{"id":163763,"date":"2026-09-28T08:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T16:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/09\/28\/legal-ethics-roundup-ethical-ai-billing-practices-judge-resigns-to-avoid-sanction-law-school-accreditation-limbo-judge-reprimanded-for-shooting-suggestion-ai-patchwork-mt-legal-deserts-mor\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T08:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T16:18:09","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-ethical-ai-billing-practices-judge-resigns-to-avoid-sanction-law-school-accreditation-limbo-judge-reprimanded-for-shooting-suggestion-ai-patchwork-mt-legal-deserts-mor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/09\/28\/legal-ethics-roundup-ethical-ai-billing-practices-judge-resigns-to-avoid-sanction-law-school-accreditation-limbo-judge-reprimanded-for-shooting-suggestion-ai-patchwork-mt-legal-deserts-mor\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Ethical AI Billing Practices, Judge Resigns To Avoid Sanction, Law School Accreditation Limbo, Judge Reprimanded For Shooting Suggestion, AI Patchwork, MT Legal Deserts & More\u00a0"},"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

Happy Monday!<\/h3>\n

There are so many wonderful things about being a faculty member at the University of Houston Law Center, and last week I was reminded of something truly special. The Law Center hosted a reception with the American Law Institute<\/a><\/strong>, which is an independent, nonprofit organization founded over a century ago that works to clarify, modernize, and improve United States law. Check out how many of my Houston colleagues are elected members!<\/p>\n

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Read more about the event here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

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

#1 \u201cJudge May Reassess Recusal When Social Relationship With Attorney Changes: Judicial Ethics Opinion 26-30.\u201d<\/strong> From the New York Law Journal:<\/strong> \u201cWhere a judge\u2019s social relationship with an attorney has changed over time, the judge has discretion to determine his\/her ethical obligations based on his\/her assessment of their current relationship, using the categories of Opinion 11-125 as a guide.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cUCLA Chancellor Criticized by Law Profs for Responding to Controversial 9\/11 Symposium.\u201d<\/strong> From the ABA Journal:<\/strong> \u201cThe UCLA chancellor is facing criticism from some law professors for voicing his concern that the law school hosted a 9\/11 event featuring the lawyer of a terrorist mastermind.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cEmbattled Ex-Judge Escapes Punishment After Resigning.\u201d<\/strong> From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:<\/strong> \u201cA former Fulton County judge\u2019s willful misconduct warranted her removal from the bench, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, but it declined to punish her because she has already quit. Shermela Williams<\/strong> was a Fulton County Superior Court judge from January 2021 to late February 2026, when she resigned while facing possible removal from office for around 30 misconduct charges filed against her by the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission<\/a><\/strong>. Less than two weeks after she resigned, Williams was hired in early March<\/a> by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis<\/strong> as an assistant district attorney with a salary of more than $150,000, county records show. Williams began her new job as a prosecutor in Willis\u2019 office on April 1.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cGrassley Admonishes Judges for Remarks Critical of DOJ.\u201d<\/strong> From Bloomberg Law:<\/strong> \u201cSenate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley<\/strong> (R-Iowa) urged Chief Justice John Roberts<\/strong> to look into what he called unacceptable comments by federal judges critical of the Trump administration. Grassley at a Thursday hearing singled out judges who spoke to the New York Times about how a deteriorating relationship with the Justice Department and fallout from this year\u2019s deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota had severely pressured their court. Grassley cited remarks by Judge Patrick Schiltz<\/strong> about his January order sharply criticizing ICE for violating court orders almost 100 times.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cABA and Its Accreditation Council Have Distinct, Essential Roles<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/strong> From Bloomberg Law:<\/strong> \u201cThe Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the entity that accredits law schools, had a public meeting with the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity this week to discuss its future as a national accreditor. After two days, they couldn\u2019t agree on a recommendation<\/a><\/strong>. Now, the decision is in the hands of the Department of Education. Recent debate over law school accreditation has exposed a basic misunderstanding about the American Bar Association and the council. The ABA isn\u2019t the same institution as the council. The distinction matters. \u2026 The council performs a specialized accreditation function: evaluate law schools and determine whether they meet nationally recognized standards for a sound legal education. The council has done this officially, without interruption, for 74 years.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>. [Full disclosure: I am an elected member of the Accreditation Council.]<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cLawyers Face Patchwork of AI Rules as Courts Punish Hallucinated Filings.\u201d<\/strong> From Newsweek:<\/strong> \u201cThe rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by law firms is exposing a difficult gap between what the technology can do and what lawyers remain professionally responsible for. As AI-generated hallucinations lead to fabricated citations and other errors, lawyers must navigate evolving guidance while remaining accountable for the work they submit.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cThe Fifth Circuit Warned Lawyers to Verify Citations, Then Cited the Wrong Rule Itself.\u201d<\/strong> From The National Law Review:<\/strong> \u201cOver the past three years, much of the legal profession\u2019s attention to AI ethics has focused on lawyers filing documents with fabricated citations. But judges make citation errors, too. In one particularly ironic example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an official notice warning lawyers to verify the accuracy of their filings, then cited the wrong rule itself.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cJudge Will Receive Public Reprimand for Suggesting Lawyers Be Shot.\u201d<\/strong> From the ABA Journal:<\/strong> \u201cThe Florida Supreme Court has ordered that a state trial court judge receive a public reprimand for suggesting that lawyers who had appeared before him be shot. The justices unanimously agreed<\/a><\/strong> in a Sept. 24 order that Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge J. Layne Smith<\/strong> be rebuked in front of the state\u2019s highest court, though Smith will not receive a suspension or a fine, Bloomberg Law reports<\/a><\/strong>. The order came after Smith self-reported losing his temper with a counsel in a protracted estate and battery matter.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9<\/strong> \u201cNo Lawyers, No Options: Rural Montana\u2019s Legal Deserts.\u201d<\/strong> From the Terry Tribune:<\/strong> \u201cRural Montana is struggling to recruit lawyers, creating problems for people both in and out of the courtroom. That was the message presented Wednesday, Sept. 16 to the State Bar of Montana Board of Trustees, which met in Miles City for the first time in at least a decade to hear about the barriers making it difficult to recruit legal professionals to communities east of Billings.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cEthics Watch: Does AI-Charged Practice Change Ethical Billing Practices?\u201d<\/strong> From the Wisconsin Bar:<\/strong> \u201cAlthough generative artificial intelligence (GAI) seems like it is transforming everything, the ethics rules for billing have not changed. Billing must be reasonable, and an hour of work is billed as an hour of work.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On My Calendar<\/strong> \ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f<\/h3>\n

This week I head to Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, for a Summit on Civil Discourse, Freedom of Speech and Political Violence on College Campuses<\/strong>. The event features an impressive lineup of speakers including Mary Anne Franks<\/strong> (George Washington), Greg Lukianoff<\/strong> (president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), Nadine Strossen<\/strong> (past president of the American Civil Liberties Union), Eugene Volokh<\/strong> (Hoover Institution at Stanford University), and many others. I\u2019m attending in my capacity as the vice chair of the Board of Trustees for Michigan State University, and the topic intersects with a current research project I\u2019m working on involving academic freedom, legal ethics, and the rule of law that will be published next year as part of a Fordham Law Review colloquium. You can learn more about the Summit here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Looking for other upcoming ethics events?<\/strong> You\u2019ll find a list here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

Did you miss the 600+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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