California Pulse


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    Arnold & Porter Appoints New Co-Chairs, CEO

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP announced Thursday that co-managing partners Michael Daneker and Ellen Kaye Fleishhacker have been elected co-chairs of the firm, effective Jan. 1.

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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."

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Expert Analysis

  • Resume Gaps Are No Longer Kryptonite To Your Legal Career Author Photo

    Female attorneys and others who pause their careers for a few years will find that gaps in work history are increasingly acceptable among legal employers, meaning with some networking, retraining and a few other strategies, lawyers can successfully reenter the workforce, says Jill Backer at Ave Maria School of Law.

  • Law Firm Guardrails For Responsible Generative AI Use Author Photo

    ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools pose significant risks to the integrity of legal work, but the key for law firms is not to ban these tools, but to implement them responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, say Natalie Pierce and Stephanie Goutos at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Opinion

    We Must Continue DEI Efforts Despite High Court Headwinds Author Photo

    Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down affirmative action in higher education, law firms and their clients must keep up the legal industry’s recent momentum advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the profession in order to help achieve a just and prosperous society for all, says Angela Winfield at the Law School Admission Council.

  • Law Firms Cannot Ignore Attorneys' Personal Cybersecurity Author Photo

    Law firms that fail to consider their attorneys' online habits away from work are not using their best efforts to protect client information and are simplifying the job of plaintiffs attorneys in the case of a breach, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy and Protection.

  • Why Writing CLE Should Be Mandatory For Lawyers Author Photo

    Though effective writing is foundational to law, no state requires attorneys to take continuing legal education in this skill — something that must change if today's attorneys are to have the communication abilities they need to fulfill their professional and ethical duties to their clients, colleagues and courts, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona.

  • How To Find Your Inner Calm When Client Obligations Pile Up Author Photo

    In the most stressful times for attorneys, when several transactions for different partners and clients peak at the same time and the phone won’t stop buzzing, incremental lifestyle changes can truly make a difference, says Lindsey Hughes at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Support Gen Z Attorneys? Author Photo

    Meredith Beuchaw at Lowenstein Sandler discusses how senior attorneys can assist the newest generation of attorneys by championing their pursuit of a healthy work-life balance and providing the hands-on mentorship opportunities they missed out on during the pandemic.

  • Law Firm Cybersecurity Should Not Get Lost In The Cloud Author Photo

    A recent data leak at Proskauer via a cloud data storage platform demonstrates key reasons why law firms must pay attention to data safeguarding, including the increasing frequency of cloud-based data breaches and the consequences of breaking client confidentiality, says Robert Kraczek at One Identity.

  • Advice For Summer Associates Uneasy About Offer Prospects Author Photo

    There are a few communication tips that law students in summer associate programs should consider to put themselves in the best possible position to receive an offer, and firms can also take steps to support those to whom they are unable to make an offer, says Amy Mattock at Georgetown University Law Center.

  • How Law Firms Can Cautiously Wield AI To Streamline Tasks Author Photo

    Many attorneys are going to use artificial intelligence tools whether law firms like it or not, so firms should educate them on AI's benefits, limits and practical uses, such as drafting legal documents, to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving legal market, say Thomas Schultz and Eden Bernstein at Kellogg Hansen.

  • Keys To Managing The Stresses Of Law School Author Photo

    Dealing with the pressures associated with law school can prove difficult for many future lawyers, but there are steps students can take to manage stress — and schools can help too, say Ryan Zajic and Dr. Janani Krishnaswami at UWorld.

  • Can Mandatory CLE Mitigate Implicit Bias's Negative Impacts? Author Photo

    Amid ongoing disagreements on whether states should mandate implicit bias training as part of attorneys' continuing legal education requirements, Stephanie Wilson at Reed Smith looks at how unconscious attitudes or stereotypes adversely affect legal practice, and whether mandatory training programs can help.

  • Ditch The Frills And Start Writing Legal Letters In Plain English Author Photo

    To become more effective advocates, lawyers need to rethink the ridiculous, convoluted language they use in correspondence and write letters in a clear, concise and direct manner, says legal writing instructor Stuart Teicher.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Negotiate My Separation Agreement? Author Photo

    Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey discusses how a law firm associate can navigate being laid off, what to look for in a separation agreement and why to be upfront about it with prospective employers.

  • DoNotPay Cases Underscore Hurdles For AI-Fueled Legal Help Author Photo

    Recent legal challenges against DoNotPay’s "robot lawyer” application highlight pressing questions about the degree to which artificial intelligence can be used for legal tasks while remaining on the right side of both consumer protection laws and prohibitions against the unauthorized practice of law, says Kristen Niven at Frankfurt Kurnit.

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