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note:
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welcome
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Knake
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Above
the
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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
ABA
Issues
New
Opinion
on
Judicial
Ethics. Two
headlines
for
#1. First, “ABA
Formal
Opinion
521
Re:
Judicial
Canons
of
Ethics
Applying
to
Administrative,
Supervisory
Role,” from
the American
Bar
Association: “The
American
Bar
Association
Standing
Committee
on
Ethics
and
Professional
Responsibility
released
a
formal
opinion
that
provides
guidance
on
the
ethical
obligations
of
judges
under
the
ABA
Model
Code
of
Judicial
Conduct
when
exercising
administrative,
employment
and
supervisory
authority. Formal
Opinion
521 says
that
the
canons
and
rules
governing
impartiality,
integrity
and
independence
—
particularly
Canons
1
and
2
and
associated
rules
—
require
judges
to
administer
chambers
and
court
staff
with
the
same
fairness
and
neutrality
that
guide
adjudication.
This
opinion
explains
that
ethical
duties
extend
beyond
the
courtroom
to
include
merit-based
appointments,
the
prevention
of
bias
and
harassment
and
the
avoidance
of
favoritism
or
the
appearance
of
impropriety
in
all
administrative
decisions.
Judges
fulfill
these
obligations
by
ensuring
that
their
use
of
administrative
authority
promotes
public
confidence
in
the
judiciary’s
independence
and
integrity.”
Read
more here. Second, “Judges
Only
Hiring
Clerks
From
Their
Alma
Maters
is
Bad
Look,
New
ABA
Ethics
Opinion
Says,” from
the ABA
Journal:
“Judges
should
use
merit-based
selection
for
court
hires
and
not
use
their
positions
to
influence
outside
officials,
according
to
an
ethics
opinion
released
Wednesday
by
the
ABA.
Additionally, Formal
Opinion
521,
from
the
ABA’s
Standing
Committee
on
Ethics
and
Professional
Responsibility,
states
that
jurists
have
ethical
obligations
extending
far
beyond
the
bench.
Promoting
and
preserving
public
trust
in
the
judicial
system
‘requires
attention
to
both
substance
and
perception,’
according
to
the
opinion.
Numerous
rules
from
the
ABA’s Model
Code
of
Judicial
Conduct are
referenced
in
the
ethics
opinion,
which
includes
various
scenarios
that
may
cause
concern.”
Read
more here.
#2
“Supreme
Court
Adopts
Automated
Recusal
Software
to
Avoid
Ethics
Conflicts.” From CNN: “The
Supreme
Court
said
Tuesday
that
it
will
start
using
software
to
assist
in
justices’
decisions
to
recuse
themselves
from
cases
that
present
a
potential
conflict
of
interest.
A
brief
press
release
issued
by
the
court
described
an
electronic
matching
process
already
used
by
some
lower
courts
to
compare
a
case’s
parties
to
lists
judges
assemble
of
individuals
and
organizations
they
have
ties
to.
A
2023
code
of
conduct
statement
from
the
justices
said
they
were
considering adopting
such
a
tool
themselves.”
Read
more here.
#3
“Illinois
Lawmakers
Seek
to
Limit
Private
Equity
in
Law
Firms.” From JD
Journal: “Illinois
lawmakers
are
advancing
new
legislation
that
would
significantly
restrict
the role
of
private
equity
firms
and
outside
investors in
the
state’s
legal
industry,
signaling
growing
concern
over
how
financial
backing
could
reshape
the
practice
of
law.
The
proposed
measures,
introduced
in
the
Illinois
General
Assembly,
seek
to
reinforce
longstanding
ethical
rules
that
prohibit
non-lawyer
ownership
of
law
firms.
As
private
equity
firms
increasingly
explore
partnerships
with
legal
organizations
through
management
services
organizations
(MSOs)
and
similar
structures,
lawmakers
say
clearer
statutory
guardrails
are
needed
to
protect
attorney
independence
and
client
interests.”
Read
more here.
#4 “Top
Lawyers’
Fees
Have
Surged—Here’s
Why
$3,400.” From The
Wall
Street
Journal: “That’s
the
hourly
rate
charged
by
some senior
partners
at
the
largest
U.S.
law
firms,
according
to
data
from
Persuit.
Legal
fees
have
escalated
to
once-unthinkable
levels
for
several
reasons,
including
a
more
competitive
market
for
talent
and
the
high
stakes
of
litigation
and
corporate
dealmaking.
And
perhaps
most
of
all,
ego.
…
Some
lawyers
with
specialized
skills
are
even
more
aggressively
pushing
the
upper
limit. Eric
Troutman,
a
partner
at
a
Southern
California
firm,
has
already
told
his
clients
that
he
is
upping
his
rates
to
$6,000
for
consulting
on
compliance
issues
in
his
niche
specialty
of
telecom
regulation.
Last
year
he
charged
$4,200
an
hour.”
Read
more here (gift
link).
#5
“Legal
Leaders
Take
Historic
Step
To
Protect
Americans
Under
Guardianship,
Conservatorship.” From Forbes: “In
July
2021,
in
the
midst
of
her
prolonged
public
battle
to
end
her
father’s
appointment
as
her
conservator,
popstar Britney
Spears
testified that
she
had
just
learned
that
she
could
ask
for
the
conservatorship
to
be
ended:
‘I’m
sorry
for
my
ignorance,’
she
told
the
judge
in
her
case,
‘but
I
honestly
didn’t
know
that.’
Spears’
apology
suggested
that
the
attorney
who
had
been
hired
to
represent
her
had
not
actually
informed
her
of
a
key
option.
This
month,
the
American
Bar
Association
(ABA)
took
an
historic
step
to
prevent
such
problems.
It
revised
its
ethics
rules
for
attorneys
to
make
it
clear
that
they
must
advocate
for
their
clients’
wishes
even
when
their
clients
are—as
Ms.
Spears
was—under
guardianship
or
conservatorship.”
Read
more here.
#6
“The
Slaughtering
of
the
Mansfield
Rule
–
And
Why
It
Hurts.” From Vivia
Chen’s
Ex-Careerist
Substack: “Just
a
few
weeks
ago,
the
Federal
Trade
Commission
sent ’warning
letters’
to
42
law
firms that
participated
in
a
program
aimed
at
improving
female
and
minority
representation
at
the
top
echelons
of
the
legal
profession.
The
FTC
warned
that
their
DEI
efforts
threatened
competition,
‘with
the
effect
of
reducing
pay
and
other
benefits
below
competitive
levels.’
That’s
right,
DEI
is
a
form
of
price
fixing
that
violates
antitrust
laws.
Who
knew
that
the
real
agenda
of
DEI
was
market
manipulation?
…
[The]
Diversity
Lab,
which
ran
the
program
(known
as
the
Mansfield
Rule),
is
essentially
gutted.
Diversity
Lab
founder Caren
Ulrich
Stacy informed
participating
firms
in
a
February
12
email
that
the
program
is
no
longer
viable
because
of
continuous
assaults
by
the
Trump
administration”
Read
more here.
#7
“Update:
Judge
Rakoff
Issues
Written
Opinion
That
AI-Generated
Documents
Are
Not
Protected
by
Privilege.” From Debevoise
&
Plimpton: “Last
week, we
wrote
about
a
decision in
which Judge
Rakoff
of
the
Southern
District
of
New
York denied
the
claim
of
defendant Bradley
Heppner that
documents
prepared
by
Heppner
using
the
consumer
version
of
the
AI
model
Claude
for
legal
research
were
privileged.
On
February
17,
2026,
Judge
Rakoff
issued
a
written
opinion
explaining
the
reasoning
behind
his
February
10
ruling.”
Read
more here.
#8
“Jeffrey
Epstein
Gave
Her
a
$9,350
Handbag,
But
Did
Goldman
Sachs’
Departing
Top
Lawyer
Violate
Any
Rules?” From Reuters: “Goldman
Sachs
top
lawyer Kathryn
Ruemmler faced
fierce
criticism
on
social
media
and
calls
for
her
ouster
following
revelations
that
she
accepted
thousands
of
dollars’
worth
of
gifts
from Jeffrey
Epstein when
she
was
previously
a
partner
at
a
law
firm.
As
a
matter
of
attorney
ethics,
her
conduct
didn’t
appear
to
violate
any
professional
rules
—
but
it
raised
questions
of
judgment,
some
legal
ethics
experts
told
me.
…
Ethics
rules
for
lawyers
offer
few
guardrails
on
the
propriety
of
accepting
gifts.
Most
state
bars
have
adopted
an
American
Bar
Association
rule
that
says
a
lawyer
may
not
solicit
a
‘substantial’
gift
from
a
client.
But
the
rule
doesn’t
prevent
a
lawyer
from
accepting
an
unsolicited
client
gift,
no
matter
how
valuable,
said Fordham
School
of
Law
ethics
professor
Bruce
Green.
Nor
are
lawyers
barred
from
soliciting
or
accepting
substantial
gifts
from
a
former
client
or
other
non-client.”
Read
more here.
#9
“A
Legal
Practitioner’s
Guide
to
AI
&
Hallucinations.” From
the National
Center
for
State
Courts:
“AI
tools
are
transforming
legal
work
with
the
ability
to
scan
millions
of
cases,
statutes,
and
regulations
in
seconds.
These
systems
use
machine
learning,
natural
language
processing,
and
large
language
models
trained
on
vast
legal
datasets
to
‘understand’
legal
terminology
and
concepts
within
their
specific
domains,
and
provide
insights,
identify
relationships,
and
generate
content
requested
by
a
user.
Beyond
serving
legal
professionals,
AI
is
expanding
access
to
legal
help
for
people
navigating
the
legal
system
without
an
attorney.
Chatbots
and
virtual
assistants
can
prepare
legal
materials
and
assist
with
governmental
filings,
making
verification
of
AI
outputs
even
more
critical.
Using
AI
carries
both
responsibilities
and
risks
for
legal
professionals,
who
may
be
tempted
to
overrely
on
AI
output
without
adequate
verification.
This
guidance
helps
attorneys
and
other
legal
practitioners
understand
how
generative
AI
works,
what
it
does
and
does
not
do
well,
and
how
to
use
it
responsibly.”
Read
more
and
download
the
guide here.
#10
Law
School
Accreditation
News. It
was
a
big
week
for
law
school
accreditation
news,
so
you
get
three
headlines
for
#10. First, “Top
Judicial
Officials
Form
Workgroup
Studying
Law
School
Accreditation,” From
the ABA
Journal: “As
the
path
forward
for
law
school
accreditation
is
reconsidered
in
several
states,
a
group
of
chief
justices
and
court
administrators
launched
a workgroup
this
week to
dig
deep
into
accreditation,
including
the
role
of
the
Council
of
the
ABA
Section
of
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
to
the
Bar.
The
group
of
the
Conference
of
Chief
Justices
and
Conference
of
State
Court
Administrators
was
created
seven
months
after
the
Committee
on
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
Reform’s 2025
report,
which
recommends
‘law
school
accreditation
that
serves
the
public’
and
proposed
the
creation
of
this
workgroup.”
Read
more here. Second, “ABA
Weighing
Repeal
of
Law
School
Diversity
Standard,” from Law.com: “The
American
Bar
Association’s
accrediting
council
voted
Friday
to
send
a
repeal
of
Standard
206
for
notice
and
comment.
Following
an
emotional
discussion
about
the
future
of
the
American
Bar
Association’s
accreditation
standard
that
governs
diversity
and
inclusion
requirements
in
law
school
admissions,
the
ABA’s
Council
of
the
Section
of
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
to
the
Bar
has
decided
to
advance
a
proposal
to
repeal
the
standard.
The
council
voted
Friday
to
send
a
proposed
repeal
of
the
standard
out
for
notice
and
comment
and
extend
the
current
suspension
of
Standard
206
until
Aug.
31,
2027.
A
year
ago,
the
council
voted
to
suspend
the
standard
until
Aug.
31,
2025
and
then
extended
the
suspension
during
its
May
meeting
until
the
end
of
August
2026.”
Read
more here. Third, “ABA
Council
to
Seek
Comment
on
Inclusion
of
Alternative
Licensure
Pathways
Language
in
Accreditation
Standards,” from Law.com: “The
council
voted
Friday
to
send
the
proposed
changes
out
for
notice
and
comment,
which
are
intended
to
‘modernize
the
language’
to
‘explicitly
recognize
that
law
school
graduates
may
achieve
attorney
licensure
through
means
other
than
a
bar
exam.’”
Read
more here.
(Full
disclosure:
I
am
a
member
of
the Accreditation
Council
for
the
ABA
Section
on
Legal
Education
and
Admission
to
the
Bar.)
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