Free Republic

A federal judge said Wednesday she would consider sanctions on attorneys who filed a motion that used artificial intelligence and cited legal authorities that do not exist. U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco told attorneys representing the state in the lawsuit — claiming corrections officers failed to protect an inmate — that lawyers continue to use artificial intelligence even after other courts have imposed corrective measures throughout the country. “Generally, this has occurred in other cases where the courts have imposed sanctions and standing orders,” Manasco said during the hearing. “This incident is proof-positive that those sanctions were insufficient....

SNIPState officials have praised Butler Snow for its experience in defending prison cases – and specifically William Lunsford, head of the constitutional and civil rights litigation practice group at the firm. But now the firm is facing sanctions by the federal judge overseeing Johnson’s case after an attorney at the firm, working with Lunsford, cited cases generated by artificial intelligence – which turned out not to exist.It is one of a growing number of instances in which attorneys around the country have faced consequences for including false, AI-generated information in official legal filings. A database attempting to track the prevalence...

President Donald Trump announced deals Friday with five law firms that will allow them to avoid the prospect of punishing executive orders and require them to together provide hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of free legal services for causes his administration says it supports.The resolutions reflect the Republican president's continued success in bending prominent law firms to his will as they seek to cut deals with his administration to avoid being targeted by White House sanctions like the ones confronting others in the legal community.The White House said that the firms of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Allen Overy Shearman...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Background. My Administration is committed to addressing the significant risks associated with law firms, particularly so-called “Big Law” firms, that engage in conduct detrimental to critical American interests. Many firms take actions that threaten public safety and national security, limit constitutional freedoms, degrade the quality of American elections, or undermine bedrock American principles. Moreover, law firms regularly conduct this harmful activity through their powerful pro bono practices, earmarking hundreds of millions of their clients’...

President Trump directed US Attorney General Pam Bond to pursue penalties against law firms and lawyers that lodge “frivolous” litigation against the government. Trump pointed to civil procedure rules barring lawyers from lodging legal filings to “harass” or “cause unnecessary delay” and asked Bondi, 59, to recommend additional steps he could take to fight back. “Far too many attorneys and law firms have long ignored these requirements when litigating against the Federal Government or in pursuing baseless partisan attacks,” Trump said in a presidential memorandum the White House released Saturday. “I hereby direct the Attorney General to seek sanctions against...

Several Republican senators have taken issue with the American Bar Association (ABA) and are calling for President Donald Trump to take drastic action against the group. In a letter to ABA President William Bay, lawmakers said the group, which plays a key role in judicial nominations, had become "biased and ideologically captured." Now, those lawmakers want President Trump to "remove the ABA from the judicial nomination process entirely."Sen. Eric Schmitt, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Bernie Moreno and Sen. Mike Lee are also calling on their fellow senators to "disregard the ABA’s recommendations."In the explosive...

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday suspending security clearances held by employees of the law firm that hired Fusion GPS, which produced the infamous Steele Dossier in 2016, Breitbart News has learned. A White House document provided exclusively to Breitbart News by a White House official states that clearances held by those who work at Perkins Coie LLP “will be immediately suspended, pending a review of whether their access to sensitive information is consistent with the national interest.” “The Federal Government will halt all material and services, including sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) access provided...

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday revoked any security clearances held by Covington & Burling law firm employees who provided pro bono services to former special counsel Jack Smith, who prosecuted Trump in a pair of since-ended criminal cases. “This is a good one. Is everybody listening? Deranged Jack Smith — we’re going to call it the deranged Jack Smith signing or bill,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “The weaponization of our system by law firms, even pro bono work they’re doing just in order to clog up government, stop government, and nobody knows about it more than me,...

President Donald Trump continued his purge of officials he suspects could work against him and his agenda on Tuesday, issuing instructions to Attorney General Pam Bondi to fire all remaining U.S. attorneys who worked under former President Joe Biden. “Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!” he added. Bondi, meanwhile, has...

Attorneys general in over a dozen states are threatening to sue the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, citing privacy concerns. The 14 attorneys general include California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as those representing Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont. They begin their joint statement pointing to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, writing that it has “given Elon Musk access to Americans’ personal private information, state bank account data, and other information that is some of our country’s most...

Project 65, a “dark money” left-wing group that has targeted lawyers that represented former President Donald Trump in 2020, is now warning potential Trump attorneys that they could be disbarred for working for him. In an ad posted on Instagram, and apparently targeted at lawyers, Project 65 warns: “Don’t let partisan politics endanger your standing with the bar. The Porter Wright Partners face ethics complaints over Trump campaign post-election work. Don’t risk your law license by joining an effort to subvert democracy. We – and the public – are watching.” Porter Wright is a firm that represented Trump in Pennsylvania...

Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of creating a plan to provide free attorneys to low income renters facing eviction. The policy — which still needs a final vote before it is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025 — would be the first of its kind in Southern California. It comes at a time when lapsed pandemic renter protections have caused a spike in eviction filings leading to thousands losing housing. “Housing is a fundamental human right,” said Sup. Holly Mitchell, who first introduced the idea for a “Right To Counsel” program last...

The tip of the Lawfare spear consists of a small group of former DOJ attorneys and Main Justice leftists who helped AG Eric Holder create the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) when it was formed on behalf of President Obama. Lawfare, writ large, are a tribe of leftists who strategically weaponize the justice systems within the DOJ. They are also the main guides, strategists and legal analysts who previously used Robert Mueller and currently use Jack Smith. The tribe is led by a trio of fellow travelers: Mary McCord, Norm Eisen and Andrew Weissmann. If you research the group, you...

A California bar court judge ruled in late March that John Eastman should be disbarred for helping President Donald Trump challenge the outcome of the 2020 election. Before the California Supreme Court reviews the case, Mr. Eastman asked a judge to pause the order prohibiting him from practicing law, so he could fund his defense in the criminal case brought against President Trump and his attorneys in Georgia. Jeffrey Clark, who also tried to help President Trump, is facing a similar disbarment hearing in Washington. The focal point is a “proof of concept” letter he drafted for President Trump in...

Prosecutors went after Hunter Biden's attorneys during an hours-long hearing Wednesday on several motions to dismiss criminal tax evasion charges against the president's son.

The bar exam will no longer be required to become a lawyer in Washington, the state Supreme Court ruled in a pair of orders Friday. The court approved alternative ways to show competency and earn a law license after appointing a task force to examine the issue in 2020. The Bar Licensure Task Force found that the traditional exam “disproportionally and unnecessarily blocks” marginalized groups from becoming practicing attorneys and is “at best minimally effective” for ensuring competency, according to a news release from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts. Washington is the second state to not require the...

If you want to seek a redress of some grievance, most people start with a lawsuit. This is partially responsible for the fact that in 2023 there are 1.33 million attorneys in America and only 1.08 million doctors. What happens when people figure out how to use these lawsuits not just for a redress of grievance but to attack others? Take, for example, the case of Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer. In this case, Acheson Hotels claims that Deborah Laufer filed a lawsuit against them not because she was harmed by their hotel but because she is an activist using...

Three of Hunter Biden’s defense attorneys moved to withdraw from his ongoing case Friday after his two tax misdemeanors were dismissed without prejudice by a Delaware judge at the request of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors. Latham & Watkins LLP attorneys Brian C. McManus, Timothy H. McCarten and Matthew S. Salerno filed a motion to withdraw as counsel the day after Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika granted the DOJ’s request to dismiss the tax charges in Delaware. This allowed for the possibility of charging Biden in Washington, D.C. or the Central District of California. “Brian C. McManus, counsel for...

Law schools began as trade schools, training future lawyers to sell legal services as licensed providers. Modern law schools, however, have increasingly adopted the routines of political institutions. Even at more practical regional schools, the effect can be insidious, as faculty bring with them a progressive bias from their extensive academic exposure. Sometimes, this ideological emphasis is subtle and difficult to detect, because it can be integrated into the basic framework of how law is taught. At other times, the effect of ideological preoccupation in the legal academy is observable in how law students behave. Recent dramatic disruptions in such...

A federal judge ordered all the attorneys involved in former President Donald Trump's classified documents case to move forward with the process to get security clearance. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon told all the attorneys to "complete all outstanding applicant tasks required to obtain the requisite security clearances in this matter" by July 13. Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, previously ordered all the attorneys to begin the process by reporting to the Litigation Security Group of the Department of Justice. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts that allege he kept sensitive military documents, shared them with people...