Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Allyson Bennett of Morrison Foerster LLP has been on the front lines of legal efforts to expand fair use laws in cases involving large tech companies, including shielding Instagram from copyright lawsuits and defending OpenAI, earning her a spot among the intellectual property practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Attorneys of color now represent 27.6% of nonpartners at law firms, a new high-water mark for the industry. But progress has lagged higher up. Here's a more detailed look at the representation of minority attorneys at the associate and partner levels.
Emily Geier of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has shepherded distressed companies through some of the largest and most complex restructurings in recent history, including leading the wind-downs of toy retailer Toys R Us and clothing seller Express Inc. in challenging global circumstances, earning her a spot among the bankruptcy attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
Data from Law360 Pulse's law firm survey reveals that while firms are continuing to diversify their attorney ranks, progress has slowed. Just 15.6% of firms top the benchmarks for the 2024 Diversity Snapshot ranking — a lower percentage than last year. Here’s the latest look at how diversity in law firms' headcounts compares with what it could be based on the potential marketplace of new hires.
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
Have initiatives and programs to address work-life balance reached the equity partnership, or is it still the exception in the legal industry?
The private plaintiffs who challenged the failed JetBlue-Spirit merger asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award their counsel at least $20 million in fees, saying they "substantially contributed" to the U.S. Department of Justice successfully squashing the deal and are the prevailing party in their case.
The New York attorney general cast the National Rifle Association as unrepentant and unreformed as a second-phase bench trial began in state court Monday, after a jury had found the group and its ex-officers liable for misspending millions.
Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Monday that a Houston lawyer could represent a prominent Napa Valley vintner while also claiming partial ownership rights to the name of its popular cabernet sauvignon, with one judge saying that conflict of interest rules for attorneys operating in California are "very strict."
A California federal judge has rebuked both sides of a suit alleging Twitter violated federal labor laws amid a mass layoff in late 2022, ordering lead attorneys to attend a meet and confer session in August to work through ongoing conflicts that have arisen since the claims were filed in April 2023.
Saxton & Stump has beefed up its criminal defense group this week with the addition of a former assistant U.S. attorney to the firm's Philadelphia office.
“Cellino v. Barnes” follows the tumultuous legal partnership between plaintiffs attorneys Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes as they form a personal injury shop in the '90s, put out catchy ad jingles and make millions, only to part ways in a public feud.
A former BigLaw attorney who was lead defense counsel for Theranos' former president Ramesh Balwani has joined Los Angeles boutique Foundation Law Group LLP to lead its white collar practice, the firm announced Monday.
Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced Monday that it has brought on a five-member team of labor and employment lawyers who previously practiced with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
A group of Washington state troopers have settled claims alleging they were "poisoned" by Ford Motor Co.'s Interceptor vehicles, according to a docket note Monday, less than a week after the troopers' attorney failed to show up for a sanctions hearing on missed discovery deadlines.
McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP and its former business development director, who is accused of stealing millions from the firm partially via fraudulent credit card use, are at odds over whether the firm's ex-employee should be allowed to bring a malicious prosecution counterclaim in New Jersey state court.
Leap Legal Software Inc. was hit with a discrimination lawsuit in New Jersey state court Friday from a former employee alleging she was fired due to her undiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease.
Many lawyers of color say they are included in their law firm's client pitches but are not assigned to the resulting work, pointing to some firms' "window dressing" approach to diversity and inclusion, according to a report reviewed by Law360 Pulse that will be released publicly on Tuesday.
The Eleventh Circuit found Monday a bankruptcy court didn't abuse its discretion when it awarded attorney fees to Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Fox Rothschild and a firm that merged with Venable for representing the Chapter 7 trustee in a nursing home operator's insolvency.
The owners of the AMF and Lucky Strike bowling chains are not entitled to more than $3 million in attorney fees after winning a lawsuit, the target of the suit told a Virginia federal court while characterizing the owners as "bullies."
A litigation funding company is urging a Delaware federal judge to transfer Apple Inc.'s bid for documents related to a patent dispute with Finnish company MPH Technologies Oy. to California federal court, saying the motion to compel should be adjudicated in the Golden State.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP can no longer represent social media giant X Corp. in the company's lawsuit against Bright Data Ltd., with a California federal judge finding the law firm violated its duty of loyalty to Bright Data after previously representing it in a "substantially related" case.
Saul Ewing LLP has added two litigators previously with Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP as partners in its New York office, the firm announced Monday.
A New York federal judge on Friday declined to order sanctions against Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman LLC after the firm admitted to mistakenly registering fraudulent clients in long-running multidistrict litigation that accused Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees.
An Indiana federal judge stopped short of granting the most serious sanctions requested by retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner in his defense of a $170,000 breach of contract suit brought by a pro se litigation "expert," including the dismissal of the case and a "significant monetary" penalty.
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.
Series
Ask A Mentor: Should My Law Firm Take On An Apprentice?Mentoring a law student who is preparing for the bar exam without attending law school is an arduous process that is not for everyone, but there are also several benefits for law firms hosting apprenticeship programs, says Jessica Jackson, the lawyer guiding Kim Kardashian West's legal education.
As clients increasingly want law firms to serve as innovation platforms, firms must understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach — the key is a nimble innovation function focused on listening and knowledge sharing, says Mark Brennan at Hogan Lovells.
In addition to establishing their brand from scratch, women who start their own law firms must overcome inherent bias against female lawyers and convince prospective clients to put aside big-firm preferences, says Joel Stern at the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.
Jane Jeong at Cooley shares how grueling BigLaw schedules and her own perfectionism emotionally bankrupted her, and why attorneys struggling with burnout should consider making small changes to everyday habits.
Black Americans make up a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated population but are underrepresented among elected prosecutors, so the legal community — from law schools to prosecutor offices — must commit to addressing these disappointing demographics, says Erika Gilliam-Booker at the National Black Prosecutors Association.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload?Young lawyers overwhelmed with a crushing workload must tackle the problem on two fronts — learning how to say no, and understanding how to break down projects into manageable parts, says Jay Harrington at Harrington Communications.
Law firms could combine industrial organizational psychology and machine learning to study prospective hires' analytical thinking, stress response and similar attributes — which could lead to recruiting from a more diverse candidate pool, say Ali Shahidi and Bess Sully at Sheppard Mullin.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments?In the first installment of Law360 Pulse's career advice guest column, Meela Gill at Weil offers insights on how associates can ask for meaningful work opportunities at their firms without sounding like they are begging.