“Western NY Justice Agrees to Public Admonishment Over ‘Obvious’ Conflict of Interest” —

• “A part-time justice in western New York agreed that he should be admonished for trying to have a small-claims matter against him delayed, to give him time to convince his former legal client to withdraw the pleading, the state’s judicial watchdog said on Wednesday.”
• “Alden Town and Village Courts Justice Michael W. Cole had been hired as an attorney in 2018 and paid a $1,500 retainer by a client with a family law matter, but the following year, she became dissatisfied with his representation and made several requests for return of the money, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct said in a statement.”
• “In 2021, the ex-client filed a small-claims case against Cole, in his own court. Rather than have the case transferred to another court, the commission said Cole asked his clerk to delay processing the claim as he tried to get her to withdraw it—an ‘obvious’ conflict of interest.”
• “The matter was later transferred, and Cole returned her money in full, the commission said.”
• “‘Instead of promptly disqualifying himself from the action filed against him in the court where he presides,’ the commission’s 11-0 determination read, Cole ‘improperly influenced court staff and delayed the processing of the claim. In this way, respondent violated well-established ethical standards and used his judicial status for his personal benefit.'”
• “Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said: ‘Public confidence in the integrity of the legal system is undermined when a judge who is sued exerts the influence of judicial office to delay processing of the claim. To his credit, Judge Cole accepted responsibility for his conduct, resolved the lawsuit and cooperated with the Commission.'”

“Kirkland Partner Said Romance ‘Tarnishes’ Ex-Judge’s Cases” —

• “A top restructuring attorney for powerhouse law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP told government attorneys that a relationship between an ex-judge and a former bankruptcy partner for Jackson Walker LLP should have been disclosed.”
• “Kirkland’s Joshua Sussberg also said during a September deposition, the transcript of which was obtained by Bloomberg Law, that he thought former Houston bankruptcy judge David R. Jones experienced a ‘lapse in judgment’ related to his previously undisclosed relationship with Jackson Walker attorney Elizabeth Freeman.”
• “Kirkland often teamed up with Jackson Walker as local counsel to bring large, complex Chapter 11 cases to the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court, which became a favored venue for Kirkland during Jones’ tenure.”
• “The deposition was taken as part of a lawsuit in which the government has accused Jackson Walker of breaching its ethical duties, a charge the firm rejects. Government attorneys, noting that Jones and Freeman owned a home together, argue the relationship should’ve been disclosed.”
• “‘To the extent that we were aware of an actual financial relationship, I can’t tell you exactly what it was we would have done, but we absolutely would’ve made certain that that was out in the open for fear of disrupting an existing case or go forward cases,’ Sussberg said.”
• “Comments by Sussberg, one of the most high-profile attorneys in the US for large corporate bankruptcies at the world’s largest firm by revenue, could become salient in efforts by the Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog to disgorge as much as $23 million in fees Jackson Walker collected in cases involving Jones while it employed Freeman.”
• “A trial set for April will determine whether orders awarding fees to Jackson Walker should be vacated and whether the firm can be sanctioned.”
• “Jones resigned soon after the relationship became public in late 2023 but the scandal has spurred several legal actions. Freeman left Jackson Walker in December 2022.”
• “During his deposition, Sussberg said if Kirkland knew of the relationship, it likely would have taken action to ensure it was ‘public,’ noting that Kirkland has a ‘reputation and a brand that it’s protecting.'”
• “Sussberg was asked by a government attorney whether he understood that due to the potential conflicts, orders issued by Jones may be voidable, and that it posed harm to clients.”
• “‘There’s all sorts of different legal rules, regulations, and ability to challenge, and remedies and the like, but I would absolutely say that I do believe it tarnishes all these cases,’ Sussberg responded. ‘And that’s a great concern from our perspective.'”
  “While bankruptcy rules may not technically require the disclosure of relationships with judges, Kirkland errs on the side of caution, Sussberg said. If there’s a question about whether something should be disclosed, it does so, he added.”
• “To the extent Jackson Walker was aware of a romantic relationship, Sussberg said its attorneys were duty-bound to disclose it to Kirkland so it wouldn’t ‘infect and absolutely disrupt a pending case where we had no knowledge otherwise.'”
• “Kirkland has previously said it abided by its ethical responsibilities and made accurate representations to the court, including all required disclosures.”

“Fox Rothschild Atty Beats Trade Secret Theft Allegations” —

• “A federal judge in New Jersey says a company trying to develop cancer drugs had waited too long to sue its former patent lawyer after he allegedly ‘confessed’ over five years ago to helping a Chinese rival file a patent application that allegedly misappropriated trade secrets.”
• “U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel had bad news for Princeton-based Beta Pharma, which filed suit in late 2023 against Fox Rothschild patent lawyer Wansheng Jerry Liu, who is currently chair of the firm’s China practice, according to his LinkedIn page. Beta says it retained Liu and his firm in 2012 to file a patent application, but that Liu ended up disclosing ‘highly confidential details’ to a rival drug developer in China, InventisBio.”
• “Both companies are clinical drug developers in the cancer research space and have yet to put any major drugs on the marketplace. Nevertheless, Beta was too late to sue over any of that now, even if these allegations were true, wrote Judge Kiel on Tuesday.”
• “Liu allegedly ‘confessed’ to this back in 2019. ‘Beta Pharma should ‘have been on notice of the alleged misappropriation’ before October 11, 2020,’ wrote Judge Kiel.”
• “According to the complaint, Liu had lunch with Beta Pharma founder Don Zhang in 2019 and ‘admitted … both that he had a connection with InventisBio, saying in a conversation, ‘I know [InventisBio co-founder Zhiqin Jiang],’ ‘He’s my friend’ and ‘I helped him file the application.””
• “‘Liu’s confession to Dr. Zhang was on January 15, 2019, which is 20 months and 27 days before the latest accrual date of the statute of limitations of October 11, 2020,’ wrote Judge Kiel. The ruling did not weigh in on the merit of Beta’s case against Liu.”
• “Lawyers for Fox Rothschild and InventisBio declined to comment on the ruling. Representatives for Beta Pharma did not return a request for comment.”
• “In the filings, lawyers for Liu and his firm say that their former client ‘pleads no motive for Mr. Liu to undertake this career-ending conduct’ and call his alleged confession both ‘highly suspect’ and ‘uncorroborated.'”
• “‘Liu has now been sued on the same claims in three separate lawsuits in two different venues since 2020. The prior two cases, of course, ended when Beta Pharma — faced with an obligation to put up or shut up — chose the latter course,’ according to Liu and the firm in the filings.”
• “InventisBio, represented by a different legal team, says Beta Pharma had been on notice in the case as far back as 2016, ‘because that is when it alleges a copy of its alleged crown-jewel trade secret was published by its direct competitor.'”