{"id":137000,"date":"2025-11-17T15:09:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/17\/legal-ethics-roundup-judge-resigns-in-protest-more-ai-sanctions-bar-complaint-against-halligan-scotus-ethics-code-turns-2-more\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:09:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:09:29","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-judge-resigns-in-protest-more-ai-sanctions-bar-complaint-against-halligan-scotus-ethics-code-turns-2-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/11\/17\/legal-ethics-roundup-judge-resigns-in-protest-more-ai-sanctions-bar-complaint-against-halligan-scotus-ethics-code-turns-2-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Judge Resigns In Protest, More AI Sanctions, Bar Complaint Against Halligan, SCOTUS Ethics Code Turns 2 & 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

Hello from San Francisco. I\u2019m writing you as I wrap up my week with the Council for the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, which is the independent body that accredits law schools. If you are curious about our work, you can read about some of it\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and learn more about the Council generally\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alta Plaza Park, San Francisco (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the headlines below, the\u00a0Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize for Scholarship in Professional Responsibility<\/strong>\u00a0was recently announced. For more on that, see last week\u2019s\u00a0LER Bonus Content No. 20<\/a><\/strong>. Congratulations again to the winner\u00a0Matthew Liebman\u00a0<\/strong>(University of San Francisco) for his article\u00a0Representing Animals<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and honorable mention awardees\u00a0Milan Markovic<\/strong>\u00a0(Texas A&M) and\u00a0Nuno Garoupa<\/strong>\u00a0(George Mason) for their article\u00a0Legal Market Decartelization<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

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

#1 \u201cWhy I Am Resigning.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>An op-ed from\u00a0Judge Mark Wolf<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0The Atlantic:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn 1985,\u00a0President Ronald Reagan<\/strong>\u00a0appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest of my life. However, I resigned Friday, relinquishing that lifetime appointment and giving up the opportunity for public service that I have loved. My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom.\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench. The White House\u2019s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cMcDermott Will & Schulte Considers Outside Investment in Firm.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMcDermott Will & Schulte said Wednesday it is in preliminary discussions about selling a stake in the law firm to outside investors, a novel move that could advance acceptance of non-lawyer backing of Big Law operations. \u2026 The Financial Times earlier Wednesday said the firm is exploring a restructuring that would let it sell a stake to private equity groups, based on reporting from five unidentified people. The approach under consideration would split the firm into a business owned by lawyers that advise clients and a separate operation that would sell administrative services to the lawyer-owned firm, according to the FT. \u2026 Such an embrace of non-lawyer investment would represent a sea-change in the traditional business model the legal industry has embraced. Big Law firms in the US are strictly lawyer-owned, which critics say stifles innovation and makes legal services overly expensive.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cJudge Accused of Helping Immigrant Avoid ICE Didn\u2019t Know About Plan, Hearing Officer Concludes.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA judge accused of helping a defendant avoid immigration detention at her courthouse in Newton, Massachusetts, didn\u2019t know about the escape plan and didn\u2019t mislead court authorities about the incident, according to a hearing officer in the ethics case against her.\u00a0Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph<\/strong>\u00a0of Massachusetts should nonetheless receive a public reprimand for inadvertently creating the appearance of impropriety and bias, partly by allowing an off-the-record sidebar in violation of a court rule during the 2018 incident, the hearing officer said in an\u00a0Oct. 31 report<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0released\u00a0Nov. 6<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cNew Non-Profit Launches First-Ever Public Database Documenting Executive Branch Attorneys\u2019 Conduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Fox News 40:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA team of legal and technology professionals today announced the launch of GLOW \u2013 Government Lawyers Oversight Watchdog, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to holding government attorneys accountable to their fundamental duty to the public and the rule of law. Along with the organization, GLOW is unveiling The Government Lawyers Database.\u00a0<\/strong>Available at\u00a0glowlaw.org<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a>\u00a0the database is a freely accessible public record of how government lawyers have conducted themselves while representing, or supporting, U.S. Executive branch legal positions.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cCleveland Attorney\u2019s Use of AI in Court Filings Raises Ethical Questions for Legal Profession.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Cleveland.com:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA Cleveland defense attorney is under scrutiny in two counties after submitting court filings containing fabrications generated by artificial intelligence \u2014 a case that\u2019s prompting broader questions about how lawyers are ethically navigating the use of AI tools in legal practice.\u00a0William Norman<\/strong>\u00a0admitted that a paralegal in his office used ChatGPT to\u00a0draft a motion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to reopen a murder conviction appeal. The document included quotes that did not exist in the trial transcript and misrepresented statements made by the prosecutor. Prosecutors in both Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties argue that Norman\u2019s failure to supervise the use of AI violated Ohio\u2019s rules for lawyers, particularly those governing truthfulness and oversight of nonlawyer staff.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cJudging The Justice System In The Age Of Trump: Nancy Gertner.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0David Lat\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0Original Jurisdiction:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cHow are the federal courts faring during these tumultuous times? I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss this important subject with a former federal judge: someone who understands the judicial role well but could speak more freely than a sitting judge, liberated from the strictures of the bench. Meet\u00a0Judge Nancy Gertner<\/strong>\u00a0(Ret.), who served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts from 1994 until 2011. I knew that Judge Gertner would be a lively and insightful interviewee\u2014based not only on her extensive commentary on recent events, reflected in media interviews and op-eds, but on my personal experience. During law school, I took a year-long course on federal sentencing with her, and she was one of my favorite professors. When I was her student, we disagreed on a lot: I was severely conservative back then, and Judge Gertner was, well, not. But I always appreciated and enjoyed hearing her views\u2014so it was a pleasure hearing them once again, some 25 years later, in what turned out to be an excellent conversation.\u201d Read more and listen to the interview\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cLaw School Admissions Cycle is Red-Hot, Driven by Politics, Says Kaplan Survey.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0National Jurist:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cKaplan\u2019s recent survey of law school admissions officers said the current law school application boom, fueled by a nearly 20% surge in applicants last cycle, shows no signs of cooling. \u2026\u00a0Krystin Major<\/strong>, director of LSAT programs at Kaplan, said over the past year the company has seen a massive increase in the number of students preparing for the LSAT, a strong indication that the number of law school applicants will remain at historically high levels, making it imperative for prospective students to put together the strongest application possible.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cWatchdog Group Files Bar Complaint Against Prosecutor Lindsey Halligan Over Comey, James Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0ABC News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Justice Department prosecutor handpicked by\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0to lead the criminal cases against\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/strong>\u00a0and former\u00a0FBI Director James Comey<\/strong>\u00a0is now the subject of a bar complaint that alleges she is unfit to be an attorney and that her actions constitute an \u2018abuse of power.\u2019 The progressive watchdog group\u00a0Campaign for Accountability<\/strong>\u00a0filed a complaint against\u00a0Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan<\/strong>\u00a0on Tuesday and requested that the state bars in Florida and Virginia initiate investigations into her conduct. The complaint alleges that Halligan repeatedly violated the professional and ethical rules that govern the legal profession, including by making false statements and by bringing cases that are unsupported by probable cause.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cEx-Judges See \u2018Grave Threat\u2019 in Trump Official\u2019s \u2018War\u2019 Talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA group of former federal judges is pushing back against a Trump administration official\u2019s call for attorneys to join the \u2018war\u2019 against the judiciary. The\u00a0Keep Our Republic\u2019s Article III Coalition<\/strong>\u00a0said Thursday that the language used by\u00a0Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche<\/strong>\u00a0\u2018poses a grave threat to the rule of law and the judiciary.\u2019 Blanche said at a Federalist Society conference on Nov. 7 that young lawyers should join the Justice Department \u2018because it is a war, and it\u2019s something we will not win unless we keep on fighting.\u2019 The group, which features 50 former federal judges, said that language \u2018especially when voiced by high-ranking officials\u2014not only endangers individual judges and court staff, but also undermines the public\u2019s trust in the judiciary as an impartial and co-equal branch of government.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cThe SCOTUS Ethics Code Two Years On: The Justices Can and Must Do Better.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Fix the Court:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAhead of tomorrow\u2019s two-year anniversary of the release of the justices\u2019\u00a0Code of Conduct<\/a><\/strong>, Fix the Court is reflecting on changes to the justices\u2019 ethical behavior in light of the Code and what remains inadequate in terms of their ethical policies and practices. The main deficiency is that there remains no enforcement mechanism. It would not be difficult for\u00a0Chief Justice Roberts<\/strong>\u00a0to appoint \u2018some sort of committee of highly respected judges with a great deal of experience [and] with a reputation for fairness,\u2019 as\u00a0Justice Kagan<\/strong>\u00a0contemplated last year, to do that work. This committee would receive complaints, separate the meritorious from the frivolous and review the meritorious ones, after which they could recommend remedial steps, like recusal, disclosure amendments or ethics training. (More on that\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.) Another deficiency is that there\u2019s been no update on whether the Court has conducted an \u2018examination of best practices\u2019 in judicial ethics, as mentioned in the commentary to the Code, which implied that the document wasn\u2019t going to be the justices\u2019 final word on ethics.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\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: Judge Resigns In Protest, More AI Sanctions, Bar Complaint Against Halligan, SCOTUS Ethics Code Turns 2 & 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

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

Hello from San Francisco. I\u2019m writing you as I wrap up my week with the Council for the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, which is the independent body that accredits law schools. If you are curious about our work, you can read about some of it\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and learn more about the Council generally\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alta Plaza Park, San Francisco (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the headlines below, the\u00a0Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize for Scholarship in Professional Responsibility<\/strong>\u00a0was recently announced. For more on that, see last week\u2019s\u00a0LER Bonus Content No. 20<\/a><\/strong>. Congratulations again to the winner\u00a0Matthew Liebman\u00a0<\/strong>(University of San Francisco) for his article\u00a0Representing Animals<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and honorable mention awardees\u00a0Milan Markovic<\/strong>\u00a0(Texas A&M) and\u00a0Nuno Garoupa<\/strong>\u00a0(George Mason) for their article\u00a0Legal Market Decartelization<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

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

#1 \u201cWhy I Am Resigning.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>An op-ed from\u00a0Judge Mark Wolf<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0The Atlantic:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn 1985,\u00a0President Ronald Reagan<\/strong>\u00a0appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest of my life. However, I resigned Friday, relinquishing that lifetime appointment and giving up the opportunity for public service that I have loved. My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom.\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench. The White House\u2019s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cMcDermott Will & Schulte Considers Outside Investment in Firm.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMcDermott Will & Schulte said Wednesday it is in preliminary discussions about selling a stake in the law firm to outside investors, a novel move that could advance acceptance of non-lawyer backing of Big Law operations. \u2026 The Financial Times earlier Wednesday said the firm is exploring a restructuring that would let it sell a stake to private equity groups, based on reporting from five unidentified people. The approach under consideration would split the firm into a business owned by lawyers that advise clients and a separate operation that would sell administrative services to the lawyer-owned firm, according to the FT. \u2026 Such an embrace of non-lawyer investment would represent a sea-change in the traditional business model the legal industry has embraced. Big Law firms in the US are strictly lawyer-owned, which critics say stifles innovation and makes legal services overly expensive.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cJudge Accused of Helping Immigrant Avoid ICE Didn\u2019t Know About Plan, Hearing Officer Concludes.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA judge accused of helping a defendant avoid immigration detention at her courthouse in Newton, Massachusetts, didn\u2019t know about the escape plan and didn\u2019t mislead court authorities about the incident, according to a hearing officer in the ethics case against her.\u00a0Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph<\/strong>\u00a0of Massachusetts should nonetheless receive a public reprimand for inadvertently creating the appearance of impropriety and bias, partly by allowing an off-the-record sidebar in violation of a court rule during the 2018 incident, the hearing officer said in an\u00a0Oct. 31 report<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0released\u00a0Nov. 6<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cNew Non-Profit Launches First-Ever Public Database Documenting Executive Branch Attorneys\u2019 Conduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Fox News 40:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA team of legal and technology professionals today announced the launch of GLOW \u2013 Government Lawyers Oversight Watchdog, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to holding government attorneys accountable to their fundamental duty to the public and the rule of law. Along with the organization, GLOW is unveiling The Government Lawyers Database.\u00a0<\/strong>Available at\u00a0glowlaw.org<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a>\u00a0the database is a freely accessible public record of how government lawyers have conducted themselves while representing, or supporting, U.S. Executive branch legal positions.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cCleveland Attorney\u2019s Use of AI in Court Filings Raises Ethical Questions for Legal Profession.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Cleveland.com:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA Cleveland defense attorney is under scrutiny in two counties after submitting court filings containing fabrications generated by artificial intelligence \u2014 a case that\u2019s prompting broader questions about how lawyers are ethically navigating the use of AI tools in legal practice.\u00a0William Norman<\/strong>\u00a0admitted that a paralegal in his office used ChatGPT to\u00a0draft a motion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to reopen a murder conviction appeal. The document included quotes that did not exist in the trial transcript and misrepresented statements made by the prosecutor. Prosecutors in both Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties argue that Norman\u2019s failure to supervise the use of AI violated Ohio\u2019s rules for lawyers, particularly those governing truthfulness and oversight of nonlawyer staff.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cJudging The Justice System In The Age Of Trump: Nancy Gertner.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0David Lat\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0Original Jurisdiction:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cHow are the federal courts faring during these tumultuous times? I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss this important subject with a former federal judge: someone who understands the judicial role well but could speak more freely than a sitting judge, liberated from the strictures of the bench. Meet\u00a0Judge Nancy Gertner<\/strong>\u00a0(Ret.), who served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts from 1994 until 2011. I knew that Judge Gertner would be a lively and insightful interviewee\u2014based not only on her extensive commentary on recent events, reflected in media interviews and op-eds, but on my personal experience. During law school, I took a year-long course on federal sentencing with her, and she was one of my favorite professors. When I was her student, we disagreed on a lot: I was severely conservative back then, and Judge Gertner was, well, not. But I always appreciated and enjoyed hearing her views\u2014so it was a pleasure hearing them once again, some 25 years later, in what turned out to be an excellent conversation.\u201d Read more and listen to the interview\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cLaw School Admissions Cycle is Red-Hot, Driven by Politics, Says Kaplan Survey.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0National Jurist:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cKaplan\u2019s recent survey of law school admissions officers said the current law school application boom, fueled by a nearly 20% surge in applicants last cycle, shows no signs of cooling. \u2026\u00a0Krystin Major<\/strong>, director of LSAT programs at Kaplan, said over the past year the company has seen a massive increase in the number of students preparing for the LSAT, a strong indication that the number of law school applicants will remain at historically high levels, making it imperative for prospective students to put together the strongest application possible.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cWatchdog Group Files Bar Complaint Against Prosecutor Lindsey Halligan Over Comey, James Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0ABC News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Justice Department prosecutor handpicked by\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0to lead the criminal cases against\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/strong>\u00a0and former\u00a0FBI Director James Comey<\/strong>\u00a0is now the subject of a bar complaint that alleges she is unfit to be an attorney and that her actions constitute an \u2018abuse of power.\u2019 The progressive watchdog group\u00a0Campaign for Accountability<\/strong>\u00a0filed a complaint against\u00a0Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan<\/strong>\u00a0on Tuesday and requested that the state bars in Florida and Virginia initiate investigations into her conduct. The complaint alleges that Halligan repeatedly violated the professional and ethical rules that govern the legal profession, including by making false statements and by bringing cases that are unsupported by probable cause.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cEx-Judges See \u2018Grave Threat\u2019 in Trump Official\u2019s \u2018War\u2019 Talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA group of former federal judges is pushing back against a Trump administration official\u2019s call for attorneys to join the \u2018war\u2019 against the judiciary. The\u00a0Keep Our Republic\u2019s Article III Coalition<\/strong>\u00a0said Thursday that the language used by\u00a0Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche<\/strong>\u00a0\u2018poses a grave threat to the rule of law and the judiciary.\u2019 Blanche said at a Federalist Society conference on Nov. 7 that young lawyers should join the Justice Department \u2018because it is a war, and it\u2019s something we will not win unless we keep on fighting.\u2019 The group, which features 50 former federal judges, said that language \u2018especially when voiced by high-ranking officials\u2014not only endangers individual judges and court staff, but also undermines the public\u2019s trust in the judiciary as an impartial and co-equal branch of government.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cThe SCOTUS Ethics Code Two Years On: The Justices Can and Must Do Better.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Fix the Court:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAhead of tomorrow\u2019s two-year anniversary of the release of the justices\u2019\u00a0Code of Conduct<\/a><\/strong>, Fix the Court is reflecting on changes to the justices\u2019 ethical behavior in light of the Code and what remains inadequate in terms of their ethical policies and practices. The main deficiency is that there remains no enforcement mechanism. It would not be difficult for\u00a0Chief Justice Roberts<\/strong>\u00a0to appoint \u2018some sort of committee of highly respected judges with a great deal of experience [and] with a reputation for fairness,\u2019 as\u00a0Justice Kagan<\/strong>\u00a0contemplated last year, to do that work. This committee would receive complaints, separate the meritorious from the frivolous and review the meritorious ones, after which they could recommend remedial steps, like recusal, disclosure amendments or ethics training. (More on that\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.) Another deficiency is that there\u2019s been no update on whether the Court has conducted an \u2018examination of best practices\u2019 in judicial ethics, as mentioned in the commentary to the Code, which implied that the document wasn\u2019t going to be the justices\u2019 final word on ethics.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\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: Judge Resigns In Protest, More AI Sanctions, Bar Complaint Against Halligan, SCOTUS Ethics Code Turns 2 & 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. Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics. Hello from San Francisco. I\u2019m writing you as I wrap up my week with the Council […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":137001,"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-137000","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\/11\/https3A2F2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com2Fpublic2Fimages2Fa08b0b1f-f709-4103-ac4f-c1153f558edb_2719x2540-Vk2zYA.jpg?fit=1456%2C1360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137000","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=137000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}