Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP’s disqualification as bankruptcy counsel for brand manager Franchise Group Inc. is a lesson for Big Law firms that ethical walls and conflicts counsel won’t always solve larger issues over impartiality.

Way back in 2000, I wrote a piece called "Dressed for Excess: How Hollywood Affects the Professional Behavior of Lawyers," published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy.

Recently revealed texts highlighting a Houston attorney’s apparent interactions with a former bankruptcy judge whom she was dating have added more fuel to the fire amid allegations that their relationship led to improper communications about cases he oversaw.

A secret courthouse romance has spurred ethics investigations and a fight over millions in legal fees.

For the last year, Jackson Walker has faced litigation — and presumably a hit to its bankruptcy business and reputation — since the revelation that a Houston bankruptcy partner was romantically involved with a federal bankruptcy judge who presided over many of the firm's bankruptcy cases.

A spate of mixed rulings involving a former bankruptcy judge and his once-secret relationship with a local attorney indicate his former colleagues on the bench are vexed by his ethical lapses, despite issuing decisions largely in his favor.

David Boies catapulted to a new level of fame more than 25 years ago after he won a landmark antitrust case against Microsoft on behalf of the federal government. In the autumn of his storied legal career, he’s staring down his former adversary again.

David Boies catapulted to a new level of fame more than 25 years ago after he won a landmark antitrust case against Microsoft, on behalf of the federal government. In the autumn of his storied legal career, he’s staring down his former adversary again.