California Pulse


  • Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Unseats Progressive LA DA Gascón

    Los Angeles and San Francisco voters delivered a blow to the progressive prosecution movement on Tuesday, with tough-on-crime candidate Nathan Hochman unseating incumbent LA County District Attorney George Gascón and incumbent San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins beating a prosecutor who once worked under Chesa Boudin's leadership.

  • 'Fat Leonard' Gets 15 Years For Navy Bribery Scheme

    Leonard Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive known as "Fat Leonard" who led a sprawling bribery scheme that authorities say caused over $20 million in losses for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced Tuesday in California federal court to 15 years behind bars, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

  • Feds Say Girardi's Behavior At Trial Shows He Is Competent

    Prosecutors told a California federal judge on Tuesday that Tom Girardi should not receive a new trial following his conviction for misappropriating $15 million in client settlement funds, saying the disbarred attorney's arguments that he was not competent to stand trial are completely undercut by his behavior during the trial.

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    Do Most In-House Attys 'Have One Foot Out the Door'?

    Most in-house attorneys think they need to switch employers to advance their careers, according to a new report that warns legal leaders of an upcoming wave of attrition.

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    McDermott Lands Pharma IP Attorney From DLA Piper In SF

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP has added to its intellectual property group a former DLA Piper attorney who, a firm leader said, will strengthen the firm's litigation efforts in the life sciences space.

  • Seth G. Mehrten

    Littler Adds To Litigation Bench With Ex-Fresno, Calif. Atty

    Employment firm Littler Mendelson PC announced that a former deputy attorney for the City of Fresno joined the firm's office in the city, adding that his government along with employment law experience will help its employer clients.

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    Retiring Kessler Topaz Leader Reflects On Legacy Of Growth

    After leading Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP's evolution into a major player in plaintiff-side securities class actions, name partner David Kessler says he's reached the point where he can step away from the Philadelphia-area firm and enjoy a meaningful retirement after 28 years.

  • ABA Tweaks Planned Changes To Law School Diversity Rules

    The American Bar Association is revising the language of its diversity standards for law schools after its August decision to remove references to race, ethnicity and other identities in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision striking down affirmative action in higher education was met with pushback from legal professionals.

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    Emerging Cos. Pro With SEC Background Returns To Latham

    Latham & Watkins LLP is expanding its West Coast team, welcoming back an emerging companies expert who was a founding partner at Ketsal PLLC and worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and is now joining Latham as a partner in its San Francisco Bay Area offices.

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    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

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    How General Counsel Can Help Offset Geopolitical Risks

    Despite a belief among in-house attorneys that geopolitical risks are rising, most of 200 legal department leaders recently surveyed by the Association of Corporate Counsel stated their employers are planning to maintain or grow engagement with some of the riskiest countries, leading to a rising need for risk management policies, training and collaborative preparation.

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    Attys At These Firms Donated The Most To Harris, Trump

    Attorneys and staff at the country's largest law firms have donated more than 15 times as much money to Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign as they have to former President Donald Trump's, federal election records show.

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    Tesla Fights Sanctions Bid Over Atty's Mediation Appearance

    Tesla Inc. has pushed back against a widow's sanctions bid over allegations a company in-house attorney appeared at a mediation in her wrongful death case despite lacking settlement authority, saying her attorneys improperly disclosed the contents of confidential mediation communications.

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    Freshfields Boosts Capital Markets Team With Latham Atty

    A partner with experience advising companies on capital markets transactions is joining Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, which has recently represented clients in life sciences deals totaling more than a billion dollars, the firm announced Monday.

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    Guidewire's GC Sees FY 2024 Compensation Climb To $3.4M

    The general counsel at insurance software company Guidewire earned nearly $1 million more in total compensation during fiscal year 2024 than a year earlier, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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    Barnes & Thornburg Leadership Panel Debuts New Ohio Head

    Barnes & Thornburg LLP is getting new leadership in Columbus, Ohio, the firm said as it announced its 2024-2025 management committee.

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    Duane Morris Litigator Joins Scale LLP In Calif.

    National dispersed law firm Scale LLP is expanding its West Coast team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a Duane Morris LLP litigator as a partner in its Northern California office.

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    Procopio's New Managing Partner Is Living 'American Dream'

    A self-described "poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks" in Brockton, Massachusetts, Dennis Doucette said he's living the "American dream" having been named managing partner of Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.

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    How 2024 Election Litigation May Look Different From 2020

    Courts are fielding a flood of lawsuits over the 2024 presidential election, with more certainly to come, but those suits may have some significant differences from the ones that played out in 2020, according to experts.

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    Proskauer Elevates 15 To Partnership, 6 To Senior Counsel

    Two years after announcing its largest ever promotion class of 33, Proskauer Rose LLP announced Friday another large group of 21 attorneys being promoted across its U.S. and U.K. offices.

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    Legal Hiring Continued Upward Trajectory In October

    The U.S. legal sector logged its second month in a row of job number increases in October, following a four-month-long period of decline this spring and summer, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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    The Top In-House Hires Of October

    Legal department hires and changes during the month of pumpkins and goblins included new roles for top attorneys with Nike, a high-profile appointment at Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. and a promotion to CEO for the general counsel at UnitedLex.

  • Law360 Pulse Spotlight On Mid-Law Work

    Motley Rice's handling of Los Angeles County's plastic pollution-related suit against Pepsi and Coca-Cola and Cole Schotz's work on a Manhattan redevelopment project lead this edition of Law360 Pulse's Spotlight On Mid-Law Work, recapping the top matters for Mid-Law firms from Oct. 18 to Nov. 1.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Kicking off this week's legal lions list are nine large law firms celebrating a big win in New York after a federal judge threw out a $14 billion complaint against their retailer and drugmaker clients in multidistrict litigation accusing them of making and selling ineffective over-the-counter decongestants.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry marked the end of October with another action-packed week as BigLaw firms made new hires and promoted attorneys to partner. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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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.

  • Series

    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
    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    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.

  • Series

    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.

  • Series

    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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