{"id":166120,"date":"2026-10-26T14:47:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/26\/legal-ethics-roundup-supreme-court-recusals-derail-case-doj-targets-judges-judicial-endorsement-controversy-judge-leaks-sealed-records-private-equity-rebuffed-more\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T14:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:47:05","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-supreme-court-recusals-derail-case-doj-targets-judges-judicial-endorsement-controversy-judge-leaks-sealed-records-private-equity-rebuffed-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/26\/legal-ethics-roundup-supreme-court-recusals-derail-case-doj-targets-judges-judicial-endorsement-controversy-judge-leaks-sealed-records-private-equity-rebuffed-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Supreme Court Recusals Derail Case, DOJ Targets Judges, Judicial Endorsement Controversy, Judge Leaks Sealed Records, Private Equity Rebuffed & 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

Happy Monday!<\/h3>\n

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

#1 \u201cSupreme Court Recusals Stop Music Case In Its Tracks, Strike Warning Note.\u201d<\/strong> From NPR:<\/strong> \u201cSomething unusual happened at the Supreme Court<\/a> this week: so many justices stepped aside from a case about music copyrights that the court could not hear it. \u2026 [Gabe] Roth<\/strong> and other experts said this is a good news, bad news situation. It\u2019s a good thing the justices followed the recusal rules, they said. But the recusals in this case point to a deeper problem, said Renee Knake Jefferson<\/strong>, a legal ethics expert at the University of Houston. \u2018When four justices need to step aside, the Supreme Court can no longer decide the case, and that becomes an institutional problem, not just an individual ethics issue,\u2019 she said. This problem is acute at the nation\u2019s highest court, because \u2018there\u2019s no other justices who can step in and substitute for them,\u2019 Knake Jefferson added. Knake Jefferson said the justices who want to write books could put money from their advances and royalties in separate accounts, that they couldn\u2019t touch until retirement. The court had no comment on that proposal.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cRetired Judges Say DOJ\u2019s Ethics Complaint Is Meritless.\u201d<\/strong> From Law360:<\/strong> \u201cA coalition of 61 retired federal judges has admonished the U.S. Department of Justice for filing a complaint against federal judges in Minnesota for speaking to a newspaper about the Trump administration.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cNC Candidates Claim Chief Justice\u2019s Support, but Judicial Code Bans Endorsements.\u201d<\/strong> From The News & Observer:<\/strong> \u201cAs he serves his last full term, Paul Newby<\/strong>, chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, has made his support for Republican judicial candidates clear. He\u2019s headlined fundraisers, spoken at rallies and released a series of carefully crafted statements praising their qualifications. But there\u2019s one word notably missing from Newby\u2019s public support: \u2018Endorse.\u2019 North Carolina\u2019s Code of Judicial Conduct bans sitting judges not up for reelection from officially endorsing any candidate \u2014 and Newby\u2019s words of support have prompted formal ethics complaints, The News & Observer has learned. But that hasn\u2019t stopped candidates from claiming Newby\u2019s support in the election, posting quotes attributed to Newby on their social media accounts.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cJudge Brown Emailed Sealed Court Papers to About 140 People.\u201d<\/strong> From Bloomberg Law:<\/strong> \u201cA federal judge under investigation for misconduct emailed confidential and sealed court papers to about 140 people in an early morning message, according to a new court order. A Judicial Council for the Fifth Circuit order<\/a><\/strong> Tuesday revealed the scope of US District Judge Ada Brown\u2019s<\/strong> disclosure, which publicly confirmed the existence of a misconduct investigation<\/a><\/strong> into her conduct. The email also included sealed court papers in apparently unrelated lawyer disciplinary matters.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cWhy Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Goes It Alone.\u201d<\/strong> From CNN:<\/strong> \u201cNow entering her fifth term on the Supreme Court, Jackson has taken an approach that in many ways has isolated her from her colleagues \u2014 stylistically and on the substance of the law. At the same time, she is reframing how the justices might look to the past to interpret the Constitution.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cWho Gets to Know the Law?\u201d<\/strong> From Kevin Lee<\/strong> in The Exile:<\/strong> \u201cAmerican law schools face a question that goes well beyond teaching students to use artificial intelligence. As machines become increasingly capable of producing legal research, drafting arguments, and analyzing complex bodies of doctrine, law schools must reconsider what lawyers need to know and what their education is supposed to accomplish. But there is another question that has received considerably less attention: How does the legal academy decide what counts as valuable legal knowledge in the first place?\u201d<\/strong> Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#7 \u201cTN High Court Says \u2018No\u2019 to PE Ownership of Law Firms but Other Options Open.\u201d<\/strong> From Insurance Journal:<\/strong> \u201cThe Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected a rule change that would have allowed private equity companies to own law firms, blocking one avenue that insurance groups have warned could lead to more litigation, more high-dollar jury awards and higher defense costs. After reviewing comments from stakeholders, \u2018the Court has not identified sufficient need or support for reforms related to non-lawyer ownership of law firms or fee-sharing with non-lawyers,\u2019 the court wrote in its October order<\/a><\/strong>. \u2018The Court may revisit this topic in the future as additional data regarding the success of these reforms becomes available.\u2019\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cCourt Rejects Attorney\u2019s Assertion that Supervising eDiscovery Would Make Him a \u2018Potential Witness.\u2019\u201d<\/strong> From JD Supra:<\/strong> \u201cThis case is a stark reminder that attorneys cannot outsource e-discovery obligations to their clients. Relying on unsupervised self-collection for electronic data may run afoul of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(g), potentially exposing parties to \u2018discovery on discovery\u2019 and court-mandated supervised document searches.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201c\u2018Lawyer\u2019 vs. \u2018Attorney\u2019: Is This A Thing?\u201d<\/strong> From David Lat<\/strong> in Original Jurisdiction:<\/strong> \u201cI combed through decades-old dictionaries and case law\u2014and interviewed Bryan Garner, the longtime editor of Black\u2019s Law Dictionary\u2014to find out.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cNC Legal Aid Groups Sue Over Lawmakers\u2019 Redirection of Millions in Funding.\u201d<\/strong> From North Carolina Health News:<\/strong> \u201cThree North Carolina legal aid organizations are suing over lawmakers\u2019 decision to redirect millions in IOLTA funding even as thousands in western North Carolina need services as they recover from Hurricane Helene.\u201d Read more here<\/a><\/strong> (H\/T Ellen Murphy<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

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

This week you\u2019ll find me in Austin, Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington DC, for a mix of meetings and celebrations. (I\u2019m hoping Delta doesn\u2019t let me down!) The highlight of my travels is on Saturday, when I will be at the U.S. Supreme Court to honor Judy Perry Martinez<\/strong>, a former president of the American Bar Association (ABA) who has been named the recipient of the 2026 Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award for Professionalism and Ethics<\/a><\/strong>. One of the highest honors bestowed by the American Inns of Court, the award recognizes individuals whose careers exemplify the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence in the legal profession. I had the privilege of working with Judy as a reporter for the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services<\/a><\/strong>, which she chaired. She has since become a mentor and friend, and is so very deserving of this award.<\/p>\n

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

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