ABA Journal

09/02/2024

Wanted: Lawyers to help with this year’s election. https://ow.ly/mJmj50T6xMV

The ABA is mobilizing members to protect the right to vote ahead of this fall’s presidential election. The Task Force for American Democracy, formed by immediate-past ABA President Mary Smith last year, is on the front lines. (Image from Shutterstock)

09/01/2024

Lawyer gets stayed suspension for fake blog comments. https://ow.ly/U5NK50T6sf7

Updated: A Colorado lawyer has received a stayed 60-day suspension for posing as a judge and a former deputy district attorney in blog comments last year.

09/01/2024

Divorce attorneys share the most outlandish requests they've seen. https://ow.ly/V6z250T9MPx

You don’t have to be a celebrity to make outlandish divorce requests. Divorce lawyers have seen everything, from parakeet-support requests to arguments over who gets to keep the coffee maker. (Image from Shutterstock)

09/01/2024

How midsize firms are achieving growth through adaptation.

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Debbie Foster, the CEO of Affinity Consulting; Jennifer Sherman, the chief product and experience officer at Caret Legal; and Laura Wenzel, the global marketing and insights director at iManage.

09/01/2024

8th Circuit decision is setback for "constitutional sheriffs" movement, says gun-safety group. https://ow.ly/iLAg50T7GGn

A federal appeals court has ruled for the U.S. Department of Justice in a challenge to a Missouri law that banned state and local officials from helping enforce some federal gun regulations.

09/01/2024

We the Immigration Lawyers: These attorneys have different life experiences but the same drive to help new arrivals. https://ow.ly/FFsu50SNw1r

09/01/2024

ILTACON 2024: Selling legal tech's monorail. https://ow.ly/upK050T6uqH

Last week’s ILTACON, an annual conference sponsored by the International Legal Technology Association felt a lot like The Simpsons episode “Marge vs. the Monorail,” where the smooth-talking Lyle Lanley sells the town on the idea of a flashy but questionable monorail. Lanley’s famous opening ...

08/31/2024

How to combat cybersecurity threats when using artificial intelligence. https://ow.ly/w8xj50T6qRM

“The legal sector is a prime target for cyberattacks because of the valuable information it holds,” says Robert Scott, managing partner of Scott & Scott, a global law and technology services firm in Southlake, Texas. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/31/2024

Chemerinsky: Saving American democracy will require constitutional reforms and Supreme Court term limits. https://ow.ly/rPQ350T90ZJ

There is a widespread sense that American democracy is in danger. No form of government lasts forever, and it is foolhardy to believe that the United States cannot fall prey to the forces that have ended democracies in many other countries. The problems, to a large extent, stem from the choices made...

08/31/2024

Worried your legal work could contribute to clients' criminal conduct? New ABA ethics opinion shares guidelines. https://ow.ly/j6YF50T51iE

Formal Opinion 513 centers on Model Rule 1.16(a) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The rule was amended in 2023 because some lawyers were unwittingly involved in clients’ criminal or fraudulent activity. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/31/2024

Judge who displayed Confederate-flag statue should be removed, judicial conduct commission says. https://ow.ly/XliB50T7x2g

According to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Judge Thomas F. Rathbun Jr., a nonlawyer who is a justice on the Salisbury Town Court in Herkimer County, New York, should be removed for multiple acts of misconduct. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/31/2024

Lawyers as Explainers: Remember, you are writing for intelligent people. https://ow.ly/13jf50SLm9l

08/30/2024

The Jury Is Out: Why do legal dramas often ignore this vital part of the justice system? https://ow.ly/YJmk50SNMnf

08/30/2024

Last-minute election lawsuits may serve political goals, law prof says. https://ow.ly/NoCA50TaQrG

Last-minute lawsuits challenging election rules and voter-registration procedures are being filed in battleground states in the run-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election.

08/29/2024

How Sweet It Is: Lawyer builds a business around her award-winning chocolate. https://ow.ly/RStt50SMrYX

08/29/2024

Criticizing plaintiff's "chutzpah," federal judge holds lawyer jointly responsible for over $207K in legal fees.

A federal judge in Houston is holding a lawyer and his client liable for more than $207,500 in their opponent’s legal fees, saying they filed a patent infringement lawsuit and continued to litigate it after the defendant “pointed out its obvious lack of merit.”

08/29/2024

Mean score and number of July MBE test-takers are up from 2023. https://ow.ly/mNlb50Ta6MF

The July 2024 Multistate Bar Examination boasted more test-takers than the previous year, while the mean score on the just-completed exam went up. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/29/2024

Personal injury firm sues TD Bank after loss in fraud scheme.

A personal injury law firm has filed a lawsuit blaming TD Bank for its loss of about $146,000 in a check fraud scam.

08/29/2024

Lawyer's association rights violated by mandatory bar, but remedy "need not be drastic," appeals court says. https://ow.ly/Xy4350T9Zeb

A federal appeals court ruled this week that a lawyer’s mandatory membership in the Oregon State Bar violated his freedom-of-association rights because its magazine published statements that criticized former President Donald Trump and implied that the membership agreed. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/29/2024

St. Thomas College of Law reinstates fired tenured professor, will start termination hearings. https://ow.ly/9IFn50T9ULI

After firing a tenured professor in July, the St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law has reinstated her for the purpose of formally terminating her via the due process rights spelled out in the faculty handbook. (Photo courtesy of St. Thomas University)

08/29/2024

Throwback Thursday: Here is our last Throwback Thursday post of the month, courtesy of our August 1990 cover and magazine! Read more here: https://ow.ly/crOr50SV0fP

08/29/2024

Judge must take training after banning law clerk from courthouse and threatening jail time.

A Chicago judge who objected to a law clerk carrying his cellphone into her courtroom will have to undergo training after threatening him with jail time and banning him from the entire courthouse.

08/29/2024

The Modern Law Library: Legal thriller author David Ellis' day job? Appellate court justice. https://ow.ly/jV7350T9MYY

Justice David W. Ellis has served on the Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District for nearly 10 years. But readers may know him better as author David Ellis, bestselling writer of more than a dozen legal thrillers.

08/29/2024

Divorce attorneys share the most outlandish requests they've seen. https://ow.ly/WboN50T9MEI

You don’t have to be a celebrity to make outlandish divorce requests. Divorce lawyers have seen everything, from parakeet-support requests to arguments over who gets to keep the coffee maker. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/28/2024

Is the legal system ready for AI-generated deepfake videos? https://ow.ly/283v50SLlEw

08/28/2024

2nd Circuit cites push notifications to jurors as one reason why Sarah Palin deserves new defamation trial.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, is entitled to a new trial in her defamation case against the New York Times, partly because a jury finding of no liability was marred by push notifications received by jurors, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

08/28/2024

Chemerinsky: Saving American democracy will require constitutional reforms and Supreme Court term limits. https://ow.ly/kq1T50T90RR

There is a widespread sense that American democracy is in danger. No form of government lasts forever, and it is foolhardy to believe that the United States cannot fall prey to the forces that have ended democracies in many other countries. The problems, to a large extent, stem from the choices made...

08/28/2024

Switchblades are protected by Second Amendment, top Massachusetts court rules. https://ow.ly/CWsx50T8QvY

A Massachusetts law banning the possession of switchblades violates the Second Amendment, the state’s top court ruled Tuesday. (Image from Shutterstock)

08/28/2024

To address lawyer shortage, Indiana could fund scholarships, approve allied professionals, commission says.

Indiana could help address an attorney shortage in underserved communities through law student scholarships and loan-repayment assistance, according to initial recommendations by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future. (Photo by Rudy Balasko/Shutterstock)

08/27/2024

My Path to Law: Lawyer with muscular dystrophy shoots for the stars. https://ow.ly/fRRq50SLls5