Small Law


  • Girardi's Son-In-Law Was No 'Babe In The Woods,' Feds Say

    The Chicago federal judge presiding over a summer client theft trial against Girardi Keese founder Tom Girardi's son-in-law should not limit the government's case based on positions it took during Girardi's California trial because its positions are consistent, and the cases are charged differently, prosecutors argued Wednesday.

  • Ex-Atty's Cooperation Deal OK'd In Calif. Debt Firm's Ch. 11

    A California bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved a deal allowing a disbarred attorney accused of operating a fraudulent debt relief law firm to admit wrongdoing and provide information about the firm's collapse to a court-appointed trustee in an effort to recoup money for creditors.

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    Solvay Wants Sanctions For 3 Firms Over Confidential Info

    Lawyers at three plaintiffs law firms were hit Wednesday with a bid for sanctions by a polymer company that claims the attorneys used confidential discovery in federal multidistrict litigation in New Jersey to file a new action.

  • SF Law Firms' Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years For Embezzling $1.3M

    A former chief financial officer of two San Francisco law firms was sentenced to just over three years in prison Wednesday for stealing more than $1.3 million from the firms and others, after one firm's founder said the defendant appeared to enjoy "stabbing us all in the back."

  • Ex-Atty For Slain Journalist Khashoggi Admits Tax Crime

    An attorney who once represented the slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi pled guilty to filing a false tax return, admitting that he withheld $355,000 from the Internal Revenue Service.

  • Distiller Says Ex-Partner, Attys Used RICO Suit To Ruin Him

    A Pennsylvania distiller claims his erstwhile partner in Pittsburgh's Kingfly Spirits launched years of litigation against him designed to ruin his reputation and career, saying in a complaint of his own that the ex-collaborator texted him "game on" before beginning his abusive legal campaign.

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    Ex-DOJ Official Exits Caplin & Drysdale Months After Joining

    A former senior national security official at the U.S. Department of Justice has left Caplin & Drysdale a few months after joining the firm to restart his solo practice, where his work will include representing people "whose careers have been torpedoed by the current administration," he told Law360 Pulse.

  • Guo Ch. 11 Trustee Seeks $2.4M From Maryland Law Firm

    The Chapter 11 trustee handling Chinese exile Miles Guo's bankruptcy in Connecticut has filed an adversary proceeding seeking over $2.4 million from Maryland-based law firm Schulman Bhattacharya LLC, alleging the firm received payments from Guo's shell companies both before and after Guo filed for bankruptcy.  

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    Florida Boutique Expands With RE Development Biz President

    Boutique firm DownsAaron PLLC has announced the hiring of the president of an Orlando, Florida-based commercial real estate development and investment business, who also has experience as an in-house corporate counsel, to bolster its litigation and transactional capabilities.

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    2025 Law Firm Leasing Begins Strong, Report Shows

    U.S. law firms are on pace to surpass 2024's record-setting leasing activity, ending the first quarter of 2025 with 3.4 million square feet of new or renewed leases throughout the country, according to newly released data.

  • Apologetic NJ Atty Gets 21 Months For $350K COVID Fraud

    A New Jersey attorney sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on Wednesday for claiming he was a business in order to receive nearly $350,000 earmarked for small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic apologized to the court for the "embarrassment" he caused to the legal profession.

  • Atty Has Bail Revoked For Continuing Embezzlement After Arrest

    A Massachusetts magistrate judge on Wednesday revoked bail for an attorney who pled guilty to embezzling more than $3 million from several companies and two family members with special needs and dementia, after prosecutors said he was still siphoning funds from victims' accounts after being charged.

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    $1.8M From Legal Industry Fuels NYC Mayor's Race

    The legal industry poured at least $1.79 million into this year’s election for New York City mayor, the majority going to incumbent Eric Adams, attorney Jim Walden and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Law360 Pulse found.

  • Fla. Atty Says NC Bar Has No Power To Discipline Him

    A Florida attorney facing claims he filed a baseless suit to collect attorney fees for his former firm from a pair of intellectually disabled brothers whom his ex-partner defrauded told the North Carolina state appeals court that the state bar has no jurisdiction to bring an enforcement action against him.

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    Disbarred Atty Turns Informant In Debt Firm Bankruptcy Battle

    Two years after his debt relief law firm collapsed amid allegations he stole approximately $250 million from clients and investors, disbarred California attorney Tony Diab recently began telling a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee everything he did — and where the money went. The trustee has used this information to file dozens of lawsuits. But can Diab be trusted?

  • Split 4th Circ. Finds Testimony Sufficed For Bad Advice Claim

    A divided Fourth Circuit panel on Tuesday ordered the government to offer a North Carolina man another shot at a plea deal he rejected, finding his defense attorney's bad advice caused him to pass over the bargain and get saddled with a longer sentence.

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    Attys For Alleged Fox Hacker 'Deeply Regret' Fake AI Citations

    Two attorneys apologized to a Florida federal judge on Monday for filing a motion to dismiss charges against their client — alleged Fox News video hacker Timothy Burke — that contained fake legal citations generated by artificial intelligence.

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    Insurers Say Legal Malpractice Costs Keep Outpacing Inflation

    The frequency at which major law firms faced malpractice claims held relatively steady in 2024, but payouts on claims continued to boom at a rate outpacing general inflation, according to this year's legal professional liability insurance survey, with nearly half of insurers surveyed reporting having paid at least one claim over $150 million.

  • Legal Ed Platforms Settle Attorney's Data Harvesting Suit

    Two platforms for continuing legal education content have settled a proposed class action from a Seattle attorney which alleged that the companies violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by using Meta's Pixel tracking software on their sites, the parties said Monday.

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    Goldstein Assails 'Radical' DOJ Case, Probe Of 'Sexual Habits'

    In his most forceful attack on tax evasion charges that have roiled the U.S. Supreme Court bar, indicted appellate icon Thomas C. Goldstein is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of embracing "breathtaking" legal theories and revealing prurient information about him "to bias the grand jury."

  • Atty Says Texas Firm Fired Her For Taking Protected Leave

    A former associate at a prominent Texas personal injury firm who claims she was fired after she took medical leave for a disabling eye condition and bereavement leave upon her mother's death has brought a disability discrimination suit against the firm and associated entities in federal court in Houston.

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    Ex-Staffer Fights NJ Law Firm Blume Forte's Arbitration Bid

    A former staff member who is suing personal injury law firm Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari PC, alleging disability discrimination, is disputing an assertion that she signed a valid arbitration agreement with the firm, arguing that any such agreement is unenforceable in New Jersey state court.

  • Mass. Atty Sues Town Official For Blocking Him On Facebook

    A partner and litigation chair at a Massachusetts boutique firm said an official in his town blocked him from viewing her Facebook posts, including posts about official town business.

  • Avenatti Rips 'Draconian' Bid To Add 13 Years To Sentence

    Former high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti asked a California federal judge to reject the government's request to tack on more than 13 years to his prison term, saying such a "draconian" result would conflict with a Ninth Circuit ruling wiping out a previous sentence in the fraud case.

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    Squire Patton Adds Miami Litigator With In-House Experience

    A former in-house attorney at NextEra Energy Resources who was most recently with Heise Suarez Melville PA moved his practice to Squire Patton Boggs LLP in Miami, the firm announced Monday.

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Expert Analysis

  • DoNotPay Cases Underscore Hurdles For AI-Fueled Legal Help Author Photo

    Recent legal challenges against DoNotPay’s "robot lawyer” application highlight pressing questions about the degree to which artificial intelligence can be used for legal tasks while remaining on the right side of both consumer protection laws and prohibitions against the unauthorized practice of law, says Kristen Niven at Frankfurt Kurnit.

  • For The Future Of Legal Practice, Let's Learn From The Past Author Photo

    At some level, every practicing lawyer is experiencing the ever-increasing speed of change — and while some practice management processes have gotten more efficient, other things about the legal profession were better before supposed improvements were made, says Jay Silberblatt, president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

  • Why All Law Firms Should Foster Psychological Capital Author Photo

    Law firms will be able to reap great long-term benefits if they adopt strategies to nurture four critical components of their employees' psychological wellness and performance — hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism, says Dennis Stolle at the American Psychological Association.

  • A GC's Guide To Litigation, Inspired By Sun Tzu's 'Art Of War' Author Photo

    With caseloads and spending increasing, in-house counsel might find themselves called to opine on the risks and benefits of litigation more often, and they should look at five Sun Tzu maxims from the ancient Chinese classic "The Art of War" to inform their approach to any suit, says Jeff Golimowski at Womble Bond.

  • Mentorship Is Key To Diversity In The Legal Industry Author Photo

    Not only can effective mentorship have a profound impact on women and people of color entering the legal field, but it also benefits mentors and the legal profession as a whole, creating a true win-win situation for all involved, says Natasha Cortes at Grossman Roth.

  • ChatGPT Is A Cool Trick, But AI Won't Replace Lawyers Author Photo

    Generative AI applications like ChatGPT are unlikely to ever replace attorneys for a variety of practical reasons — but given their practice-enhancing capabilities, lawyers who fail to leverage these tools may be rendered obsolete, says Eran Kahana at Maslon.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Valuable In IP And Continued Learning Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent elimination of a rule that partially counted pro bono work toward continuing legal education highlights the importance of volunteer work in intellectual property practice and its ties to CLE, and puts a valuable tool for hands-on attorney education in the hands of the states, say Lisa Holubar and Ariel Katz at Irwin.

  • Increasing Public Access To Legal Services: A Practical Plan Author Photo

    Recommendations recently issued by a special committee of the Florida Bar represent a realistic, pragmatic approach to increasing the accessibility and affordability of legal services, at a time when the disconnect between the legal profession and the public at large has widened considerably, says Gary Lesser, president of the Florida Bar.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Relay Shortcomings To Associates? Author Photo

    Michael Cohen at Duane Morris discusses the best ways to articulate how an associate is not meeting expectations, and why documentation of performance management is crucial for their growth and protecting the firm from discrimination suits.

  • 10 Principles For Effective Partner Reward Systems Author Photo

    Several forces are reshaping partners’ expectations about profit-sharing, and as compensation structures evolve in response, firms should keep certain fundamentals in mind to build a successful partner reward system, say Michael Roch at MHPR Advisors and Ray D'Cruz at Performance Leader.

  • Why Interdisciplinarity Is Key To Designing The Future Of Law Author Photo

    The legal profession faces challenges that urgently demand new solutions, and lawyers and firms can address this by leaning on other industries that have more experience practicing, teaching and incorporating innovation into their core business and service models, says Jennifer Leonard at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • 9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term Author Photo

    Hidden in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions from the last term are each justice’s talents for crafting choice turns of phrase, highlighting best practices for attorneys to jump-start their own writing, says Ross Guberman at BriefCatch.

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