{"id":124872,"date":"2025-06-30T10:02:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/30\/legal-ethics-roundup-chesebro-disbarred-40-8-tax-on-lawyers-lit-funders-doj-whistleblower-calls-out-bove-more\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T10:02:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:02:45","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-chesebro-disbarred-40-8-tax-on-lawyers-lit-funders-doj-whistleblower-calls-out-bove-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/30\/legal-ethics-roundup-chesebro-disbarred-40-8-tax-on-lawyers-lit-funders-doj-whistleblower-calls-out-bove-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Chesebro Disbarred, 40.8% Tax On Lawyers & Lit Funders, DOJ Whistleblower Calls Out Bove & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,\u00a0<\/strong>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happy Monday!<\/h3>\n

It was a whirlwind of legal ethics news last week, so let\u2019s jump right in.<\/p>\n

Highlights from Last Week \u2013 Top Ten Headlines<\/h3>\n

#1<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cDOJ Sues All Federal Judges in Maryland Over Deportation Order.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Washington Post<\/strong>: \u201cThe\u00a0Justice Department<\/strong>\u00a0sued all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland on Tuesday over an order that pauses any deportations under legal challenge in the state for 48 hours. Legal experts described the move\u00a0<\/strong>as an unprecedented attack on judicial independence, while government lawyers said it was necessary to preserve\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0constitutional authority over immigration. Longtime court watchers said they could not recall another instance in which the Justice Department, which usually represents members of the judicial branch in court, sued the entire roster of judges in a district.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is reckless and irresponsible and yet another direct frontal assault on the federal courts of this country,\u201d said retired federal judge\u00a0J. Michael Luttig<\/strong>, who served on the\u00a0U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit<\/strong>\u00a0from 1991 to 2006.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#2<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cJustice Dept. Leader Suggested Violating Court Orders, Whistle-Blower Says.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0New York Times<\/strong>: \u201cA senior\u00a0Justice Department<\/strong>\u00a0official,\u00a0Emil Bove III<\/strong>, told subordinates he was willing to ignore court orders to fulfill the president\u2019s aggressive deportation campaign, according to a whistle-blower complaint by a department lawyer who has since been fired. The account by the dismissed lawyer,\u00a0Erez Reuveni<\/strong>, paints a disturbing portrait of his final three weeks on the front lines of the Trump administration\u2019s legal efforts to ship immigrants overseas, often with little notice or recourse. In Mr. Reuveni\u2019s telling, Mr. Bove discussed disregarding court orders, adding an expletive for emphasis, and other top law enforcement officials showed themselves ready to stonewall judges or lie to them to get their way.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link). For more commentary, head over to this\u00a0Substack post<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by\u00a0Brad Wendel\u00a0<\/strong>(Cornell) where, among other observations, he catalogs the eight \u2013 yes eight- professional conduct rules implicated. As Brad says: \u201cDon\u2019t take my word for it. Read through the\u00a0<\/a>letter<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and, if you\u2019re a lawyer, ask yourself what you would have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#3<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cLawyer Who Pushed Bogus Trump Elector Scheme Is Disbarred in New York.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0New York Times<\/strong>: \u201cKenneth Chesebro<\/strong>, a lawyer who helped spearhead a brazen legal effort to use phony slates of pro-Trump electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was disbarred in New York on Thursday, cementing an indefinite ban issued last year. The decision by a New York State appellate court concluded a strange legal journey for a Harvard-educated lawyer who worked for former\u00a0Vice President Al Gore<\/strong>\u00a0during the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida and later evolved into a supporter of President Trump. In a\u00a0seven-page opinion<\/a><\/strong>, the court cited a criminal racketeering case centered on the fake electors in Georgia, where in 2023 Mr. Chesebro pleaded guilty.<\/p>\n

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The New York court said Thursday that Mr. Chesebro\u2019s \u201ccriminal conduct \u2014 conspiracy to commit filing false documents \u2014 is unquestionably serious\u201d and that he had undercut \u201cthe very notion of our constitutional democracy that he, as an attorney, swore an oath to uphold.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cLawyers Market Big #MeToo Verdicts, but Their Clients Struggle to Collect.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/strong>: \u201cThe cases reveal an unpleasant reality about #MeToo verdicts and other civil judgments: Winning is hard enough, but collecting can be even harder. \u2026 Plaintiffs, on top of what they pay lawyers handling their lawsuits, must pay for time spent by the judgment enforcers, or give them a cut of any amounts collected. The plaintiffs have to cover some costs upfront, so they sometimes turn to firms that finance such work. Those specialty funders often take a first cut of any recoveries.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#5<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cA Fourth Judge Has Blocked a Trump Executive Order Targeting Elite Law Firms.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0NPR<\/strong>: \u201cA federal judge has struck down President Trump\u2019s executive order targeting the law firm\u00a0Susman Godfrey<\/strong>, delivering the latest in a series of legal wins for firms that have challenged the president\u2019s punitive campaign against Big Law. The ruling Friday from\u00a0U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan<\/strong>\u00a0marks the fourth time out of four that a federal judge has permanently blocked one of Trump\u2019s executive orders seeking to punish an elite law firm.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#6<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cFormer Supreme Court Justice Kennedy Says \u2018Democracy is at Risk\u2019.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Politico<\/strong>: \u201cFormer\u00a0Supreme Court<\/strong>\u00a0Justice Anthony Kennedy<\/strong>\u00a0warned Thursday that acrimonious political discourse and threats to judges are eroding the ability of the United States to serve as an example of democracy worldwide. \u2018Many in the rest of the world look to the United States to see what democracy is, to see what democracy ought to be,\u2019 Kennedy said during an online forum about threats to the rule of law. \u2018If they see a hostile, fractious discourse, if they see a discourse that uses identity politics rather than to talk about issues, democracy is at risk. Freedom is at risk.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cLitigation Funders And Lawyers Face 40.8% Tax In One, Big, Beautiful Bill.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Forbes<\/strong>: \u201cThe litigation funding industry\u2014and many lawyers and law firms\u2014are worried about a provision inserted in the pending tax bill.\u00a0Senator Thom Tillis<\/strong>\u00a0(R-N.C.) introduced the Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding Act in the Senate, you can read the text\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. A companion bill was introduced in the House by\u00a0Kevin Hern<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Okla.). The litigation funding tax was not in the House-passed One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, but the Senate\u2019s reconciliation bill includes it. Its ostensible goal as described by Tillis when he introduced it is to prevent foreign influence in the U.S. court system and stem frivolous lawsuits. Some insurers and trade groups support it, you can see a list\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. Investors (both foreign and domestic) often help fund lawsuits, and the U.S. is full of lawsuits. But given the elephant gun approach of the proposed new tax, domestic funders are equally worried, as are lawyers and law firms.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cFlorida Judge Sided with Trump While Advocating for Nomination.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Bloomberg Law<\/strong>: \u201cA Florida state judge was angling for a federal judicial nomination from\u00a0Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0when he sided with the president in a defamation case before his court.\u00a0Ed Artau<\/strong>, who\u2019s now under consideration for South Florida\u2019s US trial court, met with the White House roughly two weeks after he wrote his February concurring opinion allowing Trump\u2019s defamation suit against the Pulitzer Prize Board to proceed, according to his\u00a0Senate Judiciary Questionnaire<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0made public by\u00a0Accountable.US<\/strong>, a progressive watchdog group. The disclosure was first reported Friday by\u00a0Politico<\/strong>. The timing of Trump\u2019s announcement that he\u2019d tapped Artau for the federal bench soon after the judge\u2019s decision in the case raised concerns about his impartiality in the defamation case and the process by which he was chosen.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe Future is Now: Why Trial Lawyers and Judges Should Embrace Generative AI Now and How to Do It Safely and Productively.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0JD Supra<\/strong>: \u201cThe unprecedented rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) worldwide presents the legal profession with a pivotal opportunity for transformation. The legal system is deeply rooted in tradition, precedent, and established practices, which is good; however, this does not mean we should avoid technology. The legal practice must be open to change and embrace AI, just as it did with computers and online communications. We can keep our traditions of ethics, justice, and precedent, but also utilize generative AI to make our practices more efficient, consistent, and responsive to the demands of the modern world.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cMaine\u2019s Highest-Ranking Justices Will Not Weigh Complaints Against Peers.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Portland Press Herald<\/strong>: \u201cAccording to new rules, ethics complaints against members of the\u00a0Maine Supreme Judicial Court\u00a0<\/strong>instead will be heard by a panel of lower court judges.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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