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California Pulse
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Plaintiffs Attys Fight Arbitration, While Imposing It On Clients
Plaintiffs attorney groups have for decades lobbied against forced arbitration, saying it strips injured consumers and aggrieved workers of their right to jury trial and hides corporate misconduct from public view. But many plaintiffs lawyers nationwide have subjected their own clients to forced arbitration in their retainer contracts — including leaders of some organizations that forbid the practice, Law360 has found.
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Ex-Lewis Brisbois Hospitality Ace Joins Signature Resolution
Alternative dispute resolution service Signature Resolution is bringing in a recently retired Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP hospitality industry litigator to join its panel of neutrals.
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Alston & Bird Securities Litigator Joins Katten In Calif.
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP added a former Alston & Bird LLP securities litigation partner whom one firm leader has hoped to hire after a stint working together decades ago.
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Robbins Geller Escapes Sanctions In Gas Price-Fixing Suit
A California federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid to sanction Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys in a gas price-fixing suit, determining that the firm didn't act in bad faith or unreasonably multiply proceedings in a way that unnecessarily cost Alon USA Energy millions.
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EEOC Bid For Law Firm DEI Info On Shaky Ground, Attys Say
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent call for law firms to cough up a trove of information about their diversity, equity and inclusion programs lacks statutory authority and may contravene federal law, according to experts from both sides of the aisle.
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Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards
Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.
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Six Takeaways From California's State Of The Judiciary
California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero gave an annual State of the Judiciary address to Golden State legislators Tuesday that highlighted the judicial branch's independence and commitment to providing "fair and impartial justice," while putting less attention than in years past on policies that support diversity and inclusion.
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How BigLaw Is Tweaking Diversity Messaging Amid Pushback
As the Trump administration intensifies its scrutiny of diversity programs, some of the nation's leading law firms are quietly adjusting how they publicly present their diversity commitments, including softening language, scrubbing diversity reports, and, in some cases, erasing diversity pages altogether.
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Eisner Lands 2 Reed Smith Entertainment Pros In NY, Calif.
Business and entertainment firm Eisner LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired two attorneys from Reed Smith LLP to enhance its capacity to negotiate entertainment industry transactions.
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McDermott Launches San Diego Office Helmed By IP Veteran
McDermott Will & Emery LLP announced Tuesday it is opening an office in San Diego and has tapped a longtime intellectual property attorney to lead it, while also naming that attorney to be one of the co-heads of its global IP practice.
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Maynard Nexsen Adds 5 Constangy Employment Attys In LA
Maynard Nexsen PC has brought a 5-lawyer team from labor and employment firm Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP to its Los Angeles office, bringing on a team that is experienced in management-side employment law and can converse in six languages.
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Dem Ex-EEOC Officials Call Law Firm DEI Letters Overreach
A group of Democratic-appointed former U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission officials urged acting Chair Andrea Lucas on Tuesday to rescind letters seeking information from 20 law firms about their diversity, equity and inclusion practices, saying she had exceeded the agency's power.
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Semiconductor Co. AMD Paid GC Nearly $16.9M In '24
Semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s legal chief made nearly $16.9 million in her first year with the company, including a $2 million sign-on bonus, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Debevoise Atty Goes In-House As TPG's Legal Chief
Global asset manager TPG announced Monday that it has hired Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner Jennifer Chu to take over as its chief legal officer and general counsel, saying her deep "experience, leadership expertise and judgment" are an ideal match for the rapidly expanding firm.
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Ex-Avenatti Clients Resolve Fight Over Seized Honda Jet
Two of Michael Avenatti's former clients have settled their dispute over ownership interest and an insurance policy covering a $4.4 million Honda jet that the disgraced attorney allegedly purchased with stolen client funds, according to a notice filed in California federal court.
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Wayne Gretzky Suing Co-Investor For Malicious Prosecution
NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife filed a lawsuit in California state court against a co-investor in a failed weight-loss business, whom he alleges lodged a meritless suit against him in 2022 to "score a quick payday" after accusing him of contributing to the demise of the company.
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Judge Ikuta's Sr. Status Plans Give Trump 9th Circ. Opening
U.S. Circuit Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta of the Ninth Circuit will be taking semi-retired status upon appointment of her successor, a court representative confirmed to Law360 on Monday.
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X Corp. Says Dismissal, Sanctions Go Together In Bonus Suit
A former X Corp. senior director of compensation engaged in "vexatious conduct" that should not allow him to drop his suit claiming unpaid bonuses without sanctions, the social media platform told a California federal judge.
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20 Law Firms Face EEOC Demands For DEI Employment Info
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has written to 20 law firms seeking information about their diversity, equity and inclusion-related employment practices, the agency announced Monday.
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Sheppard Mullin's CIO Jumps To Lewis Brisbois In Calif.
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP's longtime chief information officer has left to take the same role at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, the latter firm announced Monday.
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Mitchell Silberberg Adds Greenberg Glusker IP Trio In LA
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP announced Monday that a three-attorney team of entertainment intellectual property attorneys from the Los Angeles-based Greenberg Glusker LLP have joined the firm.
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How Public Companies Are Changing Their DEI Disclosures
So far in 2025, public companies appear to be adjusting to new legal and regulatory pressures surrounding diversity issues, with some jettisoning all mention of DEI in their disclosures and others maintaining broad commitments to equity in their operations, according to a study released on Monday.
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Vorys Releases Labor-Focused AI Tool For Its Attys, HR Pros
Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP announced Monday the launch of an in-house agentic artificial intelligence product designed to help its attorneys and human resources professionals answer questions regarding federal, state and local employment laws.
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Ogletree Adds Ex-Aleshire & Wynder Practice Leader
Labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC announced Monday that it has hired the former leader of Aleshire & Wynder LLP's Oakland, California, office and employment litigation practice to ramp up its efforts to serve public-sector clients and others.
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Clearway Energy GC's Compensation Rose To $1.4M In '24
Compensation for the New Jersey-based general counsel of San Francisco-headquartered Clearway Energy climbed to about $1.4 million in 2024, according to a recent proxy statement.
Expert Analysis
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Making Legal Cents: How To Adapt As Clients Tighten Budgets
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.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
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.
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General Counsel And Legal Ops Must Work Together
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.
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How Generative AI's Growing Memory Affects Lawyers
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.
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A Model For Optimal Legal Tech Investment Strategy
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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Series
My Nonpracticing Law Job: Recruiter
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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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Balance Social Activism With My Job?
Corporate attorneys pursuing social justice causes outside of work should consider eight guidelines for finding equilibrium between their beliefs and their professional duties and reputation, say Diedrick Graham, Debra Friedman and Simeon Brier at Cozen O'Connor.
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Personality Tests And Machine Learning Applications In Law
Mateusz Kulesza at McDonnell Boehnen looks at potential applications of personality testing based on machine learning techniques for law firms, and the implications this shift could have for lawyers, firms and judges, including how it could make the work of judges and other legal decision-makers much more difficult.
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AI Is Reshaping Lawyering: What To Expect In 2024
The future of lawyering is not about the wholesale replacement of attorneys by artificial intelligence, but as AI handles more of the routine legal work, the role of lawyers will evolve to be more strategic, requiring the development of competencies beyond traditional legal skills, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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Embrace Active Voice In Legal Writing — In Most Cases
Legal writers should strive to craft sentences in the active voice to promote brevity and avoid ambiguities that can spark litigation, but writing in the passive voice is sometimes appropriate — when it's a moral choice and not a grammatical failure, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can I Help Associates Turn Down Work?
Marina Portnova at Lowenstein Sandler discusses what partners can do to aid their associates in setting work-life boundaries, especially around after-hours assignment availability.
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How AI Legal Research Tools Are Shifting Law Firm Processes
Although artificial intelligence-powered legal research is ushering in a new era of legal practice that augments human expertise with data-driven insights, it is not without challenges involving privacy, ethics and more, so legal professionals should take steps to ensure AI becomes a reliable partner rather than a source of disruption, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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Data Source Proliferation Is A Growing E-Discovery Challenge
With the increased usage of collaboration apps and generative artificial intelligence solutions, it's not only important for e-discovery teams to be able to account for hundreds of existing data types today, but they should also be able to add support for new data types quickly — even on the fly if needed, says Oliver Silva at Casepoint.
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Bracing For A Generative AI Revolution In Law
With many legal professionals starting to explore practical uses of generative artificial intelligence in areas such as research, discovery and legal document development, the fundamental principle of human oversight cannot be underscored enough for it to be successful, say Ty Dedmon at Bradley Arant and Paige Hunt at Lighthouse.
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Why I Use ChatGPT To Tell Me Things I Already Know
The legal profession is among the most hesitant to adopt ChatGPT because of its proclivity to provide false information as if it were true, but in a wide variety of situations, lawyers can still be aided by information that is only in the right ballpark, says Robert Plotkin at Blueshift IP.