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.
Hello
from
Arizona.
And
happy
early
Thanksgiving.
I’ve
been
fortunate
to
start
the
week
with
two
of
my
best
girlfriends,
wrapping
up
our
long
weekend
getaway
in
the
Santa
Catalina
Mountains.
This
rainbow
greeted
us
on
our
first
day!
Catalina
Mountains,
Arizona
(photo
by
Renee
Jefferson)
Many
of
us—but
not
all
of
us—will
enjoy
a
break
from
work
or
school
over
this
holiday
week.
Time
with
family
and
friends
can
be
a
respite
for
some,
but
others
may
be
separated
from
or
missing
loved
ones.
Wherever
you
find
yourself,
I
wish
you
many
moments
for gratitude.
I
hope
you
know
how
grateful
I
am
for
this
community.
Thank
you
for
reading,
subscribing,
sending
me
your
thoughts,
and
sharing
the
LER
with
others.
by
Renee
Jefferson
We
are
wrapping
up
November
with
a
week
of
many,
many
legal
ethics
headlines.
So
you
get
an
extra
five.
Read
on
below.
Highlights
from
Last
Week –
Top Ten Fifteen
Headlines
#1
“The
Unraveling
of
the
Justice
Department.
Sixty
Attorneys
Describe
a
Year
of
Chaos
and
Suspicion.” From The
New
York
Times: “President
Trump’s second
term
has
brought
a
period
of
turmoil
and
controversy
unlike
any
in
the
history
of
the
Justice
Department.
Trump
and
his
appointees
have
blasted
through
the
walls
designed
to
protect
the
nation’s
most
powerful
law
enforcement
agency
from
political
influence;
they
have
directed
the
course
of
criminal
investigations,
openly
flouted
ethics
rules
and
caused
a
breakdown
of
institutional
culture.
To
date,
more
than
200
career
attorneys
have
been
fired,
and
thousands
more
have
resigned.
…We
interviewed
more
than
60
attorneys
who
recently
resigned
or
were
fired
from
the
Justice
Department.
Much
of
what
they
told
us
is
reported
here
for
the
first
time.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
“They
didn’t
want
the
ethics
office
calling
them
up
and
telling
them
what
to
do.”
Joseph
Tirrell,
former
director
of
the
Departmental
Ethics
Office
#2
“Trusting
the
Machine:
Legal
Ethics
in
the
Era
of
Automated
Decision-Making.” From Legal
Reader: “Imagine
a
world
where
algorithms
set
bail,
draft
legal
briefs,
and
issue
sentences.
As
court
systems
explore
automation
in
law,
ethical
considerations,
questions
about
fairness,
accountability,
and
transparency
come
to
the
fore.
Can
we
trust
machines
with
decisions
that
affect
liberty
and
justice?
This
shift
raises
urgent
ethical
issues
in
automated
decision-making
and
tests
our
commitment
to
legal
ethics
in
artificial
intelligence.”
Read
more here.
#3
“Former
SCOTX
Chiefs
Make
Case
for
Judicial
Independence.” From The
Texas
Lawbook: “In
a
recent
joint
appearance
at
a
public
policy
forum
in
Austin,
three
former
Texas
Supreme
Court
chief
justices
discussed
encroachments
by
the
legislative
branch
on
judicial
independence
and
an
increase
in
hot-button
issues
being
directed
into
state
courts.”
Read
more here.
(Full
disclosure
–
I’m
married
to
one
of
the
former
SCOTX
Chiefs
— Wallace
B.
Jefferson.
If
you
don’t
know
our “Loving”
story,
check
it
out here.)
#4
“Judge
Horrified
as
Lawyers
Submit
Evidence
in
Court
That
Was
Faked
With
AI.” From Futurism: “Lawyers
across
the
country
have
been
landing
themselves
in
hot
water
for
submitting
botched
court
documents
written
with
the
help
of
AI,
in
blunders
that
were
clear
signs
of
the
tech’s
rapid
inroads
into
the
courtroom.
But
it
was
only
a
matter
of
time
before
AI
wasn’t
just
producing
clerical
errors,
but
actual
submitted
‘evidence.’
That’s
what
recently
played
out
in
a
California
court
over
a
housing
dispute
—
and
it
didn’t
end
well
for
the
AI-fielding
party.
As
NBC
News
reports,
the
plaintiffs
in
the
case, Mendones
v.
Cushman
&
Wakefield,
Inc.,
submitted
a strange
video that
was
supposed
to
be
witness
testimony.
In
it,
the
witness’s
face
is
fuzzy
and
barely
animated.
Aside
from
the
rare
blink,
the
only
noticeable
movement
comes
from
her
flapping
lips,
while
the
rest
of
her
expression
remains
unchanged.
There’s
also
a
jarring
cut,
after
which
the
movements
repeat
themselves.
In
other
words,
it
was
obviously
an
AI
deepfake.
And
according
to
the
reporting,
it
might
be
one
of
the
first
documented
instances
of
a
deepfake
being
submitted
as
purportedly
authentic
evidence
in
court
—
or
at
least
one
that
was
caught.”
Read
more here.
#5
“Jerry’s
Jeremiad:
A
Wild
Dissent
Roils
Texas
Redistricting
Debate.
You’ve
Never
Seen
a
Judicial
Burn
Quite
Like
This
One.” From Politico: “When
a
judge
warns
readers
to
‘Fasten
your
seatbelts!’
before
a
104-page
legal
diatribe
—
best
to
buckle
up. Jerry
Smith,
a
judge
on
the
5th
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals,
delivered
that
admonition
before
launching
into
an invective-laden,
unusually
personal
excoriation of
a
legal
decision
Tuesday
throwing
out
congressional
boundaries
Texas
just
redrew
at
the
urging
of President
Donald
Trump.”
Read
more here.
#6
“How
a
Top
DC
Lawyer
and
High-Stakes
Poker
Player
Risks
Losing
It
All.” From Washingtonian: “[Tom]
Goldstein’s problems
have
caught
the
local
legal
community
off
guard.
‘The
whole
thing
is
extremely
shocking,
to
have
a
prominent
lawyer
be
indicted
for
federal
crimes,’
says
one
Supreme
Court
lawyer.
‘I
would
say
it’s
less
shocking
that
it
was
Tom
than
if
it
was
some
other
lawyer,
just
in
the
sense
that
he’s
always
been
an
unorthodox
guy.
He’s
always
been
a
risk
taker.’
But
why
did
one
of
Washington’s
top
lawyers
risk
everything
to
play
cards?”
Read
more here.
#7
“Federal
Judge
Blasts
Potential
‘Government
Misconduct’
in
Comey
Case.” From
the Washington
Post: “A
federal
judge
on
Monday
offered
a
blistering
assessment
of
the
Justice
Department’s
case
against
former
FBI
director James
B.
Comey,
detailing
what
he
described
as
a
‘disturbing
pattern
of
profound
investigative
missteps’
and
possible
misconduct
that
could
imperil
the
prosecution. U.S.
Magistrate
Judge
William
Fitzpatrick criticized
authorities
for
their
“cavalier”
attitude
toward
the
rights
of
Comey
and
others. Lindsey
Halligan,
the
Trump-appointed
U.S.
attorney
overseeing
the
case,
also
appeared
to
have
made
‘fundamental
misstatements
of
the
law’
to
the
grand
jury
that
indicted
Comey
on
charges
of
lying
to
Congress, he
wrote.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
#8
“ABA
to
Review
Law
School
Standards,
May
Drop
Diversity
Rule
Amid
Pressure.” From Reuters: “The
American
Bar
Association
will
undertake
a
sweeping
review
of
its
standards
for
law
schools
as
states
weigh
dropping
the
organization
as
an
accreditor
and
critics
blame
its
regulations
for
driving
up
student
costs.
The
ABA
may
also
eliminate
its
diversity
and
inclusion
requirement
for
law
schools,
which
has
placed
the
ABA
in
the
crosshairs
of
the
Trump
administration
and
other
conservatives
who
claim
it
is
discriminatory.”
Read
more here.
#9
“Ousted
Immigration
Judge
Describes
Deepening
Court
Backlog.” From PBS: “Dozens
of
immigration
judges
have
been
fired
by
the
Trump
administration
with
no
explanation.
From
coast
to
coast,
nearly
four
dozen
judges
have
lost
their
positions
as
the
courts
face
a
record
backlog.
Many
had
worked
in
immigrant
defense,
prompting
questions
about
whether
the
firings
are
part
of
the
administration’s
hardline
approach. Geoff
Bennett discussed
more
with
former
judge Emmett
Soper.”
Read
more
and
listen here.
#10
“McDermott’s
Outside
Investor
Talks
Augur
Big
Law
Transformation.” From Bloomberg
Law: “The
possibility
of
outside
investors
taking
a
stake
in
McDermott
Will
&
Schulte
nudges
rivals
to
consider
a
similar
step
and
possibly
change
the
way
the
legal
industry
operates.
Small
firms
have
already
begun
to
embrace
the
idea
of
having
non-lawyer
investors
own
back-office
operations,
said Fredric
Litwiniuk,
chief
growth
officer
at
Litco
LSO.
His
Phoenix-based
company
handles
functions
such
as
accounting,
technology,
and
marketing
for
three
firms
and
plans
to
add
two
more
by
the
end
of
the
year,
he
said.”
Read
more here.
#11
“Judge
Gets
Sacked
for
‘Routinely’
Wearing
Elvis
Wig
&
Glasses
on
Bench
and
Playing
Icon’s
Legendary
Music
at
Hearings.” From The
Sun: “A
judge
has
been
forced
to
resign
after
he
routinely
dressed
up
as Elvis
Presley and
played
the
King
of
Rock
and
Roll’s
greatest
hits
in
court.
A
disciplinary
committee
found
that Matthew
Thornhill would
often
don
a
pompadour
wig,
aviator
shades
and
a
robe
during
hearings
to
cosplay
as
Elvis.
The
St.
Charles
County
Circuit
judge
dressed
up
as
the
music
icon
for
rulings
around
Halloween
season
in
Missouri, court
documents
state. He
was
also
accused
of
constantly
slipping
in
irrelevant
Elvis
references
during
hearings
and
swearings-in.”
Read
more here.
#12
“Court
Rules
That
Crime-Fraud
Exception
Strips
Firm’s
Privilege
Claim.” From JD
Supra: “Otherwise
privileged
communications
between
lawyers
and
their
clients
that
further
ongoing
or
even
contemplated
criminal
conduct
can
lose
their
protection
under
the
so-called
‘crime-fraud
exception.’
Courts
disagree
about
this
worrisome
doctrine’s
expansion
to
communications
about
fraudulent,
or
sometimes
even
willfully
tortious,
conduct.
In Eletson
Holdings
Inc.
v.
Levona
Holdings
Ltd.,
No.
23-cv-7331
(LJL),
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
184584
(S.D.N.Y.
Sept.
19,
2025),
defendant
pointed
to
the
crime-fraud
exception
in
moving
to
compel
Reed
Smith
to
produce
documents.
…
The
court
noted
that
even
if
the
firm
‘was
a
victim
of
its
client’s
fraud
rather
than
complicit
in
it,
the
crime-fraud
exception
would
apply
if
the
communications
at
issue
were
in
furtherance
of
the
fraud.’ Id. at
*8-9.”
Read
more here.
#13
“The
Neuroanalytics
Of
Using
Legal
Tech:
Clio’s
Joshua
Lenon
On
A
First-of-its-Kind
Cognitive
Study.” From LawSites: “Legal
technology
company
Clio
recently
released
the
10th
edition
of
its Legal
Trends
Report,
its
annual
analysis
of
data
and
survey
responses
on
legal
practice
and
emerging
trends,
and
this
year’s
report
ventured
into
new
territory.
For
the
first
time,
the
report
included
a
neuroanalytics
study
of
legal
professionals,
analyzing
electrical
brain
activity
in
legal
professionals
as
they
performed
various
work-related
tasks,
in
order
to
paint
a
picture
of
their
emotional
strain
and
mental
focus
as
they
worked.”
Read
more here.
#14
“Lawyers
Need
Lifelong
Training
in
Ethics,
Say
Peers.” From
the Law
Society
Gazette: “Lawyers
should
receive
training
in
professional
ethics
throughout
their
careers,
peers
have
concluded
after
a
wide-ranging
inquiry
into
threats
to
the
rule
of
law
in
the
UK.
In
its
report Rule
of
Law:
Holding
the
Line
Between
Anarchy
and
Tyranny,
the
House
of
Lords
constitution
committee,
states
that
‘trust
in
the
legal
profession
has
been
undermined
by
high-profile
examples
of
unethical
practice’.
This
distrust,
accelerated
by
‘negative
rhetoric
in
the
media
and
by
politicians’
and
exacerbated
by
‘massive
inequalities
and
lack
of
access
to
legal
advice’,
undermines
respect
for
the
rule
of
law.
The
report
cites
the
Post
Office
Horizon
scandal
and
Legal
Services
Board
research
showing
‘a
lack
of
understanding
and/or
due
regard
to
the
significance
of
what
upholding
professional
ethical
duties
means
in
practice’.”
Read
more here.
#15
“Detecting
AI
Misconduct
by
Opposing
Counsel
Is
a
Lawyer’s
Duty.” From Bloomberg
Law: “Much
discussion
about
artificial
intelligence
has
centered
on
a
lawyer’s
duty
to
competently
and
ethically
use
it.
A
recent
California
court decision raises
a
critical,
additional
question:
Do
attorneys
have
a
responsibility
to
detect
and
report
an
opponent’s
use
of
AI,
especially
when
that
use
results
in
fabricated
or
‘hallucinated’
legal
authority?
In Noland
v.
Land
of
the
Free,
L.P.,
the
California
Court
of
Appeal,
Second
District,
determined
that
proactive
detection
is
best
practice
and
a
form
of
financial
self-defense.
The
court’s
denial
of
fees
establishes
that
attorneys
who
fail
to
identify
AI
fraud
may
not
qualify
for
recovery,
even
when
opposing
counsel’s
misconduct
deserves
sanctions.”
Read
more here.
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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.