{"id":133358,"date":"2025-09-15T21:48:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T05:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/15\/legal-ethics-roundup-bullying-ban-upsolve-overturned-lawyers-denied-in-alligator-alcatraz-limits-on-dc-judges-hallucination-sanctions-more\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T21:48:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T05:48:45","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-bullying-ban-upsolve-overturned-lawyers-denied-in-alligator-alcatraz-limits-on-dc-judges-hallucination-sanctions-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/15\/legal-ethics-roundup-bullying-ban-upsolve-overturned-lawyers-denied-in-alligator-alcatraz-limits-on-dc-judges-hallucination-sanctions-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Bullying Ban, Upsolve Overturned, Lawyers Denied In \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 Limits On DC Judges, Hallucination Sanctions & 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

Happy Monday!<\/p>\n

Hello from California! This week I\u2019m in the Bay Area participating in a leadership conference organized by\u00a0Women Execs on Boards<\/a><\/strong>, an off-shoot of\u00a0Harvard Business School\u2019s Women on Boards<\/a><\/strong>, after spending the weekend at the\u00a0Omega Institute<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in upstate New York. (I\u2019m gathering lots of ideas for the next edition of my book\u00a0Law, Leadership, and Pipelines to Power<\/a><\/strong>, co-authored with\u00a0Hannah Johnson<\/strong>, the new dean of Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Half Moon Bay, California (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But don\u2019t worry, my coast-to-coast travel hasn\u2019t kept me from following the legal ethics headlines and there was plenty of news last week. Also \u2014\u00a0hot off the press<\/strong>\u00a0\ud83d\udd25 \u2014 my latest article was published by the\u00a0Cardozo Law Review<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0last week too. You can download\u00a0Ethics Accountability: The Next Era for Lawyers and Judges<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0free here<\/a><\/strong>. (And yes, for my TS fans, the title is a nod to our favorite musical artist. Counting the days until 10\/3! \ud83e\udde1 IYKYK)<\/p>\n

\n

Highlights from Last Week\u00a0\u2013 Top Ten Headlines<\/h3>\n

#1\u00a0\u201cUS Appeals Court Overturns Free Speech Ruling for Legal Advice Nonprofit Upsolve.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA U.S. appeals court on Tuesday set aside a ruling that blocked New York from enforcing rules prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law against a nonprofit that provides limited legal advice to poor people in the state. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0said<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a>\u00a0the lower court applied the wrong standard of review to the rules when it\u00a0decided in May 2022<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that New York nonprofit Upsolve\u2019s program, which trained people who aren\u2019t lawyers to provide free legal advice to people facing debt-collection lawsuits, was protected under the U.S. Constitution\u2019s 1st Amendment.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. (Full disclosure: I am part of a group of legal ethics scholars who filed a brief on behalf of Upsolve. Check it out\u00a0<\/a>here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cTwo Years of Fake Cases and the Courts are Ratcheting up the Sanctions.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Massachusetts Office of Bar Council:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn June 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York\u00a0<\/em>imposed the first-ever sanctions against attorneys for their improper use of generative AI in court pleadings in the\u00a0Mata v. Avianca, Inc.<\/em>\u00a0case. \u2026 In the two years since\u00a0Mata<\/em>, the American Bar Association (ABA), state ethics authorities, and courts have issued guidance, opinions, and orders regarding the use of AI in the practice of law. In addition to the individual publications, legal information sites such as LawSites and Justia have made many of these resources easily accessible on their websites. Further, many bar associations, legal publications, and continuing legal education providers have provided guidance, training, and information on using AI ethically in various types of law practices. Despite the increasing availability of information relating to AI\u2019s ability to generate fabricated content, many more lawyers have been sanctioned by courts and disciplined by disciplinary authorities for the very same conduct\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. (H\/T\u00a0Bob Ambrogi<\/strong>\u00a0on LinkedIn)<\/p>\n

#3<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWis. Judicial Commission Sued Over Confidentiality Rules.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTwo conservative groups have sued the Wisconsin Judicial Commission over its policy of keeping all judicial misconduct complaints strictly confidential, claiming the policy violates the First Amendment and has stymied discussion.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cThese fired DOJ Lawyers are Finding New Ways to Make a Difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0NPR:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cInside a sunny conference room across the river from Washington, D.C.,\u00a0Monika Isia Jasiewicz<\/strong>\u00a0described her unlikely path this year. It started when she received an invitation to the inauguration from her Yale Law School classmate\u00a0JD Vance<\/strong>. Less than two weeks later, she and more than a dozen other government lawyers who prosecuted people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, received another message from the new Trump administration. They were fired \u2014 by email.\u201d Read more and listen\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cProf. Ellen Yaroshefsky Signs Amicus Briefs on Judicial Guidance Transparency and Free Speech Regulation\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Hofstra Law School:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cHofstra Law Professor\u00a0Ellen Yaroshefsky<\/strong>, along with seven other legal scholars, signed an amicus brief supporting the New York Civil Liberties Union\u2019s (NYCLU) request for access to court memos that provide judges with guidance on interpreting and applying legal precedents and statutes.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c\u2019Alligator Alcatraz\u2019 Detainees Continue to Face Obstacles to Meet With Lawyers, Court Papers Allege.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0WUSF\/NPR\/Associated Press:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe filings say detainees are often transferred just before scheduled lawyer visits, denying them legal representation.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cJustice in Action: With ABA Support, Colombia Drafts a Declaration of Judicial Ethics\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal.<\/strong>\u00a0Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cBill Giving White House More Control Of DC Judges Advances.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has advanced a bill on party lines that would abolish the commission in Washington D.C. that meets and picks potential judicial nominees for the district\u2019s local courts.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cCalifornia Supreme Court Disbars L.A. Attorney Who Misled and Overcharged Inmates.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0State Bar of California:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c\u2018California attorneys are entrusted with a duty to act in the best interests of their clients,\u2019 said\u00a0Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona<\/strong>. \u2018By preying on incarcerated individuals and their families and charging them unconscionable fees for his own personal gain, Mr. Spolin committed egregious misconduct. His disbarment serves to protect the public and maintain trust in the legal profession.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cBan on Bullying at the Bar.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0A Lawyer Writes Substack:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn independent review of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment of barristers in England and Wales has recommended decisive action to protect the reputation of the bar from the stain of misconduct.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. And see the\u00a0Financial Times<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/a>additional coverage<\/a><\/strong>: \u201cBullying judges and barristers enjoy \u2018culture of impunity\u2019, review finds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get Hired<\/h3>\n

Did you miss the 350+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Upcoming Ethics Events & Other Announcements<\/h3>\n

Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Keep in Touch<\/h3>\n

News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email\u00a0legalethics@substack.com\u00a0\u2013 but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email won\u2019t be delivered.<\/p>\n

\n

Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics and is a Professor of Law at the University of Houston. Check out more of her writing at the\u00a0Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a>. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at\u00a0@reneeknake<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky at\u00a0legalethics.bsky.social<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Legal Ethics Roundup: Bullying Ban, Upsolve Overturned, Lawyers Denied In \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 Limits On DC Judges, Hallucination Sanctions & More<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Happy Monday!<\/p>\n

Hello from California! This week I\u2019m in the Bay Area participating in a leadership conference organized by\u00a0Women Execs on Boards<\/a><\/strong>, an off-shoot of\u00a0Harvard Business School\u2019s Women on Boards<\/a><\/strong>, after spending the weekend at the\u00a0Omega Institute<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in upstate New York. (I\u2019m gathering lots of ideas for the next edition of my book\u00a0Law, Leadership, and Pipelines to Power<\/a><\/strong>, co-authored with\u00a0Hannah Johnson<\/strong>, the new dean of Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Half Moon Bay, California (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But don\u2019t worry, my coast-to-coast travel hasn\u2019t kept me from following the legal ethics headlines and there was plenty of news last week. Also \u2014\u00a0hot off the press<\/strong>\u00a0\ud83d\udd25 \u2014 my latest article was published by the\u00a0Cardozo Law Review<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0last week too. You can download\u00a0Ethics Accountability: The Next Era for Lawyers and Judges<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0free here<\/a><\/strong>. (And yes, for my TS fans, the title is a nod to our favorite musical artist. Counting the days until 10\/3! \ud83e\udde1 IYKYK)<\/p>\n

\n

Highlights from Last Week\u00a0\u2013 Top Ten Headlines<\/h3>\n

#1\u00a0\u201cUS Appeals Court Overturns Free Speech Ruling for Legal Advice Nonprofit Upsolve.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA U.S. appeals court on Tuesday set aside a ruling that blocked New York from enforcing rules prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law against a nonprofit that provides limited legal advice to poor people in the state. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0said<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a>\u00a0the lower court applied the wrong standard of review to the rules when it\u00a0decided in May 2022<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that New York nonprofit Upsolve\u2019s program, which trained people who aren\u2019t lawyers to provide free legal advice to people facing debt-collection lawsuits, was protected under the U.S. Constitution\u2019s 1st Amendment.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. (Full disclosure: I am part of a group of legal ethics scholars who filed a brief on behalf of Upsolve. Check it out\u00a0<\/a>here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cTwo Years of Fake Cases and the Courts are Ratcheting up the Sanctions.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Massachusetts Office of Bar Council:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn June 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York\u00a0<\/em>imposed the first-ever sanctions against attorneys for their improper use of generative AI in court pleadings in the\u00a0Mata v. Avianca, Inc.<\/em>\u00a0case. \u2026 In the two years since\u00a0Mata<\/em>, the American Bar Association (ABA), state ethics authorities, and courts have issued guidance, opinions, and orders regarding the use of AI in the practice of law. In addition to the individual publications, legal information sites such as LawSites and Justia have made many of these resources easily accessible on their websites. Further, many bar associations, legal publications, and continuing legal education providers have provided guidance, training, and information on using AI ethically in various types of law practices. Despite the increasing availability of information relating to AI\u2019s ability to generate fabricated content, many more lawyers have been sanctioned by courts and disciplined by disciplinary authorities for the very same conduct\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. (H\/T\u00a0Bob Ambrogi<\/strong>\u00a0on LinkedIn)<\/p>\n

#3<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWis. Judicial Commission Sued Over Confidentiality Rules.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTwo conservative groups have sued the Wisconsin Judicial Commission over its policy of keeping all judicial misconduct complaints strictly confidential, claiming the policy violates the First Amendment and has stymied discussion.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cThese fired DOJ Lawyers are Finding New Ways to Make a Difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0NPR:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cInside a sunny conference room across the river from Washington, D.C.,\u00a0Monika Isia Jasiewicz<\/strong>\u00a0described her unlikely path this year. It started when she received an invitation to the inauguration from her Yale Law School classmate\u00a0JD Vance<\/strong>. Less than two weeks later, she and more than a dozen other government lawyers who prosecuted people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, received another message from the new Trump administration. They were fired \u2014 by email.\u201d Read more and listen\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cProf. Ellen Yaroshefsky Signs Amicus Briefs on Judicial Guidance Transparency and Free Speech Regulation\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Hofstra Law School:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cHofstra Law Professor\u00a0Ellen Yaroshefsky<\/strong>, along with seven other legal scholars, signed an amicus brief supporting the New York Civil Liberties Union\u2019s (NYCLU) request for access to court memos that provide judges with guidance on interpreting and applying legal precedents and statutes.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c\u2019Alligator Alcatraz\u2019 Detainees Continue to Face Obstacles to Meet With Lawyers, Court Papers Allege.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0WUSF\/NPR\/Associated Press:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe filings say detainees are often transferred just before scheduled lawyer visits, denying them legal representation.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cJustice in Action: With ABA Support, Colombia Drafts a Declaration of Judicial Ethics\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal.<\/strong>\u00a0Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cBill Giving White House More Control Of DC Judges Advances.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has advanced a bill on party lines that would abolish the commission in Washington D.C. that meets and picks potential judicial nominees for the district\u2019s local courts.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cCalifornia Supreme Court Disbars L.A. Attorney Who Misled and Overcharged Inmates.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0State Bar of California:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c\u2018California attorneys are entrusted with a duty to act in the best interests of their clients,\u2019 said\u00a0Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona<\/strong>. \u2018By preying on incarcerated individuals and their families and charging them unconscionable fees for his own personal gain, Mr. Spolin committed egregious misconduct. His disbarment serves to protect the public and maintain trust in the legal profession.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cBan on Bullying at the Bar.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0A Lawyer Writes Substack:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn independent review of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment of barristers in England and Wales has recommended decisive action to protect the reputation of the bar from the stain of misconduct.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. And see the\u00a0Financial Times<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/a>additional coverage<\/a><\/strong>: \u201cBullying judges and barristers enjoy \u2018culture of impunity\u2019, review finds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get Hired<\/h3>\n

Did you miss the 350+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Upcoming Ethics Events & Other Announcements<\/h3>\n

Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Keep in Touch<\/h3>\n

News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email\u00a0legalethics@substack.com\u00a0\u2013 but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email won\u2019t be delivered.<\/p>\n

\n

Renee Knake Jefferson holds the endowed Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics and is a Professor of Law at the University of Houston. Check out more of her writing at the\u00a0Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a>. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at\u00a0@reneeknake<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky at\u00a0legalethics.bsky.social<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Legal Ethics Roundup: Bullying Ban, Upsolve Overturned, Lawyers Denied In \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 Limits On DC Judges, Hallucination Sanctions & More<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ed. note: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,\u00a0here. Happy Monday! Hello from California! This week I\u2019m in the Bay Area participating in a leadership conference organized by\u00a0Women Execs on Boards, an off-shoot of\u00a0Harvard Business School\u2019s Women on Boards, after spending the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https3A2F2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com2Fpublic2Fimages2Fb651c0a8-4220-4b83-a5c6-9c86903e4a93_1434x742-wAeqJQ.jpg?fit=1434%2C742&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}