{"id":147559,"date":"2026-03-30T15:44:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/30\/legal-ethics-roundup-lawyer-court-selfie-sanction-jj-conflict-disqualification-house-rep-ethics-violations-alito-gorsuch-recusals-fiery-judicial-opinions-lsbs-new-ethics-hierarchy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T15:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:44:47","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-lawyer-court-selfie-sanction-jj-conflict-disqualification-house-rep-ethics-violations-alito-gorsuch-recusals-fiery-judicial-opinions-lsbs-new-ethics-hierarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/30\/legal-ethics-roundup-lawyer-court-selfie-sanction-jj-conflict-disqualification-house-rep-ethics-violations-alito-gorsuch-recusals-fiery-judicial-opinions-lsbs-new-ethics-hierarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Lawyer Court Selfie Sanction, J&J Conflict Disqualification, House Rep Ethics Violations, Alito\/Gorsuch Recusals, Fiery Judicial Opinions, LSB\u2019s New Ethics Hierarchy & 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

Hi from Denver, where I am attending the\u00a0National Conference on Trusteeship<\/strong>\u00a0hosted by the\u00a0Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges<\/strong>\u00a0(AGB). It\u2019s not a typical destination for legal ethicists\u2014pretty sure I\u2019m the only one in attendance\u2014but many of the panels and presentations intersect with themes from my scholarship like the ethical obligations of institutions and their leaders. (I\u2019m here in my capacity as the Vice Chair of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.) One highlight was a talk by\u00a0David Rabban<\/strong>\u00a0(Texas) about his book\u00a0Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right<\/a><\/strong>. It was especially wonderful to finally meet\u00a0Jackie Gardina\u00a0<\/strong>in person. Back in early 2024, she interviewed me on her\u00a0podcast Side Bar<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0Mitchel Winick<\/strong>\u00a0about my book\u00a0Law Democratized: A Blueprint for Access to Justice<\/a><\/strong>. At the time she served as Dean of the Colleges of Law (Santa Barbara and Ventura) and she now is the Senior Director of Institution and System Programs at AGB.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Denver at Sunset (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I\u00a0mentioned last week<\/a><\/strong>, PrawfsBlawg has been hosting an\u00a0online symposium<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0about a new book by\u00a0Elizabeth Burch<\/strong>\u00a0(Georgia),\u00a0The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America\u2019s Law Suit Factory<\/a><\/strong>. Other contributors include\u00a0Brooke Coleman<\/strong>\u00a0(Seattle),\u00a0Miriam Giles<\/strong>\u00a0(Northwestern),\u00a0Tony Sebok<\/strong>\u00a0(Cardozo),\u00a0Howard Wasserman<\/strong>\u00a0(FIU), and\u00a0Brad Wendel<\/strong>\u00a0(Cornell). My post goes live today, and Burch gets the final word later this week. And if you missed last Wednesday\u2019s event hosted by\u00a0Hofstra Law\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0Monroe H. Freedman Center for the Study of Legal Ethics and Fordham Law\u2019s Stein Center for Law and Ethics<\/strong>\u00a0where I spoke about the new book from\u00a0Ray Brescia<\/strong>\u00a0(Albany)\u00a0Lawyer 3.0: A Guide to Next-Wave Lawyering<\/a><\/strong>, a recording should soon be\u00a0available<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Now for the headlines.<\/p>\n

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

#1 \u201cSome Judges See Risks in Fiery Opinions Warning of Threats to Democracy.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cJudges are turning up the volume. One\u00a0compared her district\u2019s ballooning caseload<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to a demigod\u2019s battle against a mythological monster. Another\u00a0sought to buttress<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0his argument against National Guard deployments to U.S. cities with a YouTube link to a 1970 protest song. A\u00a0third compared<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0the Trump administration\u2019s rewriting of American history to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell\u2019s novel \u20181984.\u2019 More and more federal judges have been setting aside their profession\u2019s traditional, restrained style of opinion writing in favor of an emotive, populist approach, giving full vent to the intensity of their concerns about cases flooding their dockets since President Trump returned to office.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cJohnson & Johnson Gets Beasley Allen Tossed From Talc Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBeasley Allen, one of the leading trial firms taking on Johnson & Johnson in the sprawling multi-district talc litigation, has been disqualified by a federal court. Thursday\u2019s ruling from a New Jersey federal magistrate judge removes the Alabama-based firm from the litigation, in which customers claim J&J talc products are responsible for their ovarian cancer. The decision sprang from a request from J&J after Beasley Allen met with a former lawyer for the medical products company in a mediation which the company said was tantamount to a lawyer switching sides. Beasley Allen was disqualified from hundreds of New Jersey-based state court cases in February. \u2018Disqualification is a remedy courts are not quick to administer,\u2019\u00a0US District Court for the District of New Jersey Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah L. Singh<\/strong>\u00a0said in her\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>. \u2018Yet, there are moments when it is necessary when balancing the equities and interests. This is such a moment.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cNeil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito Sit Out Supreme Court Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Newsweek:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cSupreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Samuel Alito<\/strong>\u00a0did not participate in the decision making of two different cases and while it may be known why Alito decided to recuse himself, it\u2019s less clear the reasoning behind Gorsuch\u2019s decision. Supreme Court justices, who aren\u2019t required to explain why they\u2019re sitting out of a case, tend to sit them out when there\u2019s a conflict of interest. That could be because of a financial stake in the case through stocks they own, a personal relationship or that they were involved in the case as a judge before they joined the court.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cHouse Panel Finds Florida Democrat Guilty of Ethics Violations.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0NPR:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe House Ethics Committee\u00a0<\/strong>has found \u2018clear and convincing evidence\u2019 that\u00a0Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/strong>\u00a0violated House rules, after a rare marathon public hearing Thursday night. The Florida Democrat [and lawyer] was\u00a0indicted in November over allegations she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and used it to bankroll her 2021 special election campaign. Federal prosecutors allege she funneled money to support her campaign using FEMA overpayments distributed to Trinity Healthcare services, her family\u2019s company. She pleaded not guilty. \u2018After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [Statement of Alleged Violations] had been proven,\u2019 a committee\u00a0statement<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>read. Cherfilus-McCormick has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. \u2018I look forward to proving my innocence,\u2019 she said in a statement to NPR Friday morning.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cSexual Misconduct Report Leaves I.C.C.\u2019s Path Ahead Unclear.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn a report obtained by The New York Times, a panel of judges found that evidence of sexual misconduct by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court left room for \u2018reasonable doubt.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cAttorney at Social Media Addiction Trial Takes Selfie, Receives $1,100 Sanction.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA plaintiffs lawyer recently received a $1,100 sanction for taking a selfie and conducting a Zoom interview from inside the Los Angeles Superior Court during the first trial alleging that Meta Platforms and YouTube caused addictions in adolescents.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201c98-Year-Old US Judge Loses Another Challenge to Her Suspension.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe federal court system\u2019s governing body on Tuesday rejected \u200banother bid by\u00a0U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman<\/strong>, who at \u200c98 years old is the oldest active federal judge, to overturn her ongoing suspension from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. \u200bThe Judicial Conference of the United States\u2019 Committee on Judicial \u200bConduct and Disability upheld the Federal Circuit\u2019s decision from \u2060last year to extend Newman\u2019s suspension after she allegedly stonewalled her court\u2019s \u200binvestigation into her fitness to serve.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cNome Judge Will Resign Following Lengthy Investigation Into Misconduct Allegations<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Anchorage Daily News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cNome Superior Court Judge Romano DiBenedetto<\/strong>\u00a0will resign, effective April 1, a spokesperson for the Alaska Court System said Friday. A year ago, the Alaska Court System placed DiBenedetto on leave after court staff reported behavior including incidents when the judge used offensive accents to impersonate people from other ethnic groups and kept a courtroom of people waiting while he watched a sports game on TV. In February, after a lengthy investigation, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct\u00a0recommended that DiBenedetto<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0receive a reprimand from the Alaska Supreme Court, which has ultimate authority over discipline for judges. The recommendation stopped short of advising that DiBenedetto face a harsher punishment, such as being removed from the bench.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cLSB Introduces Hierarchy in Lawyers\u2019 Ethical Duties.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0LegalFutures (UK):\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cNew requirements to strengthen ethical standards now expressly state that lawyers must place their duties to the court, and to act with independence and integrity, above the duty to act in the best interests of their client, where they conflict. The Legal Services Board\u2019s statutory statement of policy on upholding professional ethical duties also makes clear that they apply to all staff working within law firms and not just authorised lawyers. The\u00a0statement of policy<\/a><\/strong>, published today\u00a0after consultation<\/a><\/strong>, sets out a definition of \u2018professional ethical duties.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cHoning Legal Judgment: How Professional Acumen & Fiduciary Care Can Keep Lawyers Relevant in the Age of AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Thompson Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe special relevance of lawyers in the age of AI is the profession\u2019s enduring value around the unique human capacity for independent judgment, fiduciary care, and preserving the law\u2019s connection to justice and human dignity.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/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

\n

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

\n

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

Do you have colleagues who care about legal ethics?<\/strong>\u00a0Please share the Roundup with them. I\u2019d love to see our community continue to grow!<\/p>\n

News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email legalethics@substack.com \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: Lawyer Court Selfie Sanction, J&J Conflict Disqualification, House Rep Ethics Violations, Alito\/Gorsuch Recusals, Fiery Judicial Opinions, LSB\u2019s New Ethics Hierarchy & 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

Hi from Denver, where I am attending the\u00a0National Conference on Trusteeship<\/strong>\u00a0hosted by the\u00a0Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges<\/strong>\u00a0(AGB). It\u2019s not a typical destination for legal ethicists\u2014pretty sure I\u2019m the only one in attendance\u2014but many of the panels and presentations intersect with themes from my scholarship like the ethical obligations of institutions and their leaders. (I\u2019m here in my capacity as the Vice Chair of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.) One highlight was a talk by\u00a0David Rabban<\/strong>\u00a0(Texas) about his book\u00a0Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right<\/a><\/strong>. It was especially wonderful to finally meet\u00a0Jackie Gardina\u00a0<\/strong>in person. Back in early 2024, she interviewed me on her\u00a0podcast Side Bar<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0Mitchel Winick<\/strong>\u00a0about my book\u00a0Law Democratized: A Blueprint for Access to Justice<\/a><\/strong>. At the time she served as Dean of the Colleges of Law (Santa Barbara and Ventura) and she now is the Senior Director of Institution and System Programs at AGB.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Denver at Sunset (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I\u00a0mentioned last week<\/a><\/strong>, PrawfsBlawg has been hosting an\u00a0online symposium<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0about a new book by\u00a0Elizabeth Burch<\/strong>\u00a0(Georgia),\u00a0The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America\u2019s Law Suit Factory<\/a><\/strong>. Other contributors include\u00a0Brooke Coleman<\/strong>\u00a0(Seattle),\u00a0Miriam Giles<\/strong>\u00a0(Northwestern),\u00a0Tony Sebok<\/strong>\u00a0(Cardozo),\u00a0Howard Wasserman<\/strong>\u00a0(FIU), and\u00a0Brad Wendel<\/strong>\u00a0(Cornell). My post goes live today, and Burch gets the final word later this week. And if you missed last Wednesday\u2019s event hosted by\u00a0Hofstra Law\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0Monroe H. Freedman Center for the Study of Legal Ethics and Fordham Law\u2019s Stein Center for Law and Ethics<\/strong>\u00a0where I spoke about the new book from\u00a0Ray Brescia<\/strong>\u00a0(Albany)\u00a0Lawyer 3.0: A Guide to Next-Wave Lawyering<\/a><\/strong>, a recording should soon be\u00a0available<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Now for the headlines.<\/p>\n

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

#1 \u201cSome Judges See Risks in Fiery Opinions Warning of Threats to Democracy.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cJudges are turning up the volume. One\u00a0compared her district\u2019s ballooning caseload<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to a demigod\u2019s battle against a mythological monster. Another\u00a0sought to buttress<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0his argument against National Guard deployments to U.S. cities with a YouTube link to a 1970 protest song. A\u00a0third compared<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0the Trump administration\u2019s rewriting of American history to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell\u2019s novel \u20181984.\u2019 More and more federal judges have been setting aside their profession\u2019s traditional, restrained style of opinion writing in favor of an emotive, populist approach, giving full vent to the intensity of their concerns about cases flooding their dockets since President Trump returned to office.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cJohnson & Johnson Gets Beasley Allen Tossed From Talc Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBeasley Allen, one of the leading trial firms taking on Johnson & Johnson in the sprawling multi-district talc litigation, has been disqualified by a federal court. Thursday\u2019s ruling from a New Jersey federal magistrate judge removes the Alabama-based firm from the litigation, in which customers claim J&J talc products are responsible for their ovarian cancer. The decision sprang from a request from J&J after Beasley Allen met with a former lawyer for the medical products company in a mediation which the company said was tantamount to a lawyer switching sides. Beasley Allen was disqualified from hundreds of New Jersey-based state court cases in February. \u2018Disqualification is a remedy courts are not quick to administer,\u2019\u00a0US District Court for the District of New Jersey Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah L. Singh<\/strong>\u00a0said in her\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>. \u2018Yet, there are moments when it is necessary when balancing the equities and interests. This is such a moment.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cNeil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito Sit Out Supreme Court Cases.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Newsweek:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cSupreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Samuel Alito<\/strong>\u00a0did not participate in the decision making of two different cases and while it may be known why Alito decided to recuse himself, it\u2019s less clear the reasoning behind Gorsuch\u2019s decision. Supreme Court justices, who aren\u2019t required to explain why they\u2019re sitting out of a case, tend to sit them out when there\u2019s a conflict of interest. That could be because of a financial stake in the case through stocks they own, a personal relationship or that they were involved in the case as a judge before they joined the court.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cHouse Panel Finds Florida Democrat Guilty of Ethics Violations.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0NPR:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe House Ethics Committee\u00a0<\/strong>has found \u2018clear and convincing evidence\u2019 that\u00a0Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/strong>\u00a0violated House rules, after a rare marathon public hearing Thursday night. The Florida Democrat [and lawyer] was\u00a0indicted in November over allegations she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and used it to bankroll her 2021 special election campaign. Federal prosecutors allege she funneled money to support her campaign using FEMA overpayments distributed to Trinity Healthcare services, her family\u2019s company. She pleaded not guilty. \u2018After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [Statement of Alleged Violations] had been proven,\u2019 a committee\u00a0statement<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>read. Cherfilus-McCormick has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. \u2018I look forward to proving my innocence,\u2019 she said in a statement to NPR Friday morning.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cSexual Misconduct Report Leaves I.C.C.\u2019s Path Ahead Unclear.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn a report obtained by The New York Times, a panel of judges found that evidence of sexual misconduct by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court left room for \u2018reasonable doubt.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cAttorney at Social Media Addiction Trial Takes Selfie, Receives $1,100 Sanction.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA plaintiffs lawyer recently received a $1,100 sanction for taking a selfie and conducting a Zoom interview from inside the Los Angeles Superior Court during the first trial alleging that Meta Platforms and YouTube caused addictions in adolescents.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201c98-Year-Old US Judge Loses Another Challenge to Her Suspension.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe federal court system\u2019s governing body on Tuesday rejected \u200banother bid by\u00a0U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman<\/strong>, who at \u200c98 years old is the oldest active federal judge, to overturn her ongoing suspension from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. \u200bThe Judicial Conference of the United States\u2019 Committee on Judicial \u200bConduct and Disability upheld the Federal Circuit\u2019s decision from \u2060last year to extend Newman\u2019s suspension after she allegedly stonewalled her court\u2019s \u200binvestigation into her fitness to serve.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cNome Judge Will Resign Following Lengthy Investigation Into Misconduct Allegations<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Anchorage Daily News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cNome Superior Court Judge Romano DiBenedetto<\/strong>\u00a0will resign, effective April 1, a spokesperson for the Alaska Court System said Friday. A year ago, the Alaska Court System placed DiBenedetto on leave after court staff reported behavior including incidents when the judge used offensive accents to impersonate people from other ethnic groups and kept a courtroom of people waiting while he watched a sports game on TV. In February, after a lengthy investigation, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct\u00a0recommended that DiBenedetto<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0receive a reprimand from the Alaska Supreme Court, which has ultimate authority over discipline for judges. The recommendation stopped short of advising that DiBenedetto face a harsher punishment, such as being removed from the bench.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cLSB Introduces Hierarchy in Lawyers\u2019 Ethical Duties.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0LegalFutures (UK):\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cNew requirements to strengthen ethical standards now expressly state that lawyers must place their duties to the court, and to act with independence and integrity, above the duty to act in the best interests of their client, where they conflict. The Legal Services Board\u2019s statutory statement of policy on upholding professional ethical duties also makes clear that they apply to all staff working within law firms and not just authorised lawyers. The\u00a0statement of policy<\/a><\/strong>, published today\u00a0after consultation<\/a><\/strong>, sets out a definition of \u2018professional ethical duties.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cHoning Legal Judgment: How Professional Acumen & Fiduciary Care Can Keep Lawyers Relevant in the Age of AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Thompson Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe special relevance of lawyers in the age of AI is the profession\u2019s enduring value around the unique human capacity for independent judgment, fiduciary care, and preserving the law\u2019s connection to justice and human dignity.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/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

\n

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

\n

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

Do you have colleagues who care about legal ethics?<\/strong>\u00a0Please share the Roundup with them. I\u2019d love to see our community continue to grow!<\/p>\n

News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email legalethics@substack.com \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: Lawyer Court Selfie Sanction, J&J Conflict Disqualification, House Rep Ethics Violations, Alito\/Gorsuch Recusals, Fiery Judicial Opinions, LSB\u2019s New Ethics Hierarchy & 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. Hi from Denver, where I am attending the\u00a0National Conference on Trusteeship\u00a0hosted by the\u00a0Association of Governing Boards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":147560,"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-147559","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\/2026\/03\/https3A2F2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com2Fpublic2Fimages2Fc5c86cdb-5799-4be0-8841-26d612f97873_1398x1028-62OHwx.jpg?fit=1398%2C1028&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147559","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=147559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}