California Pulse

  • Calif. Official Cops To Taking Bribes For $10M In Contracts

    A member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors has admitted to steering $10 million worth of COVID-19 relief funds to a charity affiliated with his daughter in exchange for more than $500,000 in bribes, California federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

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    Stigma Of Disability In Legal Industry Is 'Very Real,' Panel Says

    People with disabilities still face challenges when pursuing a legal career, but law firms, law schools, bar associations and corporate legal departments can take steps to help advance disability equality, according to panelists speaking Tuesday for National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

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    Norton Rose Names Atty Duo As Global Arbitration Leaders

    Norton Rose Fulbright has elevated the firm's U.S. arbitration team leader and a London-based partner to co-lead its global international arbitration practice, shaking up the group's leadership for the first time in over a decade, the firm announced Tuesday.

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    Lawyers For Good Government Recognizes Yale Law, 3 Firms

    The nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government, or L4GG, announced the recipients of its 2024 Pro Bono Awards on Monday, recognizing three law firms and Yale Law School for their work in support of environmental justice, immigrant rights, children's rights, racial equity and reproductive freedom.

  • Haynes Boone Adds Fish & Richardson Patent Atty In SF

    Haynes and Boone LLP announced Tuesday the firm has added a patent prosecutor from Fish & Richardson PC to its San Francisco office, where the leader said the new partner's AI experience will assist the firm in helping clients to innovate and remain competitive.

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    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

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    Prestige Leaders: The Firms In The Billionaires' Club

    As many BigLaw firms see their revenues climb ever higher, we highlight those that reported topping the billion-dollar mark in the most recent calendar year.

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    These Firms Are The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Clients flock to firms with prestigious reputations, and so does top talent. Here are this year's Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders — the 100 firms the industry recognizes for their prominence, power and distinction

  • Procurement Tool Zip Worth $2.2B After Series D Investment

    Zip, an artificial intelligence-powered procurement orchestration platform used by legal and other corporate teams, secured a $190 million Series D funding round on Monday.

  • Calif. Atty Disbarred For Gambling With Client Cash

    A California attorney has been disbarred after misappropriating almost $117,000 from his clients and using much of that money for his gambling habit while claiming to be terminally ill with cancer.  

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    Fraud Cases Tee Up State Fights Over Stolen Election Claims

    A "flood" of lawsuits by Republicans and allied groups are sowing doubt in the 2024 elections and potentially setting the stage for destabilizing courtroom showdowns if former President Donald Trump loses, according to law professors and good government groups.

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    Junk Call Foe Puts 'Professional' In 'Professional Plaintiff'

    Diana Mey is one of the most successful “professional plaintiffs” to sue telemarketers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. While she's won class settlements worth tens of millions of dollars, she said a recent counter-suit in a far-off venue, Puerto Rico, has been the “worst experience” of her litigation career.

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    Cisco Top Atty Sees FY 2024 Compensation Climb To $12.5M

    The chief legal officer at California-based technology giant Cisco earned around $12.5 million in total compensation for fiscal year 2024, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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    Post-Dobbs Ballot Questions May Spell Litigation With No End

    A record-setting number of abortion-related constitutional ballot questions this year has unleashed a wave of litigation over reproductive rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. But they may just be the start of the legal battles over the ballot measures.

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    Sidley Boosts Litigation Team With Latham Trial Atty In LA

    Sidley Austin LLP is boosting its Southern California litigation team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a Latham & Watkins LLP "bet-the-company" trial attorney as a partner in its Century City office in Los Angeles.

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    The State Supreme Court Races To Watch In November

    With dozens of states holding elections next month for more than 80 seats on their courts of last resort, a number of races could prove critical for the courts' ideological balances and important cases relating to abortion, voting rights and possibly even the outcome of the presidential election.

  • 9th Circ. Revives Atty's ADA Suit Against Calif. Bar

    The State Bar of California may not have sovereign immunity that would allow it to duck an attorney's federal lawsuit claiming it failed to provide him with adequate disability accommodations during a bar exam amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

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    20-Year FBI Vet Joins Motion Picture Association In California

    A former supervisory special agent with the FBI has joined the Motion Picture Association in Los Angeles to work as vice president of the group's content protection enforcement for the Americas region, and for its Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, according to a Monday announcement.

  • Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Seeks Moderation In LA County DA Bid

    Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and onetime partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, is running on a "hard middle" platform as he looks to unseat progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, the candidate told Law360 in an interview delving into his experience on both sides of the bar.

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    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • 9th Circ. Judge Doubts AI 'Robot Judges' Can Replace Jurists

    Ninth Circuit Judge William Fletcher expressed skepticism Friday that artificially intelligent "robot judges" should replace jurists, saying during a conference on complex litigation ethics that judges understand how to creatively apply the law to best serve justice, and "I don't trust the AI system to break the law when it should."

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    It's Not Too Late For Attys To Help Safeguard Election

    With the presidential election mere weeks away, a small army of lawyers will deploy throughout the country in a nonpartisan effort to ensure the process is fair, smooth and safe.

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    BigLaw Sees Rise In Partner Hires, Led By NY And London

    Despite economic turbulence, partner lateral hires at BigLaw firms have held steady in the first three quarters of the year, with the New York and London markets seeing the most significant uptick, according to a recent report from legal search firm Macrae.

  • LA County DA Defends Progressive Policies In Reelection Bid

    George Gascón, the progressive Los Angeles County district attorney who's survived two recall efforts during his first term as top prosecutor, is standing by his reformist policies, which aim to curb mass incarceration and police misconduct, as he fights to keep his seat in November.

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    BCLP Corporate Ace Jumps To Barnes & Thornburg In LA

    A longtime Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP attorney has taken his practice to Barnes & Thornburg in Los Angeles, becoming the fourth partner to join its corporate department in just the last month.

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Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • For The Future Of Legal Practice, Let's Learn From The Past Author Photo

    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.

  • Why All Law Firms Should Foster Psychological Capital Author Photo

    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.

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