Ed. notice: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson again to the pages of Above the Legislation. Subscribe to her Substack, Authorized Ethics Roundup, here.
Glad Monday!
Hi there (once more) from DC. I’m again for a convention on faculty athletics governance, considered one of a number of governance and ethics points on my calendar this week. Extra on that under.
Highlights from Final Week – Prime Ten Headlines 📰
#1 “Choose Faucets Ex-Prosecutor to Probe Lawyer Conduct in Trump Golf Course Battle.” From The Washington Submit: “A federal choose stated Saturday that she intends to nominate Jessie Ok. Liu, the previous U.S. legal professional for the District of Columbia throughout President Donald Trump’s first time period, to research whether or not Justice and Inside Division attorneys dedicated moral violations within the authorized combat over the administration’s plans for East Potomac Golf Hyperlinks. U.S. District Choose Ana C. Reyes recognized Liu as her option to function a particular grasp, an outdoor investigator who would help the courtroom in inspecting the federal government’s conduct within the case.” Learn extra here (reward hyperlink).
#2 “Arkansas Courtroom Official Tampered With Bar Examination Outcomes, Prosecutor Says.” From Reuters: “A former Arkansas courtroom administrator is dealing with felony costs after an investigation uncovered ‘in depth irregularities’ with bar examination outcomes from 2020 to 2025, prosecutors stated. Nancie Givens, who resigned her place as government director of the Supreme Courtroom of Arkansas’ Workplace of Skilled Packages in February, faces 65 felony counts of tampering with a public report, Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Legal professional Will Jones introduced on Thursday.” Learn extra here.
#3 “New York State Bar Affiliation Tells Legal professionals To not Invoice for Time Saved by AI.” From the ABA Journal: “The New York State Bar Affiliation is looking for restrictions on how a lot attorneys can invoice shoppers for the period of time saved utilizing synthetic intelligence instruments or expended studying methods to use them.” Learn extra here.
#4 “Choose Questions Federal Position in Ed Martin Ethics Case.” From Law360: “A D.C. federal choose struggled Tuesday to see how he may preside over a state legal professional ethics continuing if U.S. pardon legal professional Ed Martin will get his manner and retains the case.” Learn extra here.
#5 “Texas’ Subsequent Prime Justice Desires to Return to ABA Accreditation.” From Bloomberg Legislation: “Texas’ subsequent chief justice of the state supreme courtroom, Democrat Maggie Ellis, needs the state to once more let the American Bar Affiliation accredit regulation faculties. Earlier this yr, the all-Republican courtroom voted to finish the state’s many years lengthy relationship over the ABA’s range, fairness, and inclusion necessities. The transfer tracked assaults on the group by the Trump administration and different Republican states. However after 4 Democrats, together with Ellis, unseated GOP incumbents Tuesday, she stated she needs to revisit that call when she joins and leads the nine-justice courtroom in January. ‘My hope is that we’re capable of every share concepts and the brand new supreme courtroom can take a look at it and never base it on following within the footsteps of initiatives of the governor,’ Ellis informed Bloomberg Legislation on Thursday.” Learn extra here.
#6 “Ex-Sidley Affiliate Turns into First Gen Z Girl Elected to Congress.” From Legislation.com: “Melat Kiros had labored at Sidley as a first-year affiliate in New York for a couple of yr when the regulation agency terminated her in November 2023 for penning an open letter on Medium titled, ‘Pricey Legislation Corporations.’” Learn extra here.
#7 “The Ethics Guidelines Behind Weil Gotshal’s ‘Associate Run.’” From The Wall Road Journal: “Bans on exterior possession and noncompete agreements make it onerous for regulation companies to innovate—and generally even to outlive.” Learn extra here (reward hyperlink).
#8 “Authorities Backs ‘Complete Assessment’ of Authorized Companies Regulation.” From LegalFutures (UK): “The federal government is to undertake a ‘complete overview’ of whether or not authorized providers regulation stays match for objective, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed as we speak. Authorized providers minister Sarah Sackman stated she agreed with the conclusion of the Lloyd overview earlier this yr that ‘vital change is required to strengthen the effectiveness of authorized providers regulation.’” Learn extra here.
#9 “Is Authorized Recommendation Developed By Or With An AI System Legally Privileged?” From JD Supra: “A yr in the past, we revealed an analysis on legal privilege and AI. On the time, there was restricted judicial or regulatory steering on how utilizing AI in authorized work may have an effect on privilege, and no case regulation on the problem, so we took a primary ideas strategy. On this article, we revisit this matter with the advantage of current case regulation in key jurisdictions, judicial commentary and regulatory steering. As earlier than, we think about the impression of AI on authorized recommendation privilege over litigation privilege, the place the impression of the usage of AI might have a unique outcome.” Learn extra here.
#10 “The New Scorching Job in Legislation Doesn’t Require a J.D.” From The New York Occasions: “Massive regulation companies, authorized tech distributors, and in-house authorized departments at firms like Microsoft and Nvidia are all hiring authorized engineers, a brand new place for attorneys with A.I. expertise.” Learn extra here (reward hyperlink).
On My Calendar 🗓️
This week takes me to Washington, DC, Springfield, MO, and Palm Springs, CA. In DC, I’ll attend The Governance Challenge in College Athletics, a convention hosted by the Affiliation of Governing Boards of Universities and Faculties (AGB). I used to be appointed to AGB’s Council of Public Board Leaders this fall.
Then I’m off to Springfield, the place I used to be born and the place many members of my prolonged household nonetheless reside, for a particular Veterans Day occasion honoring kinfolk who served in World Struggle II.
My week concludes in Palm Springs for an ABA Accreditation Council assembly. You’re welcome to affix our open session on Friday, November 13, from 1–3PM PST, both in individual or nearly. The agenda and registration info can be found here.
In search of different upcoming ethics occasions? You’ll discover a checklist here.
Maintain in Contact 📝
- Information ideas? Bulletins? Occasions? A job to submit? Studying suggestions? E-mail legalethics@substack.com – however make sure you subscribe first, in any other case the e-mail received’t be delivered.
Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Authorized Ethics and is a Professor of Legislation on the College of Houston. Take a look at extra of her writing on the Legal Ethics Roundup. Discover her on X (previously Twitter) at @reneeknake or Bluesky at legalethics.bsky.social.
The submit Legal Ethics Roundup: DOJ Ethics Probe, Bar Exam Tampering, AI Billing Limits, TX Reconsiders ABA Accreditation Council, Biglaw Shakeup, AI Privilege & More appeared first on Above the Law.