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California Pulse
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Law Firm Data Breaches Hit New High As Threats Escalate
Despite years of warnings and heavy cybersecurity spending, law firms remain prime targets for cybercriminals, with breaches hitting record highs in 2024, according to a Law360 Pulse analysis that found even top firms struggling to contain the fallout.
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Longtime Loeb & Loeb Corporate Atty Joins Raines Feldman
Raines Feldman Littrell LLP announced that an experienced attorney who's spent over 25 years working on a wide range of corporate and restructuring matters has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner from Loeb & Loeb LLP.
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Simpson Thacher Mourns Chair, Pioneering Dealmaker Beattie
Richard "Dick" Beattie, the senior chairman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP whose pioneering deal work helped cement private equity's place in mergers and acquisitions, died on Friday at 86, the firm announced.
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Early Support Key To Fixing Legal Profession's Diversity Gap
A lack of early support and systemic barriers continue to block underrepresented students from entering the legal profession, attorneys and legal educators warned at a Friday panel, calling for expanded investment in pipeline programs despite recent legal challenges to diversity initiatives.
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Baker McKenzie Names Int'l Trade Chief As Global Chair
Baker McKenzie said Monday that it has elected the head of its international trade practice to become its new global chair.
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LA Complex Civil Litigation Judge Joins JAMS As Mediator
JAMS has welcomed a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to its roster who spent more than three decades on the bench, where he presided over individual matters, as well as complex civil litigation from mass torts, labor, toxic contamination and insurance disputes.
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Buchalter Lands Duane Morris Securities Litigator In SF
Buchalter PC is expanding its litigation team, bringing in a Duane Morris LLP securities litigation ace as a shareholder in its San Francisco office.
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Flaws Remain In Bar Fitness Queries, Summit Panelists Say
Many current state bar character and fitness tests fail to identify bad actors, and at the same time, certain aspects of the queries can hurt efforts to increase diversity in the profession, according to panelists at the American Bar Association's 2025 Virtual Equity Summit on Friday.
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Calif. Bar Hires Investigator To Review Exam Snafu
The State Bar of California's board of trustees voted to approve a $185,000 contract with a nonprofit to review "exam scoring irregularities and testing accommodations" from its fraught February 2025 bar exam.
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Legal Sector Jobs Ticked Up In May Amid Uncertain Economy
The U.S. legal industry added 1,100 jobs in May, holding steady in the midst of economic uncertainty, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week
The University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and attorney Edward Gilbert lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence.
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Expert Witness Biz Says Ex-Worker Stole Trade Secrets
Litili, a company that connects expert witnesses to attorneys working on civil cases, has brought a lawsuit in California state court against its former account representative, alleging she took the firm's confidential proprietary business information and used it in her new role at a competing business.
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Calif. Panel Remands Fee Claims Over Evidence Exclusion
A California trial court erred when it blocked any reference to underlying legal malpractice allegations in a trial for recovery of fees brought by a San Francisco lawyer against his former clients, according to a Golden State appeals panel, which found the malpractice claims, though "effectively abandoned," had not reached final judgment on the merits.
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Why Guided Talks Are Key To Retaining Women Attys
At an American Bar Association summit session on inclusive workplace practices on Thursday, one panelist noted that one of the ABA's recent recommendations is to engage in guided conversations throughout law firms and across the legal profession. But what exactly is a guided conversation?
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Greenberg Traurig Adds Perkins Coie Tech Transactions Pro
Greenberg Traurig LLP is expanding its technology team, bringing in a Perkins Coie LLP transactions whiz as a shareholder in its San Diego office.
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Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz
The legal industry began June with another action-packed week as BigLaw firms expanded their presence and offerings. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.
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Pillsbury Brings On Buchalter IP Co-Leader In San Diego
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is boosting its intellectual property team, announcing Thursday it is bringing on the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's intellectual property practice as a partner in its San Diego office.
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Which GCs Sold Stock In May? Intuit, Microsoft, Loar Holdings
Microsoft's Brad Smith may not carry the title anymore, but he is still the company's top lawyer, and he cashed in $35.3 million worth of company stock in May. Other big law department winners last month were Intuit's Kerry McLean with $12.18 million and Loar Holdings Inc.'s Michael Manella with $12 million.Â
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Boom In Nonequity Partner Tiers Test Law Firms' 'Discipline'
As nonequity partnership tiers expand across U.S. law firms, experts warn that the model, while effective for retaining talent and controlling costs, demands disciplined management oversight to avoid becoming a liability.
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After Strong 2024 Growth, US Firms Face Looming Uncertainty
Domestic lawyer headcount growth among the 400 largest law firms in the U.S. picked up speed in 2024, rising 3.1% on average and outpacing growth the previous year, but experts say the winds that bolstered that expansion may have shifted as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty.
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The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
Many of the largest law firms in the U.S. had a strong year in 2024. And as demand for their services ticked upward they invested in bench strength, boosting the number of lawyers available to assist clients, our latest ranking of the largest U.S. law firms shows.
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Davis Wright Adds Coblentz Patch Wine Industry Expert In SF
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is expanding its food and beverage team, bringing in a Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP transactional attorney specializing in the wine and hospitality industry as a partner in its San Francisco office.
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Taylor Duma Chair On Firm's Future After Leaders' Departures
Following a string of departures from the firm now known as Taylor Duma LLP — most notably a former name partner and a onetime managing partner — founding partner and Chairman Marc A. Taylor said the midsize law firm has a plan to grow in a more efficient and agile manner.
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Weil Lands DLA Piper Entertainment And Sports Ace In LA
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is expanding its transactional team in California, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing in a DLA Piper entertainment, sports and media dealmaker as a partner in its Los Angeles office.
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Today's Legal Workplace Is Hybrid, Collaborative, Survey Says
Even as lawyers have returned to the office in larger numbers than in the years during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid in-person and remote work remains the norm at law firms today, which have turned their focus to creating flexible, collaborative spaces that "link presence to purpose," according to the results of a survey released this week.
Expert Analysis
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10 Principles For Effective Partner Reward Systems
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.
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Why Interdisciplinarity Is Key To Designing The Future Of Law
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.
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Incorporating ADA Guidance Into Lawyer Wellness Movement
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.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can New Partners Generate Business?
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.
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9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term
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.
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What Web3 Means For Lawyers' Ethical Duties
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.
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NY's Cybersecurity CLE Rule Is A Sign Of Changing Times
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.
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Opinion
Law Firms Stressing Work-Life Balance Are Missing The Mark
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.
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A Law Student's Guide To Thriving As A Summer Associate
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.
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Burnout Prevention Requires Effort From Attys And Firms
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.
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How I Owned My Power As An Asian American Woman In Law
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.
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Successful In-House Alt Legal Services Start With 4 Questions
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.
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3 Reasons To Embrace Jargon In Legal Marketing Content
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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Future Lawyers Expect DEI Commitments Beyond Recruiting
To attract future lawyers from diverse backgrounds, firms must think beyond recruiting efforts, because law students are looking for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that invest in employee professional development and engage with students year-round, says Lauren Jackson at Howard University School of Law.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Law Students Build Real-World Skills?
Allison Coffin at Akin Gump discusses how summer associates going back to school can continue to develop real-world lawyering skills by leveraging the numerous law school resources that support professional development both inside and outside the classroom.