#LegalEthics Tidbit: Does Rule 1.14 discriminate against clients with disabilities?

A pro se plaintiff with autism spectrum disorder filed a complaint against the AZ Supreme Court challenging “the Arizona Rules of Professional conduct that allow attorneys to petition courts for guardianship over clients they believe cannot act in their own interests,” presumably a reference to Rule 1.14. The plaintiff argued that these provisions in the rule ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.azd.1442387/gov.uscourts.azd.1442387.11.0.pdf
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#LegalEthics Tidbit: Whose reputation is most damaged by fabricated quotations?

A pro se plaintiff in a MI federal court filed a brief with two fabricated case quotations. It was not his first #AI hallucination rodeo so the court struck the brief. Quoting the Sixth Circuit in Whiting v. City of Athens (which in ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mied.376829/gov.uscourts.mied.376829.94.0.pdf
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The good news: "#JohnEastman, the attorney who masterminded the legal strategy behind President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has been officially #disbarred in #California."
https://www.mediaite.com/crime/attorney-who-masterminded-trumps-attempt-to-overturn-election-disbarred/

The bad news: Disbarment and disciplinary proceedings are currently governed by state law. But the Trump DOJ is considering a rule that would require state bar associations to suspend their reviews of DOJ lawyers until the DOJ does its own reviews.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/05/2026-04390/review-of-state-bar-complaints-and-allegations-against-department-of-justice-attorneys

More good news: Several states oppose the proposed DOJ rule, including CA, IL, ME, NY, and PA. Here's the position of the #Maine Supreme Court.
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/15/maine-high-court-opposes-proposed-doj-rule-on-investigations-into-federal-attorneys/

#Disbarment #Insurrection #LegalEthics #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

#DOJ settles with #IBM over alleged #DEI practices

After the “modest” [we’re paying you a pittance just to get you leave us be] $17 million agreement with the company, #Trump admin attempted to paint it as a win saying they expect it to be the first of many such settlements.

#law #LegalEthics #FirstAmendment #CivilRights #labor #business #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/16/justice-department-settles-with-ibm-over-alleged-dei-practices/

#LegalEthics Tidbit: If I delegate the drafting of my brief to a contract attorney, do I have to bother reading the opposing party’s response?

A FL attorney felt he was insufficiently experienced to handle an appeal, so he hired a contract lawyer to prepare his client’s opposition to the appellant’s brief. He did not supervise the contract lawyer, and he signed and filed the contract lawyer's brief without ... (cont.)

https://lnkd.in/eysWgVsZ
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#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can I mediate a dispute and then later be adverse to one of the mediating parties in a substantially related dispute?

A lawyer served as a mediator between a sister and brother fighting over a loan that the sister’s LLC made to the brother. Another LLC member (Plaintiff) later sued the sister, alleging that the outcome of the mediation (forgiving the loan) was a misuse of LLC assets. One of the lawyers who ... (cont.)

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/tx-court-of-appeals/117661096.html
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