Ed. notice: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson again to the pages of Above the Regulation. Subscribe to her Substack, Authorized Ethics Roundup, here.
August went too quick! Within the time since we had been final in contact, I’ve traveled to Chicago to attend my first assembly as a member of the Council for the ABA Part on Authorized Training and Admission to the Bar the place, amongst different issues, we formally adopted accreditation goals and values. (For a recap of the assembly, see here.) And I spent the Labor Day vacation weekend in NYC with my children who caught tennis matches and a baseball sport whereas I checked out new yoga studios. (Shoutout to Aura Yoga on the Higher West Facet – a should should you’re there, particularly on a Sunday morning!)
Since that is the primary Monday I’m posting throughout September, you get a “First Monday Version” although technically it’s the second Monday of the month. Let’s dive in!
Highlights from the Previous Few Weeks – Prime Ten Headlines
#1. “Jack Smith’s Authorized Workforce Fires Again In opposition to Ethics Grievance.” From the New York Occasions: “Attorneys for Jack Smith, the previous particular counsel who investigated Donald J. Trump, have struck again for the primary time in opposition to a few of the accusations conservatives have leveled in opposition to him, denouncing an ethics criticism as ‘imaginary and unfounded.’ For months, Mr. Smith has remained silent because the president and a few of his senior advisers, together with prime Justice Division officers, publicly attacked him, accusing Mr. Smith of participating in wrongdoing for overseeing two felony inquiries and indictments of Mr. Trump. The investigations concerned whether or not Mr. Trump mishandled categorised paperwork after he left workplace in addition to his efforts to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election. On Monday, Mr. Smith’s authorized crew despatched a letter to the Workplace of Particular Counsel, which has no affiliation with Mr. Smith’s former place. The Workplace of Particular Counsel conducts ethics investigations of presidency workers, primarily into whether or not individuals have violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from utilizing their jobs to work on behalf of a political marketing campaign.” Learn extra here.
#2 “L.A. Decide Who Threatened to Shoot Folks in His Courtroom Admonished by State Panel.” From the LA Occasions: “A state judicial panel publicly admonished Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Enrique Monguia for threatening to shoot individuals in his courtroom. The decide made different inappropriate remarks, together with suggesting one girl would elevate a ‘meth child’ and labeling a potential juror a ‘scorching mess.’ Monguia acknowledged wrongdoing and expressed regret.” Learn extra here.
#3 “Trial for Milwaukee County Decide Hannah Dugan in immigration case set for Dec. 15.” From the Milwaukee Sentinel: “Milwaukee County Decide Hannah Dugan might be tried Dec. 15 on federal felony costs accusing her of obstructing immigration brokers making an attempt to arrest an undocumented Mexican migrant exterior her courtroom earlier this yr. U.S. District Decide Lynn Adelman set the trial date within the high-stakes case at a seven-minute listening to within the federal courthouse on Sept. 3. The trial is anticipated to final per week.” Learn extra here.
#4 “DOJ Permits Attorneys With out Immigration Case Expertise to be Non permanent Judges Amid Main Backlog.” From Fox Information: “In an obvious effort to handle the thousands and thousands of backlogged immigration circumstances, the Justice Division made a rule change to permit attorneys with out immigration regulation expertise to behave as short-term immigration judges. The DOJ’s Workplace of Immigration Overview revealed the rule within the federal register Thursday, which removes the requirement that short-term immigration judges have substantive prior expertise in immigration regulation. Jurists who’re authorized by Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi could function immigration judges, which represents a tide change after greater than 100 judges had been fired or purchased out by the Trump administration earlier in 2025.” Learn extra here.
#5 “Court docket Extends Suspension of 98-Yr-Previous US Circuit Decide Newman.” From Reuters: “The U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday adopted a suggestion to increase the suspension of the court docket’s longest-serving decide for one more yr after figuring out that she had not complied with an inner investigation into her health to serve. The Federal Circuit’s Judicial Council, consisting of the court docket’s energetic judges, said it would continue the suspension of 98-year-old Pauline Newman so long as she refuses to take a proposed battery of neurological checks.” Learn extra here.
# 6. “New Agency Seeks to Confront Trump on Government Energy.” From the New York Occasions: “Cathy A. Harris discovered she was fired for a 3rd time throughout her daughter’s highschool commencement. It was a intestine punch, she mentioned, on what was meant to be a contented event. The previous chairwoman of an obscure however vital panel that mediates federal worker self-discipline, Ms. Harris was amongst an early slate of federal workers President Trump fired with out trigger. She sued the administration and went via 4 months of employment limbo earlier than the Supreme Court ordered that she stay fired whereas her case wound via the authorized system. … As she carves a path anticipated to steer again to the Supreme Court docket, she has added a brand new regulation agency to her crew of legal professionals. The four-lawyer agency, referred to as the Washington Litigation Group, is the newest to hitch a coterie of pro bono organizations which have emerged in current months to problem the Trump administration, which is already facing about 375 lawsuits, based on The Occasions’s newest rely.” Learn extra here (present hyperlink).
#7 “‘Just about All of Us Are Dedicated’ to SCOTUS’s Ethics Code, Justice Sotomayor Tells Swiss Viewers in Newly Unearthed Audio.” From Repair the Court docket: “At a July 11, 2024, look on the College of Zurich, Justice Sotomayor supplied insights on ethics codes and time period limits proposals that she’s not given stateside, proudly owning as much as a ‘mistake’ she made — first recognized by Repair the Court docket — by not recusing in a petition and highlighting the positives for ending life tenure at SCOTUS. In what may need been probably the most telling remark of the occasion, Sotomayor mentioned that ‘nearly all of us (justices) are dedicated’ to the Court docket’s new ethics code, albeit with out specifying what she meant by ‘nearly.’ Sadly, there was no observe up query to that remark.” Learn extra here.
#8 “A Florida Decide Tried To Strip Me Of My Regulation License.” From Let’s Tackle This with Qasim Rashid: “It began when a Florida Chief Decide filed a proper bar criticism in opposition to me for my alleged ‘misconduct’ of criticizing an unjust judicial ruling on my Substack and Twitter. On Might twelfth I acquired a frightening First-Class mail letter, the likes of which I had by no means earlier than acquired. An official warning from the Virginia State Bar (‘VSB’) informing me {that a} Decide had filed a bar and ethics criticism in opposition to me. The criticism referred to as on the VSB to research me and decide, successfully, whether or not I must be allowed to proceed to follow regulation. I learn the sentence repeatedly, hoping every time I had misinterpret what was apparent. Worse, I solely had 21 days to reply. For context—between undergrad, LSAT prep, regulation faculty, and dealing as a licensed legal professional, I’ve invested 25 years of my life into my authorized profession. And now, I risked dropping 25 years of my life in simply 21 days. The criticism got here from Francis J. Allman, Chief Decide of Florida’s Second Judicial District. (NOTE: Nobody studying this could try and contact him or handle him for any motive. That isn’t what I search, nor will it assist me in any approach). However now I used to be much more confused. I’m licensed to follow regulation in Illinois and in Virginia. I’ve by no means appeared earlier than any decide in Florida, a lot much less dealt with any Florida case or shopper. Why was a Florida Decide submitting an legal professional misconduct declare in opposition to an Illinois primarily based legal professional by going after my Virginia regulation license?” Learn extra here.
#9 “OnlyFans’ Guardian Says AI-Tainted Briefs Are Unsalvageable.” From Law360: “The web platform OnlyFans’ dad or mum firm mentioned {that a} bid to right authorized briefs in a proposed class motion in opposition to the corporate must be denied, arguing that the choice to makes use of synthetic intelligence to create mistake-riddled paperwork is extreme misconduct and the briefs must be struck as a substitute.” Learn extra here.
#10 “Authorized Complicity and the Futile Dream of Resistance.” From Sida Liu (College of Hong Kong) in JOTWELL reviewing Jedidiah Kroncke’s (College of Hong Kong) article Authorized Complicity in an Age of Resurgent Authoritarianism, 38 Geo. J. Authorized Ethics ___ (forthcoming 2025): “As authoritarianism features momentum globally, the rule-of-law ideally suited is more and more compromised. Attorneys are confronting a wave of assaults, starting from the persecution of human rights advocates and the restriction of felony defenders to the suppression of company regulation companies, together with a few of the most prestigious ones worldwide. Current actions by the U.S. authorities in opposition to elite regulation companies like Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie, together with the consequential offers struck by some companies, exemplify the daunting circumstances that legal professionals encounter in at this time’s world. On this context, Jedidiah Kroncke’s new article on authorized complicity is especially compelling. Written a yr earlier than Donald J. Trump’s return to energy, Kroncke couldn’t have anticipated the following aggressive actions in opposition to U.S. regulation companies. His major focus is the moral dilemmas confronted by American legal professionals working towards overseas, particularly in authoritarian regimes like Russia and China.” Learn the remainder of Liu’s assessment here and obtain Kroncke’s article here.
Beneficial Studying
“Authorized Ethics and the Rule of Regulation” by the Brennan Heart for Justice. Right here’s an excerpt:
All working towards legal professionals, together with authorities legal professionals, are sure by a wide range of guidelines and requirements enforced by state and federal courts, bar authorities, and the broader career. The erosion of each formal checks and casual constraints on abuse of energy within the government department has solid a highlight on the query of what conduct these guidelines and requirements do and don’t proscribe. To assist reply this query, now we have consulted with dozens of authorized ethics consultants and practitioners, and our conclusions replicate their enter.
Broadly talking, probably the most related constraints present in constitutional and statutory regulation, court docket guidelines, codes {of professional} conduct, and long-standing coverage steerage from DOJ and different companies will be distilled into at the very least six broad ideas:
Dishonesty is prohibited. Prison and civil regulation and guidelines {of professional} duty and court docket process strictly prohibit dishonesty to courts, purchasers, different individuals in authorized proceedings, and in some circumstances even most of the people. Dishonesty can embody each affirmative misrepresentations and omissions of related details. Abuses of energy, together with politicized or partisan prosecutions, will typically necessitate some type of dishonesty, which might be the premise for an precise rule violation.
Defiance of court docket orders is prohibited. Overtly disobeying or encouraging a shopper to disobey a court docket order violates a number of disciplinary guidelines and will topic an legal professional to authorized sanctions or a discovering of felony contempt.
Prison investigations, prosecutions, and lawsuits should have some good-faith, credible foundation in regulation and truth. Bringing felony proceedings with out possible trigger or pursuing frivolous civil actions that lack a cognizable foundation in both truth or regulation violates quite a few guidelines. Notably in civil circumstances, nonetheless, the bar for formal sanctions is excessive. The truth that a civil declare, significantly one introduced by a personal celebration, is novel in some respect usually doesn’t set up a sanctionable violation.
Regulation enforcement can’t be used to harass, intimidate, or precise political retribution or as leverage to realize unrelated political objectives. Pursuing even nonfrivolous investigations or prosecutions primarily to harass or intimidate targets or as a type of political leverage violates quite a few company insurance policies and different long-accepted moral requirements for presidency legal professionals. It additionally probably violates particular disciplinary guidelines in sure jurisdictions.
Conflicts of curiosity and related misuses of workplace are usually prohibited. All legal professionals should adhere to legal professional battle guidelines. These guidelines embody restrictions on concurrent illustration of a shopper who’s straight hostile to a different shopper, “switching sides” between two purchasers in a specific matter or a set of associated issues, and representing a shopper whose pursuits are materially hostile to a former shopper in the identical or a considerably associated matter (proscribing authorities legal professionals from taking part in official issues that they beforehand labored on exterior of presidency). These guidelines can usually be waived if each the previous and present purchasers explicitly agree (for waiver functions, a authorities legal professional’s “shopper” is often the company that employs the legal professional). Authorities legal professionals are additionally topic to varied moral guidelines for federal workers, together with present restrictions, felony prohibition on taking part in a selected matter during which they’ve a monetary curiosity, and different constraints. Most of those restrictions can’t be waived.
Attorneys are accountable for their very own conduct and that of supervisees. Each working towards lawyer is required to obey guidelines {of professional} conduct and different moral requirements. Line prosecutors and different subordinate authorities legal professionals usually can not evade duty for moral violations on the grounds that they had been following a supervisor’s directives. Furthermore, supervisors will be held accountable for directing unethical conduct by the legal professionals whose work they oversee.
Learn extra here.
“Do The Unsuitable Factor – How Lawyer Facilitation of Anti- Setting, Social, and Governance Insurance policies Might Violate Lawyer Ethics” by Victor Flatt (Case Western). From the summary:
Quickly after the ascension of Setting, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) components in non-public sector shareholder, financing, and shopper selections, a torrid Republican political backlash in opposition to ESG has taken maintain and is being accelerated within the second Trump Administration. American proponents of the consideration of ESG in company selections argue that it’s financially materials and blocking its consideration quantities to potential breaches of fiduciary responsibility. However what of the position of attorneys? Only a few political or non-public monetary selections are made or enforced with out the work of attorneys. This text critiques the present flux in legal professional ethics scholarship and the rising use of legal professional moral complaints to ask whether or not a politically motivated anti-ESG motion that would financially hurt customers or the general public elevate legal professional moral concerns. If that’s the case, what are they and the way can these points be reconciled?
“Justice Work as Democracy Work: Reimagining Entry to Justice as Democratization” by Matthew Burnett (Arizona State, American Bar Basis) and Rebecca Sandefur (Arizona State, American Bar Basis). From the summary:
In democracy, justice is meant to be everybody’s: on a regular basis individuals are supposed to take part meaningfully in shaping regulation’s content material, utilizing its protections, and fulfilling the obligations it creates. Analysis demonstrates very clearly, nonetheless, that justice isn’t accessible to everybody. World estimates recommend that over 5 billion individuals, practically two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants, reside exterior the safety of the regulation. Important to justice being everybody’s is everybody gaining access to it. But all too typically entry to justice is constrained by regulatory seize, administrative burden, and institutional failures that estrange individuals from their very own regulation. The estrangement of individuals from their very own regulation is not only an issue of social welfare coverage or justice service supply, it’s a failure of democracy. On this paper, we discover the position of entry to justice in constructing and enlivening democracy via a vital mechanism to demonopolize and democratize the regulation: justice employees. Justice employees are group members who allow their neighbors to entry justice by serving to them to know, use, and form the legal guidelines that order their lives. They could do that as a part of their formal roles corresponding to spiritual leaders, academics, social employees, librarians, or healthcare suppliers, or just as fellow members of a group. We argue that justice work makes democracy work.
Authorized Ethics Trivia
From the Texas Heart for Authorized Ethics, right here’s the query of the month: “Can an legal professional comply with be sure by a non-disparagement clause in a shopper settlement settlement?” Test yourself at this website the place you’ll be able to learn a brief hypothetical, choose a solution, and see your outcomes. Up to now, solely 49% have gotten it proper. Will you?
Get Employed
Did you miss the 300+ job postings from earlier weeks? Discover all of them here.
Assistant/Affiliate Professor of Regulation, Washington & Lee College Faculty of Regulation — Lexington, VA. From the posting: ”The Washington and Lee College Faculty of Regulation warmly invitations purposes for as much as two tenure-track or tenured college positions that may start on July 1, 2026. A J.D. from an ABA-accredited regulation faculty or equal is required. We significantly encourage purposes from entry-level and junior lateral candidates (both pre-tenure or just lately tenured) to hitch our college on the Assistant or Affiliate Professor degree, however we encourage purposes from candidates in any respect ranges of expertise. Candidates ought to have a distinguished file of scholarly achievement or demonstrated potential for top scholarly achievement, efficient instructing, energetic service, and a file of inclusion. Our search will concentrate on candidates whose analysis and instructing pursuits embody tax regulation, skilled duty/authorized ethics, and/or constitutional regulation.” Study extra and apply here.
Compliance Counsel, Residents for Accountability and Ethics in Washington — Washington DC. From the posting: “Residents for Accountability and Ethics in Washington (CREW) seeks a passionate and artistic Compliance Counsel to hitch our crew to quickly help CREW’s Basic Counsel in all authorized issues pertaining to the group and the authorized division. This six-month place is a novel alternative to be on the entrance traces of the combat for a extra moral, equitable and accountable authorities, whereas working alongside sensible, inventive and sort individuals.” Wage vary $120,000-$150,000 yearly. Study extra and apply here.
Conflicts Counsel, Husch Blackwell — A number of Areas. From the posting: Conflicts Counsel directs and conducts particular processes within the Conflicts division, together with environment friendly assessment, identification and determination of conflicts of curiosity, drafting conflicts waivers, assessment of lateral candidates, exterior counsel pointers, and gives suggestions concerning moral wall implementation and conflicts-related language for engagement letters. Additional duties will embody well timed and clear communication with companions, employees, and agency management concerning conflicts requests and complicated conflicts questions; sustaining thorough and correct information of conflicts resolutions; and help with figuring out, resolving, and documenting inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete conflicts data in current information with a purpose to keep the integrity of data.” Wage vary $123,000 – $239,000. Study extra and apply here.
Conflicts Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis – A number of Areas. From the posting: “You’ll analysis advanced authorized relationships, supply strategic steerage, and assist refine the Agency’s conflicts processes—all whereas supporting high-stakes selections that affect every day operations. This position calls for robust judgment, clear communication, and the flexibility to thrive in a fast-paced, high-responsibility atmosphere.” Wage vary $158,000 – $180,000. Study extra and apply here.
Deputy Ethics Counsel, New Jersey Courts — Ewing, NJ. From the posting: “The New Jersey Judiciary is looking for well-rounded attorneys proficient in dealing with a caseload of investigations, able to litigating disciplinary hearings and in a position to put together well-drafted pleadings and authorized briefs. The Workplace of Lawyer Ethics seeks candidates with extremely developed organizational, choice making, interpersonal, and battle administration abilities who’re adept with authorized analysis and phrase processing expertise. The Deputy Ethics Counsel will direct assigned investigators within the conduct of disciplinary investigations.” Wage vary $96,767.80 to $140,941.95 yearly. Study extra and apply here.
Authorized AI Governance and Integration Lead, American Arbitration Affiliation — NYC/Hybrid. From the posting: “The Authorized AI Governance & Integration Lead might be a key architect in shaping the AAA’s authorized frameworks and compliance methods for AI-infused merchandise. This management position integrates authorized experience with AI fluency to make sure reliable, moral, and strategically aligned deployment of machine intelligence. As a linchpin between authorized, technical, and government groups, the Lead steers governance protocols, AI data ecosystems, and mannequin validation pipelines—empowering AI innovation whereas guaranteeing defensibility, equity, and regulatory readiness.” Wage vary $163,000 to $175,000 yearly plus 20% incentive goal. Study extra and apply here.
Authorized Counsel, Ethics, Marketing campaign Authorized Heart — Washington DC. From the posting: “Reporting to the Ethics Director, the Authorized Counsel works on each proactive and responsive actions per mission of CLC’s ethics program, together with conducting authorized and factual analysis, ethics investigations, drafting complaints, rulemaking petitions, letters, testimony and different public paperwork, in addition to working with exterior teams to advance our mission. The Authorized Counsel will advise on the appliance of varied ethics legal guidelines and guidelines, together with the Ethics in Authorities Act, 18 U.S.C. §208, the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the Trustworthy Management and Open Authorities Act, congressional ethics guidelines, and the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court docket. The Authorized Counsel’s duties will embody bringing authorized actions earlier than the Workplace of Authorities Ethics, the Workplace of Particular Counsel, the U.S. Senate Committee on Ethics, the U.S. Home Committee on Ethics, the Workplace of Congressional Conduct, the Judicial Convention, the Division of Justice, and state and native ethics commissions.” Wage vary $107,759.00 to $145,793.00 yearly. Study extra and apply here.
Upcoming Ethics Occasions & Different Bulletins
Did you miss an announcement from earlier weeks? Discover all of them here.
Preserve in Contact
- Information ideas? Bulletins? Occasions? A job to publish? Studying suggestions? E-mail [email protected] – however you’ll want to subscribe first, in any other case the e-mail gained’t be delivered.
Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Authorized Ethics and is a Professor of Regulation on the College of Houston. Take a look at extra of her writing on the Legal Ethics Roundup. Discover her on X (previously Twitter) at @reneeknake or Bluesky at legalethics.bsky.social.
