As culture wars continue, City University of New York School of Law is latest target

The City University of New York School of Law is one of many in the past year to have bad press days, or perhaps bad press weeks, following student activities involving sensitive topics.



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Nation's first youth climate lawsuits to go to trial

Held v. State of Montana is part of a growing trend in climate-related litigation: shifting away from lawsuits targeting specific fossil fuel projects and toward a bigger-picture approach focusing on fundamental rights and broad violations of public trust.



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BigLaw firm was 'caring only about its bottom line' when it wrongly fired pregnant associate, suit says

A former intellectual property associate at DLA Piper has filed a gender bias lawsuit alleging that DLA Piper fired her because she sought maternity leave.



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Role of nonlawyer assistants in client intake addressed in new ABA ethics opinion

Lawyers may train nonlawyer legal assistants to handle client intake matters, but they must ensure that such assistants’ conduct is compatible with the lawyer’s professional obligations, including giving clients an opportunity to consult with the lawyer about questions, according to an ethics opinion from the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released Wednesday.



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Lawyer censured for using TeamViewer to snoop on former firm's business activity

A lawyer in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has been censured after acknowledging that he “fell into stupid” and accessed his former law firm’s computer system to monitor his former partner’s business activity.



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Bar admission denied for applicant who rose to law firm partnership without law license

A New York appeals court has denied bar admission to a 2000 law graduate who practiced law for nearly 10 years without a license, rising to law firm partnership.



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Plea bargaining reform urged by ABA task force in new report

An increasing number of criminal cases are not going to trial, and the implications have negative consequences for the entire justice system, according to a new report by the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Plea Bargaining Task Force.



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11th Circuit vacates sanctions against Dechert partners, orders new hearing

A federal appeals court has vacated sanctions against two Dechert partners and ordered the judge who imposed the punishment to consider whether the attorneys subjectively engaged in bad-faith conduct.



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Jackson is lone dissenter as Supreme Court allows company to sue union in state court

The U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice was the only dissenter Thursday, when the high court allowed a concrete company to sue a union local in state court for alleged destruction of corporate property.



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'Significant noncompliance' in admissions standard for Pontifical Catholic found by ABA Legal Ed council

The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law is out of compliance with an accreditation standard involving admissions, according to a notice posted Wednesday by the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.



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