Ethics

Former BigLaw partner temporarily barred from courthouse should be suspended, board says

An Illinois hearing board has recommended suspension for a former federal prosecutor and Polsinelli shareholder who was temporarily barred from the criminal courthouse in Chicago and held in criminal contempt of court four times.

Sep 12, 2023 11:25 AM CDT

Montana attorney general accused of flouting top state court’s authority, insulting justices

Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has been accused of undermining confidence in the justice system by evading the authority of the state’s top court and assaulting the integrity of individual justices.

Sep 11, 2023 2:11 PM CDT

Weekly Briefs: MoFo changes DEI fellowship; X reacts to BigLaw partner at Burning Man festival

MoFo expands DEI fellowship after suit Morrison & Foerster has changed the eligibility criteria for a diversity, equity and inclusion fellowship after being sued by a conservative activist who led the campaign against affirmative action in college admissions. The Keith Wetmore 1L Fellowship for Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion was initially…

Sep 8, 2023 3:14 PM CDT

Justice Alito sees ‘no sound reason’ to recuse in tax case involving lawyer who interviewed him for newspaper

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday refused to recuse himself in a tax case handled partly by a lawyer whose co-interviews of the justice resulted in two articles in the Wall Street Journal.

Sep 8, 2023 12:22 PM CDT

Paxton’s former top aide wonders whether he had been blackmailed, aide testifies in impeachment trial

A former top aide to suspended Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he at first wondered why his boss was ignoring warnings about helping developer Nate Paul in his business disputes.

Sep 8, 2023 10:43 AM CDT

Justice Kavanaugh says he’s hopeful for ‘concrete steps’ on SCOTUS ethics matters

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court is continuing to work on ethics issues, and he is “hopeful there will be some concrete steps.”

Sep 8, 2023 9:34 AM CDT

Meddling clerk ‘betrayed her oath of office’ in Alex Murdaugh murder case, new-trial motion alleges

The elected court clerk in the murder trial of disbarred South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh warned jurors about defense testimony, met privately with a jury foreperson, and “invented a story” about a Facebook post that got a juror removed, according to allegations in a motion for a new trial.

Sep 6, 2023 12:49 PM CDT

Do this, not that, when preparing witnesses and during testimony, new ABA ethics opinion says

Lawyers have a duty to prepare and guide witnesses, but attorneys can’t coach a witness in a way that interferes with the integrity of the justice system and obstructs another party’s access to evidence, according to an ethics opinion released Wednesday by the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Sep 6, 2023 10:44 AM CDT

Paxton not fit to be Texas AG, prosecutor says; impeachment trial starts after Senate allows charges

Suspended Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is “not fit to be the attorney general for the state of Texas," according to Texas State Rep. Andrew Murr, who is serving as an impeachment prosecutor.

Sep 6, 2023 8:13 AM CDT

Ex-prosecutor disbarred for disclosure failures in drug-lab scandal; supervisor, underling get different sanctions

A former assistant attorney general who oversaw the investigation and prosecution of a drug-using chemist at a Massachusetts crime lab has been disbarred for failing to disclose the full extent of the worker’s potential misconduct to affected drug defendants.

Sep 5, 2023 9:07 AM CDT

Lawyer thought fake-client tactic was an acceptable strategy, she tells disciplinary commission

A North Carolina lawyer told a disciplinary commission that she thought that substituting a litigant for her criminal client during an arraignment was “an acceptable strategy.”

Aug 31, 2023 3:29 PM CDT

Judge should be admonished after calling double-parked teacher the B-word, commission says

A judge who called a teacher a “stupid b- - - -” because of her double-parked car should be admonished for the episode, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Aug 31, 2023 2:11 PM CDT

Justice Thomas’ disclosure includes Harlan Crow real estate deal and private plane flights

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed four reimbursed trips in 2022 and his 2014 real estate deal with Republican megadonor and billionaire Harlan Crow in a financial disclosure form filed Thursday.

Aug 31, 2023 1:15 PM CDT

Federal appeals court tosses lawyer’s challenge to anti-bias ethics rule

A Pennsylvania lawyer does not have standing to challenge a state ethics rule banning discrimination and harassment in the practice of law, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Aug 31, 2023 8:55 AM CDT

Are defendants in Georgia case against Trump entitled to removal? These standards apply

U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia on Monday promised to rule “quickly but reasonably” on a bid by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to remove the criminal racketeering case against him from Fulton County, Georgia, to federal court.

Aug 30, 2023 3:51 PM CDT