{"id":159380,"date":"2026-08-03T13:45:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/03\/legal-ethics-roundup-the-unethical-doj-a-biglaw-firms-court-required-ethics-training-bending-the-knee-to-trump-more\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:45:30","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-the-unethical-doj-a-biglaw-firms-court-required-ethics-training-bending-the-knee-to-trump-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/03\/legal-ethics-roundup-the-unethical-doj-a-biglaw-firms-court-required-ethics-training-bending-the-knee-to-trump-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: The \u2018Unethical\u2019 DOJ, A Biglaw Firm\u2019s Court-Required Ethics Training, \u2018Bending The Knee\u2019 To Trump &amp; More"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><u>Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy Monday!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Today marks exactly three years of the Legal Ethics Roundup.<\/strong>\u00a0For some of you, that means we\u2019ve started our Monday mornings together since August 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take a look at some stats:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>143<\/strong>\u00a0Weekly Roundups (featuring 1,000+ Headlines &amp; 300+ Reading Recommendations plus Reform Updates, Pop Culture, Trivia,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Events<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0&amp; More)<\/li>\n<li><strong>24<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/celebrating-the-michael-franck-professional-responsibility-award-myles-lynk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bonus Content Posts<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>3<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ler-no-90-a-legal-ethics-summer-reading-list-tatel-litman-mystal-barkow-harris-hayes-mckean-fagan-adichie-arthur-rubin\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Summer Reading Lists<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/legal-ethics-and-democracy-tracker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Legal Ethics &amp; Democracy Tracker<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>500+<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Job Listings<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2,700+<\/strong>\u00a0Subscribers From 49 States and 55 Countries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Thank you for joining me on this journey.<\/strong>\u00a0Writing the LER has given me the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones as we navigate the often extraordinary developments shaping the world of legal ethics. Along the way, I\u2019ve also tried to make the newsletter a place where outstanding scholarship, thoughtful ideas, and meaningful service to the profession receive the attention they deserve. Whether you teach, practice, study, or simply care about legal ethics, I hope the LER has become a resource that informs, inspires, and supports your own work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A brief note about the headlines: I do not write the headlines featured in the\u00a0LER, nor does including an article necessarily signify my endorsement of its headline, framing, or conclusions. I try to include a wide range of perspectives and sources so we all can be aware of how legal ethics issues are being reported and discussed, whether we agree with the content or not. I curate a representative sampling of the legal ethics stories that have received attention during the past week, but I do not catalog every article published on a given topic. From time to time, readers understandably ask me about a headline as though I wrote it, so I wanted to clarify that the headlines are those chosen by the original publishers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I also want to extend a special thank you to our paid subscribers.<\/strong>\u00a0Your support makes helps sustain this work and helps keep the\u00a0LER\u00a0independent and accessible to everyone. If you\u2019ve found value in the LER over the past year, I hope you\u2019ll consider becoming a paid subscriber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To celebrate the LER\u2019s third anniversary<\/strong>, I\u2019m sharing some\u00a0<strong>shoutouts<\/strong>\u00a0below from subscribers over the past year before we cover last week\u2019s headlines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For the rest of August<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>I\u2019ll be putting the Roundup on pause to catch up on a few writing projects and spend time with family.<\/strong>\u00a0But don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll be\u00a0<strong>back after Labor Day<\/strong>\u00a0to help make sense of whatever emerges in the field of legal ethics!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the shoutouts.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LER Reader Shoutouts<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some of the great things subscribers have been saying in the LER\u2019s third year.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cMany thanks for all of the resources!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cFrankly, I need to have a Substack like yours as we go through this horrible time when the failure to maintain our allegiance to the ethical oath we all took, to maintain my sanity. Thank you.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI appreciate your work!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe legal field right now in the US is\u2026tricky at best. But there are more people who actually believe that the rule of law shouldn\u2019t be optional, and we need work like yours to keep us both updated and grounded.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThanks for doing this work.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you know someone who would love the LER as much as these readers? If so, please share it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Share Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Highlights from Last Week \u2014 Top 10 Headlines<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#1 \u201cFederal Judges Chastise Trump\u2019s Justice Department for \u2018Unlawful,\u2019 \u2018Unethical\u2019 and \u2018Unseemly\u2019 Conduct.\u201d<\/strong> From<strong>\u00a0ProPublica:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of federal prosecutors. In many, judges expressed frustration that they can no longer take the government at its word.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/justice-department-presumption-of-regularity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#2 \u201cLawyers Must Defend the Rule of Law, as the Founders Intended.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>An op-ed from\u00a0<strong>Evan Falchuk<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<strong>The Fulcrum:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that so many of the 56 signers of the Declaration were lawyers. Lawyers swear an oath to the truth, to good faith, and to ethical conduct. In this year of the Declaration\u2019s 250th anniversary, it\u2019s important to remind lawyers of their oaths and their duty to defend against lawless, unethical behavior. At a time when it seems that more lawyers than ever are breaking faith with their oaths, the Declaration provides a model for how lawyers should respond. It sounds easy, but it\u2019s not. In the face of repeated acts of dishonesty and bad faith from government lawyers and lawyers representing government officials, too many bar associations, law school deans, law firm leaders, and individual lawyers have avoided calling out this conduct. The common excuse is a desire to avoid being seen as taking sides in a political dispute. But these are not political disputes. These are lawyers, in public and in court, lying and misleading, often in service of illegal and unconstitutional ends.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thefulcrum.us\/rule-of-law\/lawyers-defend-rule-of-law-founders-intent\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#3 \u201cHow a Wonky Reference Manual for Judges Prompted a Firestorm Over Climate Change.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>NBC News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe president has called for an investigation into the once-obscure scientific manual, and\u00a0<strong>Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan<\/strong>, who wrote its foreword, has faced calls to recuse herself from an upcoming case.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/wonky-reference-manual-judges-prompted-firestorm-climate-change-rcna588908\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#4 \u201cInside Quinn Emanuel\u2019s Court-Required Ethics Training.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Law.com:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe law firm was sanctioned this past May and ordered to create ethics education courses after a judge found it committed ethical violations during a pharmaceutical advertising trial. A Northern California District Judge approved Quinn Emanuel\u2019s eight-hour ethics training plan for its lawyers. In addition to the ethics training, Quinn was also fined $3 million for attorney misconduct in the case. The legal training will be led by outside experts and lawyers, and include a detailed postmortem on what went wrong in the original case.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/americanlawyer\/2026\/07\/29\/-inside-quinn-emanuels-court-required-ethics-training-\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#5 \u201cHow a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPaul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transformation.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us\/politics\/paul-weiss-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2lA.EV4-.K3e2Vxtd3xaQ&amp;smid=url-share\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong># 6 \u201cNACDL Charts a Roadmap for Defenders to Put AI to Work, Ethically and Effectively, in the Fight for Fair Trials.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From a press release<strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has released a new white paper,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nacdl.org\/Document\/ParityinPracticeDefenderAIUse\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Parity in Practice: The Defender\u2019s Duty to Ethically Use AI<\/a><\/strong>, offering criminal defense lawyers a roadmap for putting generative artificial intelligence to work: thoughtfully, ethically, and to the benefit of their clients.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nacdl.org\/newsrelease\/News-Release-~-Parity-in-Practice\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#7 \u201cABA Opinion on Role of Government Lawyers Spurs Rule Change Talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLegal ethics experts see a new American Bar Association opinion on the duty government lawyers have to report suspected wrongdoing as a potential jumping off point for a broader push to adjust ethics rules. The July 22\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/content\/dam\/aba\/administrative\/professional_responsibility\/ethics-opinions\/aba-formal-opinion-524.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">opinion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0takes an expansive view of what kind of conduct could warrant reporting, suggesting that actions like ignoring a court order could qualify. The ABA document also discusses what government lawyers who feel like their allegations aren\u2019t being taken seriously internally should do to raise concerns outside their own organization.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/litigation\/aba-opinion-on-role-of-government-lawyers-spurs-rule-change-talk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#8 \u201cLaw Firms Expand AI Roles Beyond C-Suite To Lawyer Ranks.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cJenner &amp; Block is among a growing number of law firms expanding AI roles\u00a0to the associate and partner levels in the hopes of finding future rainmakers.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law360.com\/pulse\/articles\/2501805\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#9 \u201cTrademark Fight Over Atticus Name Tests Legal Ethics, Venture Funding.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the<strong>\u00a0Daily Journal \u2013 Cal Lawyer:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn Orange County lawyer named after Atticus Finch challenges a venture-backed legal technology company\u2019s trademark, arguing its corporate structure violates trademark law and California\u2019s restrictions on lawyer referral services.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyjournal.com\/articles\/393353-trademark-fight-over-atticus-name-tests-legal-ethics-venture-funding\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#10 \u201cJudge Kleinfeld\u2019s Legal Ethics.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Brad Wendel\u00a0<\/strong>in his<strong>\u00a0Legal Ethics Stuff Substack:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI could go on writing a tribute to Judge Kleinfeld, talking about the honor of clerking for him and telling more Alaska stories, but this is a legal ethics newsletter, so I will write instead about Judge Kleinfeld\u2019s contributions to legal ethics. That sounds odd, I know, because he is not one of the judges who has produced significant scholarship in the field (like Marvin Frankel\u2019s \u2018Search for Truth\u2019 lecture, or Jack Weinstein\u2019s work on\u00a0ethics in mass tort litigation). But Judge Kleinfeld cared a lot about what lawyers do. As smart and astonishingly well-read as he was, he wasn\u2019t really an \u2018academic\u2019 judge, but one who was deeply practical and immersed in the day-to-day work of lawyers.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bradwendel.substack.com\/p\/judge-kleinfelds-legal-ethics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get Hired<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you miss the 500+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Upcoming Ethics Events &amp; Other Announcements<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/announcementsevents\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keep in Touch<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email\u00a0legalethics@substack.com\u00a0\u2013 but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email won\u2019t be delivered.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Teaching Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics?<\/strong>\u00a0Check out the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/contemporaryprofessionalresponsibility.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">companion blog for my casebook Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for teaching ideas and other resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>As always, thank you for reading the LER. See you in September!<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a>. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/reneeknake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@reneeknake<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/legalethics.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">legalethics.bsky.social<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/08\/legal-ethics-roundup-the-unethical-doj-a-biglaw-firms-court-required-ethics-training-bending-the-knee-to-trump-more\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Legal Ethics Roundup: The \u2018Unethical\u2019 DOJ, A Biglaw Firm\u2019s Court-Required Ethics Training, \u2018Bending The Knee\u2019 To Trump &amp; More<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/03\/iStock-484137638-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><u>Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,<a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy Monday!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Today marks exactly three years of the Legal Ethics Roundup.<\/strong>\u00a0For some of you, that means we\u2019ve started our Monday mornings together since August 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take a look at some stats:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>143<\/strong>\u00a0Weekly Roundups (featuring 1,000+ Headlines &amp; 300+ Reading Recommendations plus Reform Updates, Pop Culture, Trivia,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Events<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0&amp; More)<\/li>\n<li><strong>24<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/celebrating-the-michael-franck-professional-responsibility-award-myles-lynk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bonus Content Posts<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>3<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ler-no-90-a-legal-ethics-summer-reading-list-tatel-litman-mystal-barkow-harris-hayes-mckean-fagan-adichie-arthur-rubin\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Summer Reading Lists<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/legal-ethics-and-democracy-tracker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Legal Ethics &amp; Democracy Tracker<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>500+<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Job Listings<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>2,700+<\/strong>\u00a0Subscribers From 49 States and 55 Countries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Thank you for joining me on this journey.<\/strong>\u00a0Writing the LER has given me the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones as we navigate the often extraordinary developments shaping the world of legal ethics. Along the way, I\u2019ve also tried to make the newsletter a place where outstanding scholarship, thoughtful ideas, and meaningful service to the profession receive the attention they deserve. Whether you teach, practice, study, or simply care about legal ethics, I hope the LER has become a resource that informs, inspires, and supports your own work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A brief note about the headlines: I do not write the headlines featured in the\u00a0LER, nor does including an article necessarily signify my endorsement of its headline, framing, or conclusions. I try to include a wide range of perspectives and sources so we all can be aware of how legal ethics issues are being reported and discussed, whether we agree with the content or not. I curate a representative sampling of the legal ethics stories that have received attention during the past week, but I do not catalog every article published on a given topic. From time to time, readers understandably ask me about a headline as though I wrote it, so I wanted to clarify that the headlines are those chosen by the original publishers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I also want to extend a special thank you to our paid subscribers.<\/strong>\u00a0Your support makes helps sustain this work and helps keep the\u00a0LER\u00a0independent and accessible to everyone. If you\u2019ve found value in the LER over the past year, I hope you\u2019ll consider becoming a paid subscriber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To celebrate the LER\u2019s third anniversary<\/strong>, I\u2019m sharing some\u00a0<strong>shoutouts<\/strong>\u00a0below from subscribers over the past year before we cover last week\u2019s headlines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For the rest of August<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>I\u2019ll be putting the Roundup on pause to catch up on a few writing projects and spend time with family.<\/strong>\u00a0But don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll be\u00a0<strong>back after Labor Day<\/strong>\u00a0to help make sense of whatever emerges in the field of legal ethics!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the shoutouts.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some of the great things subscribers have been saying in the LER\u2019s third year.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cMany thanks for all of the resources!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cFrankly, I need to have a Substack like yours as we go through this horrible time when the failure to maintain our allegiance to the ethical oath we all took, to maintain my sanity. Thank you.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI appreciate your work!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe legal field right now in the US is\u2026tricky at best. But there are more people who actually believe that the rule of law shouldn\u2019t be optional, and we need work like yours to keep us both updated and grounded.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThanks for doing this work.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you know someone who would love the LER as much as these readers? If so, please share it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Share Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#1 \u201cFederal Judges Chastise Trump\u2019s Justice Department for \u2018Unlawful,\u2019 \u2018Unethical\u2019 and \u2018Unseemly\u2019 Conduct.\u201d<\/strong> From<strong>\u00a0ProPublica:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of federal prosecutors. In many, judges expressed frustration that they can no longer take the government at its word.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/justice-department-presumption-of-regularity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#2 \u201cLawyers Must Defend the Rule of Law, as the Founders Intended.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>An op-ed from\u00a0<strong>Evan Falchuk<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<strong>The Fulcrum:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that so many of the 56 signers of the Declaration were lawyers. Lawyers swear an oath to the truth, to good faith, and to ethical conduct. In this year of the Declaration\u2019s 250th anniversary, it\u2019s important to remind lawyers of their oaths and their duty to defend against lawless, unethical behavior. At a time when it seems that more lawyers than ever are breaking faith with their oaths, the Declaration provides a model for how lawyers should respond. It sounds easy, but it\u2019s not. In the face of repeated acts of dishonesty and bad faith from government lawyers and lawyers representing government officials, too many bar associations, law school deans, law firm leaders, and individual lawyers have avoided calling out this conduct. The common excuse is a desire to avoid being seen as taking sides in a political dispute. But these are not political disputes. These are lawyers, in public and in court, lying and misleading, often in service of illegal and unconstitutional ends.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thefulcrum.us\/rule-of-law\/lawyers-defend-rule-of-law-founders-intent\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#3 \u201cHow a Wonky Reference Manual for Judges Prompted a Firestorm Over Climate Change.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>NBC News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe president has called for an investigation into the once-obscure scientific manual, and\u00a0<strong>Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan<\/strong>, who wrote its foreword, has faced calls to recuse herself from an upcoming case.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/wonky-reference-manual-judges-prompted-firestorm-climate-change-rcna588908\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#4 \u201cInside Quinn Emanuel\u2019s Court-Required Ethics Training.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Law.com:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe law firm was sanctioned this past May and ordered to create ethics education courses after a judge found it committed ethical violations during a pharmaceutical advertising trial. A Northern California District Judge approved Quinn Emanuel\u2019s eight-hour ethics training plan for its lawyers. In addition to the ethics training, Quinn was also fined $3 million for attorney misconduct in the case. The legal training will be led by outside experts and lawyers, and include a detailed postmortem on what went wrong in the original case.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/americanlawyer\/2026\/07\/29\/-inside-quinn-emanuels-court-required-ethics-training-\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#5 \u201cHow a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>The New York Times:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPaul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transformation.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us\/politics\/paul-weiss-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2lA.EV4-.K3e2Vxtd3xaQ&amp;smid=url-share\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong># 6 \u201cNACDL Charts a Roadmap for Defenders to Put AI to Work, Ethically and Effectively, in the Fight for Fair Trials.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From a press release<strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has released a new white paper,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nacdl.org\/Document\/ParityinPracticeDefenderAIUse\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Parity in Practice: The Defender\u2019s Duty to Ethically Use AI<\/a><\/strong>, offering criminal defense lawyers a roadmap for putting generative artificial intelligence to work: thoughtfully, ethically, and to the benefit of their clients.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nacdl.org\/newsrelease\/News-Release-~-Parity-in-Practice\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#7 \u201cABA Opinion on Role of Government Lawyers Spurs Rule Change Talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLegal ethics experts see a new American Bar Association opinion on the duty government lawyers have to report suspected wrongdoing as a potential jumping off point for a broader push to adjust ethics rules. The July 22\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/content\/dam\/aba\/administrative\/professional_responsibility\/ethics-opinions\/aba-formal-opinion-524.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">opinion<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0takes an expansive view of what kind of conduct could warrant reporting, suggesting that actions like ignoring a court order could qualify. The ABA document also discusses what government lawyers who feel like their allegations aren\u2019t being taken seriously internally should do to raise concerns outside their own organization.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/litigation\/aba-opinion-on-role-of-government-lawyers-spurs-rule-change-talk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#8 \u201cLaw Firms Expand AI Roles Beyond C-Suite To Lawyer Ranks.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cJenner &amp; Block is among a growing number of law firms expanding AI roles\u00a0to the associate and partner levels in the hopes of finding future rainmakers.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law360.com\/pulse\/articles\/2501805\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#9 \u201cTrademark Fight Over Atticus Name Tests Legal Ethics, Venture Funding.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the<strong>\u00a0Daily Journal \u2013 Cal Lawyer:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn Orange County lawyer named after Atticus Finch challenges a venture-backed legal technology company\u2019s trademark, arguing its corporate structure violates trademark law and California\u2019s restrictions on lawyer referral services.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyjournal.com\/articles\/393353-trademark-fight-over-atticus-name-tests-legal-ethics-venture-funding\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>#10 \u201cJudge Kleinfeld\u2019s Legal Ethics.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0<strong>Brad Wendel\u00a0<\/strong>in his<strong>\u00a0Legal Ethics Stuff Substack:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI could go on writing a tribute to Judge Kleinfeld, talking about the honor of clerking for him and telling more Alaska stories, but this is a legal ethics newsletter, so I will write instead about Judge Kleinfeld\u2019s contributions to legal ethics. That sounds odd, I know, because he is not one of the judges who has produced significant scholarship in the field (like Marvin Frankel\u2019s \u2018Search for Truth\u2019 lecture, or Jack Weinstein\u2019s work on\u00a0ethics in mass tort litigation). But Judge Kleinfeld cared a lot about what lawyers do. As smart and astonishingly well-read as he was, he wasn\u2019t really an \u2018academic\u2019 judge, but one who was deeply practical and immersed in the day-to-day work of lawyers.\u201d Read more\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bradwendel.substack.com\/p\/judge-kleinfelds-legal-ethics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you miss the 500+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/ethics-jobs-get-hired\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/p\/announcementsevents\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>News tips? Announcements? Events?<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>A job to post?<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Reading recommendations?<\/strong>\u00a0Email\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection\" class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"68040d0f09040d1c00010b1b281b1d0a1b1c090b03460b0705\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email won\u2019t be delivered.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Teaching Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics?<\/strong>\u00a0Check out the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/contemporaryprofessionalresponsibility.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">companion blog for my casebook Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for teaching ideas and other resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>As always, thank you for reading the LER. See you in September!<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legalethics.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Legal Ethics Roundup<\/a>. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/reneeknake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@reneeknake<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/legalethics.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">legalethics.bsky.social<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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! Today marks exactly three years of the Legal Ethics Roundup.\u00a0For some of you, that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159381,"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-159380","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\/08\/iStock-484137638-scaled-HQpl6y.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159380","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=159380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}