{"id":154759,"date":"2026-06-15T08:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T16:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/15\/legal-ethics-roundup-judge-ross-apologizes-again-lawyer-chesebro-reinstated-in-fl-88-deans-support-independence-anti-trump-protest-prosecutor-suspended-recusal-over-family-members-more\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T08:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T16:56:17","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-judge-ross-apologizes-again-lawyer-chesebro-reinstated-in-fl-88-deans-support-independence-anti-trump-protest-prosecutor-suspended-recusal-over-family-members-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/15\/legal-ethics-roundup-judge-ross-apologizes-again-lawyer-chesebro-reinstated-in-fl-88-deans-support-independence-anti-trump-protest-prosecutor-suspended-recusal-over-family-members-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Judge Ross Apologizes Again, Lawyer Chesebro Reinstated In FL, 88 Deans Support Independence, Anti-Trump Protest Prosecutor Suspended, Recusal Over Family Members & 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!<\/p>\n

Hello from Michigan! One of my favorite things about summer in Michigan is the late-evening sunset. Last week I was on the west side of the state, where the sun doesn\u2019t set until after 9PM. I love the long days of summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Silver Beach, St. Joseph, Michigan (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s dive into the headlines.<\/p>\n

\n

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

#1 \u201cJudge Offers New Apology for Her In-Chambers Affair and Other Misconduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times: \u201cRenee Knake Jefferson<\/strong>, a law professor at the University of Houston, said that in her two decades of research on legal ethics, she could not think of any instance in which a judge was forced to rewrite an apology as part of a sanction. \u2018It appears the only reason\u00a0Judge Ross<\/strong>\u00a0has been asked to redo her apology,\u2019 she added, \u2018is because of public outcry over the lack of meaningful discipline. The public deserves better from the federal judiciary and its discipline process.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link). And read her second apology below.<\/p>\n

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

#2 \u201cFormer Chapman Law Dean Alleges Removal Was Driven By Sexual Orientation.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Daily Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPaul Paton<\/strong>\u00a0claims Chapman University ousted him as dean under the guise of scholarship-budget concerns after deciding to retreat from DEI initiatives and target him because he is gay.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cWhen Must Justices Recuse Themselves Over Family Members\u2019 Acts?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0SCOTUSblog:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLate last month, the news site\u00a0NOTUS<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that\u00a0Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0son,\u00a0Philip Alito<\/strong>, \u2018quietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u2019 The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability to fairly weigh cases tied to the Treasury Department and prompted a\u00a0flurry<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0social<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0media<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0posts<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0about the court\u2019s ethics rules.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cSkepticism Grows Over Justice Dept.\u2019s Vows to End $1.8 Billion Fund.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTwo sets of lawyers noted that while senior department officials said the fund would not move forward, they declined to offer assurances that this would hold in the future.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cUS Appeals Court Judge Charged in Parking Lot Scuffle Faces Ethics Inquiry.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA judge on the largest U.S. federal appeals court is facing a judicial misconduct inquiry after news reports over the weekend revealed that he had been criminally \u200bcharged over a parking lot dispute in Idaho in April.\u00a0Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Murguia of the 9th \u200cU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals<\/strong>\u00a0in an\u00a0order released on Monday,<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>said she had initiated a judicial misconduct complaint against\u00a0U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson<\/strong>\u00a0after he was hit with misdemeanor charges of battery and malicious injury to property on April 22.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201c88 Law School Deans Unite to Support Professional Independence.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cEighty-eight current and former law school deans have endorsed the \u2018Principles for the Independence of the Legal Profession<\/a><\/strong>,\u2019 drafted by a bipartisan group of former judges, that emphasizes the need for an independent judiciary and legal profession.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cFlorida Reinstates Trump Lawyer Chesebro Despite Guilty Plea.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law: \u201c<\/strong>The Florida Supreme Court allowed former Donald Trump attorney\u00a0Kenneth Chesebro<\/strong>\u00a0back into practice in the state\u2014a decision one justice criticized for going light on the litigator. The majority\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0issued Thursday said the court found itself in a dilemma. Chesebro, who\u00a0pleaded guilty<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in Georgia, admitted to a count of \u2018conspiracy to commit filing false documents\u2019 in connection with efforts to toss the results of the 2020 presidential election. But the conviction was entered and later exonerated under Georgia\u2019s First Offender Act and his probation was discharged. \u2018This matter is unique. We have a duty to regulate the practice of law in Florida and meaningfully sanction lawyer misconduct,\u2019 the high court\u2019s unauthored opinion said in lifting a felony suspension imposed on Chesebro in 2024. \u2018But we are also bound to respect the judgments of sister states under principles of comity.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cProsecutor in 2017 Anti-Trump Protest Cases Faces 6-Month Suspension.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters: \u201c<\/strong>Disciplinary officials in Washington said on Friday that a former federal prosecutor should be suspended from practicing law for six months, finding she used deceptively \u200bedited videos as evidence in criminal cases against protesters during Republican President \u200cDonald Trump\u2019s first inauguration. The D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended the sanction against\u00a0Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens<\/strong>, saying a three-month suspension proposed by a board committee last year was too lenient.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cThe Rightwing Campaign to Control How US Judges View the Climate Crisis.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The Guardian:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAs cities and states sue big\u00a0oil<\/a>\u00a0for billions in damages over allegations that it covered up the dangers of its products, rightwing organizations are attempting to discredit the wave of litigation. They claim the lawyers behind it are teaming up with an environmentally focused legal education non-profit to bias federal judges against oil companies.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cSecond Circuit Judge Agrees to More Measures on Clerk Treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law: \u201c<\/strong>A Second Circuit judge agreed to take additional actions to improve the work environment in her chambers, after a second complaint was filed over her conduct toward law clerks. The Second Circuit\u00a0order<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0doesn\u2019t name the judge, but it appears to match a\u00a0complaint<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0filed by the\u00a0Legal Accountability Project<\/strong>, an outside group that advocates for more workplace protections for law clerks, that was filed against\u00a0Second Circuit Judge Sarah Merriam<\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\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

\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: Judge Ross Apologizes Again, Lawyer Chesebro Reinstated In FL, 88 Deans Support Independence, Anti-Trump Protest Prosecutor Suspended, Recusal Over Family Members & More<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,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!<\/p>\n

Hello from Michigan! One of my favorite things about summer in Michigan is the late-evening sunset. Last week I was on the west side of the state, where the sun doesn\u2019t set until after 9PM. I love the long days of summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Silver Beach, St. Joseph, Michigan (photo by Renee Jefferson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s dive into the headlines.<\/p>\n

\n

#1 \u201cJudge Offers New Apology for Her In-Chambers Affair and Other Misconduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The New York Times: \u201cRenee Knake Jefferson<\/strong>, a law professor at the University of Houston, said that in her two decades of research on legal ethics, she could not think of any instance in which a judge was forced to rewrite an apology as part of a sanction. \u2018It appears the only reason\u00a0Judge Ross<\/strong>\u00a0has been asked to redo her apology,\u2019 she added, \u2018is because of public outcry over the lack of meaningful discipline. The public deserves better from the federal judiciary and its discipline process.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link). And read her second apology below.<\/p>\n

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

#2 \u201cFormer Chapman Law Dean Alleges Removal Was Driven By Sexual Orientation.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0Daily Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPaul Paton<\/strong>\u00a0claims Chapman University ousted him as dean under the guise of scholarship-budget concerns after deciding to retreat from DEI initiatives and target him because he is gay.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cWhen Must Justices Recuse Themselves Over Family Members\u2019 Acts?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0SCOTUSblog:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLate last month, the news site\u00a0NOTUS<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that\u00a0Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0son,\u00a0Philip Alito<\/strong>, \u2018quietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u2019 The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability to fairly weigh cases tied to the Treasury Department and prompted a\u00a0flurry<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0social<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0media<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0posts<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0about the court\u2019s ethics rules.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cSkepticism Grows Over Justice Dept.\u2019s Vows to End $1.8 Billion Fund.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTwo sets of lawyers noted that while senior department officials said the fund would not move forward, they declined to offer assurances that this would hold in the future.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cUS Appeals Court Judge Charged in Parking Lot Scuffle Faces Ethics Inquiry.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA judge on the largest U.S. federal appeals court is facing a judicial misconduct inquiry after news reports over the weekend revealed that he had been criminally \u200bcharged over a parking lot dispute in Idaho in April.\u00a0Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Mary Murguia of the 9th \u200cU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals<\/strong>\u00a0in an\u00a0order released on Monday,<\/a><\/strong>said she had initiated a judicial misconduct complaint against\u00a0U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson<\/strong>\u00a0after he was hit with misdemeanor charges of battery and malicious injury to property on April 22.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201c88 Law School Deans Unite to Support Professional Independence.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0ABA Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cEighty-eight current and former law school deans have endorsed the \u2018Principles for the Independence of the Legal Profession<\/a><\/strong>,\u2019 drafted by a bipartisan group of former judges, that emphasizes the need for an independent judiciary and legal profession.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cFlorida Reinstates Trump Lawyer Chesebro Despite Guilty Plea.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law: \u201c<\/strong>The Florida Supreme Court allowed former Donald Trump attorney\u00a0Kenneth Chesebro<\/strong>\u00a0back into practice in the state\u2014a decision one justice criticized for going light on the litigator. The majority\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0issued Thursday said the court found itself in a dilemma. Chesebro, who\u00a0pleaded guilty<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in Georgia, admitted to a count of \u2018conspiracy to commit filing false documents\u2019 in connection with efforts to toss the results of the 2020 presidential election. But the conviction was entered and later exonerated under Georgia\u2019s First Offender Act and his probation was discharged. \u2018This matter is unique. We have a duty to regulate the practice of law in Florida and meaningfully sanction lawyer misconduct,\u2019 the high court\u2019s unauthored opinion said in lifting a felony suspension imposed on Chesebro in 2024. \u2018But we are also bound to respect the judgments of sister states under principles of comity.\u2019\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cProsecutor in 2017 Anti-Trump Protest Cases Faces 6-Month Suspension.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Reuters: \u201c<\/strong>Disciplinary officials in Washington said on Friday that a former federal prosecutor should be suspended from practicing law for six months, finding she used deceptively \u200bedited videos as evidence in criminal cases against protesters during Republican President \u200cDonald Trump\u2019s first inauguration. The D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended the sanction against\u00a0Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens<\/strong>, saying a three-month suspension proposed by a board committee last year was too lenient.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cThe Rightwing Campaign to Control How US Judges View the Climate Crisis.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The Guardian:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAs cities and states sue big\u00a0oil<\/a>\u00a0for billions in damages over allegations that it covered up the dangers of its products, rightwing organizations are attempting to discredit the wave of litigation. They claim the lawyers behind it are teaming up with an environmentally focused legal education non-profit to bias federal judges against oil companies.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cSecond Circuit Judge Agrees to More Measures on Clerk Treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law: \u201c<\/strong>A Second Circuit judge agreed to take additional actions to improve the work environment in her chambers, after a second complaint was filed over her conduct toward law clerks. The Second Circuit\u00a0order<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0doesn\u2019t name the judge, but it appears to match a\u00a0complaint<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0filed by the\u00a0Legal Accountability Project<\/strong>, an outside group that advocates for more workplace protections for law clerks, that was filed against\u00a0Second Circuit Judge Sarah Merriam<\/strong>.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Did you miss the 500+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

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

\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 [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> \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","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. Happy Monday! Hello from Michigan! One of my favorite things about summer in Michigan is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":154760,"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-154759","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\/06\/https3A2F2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com2Fpublic2Fimages2F9c247911-61f7-4f10-97b9-040829c87bb1_1065x975-FDFb9J.jpg?fit=1065%2C975&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154759","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=154759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}