Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce its recognition in the Best Law Firms® 2027 directory, receiving six National Tier 1 designations, along with 48 other national and regional recognitions in a broad range of practice areas and markets across the nation.

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that 80 of its lawyers have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.

It is with great sadness that Hinshaw announces the passing of longtime firm partner Ronald (“Ron”) E. Mallen, who practiced with us from 1997 until his retirement in 2018.

Read how Hinshaw attorneys Anthony Aprea and Sabrina Geisler have co-authored the Rhode Island chapter of The Law of Lawyers’ Liability: 50-State Survey, Second Edition, published by the American Bar Association.

Read Hinshaw general counsel Steve Puiszis's insights in a recent Mealey's report on how generative AI is impacting attorney-client privilege and work product protections, and the practical steps firms should take to mitigate risk.

As several Am Law 200 firms face lawsuits alleging they represented clients despite conflicts of interest, Hinshaw partner Matt Henderson offers guidance on what firms should do to protect themselves and their clients—including going beyond a “perfunctory running of the conflicts” and ensuring advance waivers are narrowly tailored.

Hinshaw partner and general counsel Steve Puiszis will moderate the session, “Exploring Risk In Today's Law Firm Environment: A Special Roundtable Discussion for Law Firm In-House Counsel,” at the ABA 51st National Conference on Professional Responsibility.

Hinshaw partner Kate Schnake will speak at the Practising Law Institute (PLI) Illinois Professional Responsibility MCLE Marathon on May 6.

Join us at Hinshaw’s Annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management (LMRM) Conference –  the industry’s gold standard for advice on litigating legal malpractice claims and navigating legal malpractice insurance, professional responsibility, and innovative risk management strategies.

Chicago-based partner David Levitt will moderate a DRI webinar, titled "Litigation Financing: What You Need to Know," on September 3, 2025.

Hinshaw partner April Toy will moderate a webinar hosted by the Hispanic National Bar Association/VIA Solo-Small Summer Series, sponsored by Berkley Select on August 21, 2025.

Hinshaw's Joanna Storey will co-present a virtual CLE event titled "Ethical Lessons Learned from Fictional Attorneys," on May 12, 2022. The CLE is presented by the Bar Association of San Francisco's (BASF) Legal Ethics Committee, of which Storey is the current Vice-Chair. The program will look at fictional attorney examples of legal ethical dilemmas and analyze if the attorney addressed the issue properly by discussing the professional conduct duties owed to clients.

What precautions can lawyers, staff, and law firms as a whole take to mitigate the risk of falling victim to the latest COVID-19 scam involving phishing for personal information by dangling eligibility for bogus government-sponsored loan programs as bait?

What precautions can law firms, along with their lawyers and staff, take when they receive an unexpected request for protected health information (PHI) from someone claiming to be a representative of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?

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By: Dana A. Rice

A former director of operations and director of engineering at Google, Inc. sued the company alleging age discrimination. The trial court granted Google’s motion for summary judgment, finding that plaintiff’s evidence of “stray remarks” by non-decision-makers in support of his discrimination claim were insufficient evidence of discrimination to merit a trial. Under the “stray remarks” doctrine, which is routinely applied to federal discrimination claims, discriminatory remarks made by co-workers or non-decision-makers are not enough to overcome an employer's motion for summary judgment. Courts deem such evidence irrelevant because it is not probative of a discriminatory animus on the part of those actually involved in the decision-making process. The California Court of Appeals reversed, holding the stray remarks admissible as potential evidence of discriminatory animus. The California Supreme Court agreed and rejected strict application of the stray remarks doctrine in California discrimination cases, counter to the doctrine’s wide acceptance in federal courts. The Supreme Court held that evidence of non-decision-makers’ stray remarks are admissible and must be considered along with the totality of the facts in determining whether the plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence of discrimination to necessitate a trial on the merits. The Court’s holding makes it more difficult for California employers to dispose of cases on summary judgment where the plaintiff’s discrimination claims rest on stray remarks made by non-decision-makers. Reid v. Google, Inc., No. S158965 (August 5, 2010).

Learn how the New York AVOID Act significantly changes third-party practice and the key compliance steps to prepare for the law taking effect on April 19, 2026.

Navigating the ever changing waters of consumer privacy could become much more challenging if the “It's Your Data Act" (IYDA) is passed in New York. Some provisions of the proposed law may apply to any person or business, even law firms no matter how small, that collects any personal information of New York residents for the purpose of generating commercial or economic value.

Hinshaw's Steve Puiszis has authored a comprehensive white paper on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), published by the ABA's Journal of the Professional Lawyer, which provides clarity on the many issues the GDPR raises for law firms and their clients in the United States. We are pleased to offer a complimentary copy of this paper to Cyber Alert and Lawyers for the Profession® Alert readers.

Explore how Management Service Organizations (MSOs) are reshaping the legal profession and how states are responding to protect attorney independence. Read our analysis of the evolving legal and ethical landscape.

Lawyers face privacy claims beyond traditional legal malpractice—from HIPAA and BIPA to data breaches and disciplinary actions. Learn key defenses and risk management strategies in our newsletter.

Read how California attorneys will face a new 2026 license-renewal requirement: annual re-attestation to the civility oath to conduct themselves with “dignity, courtesy, and integrity.”

Discover the implications of a recent Georgia court’s legal malpractice ruling when a client uncovers decades-old fraudulent tax advice from their attorney. Explore how statutes of limitations and the duty of reasonable diligence can weaken even the strongest claims.

In a legal malpractice action arising out of revisions to a client's estate plan, the appellate court considered whether an attorney has a duty to evaluate a client's mental capacity and, if so, whether the plaintiff alleged sufficient facts to show the defendants (a law firm and its attorneys) were aware of their client's disability at the time they provided legal services.

As we say goodbye to 2024, we are pleased to announce our 2024 Hinshaw Readers’ Choice Awards in the professional liability and legal ethics category. The following are the Top 5 posts receiving the highest levels of engagement from our readers in 2024 on topics ranging from financial elder abuse claims and bar advisory opinions to attorney disqualification motions.