{"id":148750,"date":"2026-04-13T15:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/13\/legal-ethics-roundup-billing-34-5-hours-in-a-day-new-aba-recusal-opinion-shortcomings-in-scotus-ethics-rules-pro-se-ai-sanctions-extra-time-for-bar-exam-purging-immigration-judges-more\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:17:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:17:23","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-billing-34-5-hours-in-a-day-new-aba-recusal-opinion-shortcomings-in-scotus-ethics-rules-pro-se-ai-sanctions-extra-time-for-bar-exam-purging-immigration-judges-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/13\/legal-ethics-roundup-billing-34-5-hours-in-a-day-new-aba-recusal-opinion-shortcomings-in-scotus-ethics-rules-pro-se-ai-sanctions-extra-time-for-bar-exam-purging-immigration-judges-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Billing 34.5 Hours In A Day, New ABA Recusal Opinion, Shortcomings In SCOTUS Ethics Rules, Pro Se AI Sanctions, Extra Time For Bar Exam, Purging Immigration Judges & 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

This week I head to Spokane, WA, to speak at\u00a0Gonzaga Law School\u2019s Clarke Prize in Legal Ethics CLE<\/strong>. I\u2019ll be joined by\u00a0Scott Cummings<\/strong> (UCLA) where we will discuss \u201cGood Faith and Public Trust in an Erosive Era.\u201d If you happen to be in the area, join us Thursday evening! Register\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week I published an op-ed in the\u00a0Lansing State Journal<\/strong>\u00a0not on legal ethics, but on a topic close to my heart, equality in women\u2019s sports, in particular high school girls varsity tennis. You can read it\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

Highlights from Last Week \u2013 Top 10 Headlines \ud83d\udcf0<\/h3>\n

#1 \u201cLawyers Obliged to Disclose Judicial Recusal Grounds, ABA Says.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLawyers who possess information that they know is \u2018reasonably likely\u2019 to cause a judge to be disqualified from a case must disclose what they know, the American Bar Association says in a new ethics opinion. Yet when the lawyer possesses the information only because it\u2019s related to a client representation, their disclosure obligation is subject to the lawyer\u2019s duty of confidentiality under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, ABA says in its Wednesday\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cBondi Tried to Kill Ethics Investigations. Now She\u2019ll Face One.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0USA Today:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA broad coalition of lawyers and legal groups will once again accuse\u00a0Pam Bondi<\/strong>\u00a0of misconduct for using her former position to serve only Trump and not the Americans she swore to serve.<\/em>\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cLawyer Sued for Charging Client for 34.5 Hours of Work in 1 Day.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn Australian lawyer has been sued for billing a client for 34.5 hours in a single day.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cSupreme Court Secrecy Includes Reasons for Recusal.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Supreme Court has gotten a lot of criticism lately for deciding important questions on its emergency docket without explaining its reasoning. Something similar is going on,\u00a0a recent study found<\/a><\/strong>, in the justices\u2019 decisions about whether to disqualify themselves from cases in which they may have a conflict of interest. The study was prepared by\u00a0Richard Lazarus<\/a><\/strong>, a law professor at Harvard and a keen student of the court. He\u00a0founded an institute<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>devoted to the work of the court, has published studies of its practices and has argued before it. He is also\u00a0a\u00a0<\/a>close friend<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0Chief Justice John Roberts<\/strong>. That made\u00a0his latest project<\/a><\/strong>, about the shortcomings in the\u00a0ethics rules<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0announced by the Supreme Court in 2023, a little tricky.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cLDF Calls on DOJ to Reverse Course on Attempts to Sideline State Ethics Investigations, Ensure Its Lawyers Are Held Accountable for Unethical Conduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Legal Defense Fund:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Legal Defense Fund yesterday submitted\u00a0public comment<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), calling on the agency to ensure its attorneys are held accountable when misconduct occurs. The comment comes after DOJ\u00a0published a proposed rule<\/a><\/strong>\u202fin the Federal Register that would allow the Attorney General to intervene in state bar disciplinary investigations and demand that those investigations be suspended while DOJ conducts its own internal review. LDF highlights how the rule would weaken independent oversight of DOJ attorneys by shifting greater control over those investigations to the agency and making it harder for state bar authorities to investigate misconduct. The proposed rule also conflicts with federal law, which requires DOJ attorneys to follow the same ethical rules as other lawyers.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cPro Se Workers\u2019 AI Assists Lead Courts to Warnings, Sanctions.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cOscar Brownfield<\/strong>\u2014with AI help\u2014was representing himself in Oklahoma federal court when he sought sanctions against his employer\u2019s counsel, accusing them of knowingly filing false claims in an ongoing litigation. His unsuccessful\u00a0request<\/a>\u00a0to strike certain pleadings from the Cherokee County School District\u2019s summary judgment motion backfired, however, when opposing counsel revealed that Brownfield\u2019s artificial intelligence-supported motion cited fictitious cases.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cBills to Rein in Outside Investment in Law Firms Advance in California, Illinois.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cState lawmakers in two of the largest markets in the United States are moving to erect ethical firewalls between law firms and outside capital, as investors and lawyers increasingly explore back-office partnerships and other deals.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cWhat It Means to Be Technology Competent in 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0JDSupra:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWhen the ethical duty of technology competence officially arrived in 2012, courtesy of new\u00a0Comment 8<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to Rule 1.1 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the expectations were relatively modest. Much has changed since then. Technology is now deeply embedded in the legal profession, bringing both new risks and new opportunities that demand the modern litigator\u2019s attention.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cThe Number of Law-School Grads Getting Extra Time for the Bar Exam Is Surging.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The<\/strong>\u00a0Wall Street Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMore aspiring young lawyers are asking for\u2014and getting\u2014extra time to finish the bar exam, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. \u2026 The development follows one already coursing through high schools and colleges: More students have diagnoses for disabilities like ADHD and receive extra time for classwork or the SAT. Now, as this generation enters the workforce, the phenomenon has reached professional licensing exams\u2014and law firms are adapting, launching programs to support young associates with diagnoses.\u00a0Perry Zirkel<\/strong>, a disability-law scholar and former Lehigh University dean, said the need for testing accommodations for truly disabled students is real, but he worries about unfairness. Savvy families that can pay thousands of dollars for private disability assessments, he said, gain advantages by gaming the system.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cHow Trump Purged Immigration Judges to Speed Up Deportations.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cJudges are ordering an unprecedented number of people deported after coming under significant pressure from the administration to do so or risk losing their jobs.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

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

Did you miss the 500+ 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