California Pulse

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    Covington Adds Longtime DOJ Atty With High Court Chops

    Sarah Harrington has dedicated almost her entire legal career to public service. But on Dec. 1, following 3½ years overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice's appellate staff in the Civil Division as deputy assistant attorney general, she'll return to private practice as the new co-leader of the appellate and Supreme Court practice at Covington & Burling LLP, the firm said Monday.

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    McDermott Adds Its First Director Of AI Innovation

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP has continued its investment in technology and innovation by creating a new role focused on artificial intelligence, the firm said Monday.

  • Expert Witness Co. Expert Institute Sold To Levine Leichtman

    New York-based legal services provider Expert Institute has been sold to private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners from its previous owner Spectrum Equity, according to a Monday announcement.

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    Akin Launches New AI Director Role With Bryan Cave Pro

    Akin is redoubling its commitment to emerging technology and artificial intelligence with a new director of practice technology and AI innovation at its London office who most recently was at Bryan Cave and previously spent more than seven years with Akin.

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    Davis Wright Makes Litigation Co-Chair New Firmwide Leader

    Davis Wright Tremaine LLP partners have voted to select litigation cochair Jaime Drozd as its next firmwide managing partner, filling a role left empty after its former managing partner resigned in March, according to a Monday announcement.

  • Man Federally Charged In Calif. Courthouse Bombing

    A California man accused of throwing a bomb into the lobby of a Santa Barbara County courthouse Wednesday that injured at least five people has been federally charged with maliciously damaging a building with the use of an explosive, federal prosecutors announced on Friday.

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    Pryor Cashman Incoming And Outgoing Heads Talk Transition

    After 17 years under the leadership of a single managing partner, Pryor Cashman LLP is in the process of transitioning to a new firm head, with both the outgoing and incoming managing partner saying they want to preserve the midsize firm's character and independence.

  • Calif. Atty's Fee Bid Against LegalMatch Denied At Appeal

    A California state appeals court has affirmed a trial court ruling denying a Torrance-based lawyer's bid for $940,000 in attorney fees in his suit against attorney referral service LegalMatch.

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    Michelman & Robinson's LA Head On Leading Flagship Office

    For Michelman & Robinson LLP's new Los Angeles leader, Lara Shortz, one of the joys of practicing employment law is having the chance to help clients through "some of the really great moments in life." Law360 Pulse recently chatted with Shortz about how she got the promotion, her plans for the office, how she ended up becoming an attorney and more.

  • Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Kicking off this week's legal lions list are four law firms that secured a summary judgment win Tuesday for DoorDash Inc. and other food app delivery companies in their federal lawsuit challenging a New York City law requiring delivery services to provide restaurants with certain customer info.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another action-packed week as law firms promoted partners and federal prosecutors charged New York City Mayor Eric Adams with bribery and fraud. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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    Revived Freshfields Eyes US Growth As Rivals Target UK

    Freshfields is taking big swings in the American market and at home with a rebrand and a willingness to plunge headfirst into salary battles for the best lawyers. And London managing partner Mark Sansom told Law360 that he's not about to slow down.

  • Legal Pros Grapple With Best Use Of AI As Clients Divide

    BigLaw attorneys and in-house counsel speaking at the annual Berkeley Law AI Institute on Thursday talked about how they've recently grappled with using the tools known as artificial intelligence in representing clients, saying some clients have either demanded or prohibited attorneys from using the tools, and others have taken seemingly contradictory positions.

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    Law Firm Real Estate Report

    The start of autumn brings changing leaves and growing law firms as offices big and small increase their footprints through the country. BigLaw firms, midsize shops and boutiques across the country all found room to grow in September.

  • Hinshaw Adds Insurance Atty Pair In Los Angeles

    Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP has announced a pair of experienced insurance attorneys, one of them a former in-house counsel with the California Department of Insurance, have joined the firm's Los Angeles office.

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    Paul Hastings Finance Director Jumps To CFO Role At Akin

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has found a new top finance leader in the former head of finance at Paul Hastings LLP.

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    Apple Protests Atty Fee Bid In $35M Deal With Scam Victims

    Apple Inc. urged a California federal court to limit the fee awarded to plaintiffs' attorneys from a $35 million settlement over allegations it did not stop scammers from tricking victims into using iTunes gift cards for payments, saying the 33% fee sought is too high for the "fair but unexceptional recovery."

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    Jenner & Block Names DC Partner As Co-Managing Partner

    Jenner & Block LLP announced Thursday that it has appointed Washington, D.C., partner Ishan Bhabha as the firm's next co-managing partner, succeeding New York partner Katya Jestin as she steps down from the position at the beginning of next year.

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    New JAMS CEO Brings '360-Degree' View Of ADR Giant

    After filling numerous duties in her 25 years with JAMS, Kimberly Taylor is ready to use her self-described "360-degree view" of the alternative dispute resolution service as she looks toward the organization's future as its new leader.

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    Firms Say Moving Has More Positive Impact Than Renovating

    Roughly 90% of law firms that recently relocated or renovated say the updated digs have been for the better regarding culture and "office energy," and such positive change has been most widely felt among firms that moved, according to a recent report from real estate brokerage firm Savills.

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    Altshuler Berzon Adds Union-Side Labor Attorney In LA

    Altshuler Berzon LLP has hired a former Rothner Segall & Greenstone partner, who is joining the firm to continue his practice representing unions in matters such as first contract negotiations and arbitrations, the firm has announced.

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    Meta's First-Ever General Counsel Joins Zero Gravity Board

    The first general counsel at what is now Meta, who has focused much of his career on privacy and other public policy challenges and co-owns the NBA's Sacramento Kings, was added to the board of Zero Gravity Corp., the space tourism company announced Thursday.

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    GCs Becoming CLOs Can Add Another Voice On Biz Strategy

    There has been a recent flurry of general counsel seeing promotions to chief legal officers within their organizations across industries, as companies put the top legal leader — someone they want as a strategic business partner — at the same level as other members of the C-suite.

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    Why BigLaw Hasn't Embraced Milbank's Bonuses

    As the days grow shorter and the scent of pumpkin spice lattes fills the air, the glimmer of hope that BigLaw firms would follow Milbank LLP in awarding associates special summer bonuses has floated away on the breeze like autumn leaves.

  • 9th Circ. Chief Talks Caseload, AI, Trivia At Fed Bar Luncheon

    Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia touted the appellate court's efforts to reduce pending cases, revealed that recommendations are forthcoming about how the courts can use artificial intelligence and shared fun trivia about her colleagues during the Federal Bar Association's annual luncheon Wednesday for the Northern District of California.

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Expert Analysis

  • Series

    My Nonpracticing Law Job: Librarian Author Photo

    Lisa A. Goodman at Texas A&M University shares how she went from a BigLaw associate who liked to hang out in the firm's law library to director of a law library herself in just over a decade, and provides considerations for anyone interested in pursuing a law librarian career.

  • 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.

  • Series

    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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