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A lot can happen in a year for small firms. Law360 Pulse caught up with four, some just getting started and others with long legacies, to talk about what their 2024 looked like.
Generative artificial intelligence remained the top issue for legal tech in 2024, as vendors continued rolling out generative AI tools while law firms tested them and trained their attorneys on the underlying technology.
Personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee urged a Manhattan federal judge on Friday to reject Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's "astonishing request" to change the rules for a sanctions motion in rape litigation against the rapper and Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying the "rich, famous and powerful" must obey the same restrictions as everyone else.
Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.
As 2024 draws to a close, legal technology is in a bit of an "identity crisis," according to Tara Faquir, co-founder and chief operating officer at estate planning software provider Trustate.
Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.
An Atlanta-area attorney was disbarred Friday by the Supreme Court of Georgia after pleading guilty to felony obstruction charges for battery and resisting arrest while under suspicion of driving drunk.
During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.
Beasley Allen Law Firm on Friday fired back at The Smith Law Firm PLLC's motion to recuse an Alabama federal judge from Beasley Allen's breach of contract suit because the jurist previously represented the firm, arguing that the request is incompatible with Seventh Circuit precedent.
This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.
Georgia real estate law firm GSH Attorneys said Friday that it has brought on three attorneys to the same number of its offices around the state.
This was another action-packed week for the legal industry as law firms announced large associate bonuses, opened up new offices, and made notable hires. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
A federal grand jury in Illinois has indicted a Chicago attorney on charges he conspired to file fraudulent employment documents on behalf of nurses from the Philippines in an effort to obtain work visas for them to live and work in the United States.
A Texas state judge Thursday denied Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify the law firm defending a drilling rig owner in litigation stemming from Hurricane Zeta, finding that Arnold & Itkin hasn't established that a defense lawyer who had worked for the firm was involved in anything substantially related to the current litigation.
A lawsuit by Chicago law firm Loftus & Eisenberg Ltd. accusing an attorney with "a very limited skill set" of stealing clients while jumping to Good Law Group PC has been dismissed, after Good Law said the "venomous allegations" were not backed by hard evidence.
As Tom Girardi's sentencing loomed, his friends and relatives wrote letters to the judge envisioning a grim and undeserved death in prison for the 85-year-old former legal luminary. But former clients who accused him of steailng from them told the court that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
A personal injury attorney cannot have an early exit from negligence suits filed by three former clients over settlement payments, a Connecticut state judge ruled Wednesday, finding that a decision in a related case initiated by one of the plaintiffs did not resolve the complaints against the attorney.
New York-based litigation boutique Bradford Edwards LLP has opened an office in Los Angeles, spearheaded by the hire of a partner who has more than 20 years of experience litigating in California.
In 2024, midsize, midmarket and regional firms saw an overall strong year, several notable firm mergers and much conversation around new technologies, especially generative artificial intelligence.
A number of legal ethics topics dominated the conversation in 2024, including artificial intelligence and the fallout of an undisclosed relationship between a Texas bankruptcy judge and an attorney whose firm appeared before him for years.
The legal industry has seen ongoing leadership changes in 2024, with law firms increasingly turning to business-savvy leaders to oversee operations and better compete in a challenging market.
A Los Angeles federal judge pushed back Tom Girardi's sentencing for his embezzlement conviction on Wednesday, ordering a psychiatric evaluation and special hearing to determine whether the 85-year-old disbarred attorney should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.
Billing rates for outside counsel continued to rise in 2024, with law firm associate rates experiencing the sharpest growth, increasing by 3.11% compared to the previous year, according to a recent report from Wolters Kluwer's ELM Solutions.
A Massachusetts lawyer who filed a grievance alleging that a law professor sexually assaulted her when she was a student has asked a federal court in Brooklyn to order a state attorney grievance committee to make its formal decision in the matter public, arguing the committee violated her First Amendment rights by withholding the records.
An Alabama federal judge's prior representation of Montgomery-based Beasley Allen Law Firm is grounds for The Smith Law Firm PLLC's motion filed Wednesday calling for the judge's recusal from Beasley Allen's breach of contract suit against the Smith firm regarding alleged owed expenses from a joint venture the two firms shared.
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.
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.
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.
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?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.
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.
At some level, every practicing lawyer is experiencing the ever-increasing speed of change — and while some practice management processes have gotten more efficient, other things about the legal profession were better before supposed improvements were made, says Jay Silberblatt, president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Law firms will be able to reap great long-term benefits if they adopt strategies to nurture four critical components of their employees' psychological wellness and performance — hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism, says Dennis Stolle at the American Psychological Association.
With caseloads and spending increasing, in-house counsel might find themselves called to opine on the risks and benefits of litigation more often, and they should look at five Sun Tzu maxims from the ancient Chinese classic "The Art of War" to inform their approach to any suit, says Jeff Golimowski at Womble Bond.
Not only can effective mentorship have a profound impact on women and people of color entering the legal field, but it also benefits mentors and the legal profession as a whole, creating a true win-win situation for all involved, says Natasha Cortes at Grossman Roth.
Generative AI applications like ChatGPT are unlikely to ever replace attorneys for a variety of practical reasons — but given their practice-enhancing capabilities, lawyers who fail to leverage these tools may be rendered obsolete, says Eran Kahana at Maslon.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent elimination of a rule that partially counted pro bono work toward continuing legal education highlights the importance of volunteer work in intellectual property practice and its ties to CLE, and puts a valuable tool for hands-on attorney education in the hands of the states, say Lisa Holubar and Ariel Katz at Irwin.
Recommendations recently issued by a special committee of the Florida Bar represent a realistic, pragmatic approach to increasing the accessibility and affordability of legal services, at a time when the disconnect between the legal profession and the public at large has widened considerably, says Gary Lesser, president of the Florida Bar.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Relay Shortcomings To Associates?Michael Cohen at Duane Morris discusses the best ways to articulate how an associate is not meeting expectations, and why documentation of performance management is crucial for their growth and protecting the firm from discrimination suits.
Several forces are reshaping partners’ expectations about profit-sharing, and as compensation structures evolve in response, firms should keep certain fundamentals in mind to build a successful partner reward system, say Michael Roch at MHPR Advisors and Ray D'Cruz at Performance Leader.