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!
from
60
Minutes
October
19,
2025
Legal
ethics
issues
were
front
and
center
on CBS’s
60
Minutes last
night.
You
can
watch
the
interview
of
former
Justice
Department
lawyer Erez
Reuveni here.
From
the
episode
description:
“Reuveni
speaks
out
about
the
disregard
of
due
process
and
for
the
rule
of
law
that
he
says
he
witnessed
in
his
final
weeks
at
the
Department
of
Justice.”
Now
for
your
headlines.
Highlights
from
Last
Week –
Top
Ten
Ethics
Headlines
#1
“Attacks
on
U.S.
Legal
Profession
Reflect
Global
Slide
in
Countries
It
Once
Aided.” From Just
Security: “Crackdowns
on
the
legal
profession
—
lawyers,
judges
and
prosecutors
—
are
part
of
a
longstanding
authoritarian
playbook
used
around
the
world
to
silence
dissent.
…
The
tactics
differ,
but
the
aim
is
the
same:
to
silence
lawyers
who
represent
politically
targeted
clients,
judges
who
issue
rulings
that
contradict
the
repressive
government’s
political
–
and
often
personal
—
aims,
and
prosecutors
who
pursue
cases
against
its
favored
allies.
Whether
through
formal
legislation
or
informal
pressure,
these
measures
aim
to
curtail
legal
advocacy,
judicial
independence,
and
the
rule
of
law
itself.
The
United
States
has
long
prided
itself
on
a
tradition
of
public
interest
lawyering
rooted
in
the
civil
rights
movement
and
sustained
through
legal
aid,
legal
clinics,
and
pro
bono
representation
carried
forward
by
lawyers.
By
framing
access
to
justice
as
a
professional
duty,
organizations
such
like
the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union
(ACLU)
or
the
NAACP
Legal
Defense
Fund
(LDF)
institutionalized
public
interest
advocacy.
Yet,
over
time,
these
organizations
have
also
been
criticized
for
professionalizing
and
depoliticizing
what
began
as
grassroots
social
movements.”
Read
more here.
#2
“Regulatory
Retrenchment
in
California:
What
AB
931
Means
for
ABS
and
MSO-Supported
Law
Firms.” From JD
Supra: “California
Gov.
Gavin
Newsom signed
Assembly
Bill
(AB)
931
on
Oct.
10,
2025,
largely
freezing
California
lawyers’
ability
to
experiment
with
and
accommodate
the
development
of
burgeoning
Alternative
Business
Structures
(ABS)
for
the
next
four
years.
Though
jurisdictions
such
as
Arizona,
Puerto
Rico
and
Utah
have
adopted
innovative
programs
to
permit
limited
non-lawyer
ownership
of
law
firms,
the
new
law
signals
that
California
is
skeptical
and
poised
to
move
in
the
opposite
direction.”
Read
more here.
#3
“Law
School
Interest
Hits
New
High,
Applications
Surge.” From
the National
Jurist: “Law
school
applications
in
the
U.S.
are
surging,
according
to
Oct.
16
data
from
the
Law
School
Admission
Council.
The
numbers
show
a
27.8%
increase
in
total
applications
for
the
2025
enrollment
year
compared
to
last
year.
The
rise
is
even
more
pronounced
over
a
two-year
span,
with
applications
up
76.2%.”
Read
more here.
#4
“Reagan
Judges
Are
Unrestrained
Critics
of
Trump’s
Legal
Moves.” From Bloomberg
Law: “Judges
appointed
by President
Ronald
Reagan are
emerging
as
vocal
critics
of
the
Trump
administration’s
efforts
to
circumvent
court
orders
or
challenge
the
law
in
unprecedented
ways,
backed
by
decades
of
experience
and
plenty
of
practice
being
blunt
in
other
cases.
The
judges—all
in
their
80s
and
located
in
Washington,
Boston,
Seattle,
and
Charlottesville,
Va.—have
made
notable
remarks
from
the
bench
or
in
written
rulings.
Some
jurists
are
more
guarded,
speaking
about
the
power
of
the
courts
and
imploring
the
administration
to
respect
them.
Others
see
little
reason
to
trust
the
administration
at
this
stage.”
Read
more here.
#5
“ABA
Says
Third-Party
Lawyer-Mediators
Must
Be
‘Credibly
Neutral’.” From Bloomberg
Law “Lawyers
acting
as
third-party
neutral
mediators
need
to
be
careful
to
ensure
that
unrepresented
parties
in
negotiations
understand
the
nature
and
scope
of
their
role,
the American
Bar
Association says
in
a
new
ethics
opinion.
Lawyer-mediators
must
explain
the
difference
between
their
role
as
a
neutral
and
a
lawyer’s
more
typical
role
representing
a
client,
especially
when
a
party
is
unrepresented
and
doesn’t
understand
the
mediation
process,
says
the opinion released
Wednesday.”
Read
more here.
#6
“Federal
Judges,
Warning
of
‘Judicial
Crisis,’
Fault
Supreme
Court’s
Emergency
Orders.” From The
New
York
Times: “More
than
three
dozen
federal
judges
have
told
The
New
York
Times
that
the
Supreme
Court’s
flurry
of
brief,
opaque
emergency
orders
in
cases
related
to
the
Trump
administration
have
left
them
confused
about
how
to
proceed
in
those
matters
and
are
hurting
the
judiciary’s
image
with
the
public.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
#7
“DOJ
On
Defense:
Federal
Lawyers
Face
Ethics
Probes
For
‘Zealous’
Advocacy.” From
the Tampa
Free
Press: “A
political
battle
is
raging
in
the
halls
of
justice,
not
in
the
courtroom,
but
within
the
state
bar
associations.
A
coalition
of
left-wing
groups
and
law
professors
is
aggressively
filing
ethics
complaints
against
high-ranking
government
lawyers,
including US
Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi, alleging
professional
misconduct
for
‘zealously’
advocating
for
the
interests
of
the
United
States
and
the
president.
The
controversy
highlights
a
growing
trend
of
‘lawfare’
where
ethics
complaints
are
being
used
as
a
political
weapon,
primarily
targeting
conservative
attorneys
serving
in
or
defending
the
administration.”
Read
more here.
#8
“Fake
AI
Citations
Produce
Fines
for
California,
Alabama
Lawyers.” From Bloomberg
Law: “Federal
courts
in
California
and
Alabama
have
imposed
thousands
of
dollars
in
fines
against
two
attorneys
sanctioned
separately
for
including
nonexistent
legal
citations
generated
by
artificial
intelligence
in
their
filings.The
sanctions
address
a
wave
of
AI
hallucinations
in
litigation
that’s
growing
despite
training
offered
by
bar
associations,
legal
journal
articles,
and
extensive
media
coverage
of
lawyers
punished
by
courts
for
relying
too
much
on
the
technology.
In
recent
months,
fake
citations
in
federal
court
filings
have
resulted
in
$3,000
in
fines
for
a
New
Jersey
attorney,
$1,500
in
fines
for
a
California
attorney,
and
a
warning
for
a
New
York
attorney.
‘Somehow
the
message
still
has
not
been
hammered
home
as
the
epidemic
of
citing
fake
cases
continues
unabated,’
Judge
Terry
F.
Moorer
of
the
US
District
Court
for
the
Southern
District
of
Alabama said
in
an order issued
Oct.
10.”
Read
more here.
#9
“State
Supreme
Court
Rejects
Attempt
to
Force
Florida
Bar
to
Investigate
Bondi.” From Florida
Phoenix: “The
Florida
Supreme
Court
refused
Monday
to
force
the
Florida
Bar
to
investigate U.S.
Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi for
alleged
state
ethics
violations,
denying
a
request
made
by
dozens
of
attorneys
and
former
judges.
The
court’s
five-sentence rejection sided
with
the
Florida
Bar
—
the
overseer
of
the
state’s
legal
profession
—
and
state Attorney
General
James
Uthmeier in
finding
that
the
70-odd
legal
experts
lacked
standing
to
ask
a
state-level
organization
to
investigate
federal
officials,
even
if
they’re
certified
to
practice
law
in
Florida.
‘Because
petitioner
has
failed
to
show
a
clear
legal
right
to
the
relief
requested,
he
is
not
entitled
to
mandamus
relief,’
the
brief
denial
reads,
co-signed
by
five
of
the
seven
Florida
Supreme
Court
Justices.”
Read
more here.
#10
“Q&A:
South
Texas
College
of
Law
Dean
Rey
Valencia
on
SCOTX’s
Tentative
Move
Away
from
ABA
Oversight
and
Other
Changes
Facing
Law
School
Leaders.” From Texas
Law
Book: “This
interview
on
Sept.
30
took
place
four
days
after
the
Texas
Supreme
Court
issued
an
order
stating
its
‘tentative
opinion’
that
the
American
Bar
Association
should
no
longer
decide
which
Texas
schools
can
send
graduates
to
sit
for
the
state
bar
exam.
…
Even
before
taking
the
helm
at
STCL, [Rey]
Valencia —
who
was
named
STCL’s
incoming
president
in
January
—
joined
seven
other
law
school
deans
who,
in
a
June
letter
to
the
justices,
urged
the
state’s
high
court
to
continue
the
ABA’s
role.
In
the
following
Q&A,
Valencia
discusses
his
response
to
SCOTX’s
order,
as
well
as
the
challenges
and
opportunities
facing
law
schools
as
they
adapt
to
new
technologies,
meeting
students’
needs
and
the
evolving
practice
of
law.”
Read
more here.
Get
Hired
Did
you
miss
the
350+
job
postings
from
previous
weeks?
Find
them
all here.
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.
Kathryn
