Ethics

8449 ABA Journal Ethics articles.

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi is convicted for stealing $15M from clients

A disbarred lawyer famous for his legal team’s portrayal in the movie Erin Brockovich was convicted Tuesday for stealing $15 million from four clients over the course of a decade.

Aug 27, 2024 2:59 PM CDT

Judge who displayed Confederate-flag statue should be removed, judicial conduct commission says

A New York town justice who denigrated political candidates on Facebook and displayed a Confederate-flag statue should be removed from office, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Aug 27, 2024 8:45 AM CDT

Lawyer gets stayed suspension for fake blog comments

Updated: A Colorado lawyer has received a stayed 60-day suspension for posing as a judge and a former deputy district attorney in blog comments last year.

Aug 26, 2024 9:29 AM CDT

Worried your legal work could contribute to clients’ criminal conduct? New ABA ethics opinion shares guidelines

What are lawyers’ duties to assess the facts and the circumstances of every client’s or potential client’s situation—to ensure that the representation does not contribute or further the client’s criminal or fraudulent activity? This question is addressed in a new ethics opinion from the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Aug 23, 2024 10:03 AM CDT

Judge reprimanded for false ‘elder abuse’ claim on Facebook in spat over guardianship case

An Ohio judge has received a public reprimand for inaccurately asserting on Facebook that an elderly woman was removed from her home because of its “deplorable conditions” and her son’s failure to take care of her.

Aug 22, 2024 8:43 AM CDT

Lawyers must lead in efforts to preserve accessible, equitable and transparent rule-of-law system

As a nation, we have made the decision to be governed by the rule of law. This means that as a society, we have agreed to abide by a set of transparent, fairly enacted and fairly applied laws and rules that will govern our conduct in our private and public affairs.

Aug 21, 2024 1:39 PM CDT

Expunging attorney discipline records could come with risks, according to new paper

A new working paper claims that attorneys who have their disciplinary records expunged are nine times more likely to be disciplined again than lawyers with no history of getting in trouble with attorney licensing agencies.

Aug 20, 2024 1:41 PM CDT

Lawyer who described fishing trip in response to overdraft inquiry resigns from bar

A Connecticut lawyer has resigned from the bar after he was accused of telling ethics investigators that their trust account inquiries weren’t a priority, and he had been enjoying a fishing trip while they pressed for information.

Aug 20, 2024 11:08 AM CDT

Ex-bankruptcy judge who tried to avoid deposition in romance case ordered to take ethics training

A former bankruptcy judge has been sanctioned for trying to avoid a deposition by submitting to an unauthorized off-the-record interview with the law firm that employed his romantic partner.

Aug 19, 2024 12:37 PM CDT

Lawyer who reported suspected wrongdoing can’t collect whistleblower award, DC Circuit says

An in-house lawyer who reported suspected wrongdoing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can’t recover a whistleblower award, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Aug 19, 2024 10:31 AM CDT

Conflicts controversy follows revelation prosecutor sent nude photos to federal judge

A revelation that a prosecutor sent nude photos to a federal judge has led to an allegation that a U.S. attorney’s office tried to use the situation to force recusal.

Aug 15, 2024 1:10 PM CDT

Teen on field trip ends up in handcuffs and jail garb because judge didn’t want to be ‘played with’

A teenager sleeping during a field trip to a Detroit courtroom got a wake-up call from a judge Tuesday.

Aug 15, 2024 10:28 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi ‘didn’t seem all there’ in late 2020, ex-employee testifies in embezzlement trial

A public defender representing disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi in his embezzlement trial asked a former accounting employee Tuesday about a secret bank account being used by other lawyers at his now-closed law firm.

Aug 14, 2024 12:47 PM CDT

Lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282M allegedly handed firm control to disbarred attorney

Updated: A lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282 million from as many as 60,000 debt-relief clients, either through intentional or “grossly negligent” conduct, had employed a disbarred lawyer alleged to be running the operation.

Aug 13, 2024 3:49 PM CDT

Federal judge who ruled against Google is ‘taken aback’ by its efforts to avoid paper trail

A federal judge who ruled that Google is a monopolist declined to sanction the search engine for failing to preserve internal chat messages, even though he criticized its policies intended to keep bad evidence out of litigation.

Aug 8, 2024 3:17 PM CDT

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Ethics

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi is convicted for stealing $15M from clients

Judge who displayed Confederate-flag statue should be removed, judicial conduct commission says

Lawyer gets stayed suspension for fake blog comments

Worried your legal work could contribute to clients’ criminal conduct? New ABA ethics opinion shares guidelines

Judge reprimanded for false ‘elder abuse’ claim on Facebook in spat over guardianship case

Lawyers must lead in efforts to preserve accessible, equitable and transparent rule-of-law system

Expunging attorney discipline records could come with risks, according to new paper

Lawyer who described fishing trip in response to overdraft inquiry resigns from bar

Ex-bankruptcy judge who tried to avoid deposition in romance case ordered to take ethics training

Lawyer who reported suspected wrongdoing can’t collect whistleblower award, DC Circuit says

Conflicts controversy follows revelation prosecutor sent nude photos to federal judge

Teen on field trip ends up in handcuffs and jail garb because judge didn’t want to be ‘played with’

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi ‘didn’t seem all there’ in late 2020, ex-employee testifies in embezzlement trial

Lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282M allegedly handed firm control to disbarred attorney

Federal judge who ruled against Google is ‘taken aback’ by its efforts to avoid paper trail

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