Ethics

One justice was ‘especially vocal’ in opposition to enforcement mechanism for SCOTUS ethics code, report says

When the U.S. Supreme released its new ethics code in November 2023, critics complained that it relied on an “honor system,” rather than an enforcement mechanism.

Dec 4, 2024 10:44 AM CST

Judge acknowledged his ‘profane outburst’ shocked himself, Florida court says in imposing suspension

A Florida judge has been suspended partly for a “profane outburst” in which he used the F-word and called a man in his courtroom an “a- -hole.”

Dec 3, 2024 3:03 PM CST

Lawyer convicted of tampering with corpse has law license revoked at her request

A Florida lawyer who pleaded guilty to tampering with a corpse of a woman killed in Dallas has had her license revoked at her request.

Dec 2, 2024 3:34 PM CST

‘Words fail to capture the severity and extent’ of lawyer’s bigotry, appeals court says

A New York lawyer has been disbarred after coming to the attention of disciplinary officials by filing ethics complaints against others said to contain racist and antisemitic language.

Nov 27, 2024 2:03 PM CST

Lawyer mailed feces to federal judges, GOP politicians, ethics complaint says; he blamed his ‘rage’ on racism

An Ohio lawyer on inactive status is accused of violating disciplinary rules by mailing human feces to federal judges and politicians along with messages accusing them of racism and kowtowing to President-elect Donald Trump.

Nov 27, 2024 11:09 AM CST

In ‘stunning fall from grace,’ med-mal lawyer is convicted of trying to extort medical system for $25M

A medical-malpractice lawyer once regarded as a top plaintiff’s attorney in Maryland was convicted of attempted extortion Friday, a day after a federal judge found him in contempt and ordered his detention overnight for violating court orders while representing himself.

Nov 27, 2024 8:50 AM CST

Lawyer suspended for ‘predatory style of taking on client representation’

A Philadelphia lawyer has been suspended for five years after a state disciplinary board concluded that he lacked an “ethical compass” and provided no evidence of “genuine concern for his clients.”

Nov 21, 2024 2:52 PM CST

Federal judiciary releases first-ever report on workplace misconduct

More than 100 allegations of abusive conduct were reported by federal court employees between 2021 and 2023, according to data released Wednesday from the federal judiciary’s first workplace report.

Nov 21, 2024 9:45 AM CST

Attorney discipline records short of disbarment would be expunged after 8 years under state bar plan

The California Supreme Court is being asked to automatically expunge records of attorney discipline other than disbarment after eight years, provided that there is no further discipline during that period.

Nov 21, 2024 9:00 AM CST

Judge who declared ‘ain’t no sweat equity in this court’ showed bias, ethics complaint alleges

An Indiana judge is accused of violating ethics rules banning bias or prejudice when he derided lawsuit claims by women who “make a habit” of claiming that they are entitled to partial proceeds from the sale of a home that they once inhabited with their boyfriends.

Nov 20, 2024 3:44 PM CST

Former Wisconsin justice accused of ethics violations over 2020 election probe

Legal regulators filed a 10-count ethics complaint Tuesday against a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who oversaw a problem-plagued review of the 2020 presidential election in this battleground state.

Nov 19, 2024 3:09 PM CST

House speaker moves to block Senate Judiciary Committee from seeing Gaetz ethics report

Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that he will urge the House Ethics Committee to suppress its report into attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz and block the Senate Judiciary Committee from viewing the investigation, an unusual intervention that could shape a divisive nomination fight.

Nov 15, 2024 2:15 PM CST

Did ethics case constitute ‘crying in baseball’? Kansas supremes debate discipline as ‘sword’

Updated: A Kansas attorney has received a six-month stayed suspension for making “inflammatory attacks” on an opposing counsel and including “irrelevant information” in a court filing intended to diminish his client’s estranged wife.

Nov 14, 2024 1:02 PM CST

Gaetz resigned days before ethics investigation report expected

The House Ethics Committee was set to vote this week on releasing a report about Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), who resigned from Congress on Wednesday after being picked as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Nov 14, 2024 8:18 AM CST

Judge recuses from Arizona case over his email denouncing attacks on Harris

The judge overseeing Arizona’s case against allies of former president Donald Trump over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results recused himself late Tuesday, after it emerged he had emailed colleagues urging them to speak out against conservative attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris’s gender and racial identity.

Nov 14, 2024 8:15 AM CST