Ed.
note:
Please
welcome
Renee
Knake
Jefferson
back
to
the
pages
of
Above
the
Law.
Subscribe
to
her
Substack,
Legal
Ethics
Roundup, here.
Welcome
to
what
captivates,
haunts,
inspires,
and
surprises
me
every
week
in
the
world
of
legal
ethics.
Happy
Monday!
Here
are
your
headlines.
Highlights
from
Last
Week –
Top
Ten
Headlines
#1
“Vigilante
Lawyers
Expose
the
Rising
Tide
of
A.I.
Slop
in
Court
Filings.” From
the New
York
Times: “Mr.
Freund is
part
of
a
growing
network
of
lawyers
who
track
down
A.I.
abuses
committed
by
their
peers,
collecting
the
most
egregious
examples
and
posting
them
online.
The
group
hopes
that
by
tracking
down
the
A.I.
slop,
it
can
help
draw
attention
to
the
problem
and
put
an
end
to
it.
…
‘These
cases
are
damaging
the
reputation
of
the
bar,’
said Stephen
Gillers,
an
ethics
professor
at
New
York
University
School
of
Law.
‘Lawyers
everywhere
should
be
ashamed
of
what
members
of
their
profession
are
doing.’
…
The
problem,
though,
keeps
getting
worse.
That’s
why Damien
Charlotin,
a
lawyer
and
researcher
in
France,
started an online
database in
April
to
track
it.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
#2
“Law
Firm
Ownership
Could
Be
Opened
to
Non-Lawyers
in
Tennessee.” From Bloomberg
Law: “Tennessee
is
looking
at
non-lawyer
ownership
of
law
firms,
a
possibility
that
would
create
rare
access
to
the
profession
for
investors
and
corporations.
The
state
Supreme
Court,
which
says
it
is
worried
about
an
insufficient
supply
of
legal
services,
is
taking
comments
on
whether
it
should
loosen
ownership
rules.
The
goal
is
‘to
ensure
that
all
Tennesseans
have
access
to
affordable
quality
legal
services,’
the
court
said in
an
order last
month.
If
a
change
moves
forward,
the
state
will
join
Arizona
and
Utah
in
liberalizing
rules
to
let
a
broad
array
of
new
players
put
money
into
firms.
A
range
of
participants—KPMG,
Fortress
Investment
Group,
Rocket
Lawyer,
and
LegalZoom—have
jumped
into
the
fray
in
those
states
and
proponents
see
similar
possibilities
in
Tennessee.”
Read
more here.
#3
“Dems’
Bill
Would
Give
DHS
Detainees
Right
To
Talk
To
Atty.” From Law360: “Democratic
lawmakers
unveiled
a
bill
Friday
that
would
guarantee
immigrant
detainees
the
right
to
contact
their
families
and
speak
to
legal
counsel
in
custody,
amid
the
Trump
administration’s
push
to
ramp
up
major
enforcement
efforts
that
have
led
to
arrests
of
people
while
dropping
off
children
at
school
or
grocery
shopping. U.S.
Senator
Chris
Murphy,
D-Conn.,
and U.S.
Rep.
Maxine
Dexter,
D-Ore.,
are
leading
the
charge
with
the
backing
of
58
U.S.
Senate
and
House
of
Representatives
lawmakers
in
their
introduction
of
the
bicameral
legislation,
‘Restoring
Access
to
Detainees
Act,’
which
would
ensure
that
noncitizen
detainees
are
provided
limited,
free
telephone
services
to
speak
with
their
legal
counsel
and
stay
in
contact
with
their
families.”
Read
more here.
#4
“Lawmakers
Seek
Investigation
of
Judges
Who
Criticized
Supreme
Court.” From
the New
York
Times: “The
Republican
chairmen
of
the
Senate
and
House
Judiciary
Committees
appealed
to Chief
Justice
John
G.
Roberts
Jr. on
Wednesday
to
look
into
whether
federal
judges
who
responded
to
a
New
York
Times
questionnaire
with
criticism
of
the
Supreme
Court
had
violated
their
ethics
obligations.
…
The
letter
comes
weeks
after
The
Times published
an
article in
which
dozens
of
federal
judges
accused
the
Supreme
Court
of
mishandling
its
emergency
docket,
complaining
that
its
orders
were
too
brief,
opaque
and
vague
for
the
lower
courts
to
follow
—
particularly
in
the
many
cases
where
the
justices
issued
emergency
orders,
but
offered
no
reasoning
for
their
decision.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
#5
“Ex-NJ
Lawyer
Disciplined
For
Sharing
Fees
With
Non-Attys.” From Law360: “The
New
Jersey
Supreme
Court
has
handed
down
a
deferred
two-year
suspension
to
a
retired
attorney
for
improperly
sharing
more
than
$650,000
in
fees
with
nonattorneys
over
several
years
after
he
had
been
censured
for
similar
misconduct.”
Read
more here.
#6
“Brad
Karp
Heckled
at
Gala
as
He
Defends
Paul
Weiss
Pro
Bono.” From Bloomberg
Law: “Paul
Weiss
chairman
Brad
Karp
defended
the
firm’s
pro
bono
work
in
the
wake
of
its
deal
with President
Donald
Trump,
as
he
was
heckled
and
protested
at
a
bar
association
event.
In
a
nearly
30-minute
speech
Friday
night
at
the
New
York
Bar
Foundation
gala
honoring
Paul
Weiss
partner Loretta
Lynch,
Karp
listed
the
firm’s
past
and
present
pro
bono
work
for
liberal
causes.”
Read
more here.
#7
“Federal
Judge
Accused
of
Misconduct
Disbarred
by
Alaska
Supreme
Court.” From Alaska’s
News
Source: “The
Alaska
Supreme
Court
has
ordered
former
federal
judge Joshua
Kindred to
be
disbarred
from
the
practice
of
law
in
Alaska.
Kindred
is
the
first
ever
judge
to
be
disbarred
in
Alaska.
This
comes
after
investigators
found
that
Kindred
had
a
‘sexualized
relationship’
with
a
clerk
who
became
a
prosecutor
and
lied
about
it
to
a
senior
judge
and
investigators
and
maintained
a
hostile
workplace
for
law
clerks.
He
resigned
in
2024.”
Read
more here.
#8
“US
Attorneys
Beware:
Acting
Outside
Ethical
Boundaries
May
Cause
Irreparable
Damage.” From The
Law
Journal
Editorial
Board: “It
is
disappointing
to
read
that
federal
judges
across
the
country
have
expressed
displeasure
with
representations
and
arguments
of
lawyers
from
what
was
the
previously
highly
regarded
United
States
Department
of
Justice.
Judges
have
become
skeptical
and
critical
of
their
arguments,
despite
the
historical
presumption
that
they
act
in
good
faith
and
with
a
‘presumption
of
regularity.’
According
to
U.S.
Senior
District
Judge
Paul
L.
Friedman
of
the
District
of
Columbia (himself
a
former
assistant
United
States
attorney
and
assistant
to
the
solicitor
general
of
the
United
States),
federal
‘courts
have
seen
instance
after
instance
of
departure
from
this
tradition.’”
Read
more here.
#9
“Too
Sick
to
Practice?
Ethics
Rules
Still
Apply
to
Attorneys.” From
the Daily
Journal: “As
flu
season
sets
in,
even
the
most
tireless
lawyer
must
recognize
when
illness
demands
a
pause
—
because
ethical
duties
don’t
take
sick
days.”
Read
more here.
#10
“UH
Law
Center
Panel
Explores
Ways
Lawyers
Can
Be
Effective
and
Ethical
Leaders,
Advisors.” From
the University
of
Houston: “Lawyers
play
pivotal
roles
across
the
wide
spectrum
of
American
centers
of
power
–
from
the
White
House
to
local
governments,
from
corporate
boardrooms
to
nonprofit
organizations.
A
recent
online
webinar
hosted
by
the
University
of
Houston
Law
Center,
‘Lawyers
Who
Lead:
Ethics,
Influence,
and
Impact,’
examined
the
significant
influence
lawyers
can
hold
and
how
to
exercise
it
responsibly.”
Read
more
and
watch here.
Get
Hired
Usually
I
include
job
postings
only
with “First
Monday”
editions of
the
LER
at
the
start
of
the
month,
but
I
had
a
special
request
for
this
one
from
the
American
Bar
Association.
Here’s
the
opportunity:
Lead
Senior
Counsel,
ABA
Center
for
Professional
Responsibility
–
Flexible
or
hybrid
work
arrangements
may
be
available
for
residents
of
CA,
DC,
IL,
IN,
IA,
MD,
MI,
MN,
TX,
VA,
and
WI. From
the
posting:
“Serves
as
primary
legal
counsel
and
provides
legal
policy
guidance
to
ABA
entities
and
exercises
department
management
duties
within
Division.
Serves
as
national
legal
expert
in
the
field
of
legal
and
judicial
ethics
and
professional
responsibility
law.
Provides
expertise
to
ABA
governance,
ABA
entities,
state,
local,
national
and
international
legal
community.
Develops
controlling
legal
policy
and
substantive
legal
resources
to
ensure
and
enhance
the
Association’s
continued
status
as
the
preeminent
leader
and
legal
authority
in
professional
responsibility
law.”
Learn
more
and
apply here.
Did
you
miss
the
350+
job
postings
from
previous
weeks? Find
them
all here,
including another
opportunity at
the
ABA
Center
for
Professional
Responsibility
—
Associate
Counsel.
Upcoming
Ethics
Events
&
Other
Announcements
Did
you
miss
an
announcement
from
previous
weeks?
Find
them
all here.
Keep
in
Touch
News
tips?
Announcements?
Events? A
job
to
post? Reading
recommendations? Email [email protected] –
but
be
sure
to
subscribe
first,
otherwise
the
email
won’t
be
delivered.
Renee
Knake
Jefferson
holds
the
endowed
Doherty
Chair
in
Legal
Ethics
and
is
a
Professor
of
Law
at
the
University
of
Houston.
Check
out
more
of
her
writing
at
the Legal
Ethics
Roundup.
Find
her
on
X
(formerly
Twitter)
at @reneeknake or
Bluesky
at legalethics.bsky.social.