Law school free speech rules set for ABA vote, Louisiana State Bar violated lawyers' free speech rights, and more ??
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The American Bar Association is expected on Nov. 17 to vote on new free speech rules for law schools—a long-gestating move that comes as campus clashes between Israeli and Palestinian supporters have intensified in recent weeks.
Under the proposed change, law schools must have free speech policies protecting the exchange of ideas. Schools would develop their own free speech policies, but those policies must protect the rights of faculty, staff and students to communicate controversial or unpopular ideas and safeguard robust debate, demonstrations or protests.
“Effective legal education and the development of the law require the free, robust, and uninhibited sharing of ideas reflecting a wide range of viewpoints,” the new standard reads.
The proposal follows high-profile free speech incidents at Stanford Law School and Yale Law School in which students disrupted controversial speakers, sparking criticism of how the schools handled those situations.
If the ABA Council approves the new free speech rule, the change will go before the ABA’s House of Delegates in February for final approval.
A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the Louisiana State Bar Association violated the free speech rights of dues-paying members by making various website and social media posts that were not relevant to regulating the legal profession.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that posts about law school debt, the health benefits of exercise and eating walnuts, and LGBT Pride Month, among others, violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because they had no connection to improving legal services in the state.
The 5th Circuit partially reversed a Louisiana federal judge who had dismissed a lawsuit against the state bar by Randy Boudreaux, a New Orleans-based insurance defense lawyer who says he should not be forced to join the LSBA and subsidize its activities.
Louisiana, like many other U.S. states, requires lawyers to join the state bar and pay dues of up to $200 per year.
A letter from at least 220 U.S. law firms warning law school deans to rein in campus antisemitism has become a flashpoint in an ongoing debate on lawyers' statements about the war between Israel and Hamas.
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The National Association of Muslim Lawyers and a dozen other allied bar associations said in a response to the firms that taking a "one-sided approach" has made Muslim, Arab and Palestinian lawyers afraid to speak their minds about the conflict.
The law firms' Nov. 1 letter urged the deans of the nation's top-ranked law schools to stand up against both antisemitism and Islamophobia. But the Muslim groups asserted that nearly all of the country's largest law firms focused mainly on discrimination against Jews, claiming their message has minimized Palestinian suffering.
An associate at law firm Sidley Austin wrote in a Medium post last week that it was not antisemitic to question Israel's legitimacy and that the firms' Nov. 1 letter could have a "chilling effect" on lawyers who are critical of the Israeli government. The New York-based attorney, Melat Kiros, was fired by Sidley a day later, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and Israel's military response have sparked angry protests against Israeli policies at many U.S. universities. Antisemitic incidents have surged in the United States since the fighting began. Reports of Islamophobia have also risen sharply .
Britain's Serious Fraud Office arrested seven people in connection with the collapse of UK law firm Axiom Ince, the fraud watchdog said, as part of a probe into about 65 million pounds ($80.7 million) of missing client money.
The SFO said it had carried out searches at nine sites in south-east England on Nov. 14. Officers seized a "significant amount of material," SFO director Nick Ephgrave said in a video posted on X.
Axiom Ince's former director Pragnesh Modhwadia was not one of the seven arrested, his lawyer Timur Rustem said. Modhwadia has been accused by Axiom Ince of misappropriating millions, including to fund the acquisitions of other law firms.
Axiom Ince collapsed in October amid accusations client funds had gone missing and following an exodus of lawyers to other firms.
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