{"id":145614,"date":"2026-03-09T06:42:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/09\/legal-ethics-roundup-ethics-whiplash-over-executive-orders-fl-bondi-complaint-doj-takes-on-state-discipline-spike-in-judicial-conduct-complaints-more\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T06:42:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:42:39","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-ethics-whiplash-over-executive-orders-fl-bondi-complaint-doj-takes-on-state-discipline-spike-in-judicial-conduct-complaints-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/09\/legal-ethics-roundup-ethics-whiplash-over-executive-orders-fl-bondi-complaint-doj-takes-on-state-discipline-spike-in-judicial-conduct-complaints-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Ethics Whiplash Over Executive Orders + FL Bondi Complaint, DOJ Takes On State Discipline, Spike In Judicial Conduct Complaints & 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

Hello from Praha. My son\u2019s spring break was last week, so as I write this we are wrapping up travels through Czechia and Germany. I love a good library, so a highlight was touring the Klementinum, which houses the National Library of the Czech Republic. Here\u2019s a peek inside.<\/p>\n

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Klementinum Baroque Library, Old Town Prague (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a big week for legal ethics news. We suffered whiplash as the administration went from dropping the pursuit of its Executive Orders against law firms to doubling-down on them 24 hours later. And that wasn\u2019t the only whiplash-reversal. Check out the headline below from the Florida Bar for more on that. Meanwhile a serious threat to states\u2019 rights looms with the Justice Department directing bar authorities on how to handle discipline of its lawyers.<\/p>\n

I also spoke with\u00a0National Law Journal<\/strong>\u00a0reporter\u00a0Avalon Zoppo<\/strong>\u00a0who has analyzed interesting data about the number and categories of judicial complaints over the past 15 years. You can read more about her study along with the other top ten headlines.<\/p>\n

Highlights from Last Week \u2013 Top Ten Headlines \ud83d\udcf0<\/h3>\n

#1 \u201cWhat Was Behind a Spike in Judicial Misconduct Complaints Last Year?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The National Law Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe number of judicial misconduct complaints filed against federal judges spiked last year, according to the most recent statistics released by the\u00a0Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts<\/strong>. A little over 1,850 ethics complaints were commenced against judges during the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, an almost 23% increase compared to the same period a year prior and higher than recent years. Court watchers said it\u2019s difficult to pin down what could be behind the increase, but one driver could be a ramping up of public officials\u2019 criticism of judges and the courts. \u2026\u00a0University of Houston Law Center<\/strong>\u00a0professor<\/strong>\u00a0Renee Knake Jefferson<\/strong>\u00a0said the public may be more aware about the process for raising concerns about judges compared to 20 years ago, leading to more complaints. \u2018The reason why I think there\u2019s a heightened awareness by the public is because we saw challenges to judges, both in the context of election-related disputes, but also because we have a president who has called out judges and raised concerns about the judges when he\u2019s unhappy with the substantive outcome of a matter,\u2019 said Knake Jefferson, who studies judicial and lawyer ethics.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cTrump Administration, in Reversal, Tries to Continue Fight Against Law Firms.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe administration told a court on Monday that it was abandoning its defense of executive orders targeting the firms. But on Tuesday, the Justice Department abruptly changed its position.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cFlorida Bar Reverses Itself, Says It Is Not Investigating Lindsey Halligan.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The Washington Post:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA spokesperson said the bar\u2019s counsel \u2018erroneously\u2019 stated there was a \u2018pending investigation\u2019; instead, a complaint against Halligan remains at a preliminary stage.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cTrump Justice Dept. Seeks to Stall State Bar Discipline of Its Lawyers.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe administration has no control over the disciplinary authorities of state bar associations, but a new proposal would let the attorney general ask them to suspend proceedings involving department lawyers.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link). View the full proposal in the Federal Register\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#5 \u201cThe Cathedral of Justice is Crumbling.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From former\u00a0Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez<\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a0Checks & Balances:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAs Attorney General during the\u00a0George W. Bush<\/strong>\u00a0administration, I witnessed the countless efforts of department lawyers and employees to protect the rule of law and maintain the cathedral of justice. \u2026 Today it appears to many former DOJ employees and officials that the cathedral of justice is being dismantled stone by stone. Prosecutors appear to no longer enjoy prosecutorial independence. Prosecutions at the federal district level against perceived political or personal\u00a0enemies<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the administration\u2019s leadership are, in many cases, now directed by senior leaders at the Department or by subordinates at the White House. Further, we see the entire legal profession weakened by\u00a0attacks<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on law firms. Politically motivated criticism of our judges, as well as\u00a0threats<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to their families, threaten to undermine the independence of the courts. Recently, it was\u00a0reported<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that leaders in the various 93 US offices were told to provide DOJ headquarters with examples of perceived judicial activism that would serve as the basis for referral to the House of Representatives for possible impeachment proceedings. There are growing complaints about executive branch defiance of court orders. Some prosecutions now appear to be motivated not by justice\u2014but by politics, intimidation, or retribution. Recent prosecutions of perceived political enemies of the current administration\u2014including former\u00a0FBI Director James Comey<\/strong>,\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/strong>, and six members of Congress, including\u00a0Sen. Mark Kelly<\/strong>\u2014have all\u00a0failed<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to an embarrassing level.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cCalifornia Ban on Fee Sharing Prompts Firm to Ditch Owners.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA new California law has already forced one out-of-state law firm to change its ownership structure. Eleos LLP, an Arizona firm affiliated with California\u2019s Wisner Baum, removed non-lawyers from its ownership in order to comply with the law, partners at Wisner Baum said in interviews. The law\u00a0bans<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0firms in California from sharing contingency fees with other firms that are owned by non-lawyers. The move is an early example of the law\u2019s impact since taking effect in January on firms operating under relaxed ownership rules in Arizona and a handful of other jurisdictions.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cUK Law Sector\u2019s Private Equity Boom Offers Lessons For US.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPrivate equity money is pouring into the UK legal sector, fueling a wave of consolidation in consumer-facing practices and offering a glimpse of what it could look like if outside investment in the US legal industry takes off.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cSocial Media Threats are Disrupting Rule of Law for Judges.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Judge Derwin L. Webb<\/strong>\u00a0in the\u00a0The Courier-Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAs chief judge of family court, I do not ask to be shielded from criticism. I ask only that criticism remain within the bounds of law and civility.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cDOJ Attorney Used Fabricated Quotes in Court Filing.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn assistant US attorney in North Carolina filed a response with the court that included \u2018fabricated quotations and misstatements of case holdings\u2019 and then made \u2018false or misleading statements\u2019 of how they got included, a magistrate judge said. \u2018Because of the seriousness of these issues,\u2019 senior leaders from the US Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina must appear at a show cause hearing next week for why the civil litigator responsible shouldn\u2019t be sanctioned and why the entire office shouldn\u2019t be held jointly responsible,\u00a0US Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers\u00a0<\/strong>said in a March 2\u00a0order<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201c11 Law School Deans Oppose Proposal to Speed Up Approval Process for Accreditation Changes.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cDeans at 11 law schools have argued the council for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should not approve a proposal that would speed up the process of revising or creating new accreditation standards. Currently, as specified by Rule 55, the ABA is allowed to weigh in on proposed revisions to standards twice before the council determines the specifics of the change. The proposed changes would give the ABA only one chance to provide its input. But the Feb. 20\u00a0memo<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0addressed to council chair\u00a0Daniel Thies<\/strong>\u00a0and signed by deans including\u00a0Angela Onwuachi-Willig<\/strong>\u00a0at Boston University School of Law,\u00a0Paul Litton<\/strong>\u00a0at the University of Missouri School of Law and\u00a0Marcilynn A. Burke<\/strong>\u00a0at Tulane Law School, stated \u2018we believe that the council should prioritize adopting the best possible standards, interpretations and rules over reducing the time it may take to implement a change.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. [Full disclosure: I am a member of the Accreditation Council for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.]<\/p>\n

Get Hired \ud83d\udcbc<\/h3>\n

Did you miss the 450+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Upcoming Ethics Events & Other Announcements \ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f<\/h3>\n

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

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Keep in Touch \ud83d\udcdd<\/h3>\n