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California Pulse


  • Calif. Ethics Panel Clarifies Judge DQs In Racial Justice Cases

    A California judicial ethics committee has issued a formal opinion advising a judge who is a former prosecutor that a pending case involving a discovery motion under the state's Racial Justice Act does not require the judge's recusal.

  • Ex-DHS AI Chief Joins Salesforce's Legal Team As Tech Exec

    The former chief information officer and chief artificial intelligence officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has joined Salesforce as its new chief AI and transformation officer for legal and corporate affairs.

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    Legal Legend For MLB's Giants Focuses Efforts On Biz Side

    A profile writer for the San Francisco Bar Association once called then-general counsel Jack Bair the "definition of the San Francisco Giants" and the person who "has probably done more for the Giants than just about anyone else."

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    Milbank Offers Summer Bonuses Of Up To $25K To Associates

    Milbank LLP has become the first BigLaw firm to announce summer bonuses this year, offering up to $25,000 for associates and counsel after smaller shops also unveiled midyear payouts.

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    Much Shelist Names Real Estate Atty As West Coast Leader

    Chicago-based Much Shelist PC has named a veteran real estate transactional attorney to head its operations on the West Coast and oversee its expansion there. 

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    How Feeder Judges 'Gatekeep' Supreme Court Clerkships

    In the last 50 years, U.S. Supreme Court clerkships have transmogrified from a simple secretarial job for enterprising young lawyers to the legal profession's ultimate status symbol, access to which is controlled by a tiny handful of "feeder judges" who serve as "hidden gatekeepers," according to a new study.

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    McDermott Adds Mintz Litigator As First Post-Merger Hire

    McDermott Will & Schulte is boosting its litigation team announcing Wednesday that a Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC cross-border asset recovery pro is joining its four-month-old San Diego office as a partner, the firm's first new partner hire since completing its merger last week.

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    Some Law Firms Feel Secure Despite Persistent Cyberthreats

    Some firms feel secure from cybersecurity threats like ransomware, even though law firms remain prime targets for cyberattacks, according to a new report by cyber disaster recovery company Fenix24 and the International Legal Technology Association.

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    Which GCs Sold Stock In July? MicroStrategy, Palantir & More

    General counsel Wei-Ming Shao, who's been with MicroStrategy Inc. for over 25 years, cashed in some $31 million worth of stock in July. An active trader, Shao has sold over 200,000 shares of the company since 2021 for an estimated $78.6 million, according to Quiver Quantitative, which tracks stock trades.

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    Banks Increasingly Help New Partners With BigLaw Buy-Ins

    Most lawyers may not think about a bank when they're approaching the transition from associate to partner, but according to Lisa Kohut, head of the Citi Wealth Law Firm Group, her team has become increasingly involved in the process in recent years.

  • LA Seeks To Nix Attys In Ex-Cop's Military Leave Bias Suit

    Attorneys for a former Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant improperly obtained and tried to use a privileged email between a city attorney and a current LAPD lieutenant in a military bias suit, the city said, urging a California federal court to disqualify them from the case.

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    Thompson Hine Adds Trio In Key Markets In 3 States

    The former branch chief of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission office in D.C. dedicated in part to reviewing mutual fund filings, a former Latham & Watkins LLP associate based in Chicago, and a securities lawyer from an Orange County boutique all have joined Thompson Hine LLP.

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    Crowell Lands 16 Reed Smith Health Partners Across 4 Cities

    Crowell & Moring LLP announced Wednesday that it is expanding its healthcare practice with dozens of attorneys from Reed Smith LLP, including 16 healthcare litigation partners based in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas, where the firm is launching a new shop with a former Reed Smith lawyer at the helm.

  • OptumRx Urges Panel To DQ Motley Rice In LA Opioid Suit

    OptumRx told a California appellate panel Tuesday that Motley Rice should be disqualified from representing Los Angeles County in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid crisis, saying the firm violated state law by using confidential information obtained in the case in other lawsuits it's handling against Optum.

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    Law, Medical School Orgs Face Application Fee Antitrust Suits

    The Law School Admission Council and the Association of American Medical Colleges have each been hit with a proposed class action in Pennsylvania and D.C. federal courts, respectively, by candidates who said the nonprofits conspired with their member schools to charge excessive application fees that have been fixed at the same price regardless of the school.

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    McGuireWoods Adds Loeb & Loeb Tax Pro In Los Angeles

    McGuireWoods LLP is enhancing its corporate team, announcing Tuesday it is bringing in a Loeb & Loeb LLP tax expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office in Century City.

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    Haight Brown San Diego Office Head Joins Hanson Bridgett

    The former appellate practice head and San Diego office managing partner at Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP has joined Hanson Bridgett LLP as a partner as part of its recent expansion into the market.

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    Harrison LLP Expands To California With 11-Attorney Team

    Chicago-based private wealth firm Harrison LLP has opened its first office on the West Coast with an 11-attorney team from San Francisco estate planning firm Barulich Dugoni Suttmann & Cummins Law Group Inc., which is winding down operations as its attorneys split up.

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    Ex-GoPro CLO Now Steering AI Cyberbiz's Legal Dept.

    AI-driven cybersecurity company Darktrace announced this week that GoPro's former chief legal officer is now leading its legal department, while the camera technology company has promoted an in-house attorney to serve as its general counsel.

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    Husch Blackwell Hires First Business Development Chief

    Husch Blackwell LLP has hired a C-suite executive with more than 20 years of experience in legal marketing as its first chief business development officer.

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    Bots, AI And Fake Leads: Attys 'Besieged' By Recruiter Tactics

    Off-base mass emails, incessant robocalls, and fake exclusive application offers are just a few of the unsavory tactics some report having seen more often in the attorney recruitment market in recent years.

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    ABA Eyes Reducing Board Size, Trimming Diversity Seats

    The American Bar Association proposed reducing the size of its board of governors and proportionally cutting the number of seats reserved for women, people of color and other underrepresented groups, as the organization's president Monday reiterated a commitment to "rule of law, due process, access to justice, fairness and diversity."

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    Public Justice Leader Asks 'What Would Gerson Smoger Do?'

    Gerson Smoger runs a small plaintiffs firm where, over the decades, he has helped secure millions in damages in toxic tort cases around the country – all while writing numerous amicus briefs and serving on multiple nonprofit boards. The trial lawyers' organization Public Justice recently honored Smoger for his accomplishments and service.

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    Skydance Names Post-Merger Leaders, Keeps Its GC

    The general counsel at Skydance Media will continue to lead the legal department at the close of the company's pending — and controversial — merger with Paramount Global, according to a Monday announcement.

  • Ironclad Adds Google, Snowflake, Docusign Leaders To Team

    The contract lifecycle management platform Ironclad announced a major expansion of its leadership team Monday, three months after the company welcomed a new CEO.

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Expert Analysis

  • Making Legal Cents: Firm Culture Is The New Game Plan Author Photo

    Law firm culture is often dismissed as a soft factor — merely platitudes on a website that seem disconnected from the bottom line — but by intentionally embedding a strong culture into day-to-day operations, law firms can achieve sustainable success, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • 5 Questions Firms Must Ask For Successful Lateral Integration Author Photo

    To ensure that lateral partners effectively integrate their books of business, firms should design a structured transition plan based on a few fundamentals, from tracking the right data to implementing meaningful incentives, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.

  • Goldilocks Solution: Why The 4-Day Office Week Is Just Right Author Photo

    As law firms continue to wrestle with return-to-office policies, many are being pulled toward one or the other of two extremes: the rigidity of a five-day in-office schedule and the laissez-faire approach of a flexible three-day hybrid model — but a four-day in-office workweek may be the sweet spot, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • As Attys Adopt Generative AI, 3 Elements Should Be Cardinal Author Photo

    As the legal world increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence, lawyers and firms must develop and utilize strong prompting skills, keep a pulse on forthcoming tech evolutions, and remain steadfast to ethical obligations, say Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi and Marty Robles-Avila at BAL.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises Author Photo

    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Prioritize Connections Author Photo

    One reason business development in the legal industry seems so mysterious is because human relationships are so complex, but lawyers can reorient their thinking in two important ways to drive the process of connecting with new colleagues and contacts, say Jamie Lawless and Angela Quinn at Husch Blackwell.

  • Overcoming US Law Firms' Hesitancy To Enter Indian Market Author Photo

    Successful private equity exits with strong returns have solidified India's buyout market as an increasingly attractive destination for future investments, offering compelling reasons for the U.S. legal community to overcome its caution on the country's markets, says Vaishali Movva at Eimer Stahl.

  • Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Make A Plan For The Year Author Photo

    While firms are busy allocating resources and assessing client demand, individual attorneys should use the start of the year to slow down and create a personal business plan, which can be accomplished with a few steps, say Elizabeth Gooch, Teri Robshaw and Chris Newman at McDermott.

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    Talking Mental Health: Caring For Everyone As A Firm Leader Author Photo

    Reid Phillips at Brooks Pierce discusses how he manages the pressure of running a law firm, how sources of stress in the legal industry have changed over the past decade, and what firm leaders should do to help manage burnout and mental health issues among employees.

  • How Firms Can Use LinkedIn To Aid Marketing Efforts In 2025 Author Photo

    LinkedIn has several features law firms can use to showcase their capabilities and thought leadership to reach prospective and existing clients, including the Event and Live features, says Sofia Millar at Reputation Ink.

  • Talking Mental Health: Managing Emotions In Trauma Cases Author Photo

    Nikki Hurtado at The Ferraro Law Firm discusses what motivates her to represent victims of catastrophic injuries, how she copes with the emotional toll of such cases, and what other attorneys taking on similar cases can do to protect their mental well-being.

  • Strategies For Successful Law Firm Mergers In 2025 Author Photo

    Law firms are expected to continue consolidating in the year to come, and because these mergers require a different kind of playbook, firm leaders must carefully consider office culture nuances, professional services economics and talent retention strategy before any merger, say directors at FTI Consulting.

  • Making Legal Cents: Winning More Work In A Crowded Market Author Photo

    In a market where clients have more options, tighter budgets and higher expectations, firms must figure out how to differentiate themselves without discounting their rates, and several practical strategies for pitching, pricing and early-engagement communication can help, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Best Practices For Implementing Firm Revenue Cycle Roles Author Photo

    Law firm revenue cycles are becoming more complex and time-consuming, but hiring dedicated revenue cycle personnel can help streamline the process and reduce the burden on attorneys, says Christine Indiano at Harbor Global.

  • Tips For Constructing Your Small-Law Exit Strategy Author Photo

    By initiating planning and processes to evaluate personal retirement goals and firm value early, longtime solo practitioners and small-firm owners can unlock a range of possibilities and potential buyers, setting up for a profitable exit and a rewarding transition, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

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