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The legal industry ended May with another action-packed week as BigLaw firms expanded practices and attorneys took on new roles. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.
The California Supreme Court has proposed changes to the administration of the state's troubled bar exam, circulating a slate of amendments designed to clarify the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners, including spelling out its duty to review and approve all questions used in the exam.
On Thursday, Beverly Hills trial lawyer Paul Kiesel brought together a panel including a former U.S. Department of Justice senior trial counsel, a state attorney general, and former BigLaw associate Rachel Cohen, to discuss what Senior U.S. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown called a "rule of law recession."
A few hundred general counsel have recently joined together in a private, bipartisan group, aiming to rally their collective power, from potentially gathering signatures for future amicus briefs to fielding questions about factors to consider when changing outside counsel, to preserve the rule of law in the wake of the Trump administration's executive orders against law firms.
Seyfarth Shaw LLP is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a former Greenspoon Marder LLP transactional attorney as a partner in its Los Angeles office in Century City.
Crowell & Moring LLP announced on Thursday the hiring of a former deputy assistant administrator from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as senior counsel in the firm's environmental and regulatory enforcement groups in its San Francisco office.
May was a month of new markets for several firms as they made their first entries into a handful of notable U.S. cities. They include Carlton Fields, which expanded into Minnesota with a new Minneapolis office staffed by attorneys formerly with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. And a merger with a Seattle-based firm gave Dickinson Wright PLLC its first office in the Pacific Northwest.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has hired a former Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP partner and professional musician for its corporate and financial services department and entertainment transactions practice.
Eversheds Sutherland's Irish office will not go ahead with a discussed plan to merge with Dublin-based William Fry LLP, the two firms said Thursday.
Identity verification platform Jumio urged a California federal court to reject a bid to disqualify Morrison & Foerster LLP as its counsel in patent litigation over facial recognition technology, saying the law firm had not been co-counsel with its previously disqualified firm, Perkins Coie LLP.
Freshfields LLP announced Wednesday that it has hired a former Debevoise & Plimpton LLP attorney in San Francisco to co-lead its U.S. tech and life sciences mergers and acquisitions practice.
A longtime Los Angeles attorney and former investigator into the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans was appointed on Tuesday as interim U.S. attorney in California's Northern District, where he'll be allowed to serve up to 120 days pending Senate confirmation.
A California judge who previously served as a district attorney need not be recused from a case involving California Racial Justice Act claims solely because the judge previously handled cases involving elements that may be subject to discovery under the act, the state's judicial watchdog has put forward in a draft opinion.
Revenue and profits have both been on a strong upward trajectory in recent years for large U.S. law firms, but those strides may not tell the whole story when considering factors like inflation and the role that aggressive rate hikes, which some say are unsustainable, have played in the increases.
After a yearslong court battle against hotel tycoon Steve Wynn, attorneys Mike Holtz and Jordan Matthews earned a reputation as dogged fighters on behalf of sexual assault victims and accusers, and this month, they launched their own firm dedicated to handling sexual assault and harassment cases in the entertainment and gaming industries.
First-year associate salaries of $225,000 may make headlines, but they aren't yet the reality at most law firms surveyed for a new report by the National Association for Law Placement.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP launched a unique virtual program to connect first-year associates with other young attorneys in different U.S. offices. Five years later, the “New Associate Pods” program is still going strong.
Miami-based Hamilton Miller & Birthisel LLP has topped the inaugural ranking of the leading 200 midsize law firms from legal software provider SurePoint Technologies, which scored firms based on factors such as gender and ethnic diversity, and attorney roster growth.
A California federal magistrate judge has partially stricken an expert report filed by Anthropic in copyright infringement litigation that cited a nonexistent study — an error created by the artificial intelligence company's own Claude AI tool — calling the issue "serious," but "not quite so grave as it first appeared."
Withers announced Tuesday that its next chair will be a London-based trusts and inheritance disputes lawyer with more than 25 years at the firm, who is set to assume the role in July.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is expanding its West Coast team, announcing Tuesday it is welcoming back a debt financing expert, who left for a few years to join Goodwin Procter LLP, as a partner in its Los Angeles office.
K&L Gates LLP has kicked off a leadership transition process that will continue through next summer and will include the appointment of a new managing partner in July and a management committee chair by June 2026.
Twelve former litigation partners from King & Spalding LLP are among close to 30 attorneys who are moving to Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the latter firm told Law360 Pulse Tuesday.
The state bar of California has formally asked the state Supreme Court to approve measures including a limited provisional licensure program and a more direct pathway to admission for out-of-state attorneys, in the state bar's latest attempt to seek equitable remedies amid the fallout from the bungled February 2025 California bar exam.
After over 25 years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, an experienced, California-based litigator has come aboard Pierson Ferdinand LLP as a partner, the virtual law firm announced Tuesday.
In order to attract and retain the rising millennial generation's star talent, law firms should break free of the annual review system and train lawyers of all seniority levels to solicit and share frequent and informal feedback, says Betsy Miller at Cohen Milstein.
Lawyers can take several steps to redress the lack of adequate LGBTQ representation on the bench and its devastating impact on litigants and counsel in the community, says Janice Grubin, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee at the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York.
Krill Strategies’ Patrick Krill, who co-authored a new study that revealed alarming levels of stress, hazardous drinking and associated gender disparities among practicing attorneys, highlights how legal employers can confront the underlying risk factors as both warnings and opportunities in the post-COVID-19 era.
While international agreements for space law have remained relatively unchanged since their creation decades ago, the rapid pace of change in U.S. laws and policies is creating opportunities for both new and veteran lawyers looking to break into this exciting realm, in either the private sector or government, says Michael Dodge at the University of North Dakota.
Series
Ask A Mentor: What Makes A Successful Summer Associate?Navigating a few densely packed weeks at a law firm can be daunting for summer associates, but those who are prepared to seize opportunities and not afraid to ask questions will be set up for success, says Julie Crisp at Latham.
Law firms can attract the right summer associate candidates and help students see what makes a program unique by using carefully crafted messaging and choosing the best ambassadors to deliver it, says Tamara McClatchey, director of career services at the University of Chicago Law School.
Opinion
Judges Deserve Congress' Commitment To Their SafetyFollowing the tragic attack on U.S. District Judge Esther Salas' family last summer and amid rising threats against the judiciary, legislation protecting federal judges' personal information and enhancing security measures at courthouses is urgently needed, says U.S. District Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Recalcitrant Attys Use Social Media?Social media can be intimidating for reluctant lawyers but it can also be richly rewarding, as long as attorneys remember that professional accounts will always reflect on their firms and colleagues, and follow some best practices to avoid embarrassment, says Sean Marotta at Hogan Lovells.
Neville Eisenberg and Mark Grayson at BCLP explain how they sped up contract execution for one client by replacing email with a centralized, digital tool for negotiations and review, and how the principles they adhered to can be helpful for other law firms looking to improve poorly managed contract management processes.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Firms Coach Associates Remotely?Practicing law through virtual platforms will likely persist even after the pandemic, so law firms and senior lawyers should consider refurbishing their associate mentoring programs to facilitate personal connections, professionalism and effective training in a remote environment, says Carol Goodman at Herrick Feinstein.
As the U.S. observes Autism Acceptance Month, autistic attorney Haley Moss describes the societal barriers and stereotypes that keep neurodivergent lawyers from disclosing their disabilities, and how law firms can better accommodate and level the playing field for attorneys whose minds work outside of the prescribed norm.
Many legal technology vendors now sell artificial intelligence and machine learning tools at a premium price tag, but law firms must take the time to properly evaluate them as not all offerings generate process efficiencies or even use the technologies advertised, says Steven Magnuson at Ballard Spahr.
While chief legal officers are increasingly involved in creating corporate diversity, inclusion and anti-bigotry policies, all lawyers have a responsibility to be discrimination busters and bias interrupters regardless of the title they hold, says Veta T. Richardson at the Association of Corporate Counsel.
Every lawyer can begin incorporating aspects of software development in their day-to-day practice with little to no changes in their existing tools or workflow, and legal organizations that take steps to encourage this exploration of programming can transform into tech incubators, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
As junior associates increasingly report burnout, work-life conflict and loneliness during the pandemic, law firms should take tangible actions to reduce the stigma around seeking help, and to model desired well-being behaviors from the top down, say Stacey Whiteley at the New York State Bar Association and Robin Belleau at Kirkland.