Ed. be aware: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson again to the pages of Above the Regulation. Subscribe to her Substack, Authorized Ethics Roundup, here.
Welcome to what captivates, haunts, conjures up, and surprises me each week on this planet of authorized ethics.
Joyful Monday!
Authorized ethics points had been entrance and heart on CBS’s 60 Minutes final night time. You may watch the interview of former Justice Division lawyer Erez Reuveni here. From the episode description: “Reuveni speaks out in regards to the disregard of due course of and for the rule of legislation that he says he witnessed in his ultimate weeks on the Division of Justice.”
Now on your headlines.
Highlights from Final Week – Prime Ten Ethics Headlines
#1 “Assaults on U.S. Authorized Career Mirror International Slide in International locations It As soon as Aided.” From Simply Safety: “Crackdowns on the authorized occupation — legal professionals, judges and prosecutors — are a part of a longstanding authoritarian playbook used world wide to silence dissent. … The ways differ, however the goal is similar: to silence legal professionals who characterize politically focused purchasers, judges who difficulty rulings that contradict the repressive authorities’s political – and infrequently private — goals, and prosecutors who pursue circumstances in opposition to its favored allies. Whether or not via formal laws or casual stress, these measures goal to curtail authorized advocacy, judicial independence, and the rule of legislation itself. The US has lengthy prided itself on a convention of public curiosity lawyering rooted within the civil rights motion and sustained via authorized support, authorized clinics, and professional bono illustration carried ahead by legal professionals. By framing entry to justice as an expert obligation, organizations such just like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or the NAACP Authorized Protection Fund (LDF) institutionalized public curiosity advocacy. But, over time, these organizations have additionally been criticized for professionalizing and depoliticizing what started as grassroots social actions.” Learn extra here.
#2 “Regulatory Retrenchment in California: What AB 931 Means for ABS and MSO-Supported Regulation Corporations.” From JD Supra: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Meeting Invoice (AB) 931 on Oct. 10, 2025, largely freezing California legal professionals’ means to experiment with and accommodate the event of burgeoning Different Enterprise Constructions (ABS) for the following 4 years. Although jurisdictions akin to Arizona, Puerto Rico and Utah have adopted revolutionary packages to allow restricted non-lawyer possession of legislation corporations, the brand new legislation indicators that California is skeptical and poised to maneuver in the wrong way.” Learn extra here.
#3 “Regulation College Curiosity Hits New Excessive, Functions Surge.” From the Nationwide Jurist: “Regulation faculty functions within the U.S. are surging, in keeping with Oct. 16 information from the Regulation College Admission Council. The numbers present a 27.8% enhance in whole functions for the 2025 enrollment yr in comparison with final yr. The rise is much more pronounced over a two-year span, with functions up 76.2%.” Learn extra here.
#4 “Reagan Judges Are Unrestrained Critics of Trump’s Authorized Strikes.” From Bloomberg Regulation: “Judges appointed by President Ronald Reagan are rising as vocal critics of the Trump administration’s efforts to avoid courtroom orders or problem the legislation in unprecedented methods, backed by a long time of expertise and loads of follow being blunt in different circumstances. The judges—all of their 80s and situated in Washington, Boston, Seattle, and Charlottesville, Va.—have made notable remarks from the bench or in written rulings. Some jurists are extra guarded, talking in regards to the energy of the courts and imploring the administration to respect them. Others see little cause to belief the administration at this stage.” Learn extra here.
#5 “ABA Says Third-Celebration Lawyer-Mediators Should Be ‘Credibly Impartial’.” From Bloomberg Regulation “Attorneys performing as third-party impartial mediators must be cautious to make sure that unrepresented events in negotiations perceive the character and scope of their function, the American Bar Affiliation says in a brand new ethics opinion. Lawyer-mediators should clarify the distinction between their function as a impartial and a lawyer’s extra typical function representing a shopper, particularly when a celebration is unrepresented and doesn’t perceive the mediation course of, says the opinion launched Wednesday.” Learn extra here.
#6 “Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Disaster,’ Fault Supreme Court docket’s Emergency Orders.” From The New York Instances: “Greater than three dozen federal judges have instructed The New York Instances that the Supreme Court docket’s flurry of temporary, opaque emergency orders in circumstances associated to the Trump administration have left them confused about find out how to proceed in these issues and are hurting the judiciary’s picture with the general public.” Learn extra here (reward hyperlink).
#7 “DOJ On Protection: Federal Attorneys Face Ethics Probes For ‘Zealous’ Advocacy.” From the Tampa Free Press: “A political battle is raging within the halls of justice, not within the courtroom, however inside the state bar associations. A coalition of left-wing teams and legislation professors is aggressively submitting ethics complaints in opposition to high-ranking authorities legal professionals, together with US Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi, alleging skilled misconduct for ‘zealously’ advocating for the pursuits of america and the president. The controversy highlights a rising pattern of ‘lawfare’ the place ethics complaints are getting used as a political weapon, primarily focusing on conservative attorneys serving in or defending the administration.” Learn extra here.
#8 “Faux AI Citations Produce Fines for California, Alabama Attorneys.” From Bloomberg Regulation: “Federal courts in California and Alabama have imposed hundreds of {dollars} in fines in opposition to two attorneys sanctioned individually for together with nonexistent authorized citations generated by synthetic intelligence of their filings.The sanctions tackle a wave of AI hallucinations in litigation that’s rising regardless of coaching supplied by bar associations, authorized journal articles, and in depth media protection of legal professionals punished by courts for relying an excessive amount of on the know-how. In current months, faux citations in federal courtroom filings have resulted in $3,000 in fines for a New Jersey legal professional, $1,500 in fines for a California legal professional, and a warning for a New York legal professional. ‘One way or the other the message nonetheless has not been hammered house because the epidemic of citing faux circumstances continues unabated,’ Judge Terry F. Moorer of the US District Court docket for the Southern District of Alabama mentioned in an order issued Oct. 10.” Learn extra here.
#9 “State Supreme Court docket Rejects Try to Power Florida Bar to Examine Bondi.” From Florida Phoenix: “The Florida Supreme Court docket refused Monday to pressure the Florida Bar to research U.S. Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi for alleged state ethics violations, denying a request made by dozens of attorneys and former judges. The courtroom’s five-sentence rejection sided with the Florida Bar — the overseer of the state’s authorized occupation — and state Legal professional Normal James Uthmeier to find that the 70-odd authorized consultants lacked standing to ask a state-level group to research federal officers, even when they’re licensed to follow legislation in Florida. ‘As a result of petitioner has failed to indicate a transparent authorized proper to the aid requested, he’s not entitled to mandamus aid,’ the temporary denial reads, co-signed by 5 of the seven Florida Supreme Court docket Justices.” Learn extra here.
#10 “Q&A: South Texas School of Regulation Dean Rey Valencia on SCOTX’s Tentative Transfer Away from ABA Oversight and Different Adjustments Dealing with Regulation College Leaders.” From Texas Regulation Guide: “This interview on Sept. 30 occurred 4 days after the Texas Supreme Court docket issued an order stating its ‘tentative opinion’ that the American Bar Affiliation ought to now not resolve which Texas faculties can ship graduates to sit down for the state bar examination. … Even earlier than taking the helm at STCL, [Rey] Valencia — who was named STCL’s incoming president in January — joined seven different legislation faculty deans who, in a June letter to the justices, urged the state’s excessive courtroom to proceed the ABA’s function. Within the following Q&A, Valencia discusses his response to SCOTX’s order, in addition to the challenges and alternatives dealing with legislation faculties as they adapt to new applied sciences, assembly college students’ wants and the evolving follow of legislation.” Learn extra here.
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Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Authorized Ethics and is a Professor of Regulation on the College of Houston. Try extra of her writing on the Legal Ethics Roundup. Discover her on X (previously Twitter) at @reneeknake or Bluesky at legalethics.bsky.social.
