California Pulse

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    Attorneys Mourn Slow Death Of Deal 'Tombstones'

    Attorneys said the gifting of tombstones, or deal toys, to mark the end of transactions has become less common in recent years despite a steady flow of mergers, acquisitions and other transactional work.

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    AI Litigation Analytics Co. Pre/Dicta Expands To State Courts

    Artificial intelligence-enabled litigation analytics company Pre/Dicta has added California state courts to its platform, marking its expansion into the state court systems, the company said Thursday.

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    Law Firm Real Estate Report

    Law firms from A to Z found opportunities in October to upgrade their offices or adjust their footprints in cities both in the U.S. and abroad, with some completing moves to new locations and others setting plans in motion that won't be completed for several years.

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    The 2024 Practice Footprint Ranking: How Firms Stack Up

    These firms are being singled out for their stellar litigation footprints and transactions work. See who's leading the pack in four categories: variety of cases, range of jurisdictions, closing large merger and acquisition deals, and handling registered offerings.

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    The Litigation Footprints Of The 2024 Leaderboard Firms

    Follow a firm's litigation tracks through federal district courts across the country with our interactive map.

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    These Firms Top The 2024 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard

    Presenting the 2024 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard — the 100 firms that are besting their peers on measures of prestige, social responsibility and the reach of their legal practice.

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    Firms' Hiring Strategies Are Evolving In Fight For Top Spot

    Competition for top talent among elite law firms shows no signs of slowing down, even amid economic uncertainty, with financially strong firms deploying aggressive strategies to attract and retain skilled professionals to solidify their market position.

  • Calif. Judge Scolded For Public Fight Over School Renaming

    A California state judge has been publicly disciplined for leading a monthslong crusade against the renaming of his old high school, during which he spoke at rallies and fundraisers, called opponents "morons" on social media and generally "demeaned the judicial office."

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    Procopio Taps Corporate Atty As New Managing Partner

    Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP has named a corporate attorney with 13 years' experience at the firm as its new managing partner, following the death in early September of its previous managing partner.

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    BCLP Adds Ex-Seattle Mayor, US Atty As US White Collar Head

    After a short break focused on pro bono work and chairing a Washington State Bar Association task force on emerging technologies and the practice of law, former Seattle mayor Jenny A. Durkan is returning to private practice at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

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    Barnes & Thornburg Names 19 New Partners In Reduced Class

    Barnes & Thornburg LLP has promoted 19 attorneys to partners in states including Georgia, Texas, California and New York beginning Jan. 1, marking a decrease from its 2024 and 2023 class sizes, though the new partnership class outpaces promotions in preceding years.

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    Gibson Dunn Lands Trump Impeachment Prosecutor, 4 Others

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced Wednesday that it had hired away former President Donald Trump's impeachment prosecutor from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP to co-chair its global litigation practice group in New York, as well as four other former federal prosecutors from that firm.

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    E-Discovery Co. Everlaw Appoints VP Of Marketing As CMO

    Investigation and litigation platform Everlaw has appointed its vice president of marketing as chief marketing officer, and announced the launch of its first brand campaign.

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    Lewis Brisbois' Leader On Steering The Firm Forward

    Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has seen major leadership changes over the past year. Law360 Pulse caught up with managing partner Greg Katz to discuss the firm's vision moving forward, the impact of recent leadership transitions, and the strategies being implemented to navigate the competitive legal landscape.

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    Pervasive Bullying In Law Is Impacting Young Attorneys

    A report released earlier this month cataloging the experiences of more than 6,000 Illinois lawyers found that one quarter say they have experienced bullying within the last year. Among the youngest lawyers, that number jumps to 39%.

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    Lewis Brisbois Assistant GC Joins Nossaman As Legal Chief

    Nossaman LLP has hired the former assistant general counsel of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP as its new general counsel.

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    Patent Partner Moves From King & Spalding To Steptoe

    A former King & Spalding LLP partner has made the jump to Steptoe LLP, filling out the firm's team of California-based litigators who take on patent cases.

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    MoFo Adds Kirkland Capital Markets Ace In San Diego

    Morrison Foerster LLP is boosting its transactions team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing in a Kirkland & Ellis LLP capital markets pro as a partner in its San Diego office as part of the firm's plan to increase high-level talent on the West Coast.

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    Share Of New Partners Who Are Women Decreased This Year

    More than 80 major law firms had new partner classes in 2024 made up of at least 50% women, according to an analysis released Tuesday by a think tank focused on diversity and workplace flexibility. However, the analysis also found that the proportion of new U.S.-based partners who are women decreased.

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    Experienced Financial Atty Named Wealth Manager's New GC

    Focus Financial Partners Inc. announced that a longtime attorney at LPL Financial was named the New York-based wealth manager's general counsel as part of a series of leadership appointments.

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    Snell & Wilmer Adds Procopio Corporate Atty In San Diego

    Snell & Wilmer LLP has brought in a Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP capital markets expert as a partner in its San Diego office to expand its bench of corporate attorneys in Southern California.

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    Approach The Bench: Judge Rosenthal Praises Zoom Hearings

    While U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal calls the pandemic a disaster that "discombobulated" the federal courts, she thinks there was also a silver lining to the experience.

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    How Certifications Became Ubiquitous For Privacy Attorneys

    As privacy has become a more prominent and popular practice area, many attorneys have turned to certifications offered by the International Association of Privacy Professionals to market their skills, with those in the field saying that the popularity is the result of privacy's rapid evolution and the ubiquity is unlikely to diminish.

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    The Psychology Of Top Firms' Growing Partner Pay Spreads

    Dan Binstock, a legal recruiter who works with top law firms, recently said to me about partner pay, "You can never please everybody."

  • Calif. High Court Says Judicial DQ Bids Must Be Timely

    The California Supreme Court on Monday held that an appellate court got it wrong by determining a timeliness requirement doesn't apply when a party alleges that a judge is disqualified due to bias, in a case that resulted in a $43.5 million judgment for hundreds of title company employees.

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Expert Analysis

  • How Firms Can Effectively Evaluate Their Summer Associates Author Photo

    One of the most effective ways firms can ensure their summer associate programs are a success is by engaging in a timely and meaningful evaluation process and being intentional about when, how and by whom feedback should be provided, say Caroline Cimei and Erica Fine at Shutts & Bowen.

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    Talking Mental Health: Life As A Lawyer With OCD Author Photo

    Kelly Hughes at Ogletree discusses what she’s learned in the 14 years since she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, recounting how the experience shaped her law practice, what the legal industry and general public get wrong about the disorder, and how law firms can better support employees who have OCD.

  • 3 Innovative Ways AI May Be Used In Legal Practice
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    Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly be used by outside counsel to better predict the outcomes of litigation — thus informing legal strategy with greater precision — and by clients to scrutinize invoices and evaluate counsel’s performance, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Roundup

    My Nonpracticing Law Job Author Photo

    Not every law degree leads to a law practice. In this Law360 Pulse series, former practicing attorneys share the stories of how they went from practicing corporate law to using their knowledge and background to carve out a nontraditional career path in the legal industry.

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    My Nonpracticing Law Job: Librarian Author Photo

    Lisa A. Goodman at Texas A&M University shares how she went from a BigLaw associate who liked to hang out in the firm's law library to director of a law library herself in just over a decade, and provides considerations for anyone interested in pursuing a law librarian career.

  • Legal Briefs Can Benefit From Cleaned Up Case Citations Author Photo

    Federal courts have recently been changing the way they quote decisions to omit insignificant details and string cites, and lawyers should consider adopting this practice to enhance the readability of their briefs — as long as accuracy stays top of mind, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

  • 5 Best Practices For Firms Designing DEI Programs Author Photo

    Nikki Lewis Simon, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Greenberg Traurig, discusses best practices — and some pitfalls to avoid — for law firms looking to build programs aimed at driving inclusion in the workplace.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs Author Photo

    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Do I Juggle Billables And Other Activities? Author Photo

    While involvement in internal firm initiatives can be rewarding both personally and professionally, associates' billable time requirements don’t leave much room for other work, meaning they must develop strategies to ensure they’re meeting all of their commitments while remaining balanced, says Melanie Webber at Fisher Phillips.

  • Making Legal Cents: How To Adapt As Clients Tighten Budgets Author Photo

    Amid a dip in corporate legal spending and client pushback on bills, Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants highlights specific in-house counsel frustrations and explains how firms can provide customized legal advice with costs that are supported by undeniable value.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents Author Photo

    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • General Counsel And Legal Ops Must Work Together Author Photo

    It is critical for general counsel to ensure that a legal operations leader is viewed not only as a peer, but as a strategic leader for the organization, and there are several actionable ways general counsel can not only become more involved, but help champion legal operations teams and set them up for success, says Mary O'Carroll at Ironclad.

  • How Generative AI's Growing Memory Affects Lawyers Author Photo

    A new ChatGPT feature that can remember user information across different conversations has broad implications for attorneys, whose most pressing questions for the AI tool are usually based on specific, and large, datasets, says legal tech adviser Eric Wall.

  • A Model For Optimal Legal Tech Investment Strategy Author Photo

    Legal organizations struggling to work out the right technology investment strategy may benefit from using a matrix for legal department efficiency that is based on an understanding of where workloads belong, according to the basic functions and priorities of a corporate legal team, says Sylvain Magdinier at Integreon.

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    My Nonpracticing Law Job: Recruiter Author Photo

    Self-proclaimed "Lawyer Doula" Danielle Thompson at Major Lindsey shares how she went from Columbia Law School graduate and BigLaw employment associate to a career in legal recruiting — and discovered a passion for advocacy along the way.

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