Bressler Risk Blog

“‘They Kind of Lost Their Way’: Cooley Must Pay $25M for Legal Malpractice” — “A New Jersey judge has entered a $25.4 million judgment against Cooley in a legal malpractice suit over a failed pharmaceutical deal.” “The order, issued Monday by Douglas H. Hurd, presiding civil judge in Mercer County Superior Court, includes $3 million […]

“9th Circuit Clears Firm in Arbitration Disclosure Lawsuit” — “Defendants’ counsel in a privately mediated child custody dispute had no duty to disclose to a plaintiff that they retained and appeared before the same mediator in other matters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held Monday.” “The unanimous three-judge panel concluded in […]

David Kluft asks: “Must a judge’s clerks, like Caesar’s Wife, be above suspicion?” “In a mass tort litigation involving a hotel fire in Puerto Rico and several phases of trial, both of the judge’s law clerks had brothers working as lawyers at firms representing plaintiffs (and one of the brothers had actually appeared in the […]

From the “This is the bread of our confliction” department, comes this catch from David Kluft: “Do I need to run a conflict check at my Passover seder?” — “A man attended a Passover seder and took the opportunity to seek some free legal advice from his host’s daughter, a NY lawyer. “Four years later, […]

“US judge will not toss Charlie Javice conviction for defrauding JPMorgan based on clerks’ alleged conflicts” — “A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Charlie Javice’s bid to throw out her conviction for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her education startup Frank for $175 million, after she said two law clerks had conflicts of interest by […]

“Zachary Zayas, former law clerk in alleged conflict of interest in LI inheritance dispute, working for Nassau law firm” — “A law clerk whose relationship with a Uniondale attorney prompted conflict of interest allegations during a contentious inheritance dispute between two siblings has left his position with Queens Surrogate’s Court Judge Peter Kelly to work […]

“Hochul Approved Permits That Could Help Clients of Her Husband’s Firm” — “Gov. Kathy Hochul created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest when her administration approved permits benefiting two recent clients of a large law firm that employs her husband, environmental activists and two New York State lawmakers said this week.” “The […]

“23andMe Privacy Reviewer Defends WilmerHale as Choice of Counsel” — “The consumer privacy ombudsman in 23andMe’s sale of customers’ genetic data is defending his choice of counsel against objections from the Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog. Neil Richards, a Washington University School of Law professor appointed by the court to make privacy recommendations in 23andMe’s asset […]

“Criminal: Motion to disqualify attorney for co-defendant is rejected” — “Where two executives of a home health agency were charged with health care fraud and money laundering, the COO’s motion to disqualify the attorney representing the owner was denied. The attorney previously represented the company, and not the COO. And the COO failed to show […]

“Pork Producers Want Ruling Tossed Over Clerk’s Conduct” — “Pork producers and Agri Stats Inc., which are defending themselves against a major price-fixing suit, are calling on the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the case to recuse himself and vacate his recent rulings, accusing one of his clerks of having inappropriate relationships with plaintiffs’ attorneys in […]