Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
The primary factor determining whether a law firm associate receives a year-end bonus is not individual performance, firm performance, or firm citizenship. Instead, it is the number of billable hours they've logged, according to the results of a new survey from Law360 Pulse.
The nonequity partner tier is expanding across law firms, but compensation within this group varies widely, ranging from associate-level pay to earnings on par with equity partners. A deciding factor in where they fall on the scale, experts say, is often who brings in the clients.
Most lawyers say they’re satisfied with their compensation— but at firms that are open about pay, satisfaction nearly doubles. Explore our latest analysis of law firm compensation practices and what drives top talent.
Increasing demand and especially rising billing rates have made for a strong first nine months of 2025 for the legal industry, according to a report released Monday by Wells Fargo's Legal Specialty Group, with the top 50 firms by revenue seeing the best performance.
Potter Anderson's representation of Pfizer in a suit against Novo Nordisk and Burr & Forman's work on a $500 million joint partnership lead this edition of Law360 Pulse's Spotlight On Mid-Law Work, recapping the top matters for Mid-Law firms from Oct. 31 to Nov. 14
McDermott Will & Schulte's confirmation that it is considering taking investment from private equity is part of a wider wave of law firms of all sizes actively exploring the novel maneuver amid mixed opinion as to whether it makes sense for BigLaw.
Sidley Austin LLP and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Washington federal jury cleared Novo Nordisk of allegations that it defrauded the state's Medicaid and Medicare systems by paying kickbacks and promoting off-label use to illegally boost prescriptions of its hemophilia drug NovoSeven.
Richards Layton & Finger PA asked the Delaware Chancery Court to award $36.04 million in attorneys' fees and expenses following a poaching case involving home health and hospice companies, arguing that the defendants' pervasive bad-faith conduct requires full fee-shifting under the court's 2024 posttrial ruling.
The legal industry had another busy week with more lateral hires and leadership changes, and one BigLaw firm exploring private equity investments.
A group of former federal judges on Thursday condemned what they called "inflammatory remarks" last week by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche detailing the U.S. Department of Justice's "war" with "rogue activist" judges.
Delaware's former interim U.S. attorney has been appointed acting U.S. attorney after the district court declined to keep her as the top federal prosecutor in the First State when her term expired.
The president of Delaware State University has announced that the school will welcome an in-house attorney who works for the City University of New York School of Medicine to be its next general counsel.
A federal judge on Thursday denied efforts to unseat him and the court-appointed special master overseeing the sale of Citgo's parent company to satisfy billions of dollars in Venezuelan debt, ruling that the motions are both procedurally defective and unmeritorious.
Coinbase told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that the cryptocurrency exchange is leaving Delaware to reincorporate in Texas, citing the "increasingly litigious environment in Delaware" and the Lone Star State's recently enacted laws that place numerous restrictions on shareholder suits and help shield executives from investor litigation.
McDermott Will & Schulte on Wednesday acknowledged it is fielding interest from private equity investors, a development that underscores how some of the legal industry's largest players are considering moving to a nontraditional business model.
The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2025 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing significant achievements in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.
U.S. law firms saw an average of double-digit growth in both revenue and inventory during the first nine months of 2025, signifying they're on pace to end the year on a positive note, according to the results of a survey released Monday by Citi Global Wealth at Work.
A newly published report by two Stanford University researchers asserts that high-dollar attorney fee awards in Delaware courts make up "a very small minority of cases" and are "no basis for concern," throwing cold water on growing worries about so-called fee inflation in the First State.
Latham & Watkins LLP and Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eighth Circuit vacated a National Labor Relations Board ruling that Home Depot illegally forced out a worker who showed support for Black Lives Matter.
BigLaw's push to restore in-person work is picking up speed as more firms require attorneys to spend four days a week in the office. While additional firms are expected to follow, experts say the pace and enforcement will vary widely depending on firm culture, leadership priorities and individual performance.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday cut hundreds of flights following an emergency order to slash air travel at 40 airports as the longest-running government shutdown in history drags on. Here, Law360 Pulse talks to attorneys who travel for work about how the air travel reduction is impacting them.
Delaware's federal court will not appoint the district's current interim U.S. attorney and President Donald Trump's choice for that position to remain in the role, according to a notice from the district's chief judge.
The legal industry kicked off November with another busy week as BigLaw firms launched new office attendance policies and expanded practices. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
A Delaware vice chancellor Thursday signaled he is prepared to award roughly $10 million in attorney fees to Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP following the firm's successful challenge to an executive's ouster from Gabb Wireless, saying previous voting and settlement agreements include fee-shifting provisions that apply when a party must mitigate to protect bargained-for governance rights.
A fifth of law students have disabilities, but they feel less supported by their schools than do their nondisabled peers, according to a first-of-its-kind study from Indiana University.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Create A Succession Plan
Conversations around retirement and succession can be understandably difficult, but when attorneys make a plan for the transition early and effectively, they have the opportunity to not only keep work but also increase it, says Jillian McKenna at Verrill Dana.
In recent years, top-tier law firms have pushed hourly rates to unprecedented heights, with some partners commanding $3,000 per hour — but this eye-popping number doesn’t tell the full story, as there are numerous caveats and rigorous winnowing along the way, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.
Law firms that successfully manage two-tiered partnership do so by creating a culture that treats everyone with respect and by establishing financial incentives outside their base compensation to reward performance, says Carol Morganstern at Major Lindsey.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Leverage Your Atty Bio
If maintained properly, your firm bio can help attract potential clients and create authentic connections, so it's crucial to take steps to write an updated attorney profile that goes beyond a list of credentials, says Raychel Lean at Reputation Ink.
Eran Kahana at Maslon discusses how partners can encourage responsible use of artificial intelligence tools within their firms by learning to spot pitfalls common to AI-generated work product and championing firmwide procedures and trainings that address the risks of uncritically relying on this powerful but imperfect technology.
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.
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.
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 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.
“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
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.
Roundup
Biz Development Tip Of The Month
This year, experts shared 12 actionable strategies on building business in today's competitive legal market, from prioritizing human connections to maximizing the impact of thought leadership.
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.
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.
Series
Talking Mental Health: Caring For Everyone As A Firm Leader
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.