Thank
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Welcome
to
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captivates,
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inspires,
and
surprises
me
every
week
in
the
world
of
legal
ethics.
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Legal
Ethics
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Hello
from
Madison,
where
we’ve
been
visiting
the
University
of
Wisconsin
as
part
of
my
daughter’s
college
campus
tours.
(So
far,
we’ve
hit
the
University
of
Texas
and
next
month
we
head
to
the
University
of
Chicago.
It’s
making
me
want
to
go
back
to
college
myself!)
Mendota,
University
of
Wisconsin
(photo
by
Renee
Jefferson)
It
was
another
week
packed
with
legal
ethics
headlines,
so
your
list
below
includes
fifteen
again.
But
first,
I
want
to
highlight
a
special
employment
opportunity.
(Usually
I
only
include
job
listings
monthly
in
the
LER
First
Monday
edition.)
Last
week,
Lucy
Ricca
shared
with
me
that
she’s
accepted
a
new
position
as
the
Executive
Director
of
Neukom
Center
for
the
Rule
of
Law,
which
means
her
job
as
the
Executive
Director,
Deborah
L.
Rhode
Center
on
the
Legal
Profession,
Stanford
Law
School
is
open.
This
is
a
terrific
opportunity
—
learn
more
and
apply
here.
#1
“Funding
Crisis
Leaves
Defense
Lawyers
Working
Without
Pay.”
From
US
Courts.gov:
“The
program
that
pays
court-appointed
private
attorneys
to
represent
indigent
federal
criminal
defendants
has
run
out
of
money,
starting
the
clock
on
a
painful
three-month
delay
in
paying
these
attorneys
and
their
related
service
providers
for
constitutionally
mandated
legal
work.
The
funding
crisis
has
prompted
concern
throughout
the
federal
Judiciary
that
many
of
these
private
lawyers,
known
as
panel
attorneys,
could
decline
new
cases.
That
could
leave
defendants,
even
those
on
death
row,
without
adequate
representation.”
Read
more
here.
#2
“DOJ’s
Ex-Ethics
Lawyer
Speaks
Out
After
Being
Fired
by
Pam
Bondi.”
From
Newsweek:
“Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi
has
dismissed
the
Justice
Department’s
top
ethics
lawyer,
Joseph
Tirrell,
according
to
a
post
he
shared
on
LinkedIn.
Tirrell,
a
Navy
veteran,
posted
a
copy
of
his
termination
letter
on
the
platform
Friday,
noting
that
it
resembled
notices
received
by
other
DOJ
employees.
The
letter
included
a
typo,
misspelling
his
name
as
‘JOSPEH.’
‘Until
Friday
evening,
I
was
the
senior
ethics
attorney
at
the
Department
of
Justice
responsible
for
advising
the
Attorney
General
and
Deputy
Attorney
General
directly
on
federal
employee
ethics,’
he
wrote,
in
part,
on
LinkedIn.
‘I
was
also
responsible
for
the
day-to-day
operations
of
the
ethics
program
across
the
Department.
I
led
a
small,
dedicated
team
of
professionals
and
coordinated
the
work
of
some
30
other
full-time
ethics
officials,
attorneys,
paralegals
and
other
specialists
across
the
Department
of
Justice,
ensuring
that
the
117,000
Department
employees
were
properly
advised
on
and
supported
in
how
to
follow
the
Federal
employee
ethics
rules.’”
Read
more
here.
#3
“Legal
Group
Urges
State
Supreme
Court
to
Order
Florida
Bar
to
Investigate
Bondi.”
From
the
Miami
Herald:
“Snubbed
by
The
Florida
Bar
last
month,
about
70
liberal-leaning
scholars,
attorneys
and
former
judges
have
asked
the
state
Supreme
Court
to
order
the
Bar
to
investigate
their
complaint
claiming
U.S.
Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi
violated
Florida’s
ethics
rules
as
the
nation’s
top
law
enforcement
official.
The
coalition’s
legal
argument
in
a
petition
filed
on
Tuesday
may
be
compelling,
but
it’s
a
long
shot
given
the
fact
that
the
seven
justices
on
Florida’s
high
court
were
all
appointed
by
Republican
Gov.
Ron
DeSantis
and
former
GOP
Gov.
Charlie
Crist.”
Read
more
here.
#4
“Rubio
Moves
to
Strip
US
Visas
From
Eight
Brazilian
Judges
in
Bolsonaro
Battle.”
From
The
Guardian:
“The
US
secretary
of
state,
Marco
Rubio,
has
reportedly
stripped
eight
of
Brazil’s
11
supreme
court
judges
of
their
US
visas
as
the
White
House
escalates
its
campaign
to
help
the
country’s
former
president
Jair
Bolsonaro
avoid
justice
over
his
alleged
attempt
to
seize
power
with
a
military
coup.
Bolsonaro,
a
far-right
populist
with
ties
to
Donald
Trump’s
Maga
movement,
is
on
trial
for
allegedly
masterminding
a
murderous
plot
to
cling
to
power
after
losing
the
2022
election
to
his
leftwing
rival,
Luiz
Inácio
Lula
da
Silva.
Bolsonaro
is
expected
to
be
convicted
by
the
supreme
court
in
the
coming
weeks
and
faces
a
jail
sentence
of
up
to
43
years.”
Read
more
here.
#5
“Davis
Polk
Axes
Associate
Over
Writings
Criticizing
Trump.”
From
Bloomberg
Law:
“Wall
Street’s
Davis
Polk
&
Wardwell
fired
a
junior
attorney
following
warnings
over
his
op-eds
knocking
the
Trump
administration,
according
to
the
lawyer.
Ryan
Powers,
a
former
Davis
Polk
associate,
says
the
firm
fired
him
June
12.
His
profile
was
removed
from
the
site
immediately,
Powers
said
in
an
interview.
The
Harvard
Law
graduate
joined
the
firm’s
tax
group
October
2023
and
worked
on
deals
for
Cintas
Corp.
and
Penske
Truck
Leasing.
Powers’
op-eds
included
critical
takes
on
the
federal
government’s
surveillance
of
the
public,
which
highlighted
Palantir
Technologies.
Davis
Polk
lawyers
advised
banks
involved
in
Palantir’s
2020
stock
listing.
A
firm
human
resources
representative
notified
Powers
that
his
content
violated
the
firm’s
internal
policy
because
he
was
not
granted
prior
permission,
he
said.”
Read
more
here.
(For
even
more,
here
is
a
Substack
post
from
Powers
about
his
firing.)
#6
“Fla.
Judge
Suspended
Over
‘Unacceptable’
Political
Donations.”
From
Law360:
“A
Florida
state
court
judge
[was]
found
to
have
violated
judicial
canons
by
donating
funds
to
the
election
campaigns
of
Kamala
Harris
and
Joe
Biden
and
improperly
discussing
her
own
reelection
campaign.”
Read
more
here.
#7
“Unearthed
Chat
Sheds
Light
on
Cozy
Ties
Between
Judges,
Climate
Activists,
Raising
Ethical
Concerns.”
From
Fox
News:
“An
environmental
advocacy
group
accused
of
trying
to
manipulate
judges
organized
a
years-long,
nationwide
online
forum
with
jurists
to
promote
favorable
info
and
litigation
updates
regarding
climate
issues
–
until
the
email-styled
group
chat
was
abruptly
made
private,
Fox
News
Digital
found.”
Read
more
here.
#8
“Sen.
Coons
Asking
About
Workplace
Conduct
in
Nominees’
Questions
for
the
Record.”
From
Fix
the
Court:
“Judicial
nomination
hearings
are
often
rapid-fire
events
where
members
of
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
barely
have
enough
time
to
get
out
a
complete
thought,
let
alone
ask
a
comprehensive
line
of
questioning.
Luckily,
there
are
two
additional
parts
to
the
nomination
process:
first,
a
Senate
Judiciary
Questionnaire
that
all
nominees
must
fill
out
prior
to
their
hearing;
and
second,
any
senator
on
the
Committee
can
send
Questions
for
the
Record
to
the
nominee
after
their
hearing,
with
the
expectation
that
they’ll
be
answered
(albeit
not
always
in
a
satisfactory
manner).
There’s
been
a
positive
development
on
the
latter
front:
Sen.
Chris
Coons
is
asking
questions
about
workplace
conduct
in
the
QFRs.
This
comes
as
a
series
of
news
reports,
court
filings,
national
surveys
and
misconduct
orders
this
year
show
that
the
endemic
problems
of
harassment,
retaliation
and
discrimination
in
the
third
branch
aren’t
going
away.”
Read
more
here.
#9
“AI
Misuse
and
the
‘Snitch
Rule’
in
Legal
Ethics.”
From
the
Daily
Journal
–
Cal
Lawyer:
“Attorneys
increasingly
use
AI
tools
in
their
practice,
but
misses
of
AI
—
such
as
submitting
fabricated
case
citations
—
can
trigger
a
reporting
obligation
under
California
Rule
of
Professional
Conduct
8.3”
[And
perhaps
also
under
ABA
Model
Rule
8.4?]
Read
more
here.
#10
“Michigan
Law
Adds
AI
Essay
Prompt.”
From
Inside
Higher
Ed:
“In
2023,
the
University
of
Michigan
Law
School
made
headlines
for
its
policy
banning
applicants
from
using
generative
AI
to
write
their
admissions
essays.
Now,
two
admissions
cycles
later,
the
law
school
is
not
only
allowing
AI
responses
but
actually
mandating
the
use
of
AI—at
least
for
one
optional
essay.
For
those
applying
this
fall,
the
law
school
added
a
supplemental
essay
prompt
that
asks
students
about
their
AI
usage
and
how
they
see
that
changing
in
law
school—and
requires
them
to
use
AI
to
develop
their
response.”
Read
more
here.
#11
“California
Court
System
Adopts
Rule
on
AI
Use.”
From
Reuters:
“California
on
Friday
became
the
largest
U.S.
state
court
system
to
embrace
policies
governing
the
use
of
generative
artificial
intelligence
by
judges
and
court
employees.
California
courts
that
do
not
ban
generative
AI
outright
must
develop
AI-related
regulations
by
September
1
under
a
rule
adopted
by
the
California
Judicial
Council,
the
policy-making
body
for
the
state’s
court
system.
The
rule,
was
developed
by
an
artificial
intelligence
task
force
established
by
Chief
Justice
Patricia
Guerrero
in
2024.”
Read
more
here.
#12
“Trump
Admin’s
Supreme
Court
Lawyers
Quit.”
From
Newsweek:
“Nearly
two-thirds
of
the
U.S.
Justice
Department’s
unit
responsible
for
defending
key
Trump
administration
policies
in
court,
have
left
their
positions
since
President
Donald
Trump’s
November
election
or
announced
plans
to
leave,
according
to
a
new
list.
Of
the
approximately
110
lawyers
in
the
Federal
Programs
Branch,
69
have
departed
or
signaled
their
intention
to
depart,
according
to
the
list.
Reuters,
which
first
reported
the
list,
said
it
had
verified
the
departure
of
all
but
four.
The
resignations
could
pose
significant
challenges
for
the
unit
that
is
tasked
with
handling
an
unprecedented
wave
of
lawsuits
targeting
the
administration’s
actions,
including
restrictions
on
birthright
citizenship
and
funding
cuts
to
Harvard
University.”
Read
more
here.
#13
“Georgia
Lawyers
Consider
Limited
Role
for
Legal
Assistance
by
Non-Attorneys.”
From
Grice
Connect:
“A
committee
appointed
by
the
Georgia
Supreme
Court
is
recommending
a
pilot
program
that
would
allow
individuals
with
specialized
legal
training
to
provide
limited
legal
assistance,
aiming
to
improve
access
to
justice
for
low-income
and
rural
Georgians.”
Read
more
here.
#14
“Federal
Judges
Set
to
Meet
Monday,
Maybe
to
Pick
U.S.
Attorney.”
From
the
New
Jersey
Globe:
“A
meeting
of
the
U.S.
District
Court
Judges
from
New
Jersey
has
been
set
for
Monday
to
possibly
vote
to
appoint
a
U.S.
Attorney,
the
New
Jersey
Globe
has
learned.
The
meeting
takes
place
amid
uncertainties
surrounding
the
tenure
of
U.S.
Attorney
Alina
Habba,
whose
120-day
term
is
set
to
expire
on
Tuesday.
Under
an
incredibly
murky
statute,
federal
judges,
by
a
majority
vote,
may
appoint
a
U.S.
Attorney
if
no
one
has
been
nominated
by
the
President
and
confirmed
by
the
U.S.
Senate.
…
Several
sources
with
direct
knowledge
of
the
selection
process,
speaking
on
the
condition
of
anonymity,
have
told
the
New
Jersey
Globe
that
Habba
does
not
have
enough
support
among
the
federal
judges
to
win
a
vote.”
Read
more
here.
#15
“Joint
Statement
from
CLEA
and
AALS
Clinical
Section
on
Congressional
Attack
on
Academic
Freedom.”
From
CleaWeb.org:
“As
experiential
faculty
members
teaching
and
practicing
law,
we
have
duties
beyond
those
as
faculty
members
with
academic
freedom
—
we
are
representatives
for
our
clients,
officers
of
the
court,
and
public
citizens.
Seeking
to
punish
a
lawyer
for
their
ethical
and
zealous
representation
and
advocacy
compromises
these
core
responsibilities.
This,
in
turn,
threatens
the
viability
of
our
legal
system
—
a
system
critical
to
the
preservation
of
our
democracy.”
Read
more
here.
Did
you
miss
the
150+
job
postings
from
previous
Roundups?
Find
them
all here.
Did
you
miss
an
announcement
from
previous
Roundups?
Find
them
all here.