Wake Up Call: NFLPA Places Lawyer Who Started FBI Probe on Leave

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• The NFL Players Association placed one of its top lawyers on paid administrative leave following complaints from multiple employees to human resources. Heather McPhee, who has worked as the union’s associate general counsel for 17 years, now faces a slew of allegations about her conduct in the workplace. Earlier this year, McPhee made misconduct allegations against top NFLPA executives in their financial dealings with its licensing company, which led to an FBI probe. (CBS Sports)
• An Australian lawyer apologized for using AI-generated content that included fake quotes and non-existent case judgments in a murder case. The incident occurred in the Supreme Court of Victoria, where defense lawyer Rishi Nathwani, a King’s Counsel, admitted to filing incorrect information in the case of a teenager charged with murder. (WHO)
• Wyoming lawyer Gerry Spence died at his home in Montecito, Calif., at 96. In the case that first brought him nationwide fame, Spence represented the estate of Karen Silkwood, a union activist and nuclear worker tainted with plutonium, who died in 1974. Spence won an initial $10.5 million verdict in 1979 against plutonium processor Kerr-McGee for over its handling of the plutonium that contaminated Silkwood. Her death became the subject an Oscar-nominated movie. (ABA Journal)