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California Pulse


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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Maryland school district burdened parents' religious rights when it declined to provide opt-outs from a policy that introduced LGBTQ-themed storybooks into its K-12 English curriculum.

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    Disclosing Political Spend Wins Surprising Investor Support

    While most shareholder activists are hitting a brick wall with environmental, social and governance measures at 2025 annual meetings, a proposal asking for increased transparency around corporate political spending has passed at five companies, surprising some experts.

  • Jason Femrite

    Procopio Names M&A Leader To Management Committee

    Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP has tapped one of its longtime corporate partners in California to serve on the firm's management committee.

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    Asian E-Grocery Taps Ex-Skadden Atty As General Counsel

    An attorney with more than 20 years of experience as an in-house counsel for technology companies has recently joined grocery delivery platform Weee! to lead its law department.

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    The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

    The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

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    Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

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    Legal Sector Jobs Continue To Climb, Nearing All-Time High

    The U.S. legal industry added 2,800 jobs in June, marking four months in a row of job growth in the sector, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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    Sidley Adds DLA Piper Private Credit Expert In San Diego

    Sidley Austin LLP is growing its finance team, announcing Wednesday it is bringing in a DLA Piper specialist in private credit as a partner in its San Diego office.

  • Girardi Asks To Remain Free During Fraud Appeal

    Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi asked a California federal judge on Wednesday to remain free on bond while he appeals his wire fraud conviction, saying he's not a flight risk or danger to the community and there are several issues on appeal that could result in reversal or resentencing.

  • Trump Announces 1st And 9th Circ. Nominees

    President Donald Trump announced nominations for judges on the First and Ninth circuit courts on Wednesday evening.

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    Jay-Z Loses Defamation And Extortion Suit Against Buzbee

    A state court judge in California has granted Texas attorney Tony Buzbee's request to toss claims of defamation and extortion brought by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter over sexual abuse allegations connected to Sean "Diddy" Combs, finding that the state's free speech statute requires dismissal.

  • SEC Says Ex-Calif. Atty, Execs Facilitated $112M Stock Fraud

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against a disbarred California attorney and several CEOs of penny stock companies, claiming that they helped an outside party facilitate a $112 million pump-and-dump fraud scheme.

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    Legal Sector Sees Record Leases As Firms Eye Premium Digs

    Law firm office leasing is off to a red-hot start in 2025, signaling "a long-term commitment to high-quality real estate" in the legal sector even as other industries have reduced their office footprints due to technology and pandemic-driven disruptions, according to a new report.

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    Benesch Elects Partner Duo To Executive Committee

    Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP announced Tuesday that a pair of attorneys, including the co-chair of the firm's corporate practice, have been elected to three-year terms as members of the firm's nine-person executive committee.

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    Norton Rose Hires K&L Gates Real Estate Ace In LA

    Norton Rose Fulbright is building on its California footprint, announcing Wednesday it is bringing in a K&L Gates LLP real estate pro as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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    A&O Shearman To Require US Attys To Work 4 Days In Office

    Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is the latest firm to increase its in-office requirement for U.S. lawyers from three days a week to four, effective Sept. 2.

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    Kaufman Dolowich Adds Another Litchfield Cavo Atty in Calif.

    Kaufman Dolowich continues growing its California team, announcing Tuesday it is bringing in a Litchfield Cavo LLP litigator as a partner in its office in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles, the third Litchfield Cavo attorney to join the firm in the past two months.

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    Weil Patent Pro Jumps To WilmerHale In Silicon Valley

    WilmerHale is expanding its intellectual property team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing on a longtime Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP patent expert as a partner in its Silicon Valley office.

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    Solo Lawyers Are Surprisingly Happy, New Survey Says

    A new survey of about 300 solo attorneys by insurance company ALPS Malpractice Insurance concluded that sole practitioners are surprisingly happy with their professional lives, with many citing work-life balance as a key factor, the company said this week.

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    Law Firm Mergers Hit A Near-Record Low In First Half

    The number of law firm mergers and acquisitions involving at least one U.S.-based law firm announced in the first half of 2025 landed at 34, down 42% from last year's first half results and marking a near-decade low.

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    ArentFox Schiff Adds 2 FanDuel Sports In-House Counsel

    ArentFox Schiff LLP is growing its sports industry team, bringing in two in-house counsel from FanDuel Sports Network to its Los Angeles office, one as a partner, the other as an associate.

  • Nicole Howell

    Skadden Corporate Pro Jumps To Munger Tolles In LA

    Munger Tolles & Olson LLP is expanding its corporate team, announcing on Monday that it is bringing in a Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP mergers and acquisitions expert as of counsel in its Los Angeles office.

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    Dunn Isaacson Now In NY, Calif. With Latest Paul Weiss Hires

    Two more litigators from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP who have represented top technology companies and other clients in court battles have joined Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP.

  • Calif. Panel Chides Attys Who Hid Opponent's Inactive Status

    In a precedential ruling, a California appellate panel found a party whose counsel's license was made inactive should have been treated as though the attorney had died or been suspended, overturning a $70,000 fee award levied against a woman who was not informed that her lawyer was inactive.

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    Kahana & Feld Expands In Texas, Calif. With Firm Tie-Up

    Kahana & Feld LLP announced Monday that Tarle Law PC's team of lawyers and other professionals, including its leader, are joining the firm, increasing the firm's offerings in California and Texas.

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Expert Analysis

  • 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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    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Balance Social Activism With My Job? Author Photo

    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.

  • Personality Tests And Machine Learning Applications In Law Author Photo

    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.

  • AI Is Reshaping Lawyering: What To Expect In 2024 Author Photo

    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.

  • Embrace Active Voice In Legal Writing — In Most Cases Author Photo

    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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    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Help Associates Turn Down Work? Author Photo

    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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