The Hot Seat

A California Bar Court judge has recommended that the colorful and controversial district attorney of Del Norte County be disbarred for "egregious" misconduct. Judge Lucy Armendariz found Jon Alexander guilty of disciplinary charges related to a conversation the DA had with a defendant facing drug charges without her attorney's knowledge.

Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission is recommending a public reprimand for a judge who admitted making numerous disparaging comments from the bench about state laws and their prosecution. The commission and the judge reached a stipulated settlement on the disciplinary action, but the Florida Supreme Court has the last word.

Angered by what he described as "stonewalling" of discovery demands by Nassau County in a pending civil rights action, a New York federal magistrate judge has ordered an assistant county attorney to pay $500 a day in sanctions until the county complies. "This action has been pending for twenty-nine months and the County Defendants have failed to turn over a single document in discovery, despite plaintiff's persistent demands," the judge wrote.

U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull, the former chief judge in Montana who filed a complaint against himself after acknowledging that he sent a racist email about President Obama, has announced plans to retire by May 3. Cebull's departure -- which follows numerous calls for his resignation -- leaves an emergency situation in Montana, where every federal judge but one has gone on senior status.

Famed securities attorney Melvyn Weiss, who spent more than a year behind bars after pleading guilty to charges that his firm paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs, could face a return to prison following his arrest for drunken driving in Florida. Weiss, founder of what is now New York's Milberg LLP, has been ordered to appear in court on May 3.

A federal judge has granted partial class certification to employees of a mortgage-rescue company run by a lawyer, finding they met the requirements of numerosity and commonality. The suit alleges that the National Foreclosure Consulting Group wrongly designated its salespeople as independent contractors in 2009, stopped withholding taxes or paying its share of Social Security and Medicare deductions and failed to pay minimum wage or overtime.

A judge caught on video screaming at litigants has been suspended without pay for the rest of his term. The West Virginia Supreme Court said that the family court judge shouted profanities at people and threatened litigants while in court, on one occasion calling a woman seeking a protective order against her husband "stupid," telling her to shut up and criticizing her for "shooting off [her] fat mouth about what happened."

An ex-lawyer has pleaded guilty to a federal obstruction of justice charge for defrauding clients for legal work that prosecutors said he never performed, including preparation of a nonexistent appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The former assistant DA, who was disbarred in 2010 based on a series of complaints against him, faces 21 months to 36 months in prison when he is sentenced in July.

Facing criminal charges that he fleeced an elderly neighbor, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Paul Seeman announced his resignation from the bench Thursday, promising never to seek judicial office again as part of a deal with the California Commission on Judicial Performance. In exchange, the disciplinary panel agreed to defer its preliminary investigation of Seeman's actions until his criminal case is resolved.

Plaintiffs attorney Stanley Chesley has been disbarred from practicing law in Kentucky, and the move may crimp his ability to practice in Ohio, where his firm is based. The disbarment order capped an ethics investigation that followed complaints that plaintiffs suing over heart problems associated with the fen-phen diet drug received only $46 million of a $200 million settlement.

A Los Angeles defense attorney has been sentenced to a year in jail for attempting to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine to his incarcerated client. Although the solo practitioner is expected to get disbarred due to his felony conviction, the State Bar of California already suspended his license on July 3 for failing to pay bar member fees.

A former Crowell & Moring associate who admitted last year to embezzling more than $10 million from clients was disbarred Tuesday by a unanimous New York appellate panel. Douglas Arnsten was sentenced in 2012 to four to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $10.7 million in restitution.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused on Tuesday to vacate the prison sentence of former Sullivan & Cromwell partner John J. O'Brien. The circuit rejected O'Brien's claim that the 28-month sentence he received for failing to pay millions in taxes was both substantively and procedurally unreasonable.

A former New York judge's "life well led" justifies reversing the determination by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct that he should be removed from office for having had sexual contact with his 5-year-old niece once in 1972 -- when he was 25 and before he passed the bar -- his attorney argued Tuesday before the state Court of Appeals.

Raising concerns about a "legal shakedown," a federal judge has ordered four attorneys and a paralegal to appear at a hearing to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for fraudulently filing dozens of actions against unnamed individuals accused of downloading copyrighted pornography videos. The allegations surfaced when an attorney representing a "John Doe" defendant accused attorney Brett Gibbs of masterminding a "widespread fraud" on the courts.

After a seven-week trial, a New Jersey federal jury on Monday convicted former prosecutor Paul Bergrin on 23 counts, most related to running his criminal defense practice as a racketeering and illegal drug enterprise and serving as "house counsel" to a drug kingpin. The counts included witness murder and murder conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and maintaining drug-involved premises.

Former Mercury Interactive Corp. general counsel Susan Skaer is set to pay $850,000 to settle civil charges that she participated in the improper backdating of stock options. If approved, the settlement will close a six-year-old case against Skaer, one of the first Silicon Valley in-house counsel caught up in the backdating scandal.

A former Philadelphia Traffic Court judge admitted in federal court Wednesday to fixing traffic tickets for contacts who provided him seafood, videos, the installation of a patio and car repairs. While Fortunato Perri Sr. technically could face 65 years in federal prison, the 76-year-old is in a lower guidelines range in which he could be sentenced to house arrest, probation or imprisonment.

A New Jersey municipal judge who denied public defenders to two criminal defendants, and tried them without a prosecutor while stepping into that role himself, is facing a reprimand from the state Supreme Court. It is a case of first impression, as the Code of Judicial Conduct and state case law do not delineate a standard for when a judge's evidentiary or procedural rulings rise to the level of ethics violations.

The estate of the late Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Robert C. Daniels has filed a lawsuit against Berger & Montague attorney Sherrie R. Savett and two other defendants over Daniels' fatal fall at an engagement party in Savett's home in 2011, according to a complaint filed Tuesday. Daniels died two days after he fell down a flight of stairs and suffered head trauma, the complaint said.

A Brooklyn Supreme Court justice who was arrested on drunken driving charges while returning from a New York judicial conference has lost his driver's license for six months and will be forced to install an ignition interlock device on his vehicle as a result of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated.

A federal judge has sentenced a lawyer who used to practice in Massachusetts to eight months of home confinement as part of three years of probation for not reporting a mortgage fraud scheme at his former firm. The lawyer, who now lives in New York, was also ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.

A former Michigan Supreme Court justice has pleaded guilty to one count of federal bank fraud, after being charged with hiding assets to qualify for mortgage-debt relief on a home she and her husband owned. Diane Hathaway, who resigned from the bench earlier this month, faces up to 18 months in jail.

A New Jersey solo practitioner has been disciplined for charging his real estate client $2,025 for title insurance that the carrier provided at no cost. The offense ordinarily would have drawn an admonition, but the Disciplinary Review Board recommended censure for the attorney, who had been disciplined in three other cases.

A New York attorney who was told by a judge last year that he had "squandered and wasted" the assets of a disabled young man he served as guardian now is facing one year in jail for stealing from another of his former charges.

A former attorney for the New York City Department of Probation has resigned after she was found to have forged judges' signatures on multiple subpoenas. A unanimous appellate panel accepted the resignation, which Theresa Lizzio submitted in response to a threat of criminal charges and an investigation launched by a disciplinary committee earlier this year.

A former Cozen O'Connor real estate attorney was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison after he was convicted on charges related to diverting fees from the law firm and not declaring that as income on his tax returns. Charles Naselsky was also ordered to pay $290,000 to Cozen O'Connor; $135,000 to the IRS; and $290,000 in forfeiture to the federal government, according to his attorney.

Since he apparently didn't get the message on the first go-around, the Supreme Court of Louisiana last week disbarred a former Verizon Communications lawyer once again. And this time, the court did so with feeling. After nearly a decade of keeping his first disbarment a secret, the attorney has been permanently banned from practicing law in the state.

California class action boutique Initiative Legal Group is facing unethical conduct accusations by judges in two different cases, including one who launched an order by promising to describe the "sordid details" of ILG's misconduct. The organized plaintiffs bar is not exactly circling the wagons to protect 10-year-old ILG.

Former Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins was convicted Friday of helping top Refco executives conceal a $2.4 billion fraud from investors and purchasers of the financial services firm. Found guilty of conspiracy, two counts of securities fraud, two counts of false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and two counts of wire fraud, the veteran lawyer faces a top prison term of 20 years on each of the fraud counts when he is sentenced in March. It was a crushing disappointment for Collins, 62, who had been found guilty three years ago in a verdict that was vacated in January by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

A federal judge found former Nixon Peabody securities partner David Tamman guilty Tuesday of 10 criminal counts connected to his participation in a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of as much as $20 million. Tamman worked at Nixon Peabody from February 2007 until October 2009, when the firm fired him amid an SEC investigation into the activities of one of his clients.

A suburban New York lawyer faces a weapons charge after police reportedly responding to a post-Hurricane Sandy family dispute found five firearms in his house. According to the felony complaint and media reports, police said the weapons cache also included an AK-47, a Luger, brass knuckles, a speed loader, an ammunition belt and 300 to 400 rounds of ammunition.

A lawyer who sought to make a point in a pornography case by digitally inserting children's faces from a stock photography website into photos of adults performing sex acts must pay the children's parents $300,000 in damages, the Sixth Circuit has ruled, finding that the harm caused by the images "is enough to remove [the lawyer's] actions from the protections of the First Amendment."

A Boston federal judge said he was "appalled by the brazenness and flagrant stupidity" of criminal defense attorney Robert George before sentencing him to 42 months in prison for money laundering and related charges. The judge also imposed a $12,500 fine and a $700 special assessment, and ordered George to forfeit $39,500 and his Lexus, which he used to conduct a meeting related to the charges.

A Manhattan lawyer who was hit with a $10,000 sanction earlier this year for insulting a trial judge, her clerk, a court reporter and the plaintiff's counsel has been ordered to pay an additional $36,274 in attorney fees and expenses.

California's judicial disciplinary agency has chastised a Kern County Superior Court judge for failing to accurately document campaign donations to his 2008 election account. Commissioners agreed with the Fair Political Practices Commission that the judge had not tried to hide information but rather failed to oversee an inexperienced campaign treasurer's work.

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Allan L. Tereshko, who was taken to task by the Pennsylvania Superior Court for failing to disclose that his spouse worked for a law firm representing a defendant in a motor vehicle insurance case, has resigned as supervising judge of Philadelphia's civil cases.

In a case that had been closely watched by the legal community because of its potential influence on disciplinary actions against other attorneys, New York state's high court has affirmed all but one of 10 disciplinary charges against a New York attorney for his failure to detect his brother's multimillion-dollar looting of an escrow account.

A New York judge who was removed from the bench for failing to repay a 2003 campaign debt was disbarred Wednesday by a state appeal panel that unanimously agreed with the Commission on Judicial Conduct that the ex-judge engaged in "truly egregious behavior" that "constitutes a departure from the high standards of conduct required" of a state judge.

A former Crowell & Moring associate who pleaded guilty to embezzling $10.7 million in client funds choked back tears during his Wednesday sentencing and said he was "consumed with remorse." Douglas Arntsen apologized to his family, former clients and former employer before a Manhattan judge gave him a four-to-12-year prison sentence.

A former law firm partner has been suspended by a New York appellate panel pending an investigation into allegations that he stole from the firm. The partner was terminated from the firm in 2009 and later agreed to pay a judgment of $250,000.

A disbarred Manhattan attorney was sentenced Monday for stealing $138,500 from five clients between March 2007 and May 2008. The judge imposed a 1 1/2- to 4 1/2-year sentence for the second-degree grand larceny conviction and a sentence of one to three years on the scheme to defraud conviction.

The Oregon Supreme Court has called for the public reprimand of an attorney who continued to use Westlaw legal databases after he left a job as special prosecutor for the Republic of Palau, which was paying for the service. The attorney used the account for 14 months after he left to work as a legal aid attorney, according to the decision.

The DA of Del Norte County, Calif., is due to go on trial in a State Bar court this week to determine if he should be punished for professional misconduct or pitied for an incredible string of misfortune and maligning. The trial is likely to raise novel questions about whether an elected prosecutor accused of wrongdoing is better judged by a bar court or local voters.

Only four months after settling into its Manhattan office, a four-attorney matrimonial firm was told by 35-year-old law firm Gersten Savage that it was defaulting on its lease, its partners were departing and the subtenants would have to leave or be evicted, according to a lawsuit filed against Gersten Savage by the matrimonial firm and a solo subtenant.

A state court judge has disqualified Covington & Burling from representing the Minnesota attorney general in an environmental case against 3M. Ruling that the firm showed a "conscious disregard" for its duties to a former client, the judge found that Covington violated ethical rules by taking the case even though it formerly represented 3M on the chemicals at issue in the Minnesota litigation.

An Atlantic City, N.J., attorney faces charges of carrying on sexual relations with an underage teenage girl. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said the unidentified girl told police that the attorney began sexual relations with her in 2006, when she was 14 years old.

A lawyer's "meritless appeal" warrants sanctions, the Sixth Circuit has ruled, affirming a summary judgment ruling in favor of defendant Graphic Packaging in a wrongful discharge case. The court ruled that the company could collect costs and attorney fees related to the appeal from the plaintiffs lawyer, who was earlier this year suspended from the practice of law in Ohio.

Manhattan Surrogate Nora Anderson should be censured for accepting improper contributions during her 2008 campaign, the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Wednesday, finding that, though Anderson was acquitted of breaking the state's election law, her conduct nonetheless violated judicial ethics rules.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has suspended a trial judge for 30 days after police had to intervene in an apparent love-triangle brawl at a Wal-Mart that was captured on surveillance video. Besides the suspension, the justices ordered state Circuit Judge Sam Pope to attend anger management classes.

A former Crowell & Moring associate who fled to Hong Kong to avoid arrest and had to be extradited has admitted embezzling $10.7 million dollars from clients over a two-year period. Douglas Arntsen pleaded guilty to felony fraud and grand larceny in exchange for a sentence of four to 12 years. He has also agreed to a restitution order.

A federal judge has imposed sanctions on lawyers for GMAC, the bank that acts as the financial-services arm of General Motors that is now called Ally Financial, as requested by a pair of now-defunct car dealerships that had won a $4 million jury verdict in 2009 against the bank.

A law school graduate who was charged but never convicted of soliciting a minor online for sex has been permanently blocked from practicing law in Louisiana. The state Supreme Court found that the man, who passed the bar exam in 2009, lacked the character and fitness to practice, despite the fact that all charges were dropped after he completed a pre-trial diversion program.

Former Jenkens & Gilchrist tax lawyer Donna Guerin folded her cards yesterday and pleaded guilty to helping wealthy clients cheat the Internal Revenue Service out of hundreds of millions of dollars through illegal tax shelters.

A D.C. federal judge on Thursday refused to change the rules that have long governed communication and meetings between Guantanamo Bay detainees and their lawyers, calling the government's effort to modify existing rules an "illegitimate exercise of Executive power."

A Texas judge has been reprimanded after trying to spring a friend's daughter from detention. According to the reprimand, released by a judicial conduct commission, the judge told probation officials they had "picked the wrong little girl that has friends in high places to mess with" and left expletive-laced messages about a juvenile detention officer.

The Connecticut Judicial Review Council has suspended without pay for 20 days a superior court judge who has been the target of complaints from criminal defendants who needed his written rulings to proceed with their appeals, but did not receive them for as long as two years.

A federal judge has reinstated the employment discrimination suit of a former Pepsi employee whose original lawyer had kept the suit's dismissal -- and his own disbarment -- a secret. The attorney's actions "were not garden variety neglect," but client abandonment that amounted to gross neglect, the judge found.

A plaintiff's counsel must pay $3,000 in sanctions after doing an "extraordinarily poor job of client intake in not learning highly material information about his client" in a sexual harassment and discrimination suit, a federal judge has ruled, writing that "plaintiff's lawyer should be roundly embarrassed."

A former Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler partner has consented to disbarment for running a check-kiting scheme to support former law firm chairman Scott Rothstein's fraud and illegally bundling campaign contributions. Steven Neil Lippman settled the disciplinary action after pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

California's State Bar Court has recommended that an Anaheim attorney be disbarred for having sex at his office with an underage employee and then failing to tell his clients about his subsequent suspension from practicing law, a breach that a State Bar Court judge described as "extremely serious misconduct."

The Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline has ordered that Justice Joan Orie Melvin not be paid during her interim suspension. She was suspended from the state's high court after charges were filed over her alleged use of Superior Court judicial staff and her sister's state Senate staff to help her run for the Supreme Court.

Ethics authorities have recommended a reprimand for a founding partner of a leading New Jersey law firm for failing to supervise an employee who stopped paying taxes while the firm was in financial straits. The disciplinary review board cited as mitigating factors the partner's unblemished 47-year career and swift corrective action.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer who, while suspended from practice, posed as an attorney who had clerked at the wrongdoer's former firm, printing phony letterhead and appearing at a workers' compensation hearing under the assumed name. The disbarred attorney said he is now a cabinetmaker, which he called "a lot less stressful."

The Broward County, Fla., state attorney's office has declined to file criminal charges in an investigation of a plaintiffs insurance litigation firm and two of its attorneys amid allegations of forgery in a hurricane damage dispute. However, a Florida Bar complaint and $92,898 in sanctions remain.

An attorney who repeatedly failed to respond to discovery demands must pay the resulting sanctions himself without turning to his client because "he alone" was responsible for added costs to his adversary, a federal judge has ruled. Jonathan Fairbanks said that "emotional and psychological problems" caused his failure to comply with the discovery schedule.

A New York judge has agreed to accept a censure for issuing himself a permit to carry a concealed handgun and for accidentally discharging a round from a weapon he brought into his chambers, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct has announced. The judge was attempting to repair his .38-caliber revolver when it fired a bullet into the wall.

Cozen O'Connor has filed a motion for recusal against Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Arthur Schack, who the firm said "openly demonstrated extreme bias and hostility" to Cozen attorney John McDonough during litigation in a personal injury case, including writing "Wanted" over a headshot of McDonough and posting copies all over the courtroom.

A year after he was charged by federal prosecutors in New Jersey with distributing child pornography, former Allen & Overy capital markets partner Edward De Sear was arrested again Thursday on additional child pornography charges. If convicted, he faces up to 180 years in prison and up to $2 million in fines.

Employment attorney Matthew Blit has filed a defamation suit against an adversary who claimed in open court that Blit files frivolous suits against high-profile figures to extract money from them in a "shakedown." Richard Savitt made those claims during a hearing on a motion to dismiss involving his client's own libel suit against Blit.

A Manhattan lawyer has been indicted on charges of embezzling "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in clients' personal injury settlement funds and forging documents submitted to a disciplinary committee. John M. Ioannou pleaded not guilty Wednesday to all charges in the 19-count indictment. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted on the top charge.

A family court judge who resigned in April should be prohibited from holding judicial office ever again in New York after he acknowledged having sexual contact 40 years ago with his deaf 5-year-old niece, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct has recommended. The judge's conduct came to light after the girl's mother recently reported the sexual encounter to authorities.

A New York judge who says he was assaulted by a police officer is accusing the Queens DA of orchestrating a cover-up after the prosecutor announced he will not file criminal charges against the officer, who allegedly hit the judge and assaulted a homeless man. "Everything they say is a lie," the judge said in response to the DA's press release.

A longtime criminal defense lawyer who was convicted in a plot to dupe jurors has lost his fight to convince a judge to throw out the indictment. The attorneys representing Charles Daum had complained that prosecutors belatedly disclosed favorable evidence just weeks before trial was set to begin.

District Attorney Bert Poston of the Conasauga Circuit has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate former Murray County Chief Magistrate Bryant Cochran's distribution of pre-signed, blank warrants to local law enforcement officers. Cochran resigned last week to end a state ethics investigation.

A Georgia judge has resigned, ending an ethics probe that included his practice of distributing pre-signed blank arrest and search warrants to law enforcement officers. The judge's departure, and his agreement never to seek or hold judicial office again, come just two weeks after his election to a third term.

A Washington state judge apparently didn't think it was necessary to tell a defendant in a property dispute that he had a decade-long connection with the plaintiff's counsel that included partnering with her in a law firm and using her services when he was arrested for driving under the influence. A state appellate court has decided otherwise.

A man who claims to own one-half of Facebook and his Ohio attorney have each been sanctioned $1,000 and ordered to turn over a letter from a New York law firm that ostensibly concludes the plaintiff is a fraud. A judge gave Paul Ceglia and attorney Dean Boland three days to reveal the so-called "Kasowitz letter."

A federal judge has sanctioned Littler Mendelson for making "unsubstantiated" arguments in defending an employee-overtime lawsuit against 24 Hour Fitness. The judge also referred a firm shareholder to a court ethics commission, finding that his behavior was "egregious" in arguing a point about whether the employees had been properly served with court papers.

A lawyer who ran a family nursing home business has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for health care and tax fraud and ordered to pay restitution of $6.7 million to Medicaid and Medicare and $872,515 to the IRS. A prosecutor said the attorney stole millions "to fund his luxurious lifestyle," while nursing home residents "went without food or medicine."

The hearing board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission has recommended stripping the law license from an attorney convicted of smuggling trunkloads of Cuban cigars into the U.S. during the 1990s. The former public defender was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay a $60,000 fine.

Two Connecticut lawyers have pled guilty to bilking banks and lending companies in a mortgage scheme that prosecutors say falsely exaggerated the value of properties and their potential to generate rental income. Due to be sentenced in October, both men face up to 30 years in prison and as much as $20 million in fines.

Affirming a $5 million default judgment in a case against an airline accused of cheating pilots out of hazard pay for flying through war zones, the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday took the additional step of ordering a jury trial on punitive damages and suggesting the disbarment of the airline's trial counsel.

A lawyer running to unseat a Georgia judge has been indicted on six felony counts for allegedly diverting more than $400,000 from a $1.3 million investment deal for personal use and that of his unsuccessful 2010 judicial campaign.

A California judge has received a public admonishment for how he treated an attorney who made a snappy comment in response to his ordering her to "spend every waking moment" working on a case. The state Commission on Judicial Performance said similar past conduct by the judge was a "significant factor" in Wednesday's decision.

A lawyer who admits overbilling a Georgia county for representing indigent clients will see 35 felony counts dropped in exchange for paying $10,605 in restitution, agreeing never to represent indigent defendants again and accepting at least a six-month suspension of his bar license.

Former bankruptcy trustee Michael Daly has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and $15,000 in fines for admittedly stealing $11,100 from an open bankruptcy case. Daly claimed great stress and cancer treatment made him do things he can't explain, but there was evidence that he submitted $80,000 in fabricated time sheets in another bankruptcy.

A New York judge has been censured by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct for participating in and attending for-profit poker games held at a fraternal order of which he was a member. The commission wrote that the judge's "presence at and participation in the games gave his judicial imprimatur to this unlawful activity."

A California judge finds himself on the other side of the bench after being charged with elder theft and 11 counts of perjury. Prosecutors say Judge Paul Seeman stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly neighbor while acting as her attorney and fiduciary -- money he plowed into real estate and other investments.

California's Commission on Judicial Performance has censured a judge for pressuring a court commissioner to fix his wife's traffic ticket. Superior Court Judge Salvador Sarmiento "engaged in serious judicial misconduct which severely damages the reputation of the judiciary," the commission wrote.

A former Debevoise & Plimpton associate who is in prison for forcing a Russian teen to be his sex slave has been suspended from practice by a New York appellate court, pending disciplinary proceedings.

A contentious deposition during which an opposing counsel slapped a Paul Hastings partner in the face has now resulted in the firm being slapped with a lawsuit. Paul Hastings has moved to dismiss the suit, which accuses the firm and a partner of slander and assault.

A federal judge has approved a deal allowing a former assistant general counsel to avoid a new criminal trial over charges that he helped create a sham reinsurance transaction to help American International Group.

A former tax attorney and hedge fund manager is supposed to be paying $14 million to investors as part of an SEC settlement. Instead, he's spent lavishly on basketball tickets, chartered flights and a Pottery Barn shopping spree, court records say. A federal judge has held him in civil contempt, and prosecutors are now renewing their criminal case.

A New Jersey judge who faces ethics charges for allegedly intervening in legal matters involving his future wife and her children denies that he did anything wrong, saying that at the time of the events in 2008, he was acting not as a lawyer but solely as a "scrivener and copy editor."

The attorneys representing a Washington, D.C., defense lawyer and two private investigators who were convicted in a scheme to dupe jurors want a judge to grant a new trial over allegations of government misconduct.

An attorney and his client who repeatedly sued a health care company have been sanctioned for filing frivolous claims, including a seven-word complaint and a notice of removal, a tool normally reserved for defendants.

A Manhattan solo attorney faces a maximum sentence of 15 years for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from client settlement funds and forging a check to obtain more than $150,000 from a bank.

Greenberg Traurig and Quarles & Brady have agreed to fork over a combined $87.5 million to resolve claims that they failed to put the brakes on a $900 million Ponzi scheme carried out by two mortgage-industry clients.