A federal appeals court has reversed the conviction of a white retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who used the N-word while complaining about a Black…
4 ways to work toward an anti-racist allyship
Over the course of the last four years, the Trump administration’s policies, practices and rhetoric not only laid bare the deleterious effects of racism, xenophobia…
Despite the COVID-19 crisis, some law schools see increases in jobs for new graduates
Afternoon Briefs: NRA bankruptcy petition tossed; prosecutors say man imprisoned 40 years is innocent
Judge tosses NRA bankruptcy petition U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin D. “Cooter” Hale of Dallas has dismissed a Chapter 11 petition filed by the National…
Judge accused of assaulting cursing defendant wishes recording of incident had audio
A Georgia judge is facing an ethics complaint that accuses him of grabbing and pushing a shackled inmate who cursed at him. Chief Magistrate Cary…
District attorney resigns as part of plea deal in pressured-sex case
A district attorney in Pennsylvania has resigned as a condition of his guilty plea for allegedly pressuring clients while he was in private practice to…
Afternoon Briefs: DNA on murder weapon isn’t from executed man; lawmakers embrace firing-squad executions
DNA suggests murder was carried out by someone other than executed man DNA tests on a murder weapon and a bloody shirt are not a…
Legal industry has 40,600 more jobs than a year ago
The legal services industry gained 3,800 jobs in April, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the…
4 officers face civil rights charges in George Floyd’s death; Chauvin also charged in youth’s knee restraint
A federal grand jury has indicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and three other former officers on civil rights charges in the May 2020…
Judges aren’t persuaded by Capitol rioters’ claims that Trump asked them to do it
Judges are rejecting claims of U.S. Capitol rioters that they should be released before trial because they were following the direction of former President Donald…
Afternoon Briefs: Harvey Weinstein sues for return of legal fee; judge’s arm touch leads to reprimand
Weinstein sues lawyer for return of $1M fee A May 4 lawsuit filed by former film producer Harvey Weinstein claims lawyer Jose Baez refused…
Justice Barrett has aligned most often in argued cases with these 2 SCOTUS justices
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice, has aligned 100% of the time in argued cases with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and…
Is being ‘Locked Up Abroad’ any worse than being locked up at home?
At the beginning of this year, I wrote a column…
Lawyer known as ‘DWI Dude’ gets prison time for swindling Colombian drug traffickers
A Texas criminal defense lawyer who marketed himself as the “DWI Dude” has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for a…
Maker of Snapchat can be sued for speed filter used by youths before fatal crash, 9th Circuit rules
A federal appeals court has ruled that Snapchat isn’t protected from liability by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case alleging that…
Federal judge strikes down nationwide eviction moratorium for exceeding statutory authority
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has set aside a nationwide eviction moratorium that was set to expire June 30.U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich…
Afternoon Briefs: Former music executive sues Trump lawyer; attorney charged with sex trafficking minors
Former music executive sues Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz Litigator Marc Kasowitz, known for his representation of former President Donald Trump, is facing a malpractice…
Judge gets public warning over eating for free at law firm’s luncheon before awarding it $2M in legal fees
A Houston judge has received a public warning for awarding $2 million in attorney fees to a law firm after she ate for free at…
After ransomware attack on state attorney general’s office, hackers begin posting documents
Hackers have posted documents that are said to be stolen from the Illinois attorney general’s office, including documents labeled “judgments entered,” “shakedown cases” and “state…
Judge says court documents resemble Jerry Springer script, orders lawyers to rewrite ‘inflammatory’ filings
A federal judge in Miami ordered lawyers in a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises to rewrite several court filings because of “unprofessional” and “inflammatory” language.U.S.…
Afternoon Briefs: Judge denies QAnon connection; investors sue over ‘Voltswagen’ prank press release
Pennsylvania judge denies any QAnon connection A Philadelphia judge running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is denying any connection to QAnon and its conspiracy theories.…
Why do female lawyers leave law firms? ‘Blatantly unfair’ compensation often cited, new ABA report says
Compensation systems that are “blatantly unfair” and “rife with gender bias” were most often cited as the reason female attorneys left their law firms, according…
3 BigLaw firms will give back $1M in Purdue Pharma legal fees in settlement with trustee
Three large law firms have agreed to reduce fee applications by $1 million in their bankruptcy representation of Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription…
Justice Thomas argues for repeal of doctrine protecting military from tort suits incident to service
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argued Monday that the high court should have agreed to hear an appeal by a West Point cadet to…
Retired BigLaw partner tells tales of lawyers, FBI and kidnapping epidemic of 1930s in new book
Carolyn Cox tells me what she loved the most about practicing law was “hands down trying to figure out what the facts were.” She adds…
Americans are divided by age and race on the fairness of the justice system, ABA civics survey finds
Afternoon briefs: Search of Giuliani’s home is ‘legal thuggery,’ says his lawyer; top legal officer earns $50.9M
Search of Giuliani’s home is ‘legal thuggery,’ his lawyer says Federal agents searched lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s New York City apartment and office early Wednesday. Giuliani’s…
Chief deputy DA in Vegas writes column criticizing Disney wokeness and spurs Twitter backlash
The chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, Nevada, has been labeled a “Disney Karen” after he wrote a newspaper commentary criticizing Disney World for…
Lawyer gets stayed suspension for ‘unintelligible’ brief; she said she mistakenly filed the draft version
An Ohio lawyer chided for submitting an appellate brief that was “inadequate, incoherent and unintelligible” will receive a stayed suspension from law practice. Lawyer…
Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer for accused Capitol rioter says ‘biatch’ less offensive; charge dropped against Boies Schiller partner
Lawyer for accused US Capitol rioter says ‘biatch’ is less offensive A lawyer for accused U.S. Capitol rioter Richard “Bigo” Barnett of Gravette, Arkansas, has…
Lawyer wrongly cited golden rule, court says in overturning $1.1M verdict in suit against Fetty Wap label
A New Jersey appeals court has overturned a $1.1 million verdict against the record label for rapper Fetty Wap partly because the plaintiff’s lawyer asked…
Florida Coastal’s proposed teach-out plan dinged by ABA’s legal ed section because of lack of details
A proposed teach-out plan from the Florida Coastal School of Law, which the ABA directed it to file in April, after the for-profit school lost…
In defense of the team: What basketball and law practice have in common
March Madness is over for one more year, and I will miss it. It is not as if I know a lot about basketball, and…
Judge is accused of threatening to bust butt of traffic defendant, claiming she likes ‘to flim-flam people’
An ethics complaint has accused an Alabama judge of losing his temper, yelling profanity and making threatening remarks when a traffic court defendant sought his…
Human Rights Watch fires general counsel after she used N-word in classroom lecture
Human Rights Watch fired its general counsel earlier this month after she used the N-word in an April 1 Zoom lecture on hate speech as…
Washington is first state to give right-to-counsel protections to these litigants
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Thursday that gives low-income tenants a right to a lawyer in eviction proceedings. Washington is the first state…
How should the legal profession navigate a post-COVID-19 world? ABA group has recommendations
Data shows increase in both first-time and 2-year bar exam pass rates
Despite the coronavirus chaos around July 2020 bar exams—including health fears for in-person bars, software problems with remote tests and jurisdictions making last-minute…
Data shows increase in both first-time and 2-year bar exam pass rates
Despite the coronavirus chaos around July 2020 bar exams—including health fears for in-person bars, software problems with remote tests and jurisdictions making last-minute…
ABA calls on volunteers to help with ProBAR video project
Ruling in payday loan case, Supreme Court curbs ability of FTC to obtain restitution
The Federal Trade Commission will have to follow a more cumbersome procedure to obtain restitution or disgorgement as a result of a unanimous U.S. Supreme…
Which firms top the Am Law 100? And how much did their revenue grow?
The nation’s 100 highest-grossing law firms had an average 6.6% increase in gross revenue last year, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to…
Freedom of association case could have impact on campaign finance disclosures
3 Democratic lawmakers call on Barrett to recuse herself in donor disclosure case
Three Democratic lawmakers are asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to recuse herself in a First Amendment dispute because a group related to…
Former BigLaw operations manager pleads guilty to using law firm credit card for personal purchases
A former office operations manager at Morrison & Foerster pleaded guilty to felony mail fraud Wednesday for using a law firm credit card to make…
After Chauvin’s conviction on all counts, what will his appeal look like?
An appeal is “a virtual certainty” following the conviction Tuesday of fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd with a knee to…
After name partner goes missing, lawyers get no paychecks; clients allege millions of dollars in lost funds
Legal woes are mounting for Kossoff name partner Mitchell Kossoff, who is facing lawsuits from clients alleging the theft of millions of dollars in escrow…
SCOTUS should hear case in which shackled defendant reenacted murder, with no defense objection, Sotomayor says
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented Monday when the high court refused to hear a case in which a shackled defendant reenacted a murder…
Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer accused of laundering cash from undercover agent; Justice Barrett lists home for nearly $900K
Lawyer is charged with laundering cash for undercover agent Prominent Dallas lawyer Rayshun “Ray” Jackson of the Jackson Law Firm has been charged with laundering…
Can opening-the-door evidence doctrine violate the confrontation clause? SCOTUS will decide
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether trial testimony for a criminal defendant can open the door to rebuttal evidence that would…
