Modern Lawyer


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    Foley & Lardner's New COO Wants To 'Champion' Firm Culture

    As Jen Cafferty Patton moves up from chief talent officer to chief operating officer at Foley & Lardner LLP, she says she is prioritizing keeping the firm’s people-focused culture strong for both employees and clients.

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    How DC Students Help Blank Rome Spread Holiday Cheer

    In a tradition stretching back just over a quarter century, Blank Rome LLP taps into the Washington, D.C., community by hosting a competition for students at a local arts-focused high school to submit designs for the annual holiday card sent out to the firm’s thousands of clients.

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    Office Snapshot: Lathrop GPM Moves Up In Boston

    Lathrop GPM LLP's Boston team is settling into its new office space 21 floors up in the Financial District building it has called home for 13 years, becoming yet another firm that's found efficiencies allowing it to downsize its physical footprint in a hybrid work setting.

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    3 Ways Associates Can Survive An Average Annual Review

    You're a rock star associate in your fourth or fifth year trying to make partner, and you just got an average review after previously receiving high marks. Although it's tempting to panic, experts say it's possible to come back after such setbacks by being proactive.

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    New Davis Wright Exec Talks 'Running The Business' Of Firm

    After more than two decades as an employment attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Jenna Mooney has taken on the role of its second-in-command with a focus on running the business of the firm.

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    Generative AI Continued To Drive Legal Tech Scene In 2024

    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.

  • Proskauer Beats DQ Bid In NJ Hospital Antitrust Fight

    A New Jersey federal judge refused to disqualify Proskauer Rose LLP from defending healthcare network RWJBarnabas Health Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit brought by competitor CarePoint Health Management Associates LLC, saying the present case wasn't substantially related to work the law firm previously did for CarePoint.

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    High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

    Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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    Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

    The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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    How Akin Helped Holocaust Survivors Win Reparations

    The Anti-Defamation League recently honored a Holocaust survivor who went on to become the face of a movement seeking accountability from the French national railroad company SNCF for its role in taking tens of thousands of Jews to Nazi concentration camps. The movement was assisted pro bono by attorneys from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

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    Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

    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.

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    Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

    A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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    Veteran Littler Mendelson Policy Expert Dies At 76

    Michael Lotito, a veteran management-side labor and employment attorney who most recently practiced at Littler Mendelson PC, died Thursday, the firm confirmed.

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    Reed Smith Financial Pro Jumps To Eckert Seamans As CFO

    Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC announced Friday it has hired Reed Smith's global director of financial intelligence as its firmwide chief financial officer.

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    Baker McKenzie Names 18 New Partners In North America

    Baker McKenzie announced the promotion of 18 North American-based attorneys to partner, a slight increase from last year but still significantly lower than in previous years.

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    NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

    A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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    How Law Firms Are Reinvesting 2024's Near-Record Profits

    U.S. law firms are set to close out 2024 with near-record increases in revenue and profits, according to industry surveys. Here, a look at how seven law firm leaders are planning to reinvest the windfall.

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    MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

    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.

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    Cooley Capital Markets Pro Joins Sidley In California

    Sidley Austin LLP has grown its capital markets offerings in California with the addition of a Cooley LLP attorney as the firm sees demand growth in equity transactions.

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    Secret Of Success Was All In The Family For Stephen Cozen

    Longtime colleagues of Cozen O’Connor co-founder Stephen Cozen, who died yesterday at age 85, remember the Philadelphia attorney as a hard-working advocate for his clients who built one of the biggest firms in the country with a family-oriented culture of entrepreneurship and mentorship.

  • How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

    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.

  • Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    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.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    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.

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    Eversheds Sutherland Promotes 10 To Partner In 2025

    Eversheds Sutherland has tapped 10 attorneys for partner roles in the new year, two more than it had promoted in the U.S. the year before, the firm announced Thursday.

  • Kramer Levin's Paris Office Moves To Morgan Lewis

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP is set to take on the entire Paris team from Kramer Levin at the start of the new year as it looks for a new home and prepares for its pending merger with HSF.

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Expert Analysis

  • Leading Your Law Firm's Creation Of A New Practice Group Author Photo

    Marjorie Peerce and Peter Jaslow at Ballard Spahr discuss the challenges of building a new law firm practice group from the ground up, and how sustained commitment, communication and collaboration are the key ingredients for success.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Relay Shortcomings To Associates? Author Photo

    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.

  • 10 Principles For Effective Partner Reward Systems Author Photo

    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.

  • Why Interdisciplinarity Is Key To Designing The Future Of Law Author Photo

    The legal profession faces challenges that urgently demand new solutions, and lawyers and firms can address this by leaning on other industries that have more experience practicing, teaching and incorporating innovation into their core business and service models, says Jennifer Leonard at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Incorporating ADA Guidance Into Lawyer Wellness Movement Author Photo

    The Americans with Disabilities Act and rules of professional conduct may help the legal profession promote lawyer well-being by focusing on mental conditions' actual impact, rather than on associated stereotypes, says Alex Long at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can New Partners Generate Business? Author Photo

    Christine Wong at MoFo discusses how newly elected partners can prioritize business development by creating a strategic plan with the firm's marketing team and strengthening relationships with professional and personal networks.

  • 9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term Author Photo

    Hidden in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions from the last term are each justice’s talents for crafting choice turns of phrase, highlighting best practices for attorneys to jump-start their own writing, says Ross Guberman at BriefCatch.

  • What Web3 Means For Lawyers' Ethical Duties Author Photo

    As law firms embrace Web3 technologies by accepting cryptocurrency as payment for legal fees, investing in metaverse departments and more, lawyers should remember their ethical duties to warn clients of the benefits and risks of technology in a murky regulatory environment, says Heidi Frostestad Kuehl at Northern Illinois University College of Law.

  • NY's Cybersecurity CLE Rule Is A Sign Of Changing Times Author Photo

    New York's recently announced requirement that lawyers complete cybersecurity training as part of their continuing legal education is a reminder that securing client information is more complicated in an increasingly digital world, and that expectations around attorneys' technology competence are changing, says Jason Schwent at Clark Hill.

  • Opinion

    Law Firms Stressing Work-Life Balance Are Missing The Mark Author Photo

    Law firms struggling to attract and retain lawyers are institutionalizing work-life balance through hybrid work models, but such balance is elusive in a client services and tech-dependent world, underscoring the need for firms to instead aim for attorney empowerment and true balance within — not outside — the workplace, says Joe Pack at Pack Law.

  • A Law Student's Guide To Thriving As A Summer Associate Author Photo

    Summer associates are expected to establish a favorable reputation and develop genuine relationships in a few short weeks, but several time management, attitude and communication principles can help them make the most of their time and secure an offer for a full-time position, says Joseph Marciano, who was a 2022 summer associate at Reed Smith.

  • Burnout Prevention Requires Effort From Attys And Firms Author Photo

    To avoid physical and emotional exhaustion, attorneys must respect their own and their colleagues' personal and professional boundaries, but law firms must also play a role in discouraging burnout culture — especially if they are struggling with attorney retention, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • How I Owned My Power As An Asian American Woman In Law Author Photo

    Gibson Dunn's Debra Yang shares the bumps in her journey to becoming the first female Asian American U.S. attorney, a state judge and a senior partner in BigLaw, and how other women can face their self-doubts and blaze their own trails to success amid systemic obstacles.

  • Successful In-House Alt Legal Services Start With 4 Questions Author Photo

    Law firms that are considering creating an in-house alternative legal service provider should focus not on recapturing revenue otherwise lost to outside vendors, but instead consider how a captive ALSP will better fulfill the needs of their clients and partners, say Beatrice Seravello and Brad Blickstein at Baretz & Brunelle.

  • 3 Reasons To Embrace Jargon In Legal Marketing Content Author Photo

    Ignore what you've been told about jargon — adding insider industry terms to your firm's marketing and business development content can persuade potential clients that you have the specialized knowledge they can trust, says Wayne Pollock at Law Firm Editorial Service.

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