1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Skadden improperly limited lawyer access…

Law Firms

Skadden improperly limited lawyer access to email distribution lists, group claims in NLRB filing

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 28, 2025, 1:19 pm CDT

A workers’ rights group alleges that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom improperly interfered with protected employee discussions about the law firm’s deal with President Donald Trump when it restricted email distribution lists.

The National Institute for Workers’ Rights filed an unfair labor practice charge with those allegations last week with the National Labor Relations Board, report Bloomberg Law, Law360 and Reuters.

Skadden’s deal, announced March 28 on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, calls for the firm to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services to support causes favored by Trump and the firm. The agreement also said Skadden will not engage in illegal discrimination based on equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Skadden reached the deal to prevent becoming a target in a punitive executive order.

The charge said “associates used firm email to discuss these changes, submit resignations, plan coordinated rejections of recruitment activities, and express concerns about the impact on what they do, with whom they work, and their ethical obligations.”

A letter sent to the NLRB, along with the labor charge, cited an anonymous Skadden employee who said the firm “turned off firm email lists to silence people” before announcement of the deal.

Curtailing access to email lists interfered with employees’ ability to engage in mutual aid and protection outside of a union, the letter said.

The National Institute for Workers’ Rights submitted the charge because of its concerns about worker rights and was not acting on behalf of Skadden employees, according to the letter. Generally, the National Labor Relations Act allows anyone to file a charge for unfair labor practices, according to Bloomberg Law.

Jeremy D. London, a Skadden executive partner, did not immediately reply to the ABA Journal’s request for comment.

Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Overwhelmed lawyer blew deadline and faked…

Ethics

Overwhelmed lawyer blew deadline and faked email to cover it up, disbarment order says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 6, 2024, 3:17 pm CST

A lawyer who became overwhelmed with her caseload has been disbarred for faking an email to make it appear that her personal injury client fired her before she missed the deadline to file his lawsuit.

The Georgia Supreme Court disbarred lawyer Andrea Jo Anne David-Vega in a March 5 decision.

Law360 has coverage, while the Legal Profession Blog published opinion highlights.

David-Vega submitted the fake email in her disciplinary case and in an October 2020 malpractice suit filed against her by the client. The fake email differed from other emails sent by the client, the Georgia Supreme Court said. It was in a different font and format; and it appeared to use perfect diction, capitalization and punctuation. She also faked a text and submitted it in the malpractice suit.

The ethics allegations against David-Vega were deemed to be admitted because she failed to file a timely answer to the ethics complaint by the State Bar of Georgia. She was, however, allowed to submit evidence in a hearing on aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

In that testimony, David-Vega admitted fabricating the email and text to make it appear that her client, Fadi L. Milan, had fired her before the statute of limitations expired.

Testifying in mitigation, David-Vega’s counselor said David-Vega had expanded her caseload in 2016 by becoming a special assistant attorney general representing the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services. As a result, she acquired 200 cases in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and 150 cases in a neighboring county. Yet she continued managing her own general practice.

“David-Vega became overwhelmed with her caseload,” the Georgia Supreme Court said, “but continued to take cases because she ‘did not know how to say no’ and felt unable to ask for help.”

David-Vega also helped with care for her mother and stepfather, who had become ill. She eventually “reached a point where she completely unplugged,” the counselor testified.

David-Vega had no prior discipline and expressed remorse for her actions. She also had a stellar representation among judges whom she appeared before.

Testifying in aggravation, Milan said he suffered permanent injuries to his eye, neck, head, back and brain in the auto accident for which he sought to file suit. He had debt collectors calling and couldn’t access his medical records that were being held by David-Vega.

Milan had retained David-Vega in August 2016, although there was no written contingency agreement, according to the Georgia Supreme Court’s opinion. She contacted the liability insurer for Milan but eventually cut off communication with the insurer.

David-Vega also failed to respond to Milan’s questions, even though he called her office over 65 times to ask about the status of his case between January 2019 and February 2020, the opinion said. He also continued to text and email her through April 2020.

Milan notified David-Vega that he was firing her in May 2020. The deadline for filing suit was August 2018. David-Vega falsely claimed that Milan fired her in March 2018, the opinion said.

Milan’s lawyer in the malpractice suit testified that David-Vega had lied, had failed to cooperate in the malpractice case, and had drawn out settlement negotiations for two years.

A special master had recommended a two-year suspension.

David-Vega did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal email seeking comment. The ABA was unable to leave a voicemail message for David-Vega at the number listed by the state bar because the mailbox was full.

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Victim advocate fired after copying district…

Careers

Victim advocate fired after copying district attorney’s office on ‘panties’ email

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 30, 2024, 9:50 am CST

A victim advocate in the San Francisco district attorney’s office was fired Friday for sending an email copied to the entire office that read, “What color panties you have on.”

The email sent by Jovan Thomas was addressed to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who is his boss, report the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Standard and SFist.

It appeared to be a response to an invitation to an event memorializing the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.

Thomas sent a second email that apologized and said the prior email was a joke that he intended to send to a fraternity brother.

A spokesperson for Jenkins said Thomas had been fired.

“To be clear, there is no relationship between the district attorney and the individual who sent this email,” the statement said. “This misogynistic behavior violates the office’s code of conduct, and this individual has been terminated. The district attorney’s office is committed to maintaining a professional office environment where all staff members are treated with dignity and respect and not subject to harassment or a hostile work environment.”