Ed. note: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup, here.
Happy Monday!
Hello from Boston. Fall leaves are emerging along the Charles River. I’m here this week for a conference. More about that in the “On My Calendar” section below. Let’s dive into the headlines.
Highlights from Last Week – Top Ten Headlines 📰
#1 “New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia’s Legal Career Draws Scrutiny.” From Reuters: “Renee Knake Jefferson, a University of Houston law professor and legal ethics expert, said the debate over Zacharia’s status is a ‘fundamental matter of public trust’ that goes beyond ‘professional semantics.’ ‘Of course it goes without saying that one needn’t be a lawyer to serve as the White House press secretary,’ Jefferson said. ‘The public is entitled to accurate information about whether a government official is claiming to hold a professional role that they do not, which is what has been alleged here.’” Read more here. (She didn’t even last the week in the job.)
#2 “Reflections on Lawyering: Accountability for the Law Firms That Capitulated.” From the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Blog: “The deals law firms made with the Trump administration are a matter of enormous public interest: They go to the heart of public confidence in the integrity of the legal profession. The public has a right to know what these firms agreed to and what justifications they can offer for their decisions. As part of the Knight Institute’s project on the role of the legal profession in an age of authoritarianism, we recorded a six-episode podcast, Lawyering Without Law. … We interviewed top scholars and former government lawyers on the unique and important role that lawyers play in defending democracy, or in facilitating the slide into authoritarianism. The complete podcast series is available here or wherever you get your podcasts.” Read more here.
#3 “A Bridge or Substitute for Justice.” From The Practice – Harvard Center on the Legal Profession: “On Zoom, Gerald Abila turns his computer screen around, unblurs the background, and asks, ‘Do you see? There’s Winnie.’ Abila sits in Kampala, Uganda, where he runs an NGO, BarefootLaw, trying to reimagine how to deliver legal access to remote populations across his country. … In this article, we think through how the use of AI in the access-to-justice space requires larger systemic thinking around governance, policy, and risk. We speak to Abila about how his initial excitement around AI has worn down; to Themba Mahleka and Nate Edwards, applied researchers in the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies program at the NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC), about why AI governance has to be a multistate, multilateral solution; and, finally, to Drew Simshaw, professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, about the need for interoperability and a proposal for a national sandbox for innovation.” Read more here.
#4 “Trump Administration Seeks to Remove Judge Who Rebuked It Over Tree Removal.” From The Washington Post: “The Trump administration asked a federal judge Friday to recuse herself from the legal battle over its planned overhaul of East Potomac Golf Links, accusing her of bias and ‘animus’ toward the administration after she sharply rebuked government attorneys over the clearing of hundreds of trees from the public golf course.” Read more here (gift link).
#5 “Court Denies Bid to End Susman ABA Representation in Trump Suit.” From Bloomberg Law: “A federal judge on Friday rejected a Justice Department bid to disqualify Susman Godfrey from representing the American Bar Association in a lawsuit that accuses the Trump administration of carrying out a law firm intimidation policy. Justice Department attorneys had argued that the law firm was a ‘central player’ and a ‘fact witness’ in the litigation, though US District Judge Amir Ali wrote that lawyers for the ABA in the case are ‘not likely to be necessary witnesses.’” Read more here.
#6 “New Mexico Judge Tosses Charges Against Actor Timothy Busfield, Citing Prosecutor Misconduct.” From the Associated Press: “A New Mexico judge has dismissed an indictment against West Wing and Field of Dreams actor Timothy Busfield that accused him of criminal sexual contact with a child, citing prosecutorial misconduct and errors that undermined the grand jury process. State District Judge Joseph Montano granted a defense motion to toss the charges in a decision released Friday. Busfield has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as lies motivated by revenge. In an email Friday, Busfield’s attorney Amber Fayerberg said he was ‘relieved and grateful’ after reading the judge’s decision.” Read more here.
#7 “Gun-Toting NYC Judge Censured by Ethics Board for Bizarre ‘Little Experiment’ in Court.” From the New York Post: “A gun-toting New York City judge who pulled out a pistol in court to ‘deceive’ a testifying police officer was admonished by a state judicial ethics commission for his ‘little experiment,’ according to an announcement Tuesday. Criminal court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny whipped out his personal gun to challenge whether a testifying police officer back in 2025 could have actually identified if a suspect was carrying the weapon in a shopping bag. But as he went to pull out his personal 9mm pistol — to the discomfort of court officers in the room — he actually hid the gun on the ground and placed a stapler in a shopping bag in a bid to trick the cop. It was a bizarre move that the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct said deserves official censure.” Read more here.
#8 “US Judge Facing Misconduct Claims Said to Have ‘Abandoned’ Job.” From Bloomberg Law: “A committee of judicial investigators said that a federal judge in Dallas abandoned her role and recommended she be temporarily stripped of her docket, according to internal court documents shared with Bloomberg Law.” Read more here.
#9 “Rethinking the Legal Profession’s Role in Business and Human Rights.” From the Center for Strategic and International Studies: “Short of structural changes, there are also several concrete demands that civil society has made and legislation could address: access to remedy, a due diligence requirement for U.S. supply chains, and the use of litigation to silence critics. Lawyers matter in each of these areas in two respects. As advisers, they shape the scope of corporate due diligence, determine what is documented, and influence whether troubling findings prompt action and, if so, what action. As advocates, they decide how to respond to those who raise concerns. The American Bar Association’s Resolution 604, adopted in August 2024, addresses both roles: It urges lawyers to counsel clients on human rights and environmental due diligence beyond minimum legal requirements and to abstain from abuse of process.” Read more here.
#10 “Atty Sanctioned For Vulgar Emails To Opposing Counsel.” From Law360: “A Texas federal magistrate judge has sanctioned an attorney who serves as principal for an oil and gas exploration company locked in a trade secret misappropriation case with a rival after opposing counsel complained of his expletive-ridden emails containing ad hominem attacks.” Read more here.
On My Calendar 🗓️
For the first half of the week, I’m participating in the Women Execs on Boards Global Symposium at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University. But then it’s back to Texas, and a special weekend to celebrate my birthday by attending the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin with my husband and kids. The kids started following the races nearly a decade ago when we lived within earshot of the Australian Grand Prix during my stint as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. I probably won’t be getting behind the wheel of a race car this time, but you never know!
Looking for other upcoming ethics events? You’ll find a list here.
Keep in Touch 📝
- News tips? Announcements? Events? A job to post? Reading recommendations? Email legalethics@substack.com – but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email won’t be delivered.
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 Legal Ethics Roundup. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @reneeknake or Bluesky at legalethics.bsky.social.
The post Legal Ethics Roundup: Who Gets To Call Themselves A Lawyer?, Judge Pulls Gun In Court, Law Firms That Capitulated, Prosecutorial Misconduct, ABA DQ Bid Rejected, AI + A2J & More appeared first on Above the Law.