LER No. 77 - Diddy's Lawyer Tries to Withdraw, More DOJ Lawyers Resign, Legal Ethics for Civ Pro, Judicial Impeachment + Recusal, ABA Suspends DEI & More (02.24.25)
The Legal Ethics Roundup - your Monday morning tour of all things related to lawyer and judicial ethics with University of Houston law professor Renee Knake Jefferson
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Last week kept delivering headlines revealing how the ethics of lawyers and judges are foundational to our democracy. Needless to say, the constant news keeps things interesting. It’s more important — and more time-consuming — than ever to stay engaged. Thanks for spending ten minutes with the Legal Ethics Roundup. In next week’s First Monday edition I’ll share more ideas for ethics engagement.
Highlights from Last Week - Top Ten Headlines
#1 “Senior Justice Department Ethics Official Resigns Over Sidelining by Trump Appointees, Source Says.” From Reuters: “The U.S. Justice Department's senior ethics official resigned on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump's administration pulled him off his duties and assigned him to a new sanctuary cities working group, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The official, Bradley Weinsheimer, decided to accept the government's deferred resignation offer rather than accept the reassignment, the latest in a string of nonpolitical career Justice Department officials who have resisted efforts that they say politicize investigations. Weinsheimer, a 34-year department veteran who was named to his current role as associate deputy attorney general during Trump's first term, provided ethics counsel to department officials related to conflicts of interest, including on decisions related to when they should be recused from working on particular cases. He also reviewed disciplinary recommendations by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates attorney misconduct, and referrals for discipline or prosecution from the Office of the Inspector General.” Read more here.
#2 “Top U.S. Prosecutor Resigns After Trump-Appointed Official Orders Investigation Into Biden Climate Funding.” From EcoWatch: “Denise Cheung, the top criminal prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, resigned on Tuesday after she declined to follow an order from a Trump-appointed superior at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start a grand jury investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said, as CNN reported. Acting U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove initially gave the instruction to Ed Martin — a Donald Trump nominee for U.S. Attorney in DC. — for Cheung to direct an investigation of a Biden EPA funding decision, then freeze the funding. … Cheung noted her obligation to follow the law and the code of legal ethics, as well as her sworn oath of office. ‘When I started as an AUSA, I took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution, and I have executed this duty faithfully during my tenure, which has spanned through numerous Administrations,’ Cheung wrote in a farewell email to colleagues. ‘I know that all of the AUSAs in the office continue to honor their oaths on a daily basis, just as I know that you have always conducted yourself with the utmost integrity.’” Read more here.
#3 Will Court Approve Lawyer Withdrawal from Diddy Trial? From CBS News: “One of the lawyers for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says he wants to quit the defense team in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking case. Defense attorney Anthony Ricco filed notice on Thursday in Manhattan federal court stating he no longer wants to represent Combs, writing ‘under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel.’ Ricco, one of six attorneys representing Combs, did not offer any details about the decision. The court must sign off on his decision to leave the case.” Read more here.
#4 “Louisiana is a Hotbed for Overturned Convictions. Why Prosecutors Rarely Face Discipline.” From Nola.com: “An unusual misconduct complaint lodged last month against a former prosecutor has a broader target in mind … a peculiarity of Louisiana law. A state that stands out as a hotbed for reversed convictions hasn’t disciplined a prosecutor for withholding evidence in 20 years.” Read more here.
#5 Impeachment of Judge Who Blocked DOGE from Treasury Data? From Courthouse News: “House Republicans, taking a cue from Elon Musk, formally moved to impeach the federal judge responsible for halting the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to access the Treasury Department system for government payments. In Republicans’ crosshairs is Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer, who this month issued an order keeping Musk’s team out of the federal payments system. But it’s unclear whether this move, aimed at ousting a judge with a lifetime appointment, has the political momentum it needs to clear the high hurdle of impeachment. … Carl Tobias, chair of the University of Richmond School of Law, slammed [the] attempt to remove Engelmayer. … ‘Allegedly incorrect decisions are not grounds for impeachment,’ he said.” Read more here.
#6 “D.C. U.S. Attorney Probing Democrats Over Alleged Threats, Documents Show.” From the Washington Post: “In an all-staff email to prosecutors, interim D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin on Wednesday announced ‘Operation Whirlwind,’ a new initiative to prosecute threats against public officials at all levels — a problem that has escalated in recent years. … A United States attorney has no jurisdiction to pursue people who have ‘simply acted unethically,’ let alone to go to the ‘ends of the Earth’ to do so,” said Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York University’s law school.” Read more here (gift link).
#7 “Would Susan Crawford Have to Recuse From Any Abortion Case? Why Experts Say She Wouldn’t.” From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “As the race for control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court picks up steam, there’s a word you’ve probably heard: Recusal. … Let’s start with laying out what the Code of Judicial Conduct says about recusal, and if it mentions anything about stepping away because of previous work as a lawyer. Here are just a few of the situations where the code says a justice should recuse. … But there’s another one that relates to [Dane County Court Judge Susan] Crawford’s claim: The judge served as a lawyer in the matter in controversy. Crawford, the liberal candidate in the race, was asked by WISN-TV’s ‘Upfront’ during its Feb. 9, 2025 episode if she should recuse herself from any case before the Supreme Court involving abortion. … Wait — does ‘matter in controversy’ mean Crawford would be disqualified from participating in anything related to abortion? That’s not the case, explained Charles Geyh, a professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law who specializes in judicial ethics. The ‘matter’ refers to a specific lawsuit, not a broad issue.” Read more here.
#8 “Justice Department Files Complaint Against Judge Weighing Challenge to Trump’s Transgender Troop Ban.” From the Associated Press: “The Justice Department filed a complaint Friday accusing a federal judge in Washington of misconduct during hearings over President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for banning transgender troops from serving in the U.S. military. The complaint filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, marks an escalation of the Republican administration’s criticism of the judiciary, which has been weighing a slew of legal challenges to the Republican president’s actions. The complaint to the chief judge of Washington’s federal court accuses U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of inappropriately questioning a government lawyer about his religious beliefs and trying to ‘embarrass’ the attorney with a rhetorical exercise during an exchange about discrimination. It is seeking an investigation, saying ‘appropriate action’ should be taken to ensure that future hearings are conducted with the ‘dignity and impartiality the public has a right to expect.’” Read more here.
#9 “American Bar Association Suspends Law School DEI Rule Enforcement.” From Reuters: “The American Bar Association will temporarily suspend enforcement of its diversity and inclusion standard for law schools. The ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted on Friday to halt enforcement of its current standard until August 31 while it reviews a pending proposed revision to the rule. The council's standards committee said it would assess the proposed changes in light of recent actions by President Donald Trump's administration, to ensure it can enforce the standard in compliance with the law.” Read more here.
#10 A New Purpose for Professional Conduct Rules? “Seeing the Unseen: Procedural Solutions in Plain Sight.” From Melissa Mortazavi (Oklahoma) in JOTWELL reviewing Seth Endo’s (Seattle) article Ethical Guardrails to Unbounded Procedure, 93 Fordham L. Rev. 49 (2024): “‘Civil lawsuits—especially class actions and multidistrict litigation (MDL)—can be messy and complicated,’ (P. 49) Professor Seth Endo begins his lucid article, Ethical Guardrails to Unbounded Procedure, which is anything but messy and provides a deceptively simple solution to a complicated area of law. Here, Professor Endo sinks his teeth into the question of how judges should approach areas of civil procedure where the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) provide little guidance, biting off a meaty chunk of the beast that is the wild west of MDL complex litigation as his primary illustrative example. His solution? To give teeth to a body of legal authorities already in existence and largely previously ratified by the courts: that of professional-conduct rules.” Read the rest of Mortazavi’s review here and download Endo’s article here.
Where’s the Rest of the Roundup?
Revisit the “Welcome Back Edition” for an explanation of the new format. And keep an eye out for next month’s “First Monday Edition” with reading recommendations, analysis, reforms watch, jobs, events, and much more.
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