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California Pulse
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Dykema Adds Former Assistant US Attorney In Los Angeles
Dykema Gossett PLLC is growing its litigation team, bringing in a former assistant U.S. attorney as senior counsel in its Los Angeles office.
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Jenner Atty And Ex-Newsom Aide O'Leary Heads To OpenAI
Jenner & Block LLP public policy partner Ann O'Leary, who previously worked as chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has joined OpenAI in the newly created role of vice president of global policy, according to an announcement this week.
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Lateral Hiring Finished 2025 Strong Despite Q4 Dip
Large U.S. law firms capped 2025 with higher lateral hiring totals than the year before, despite a late-year slowdown, as demand for partners and counsel remained strong, new information from legal data company Firm Prospects LLC shows.
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Long-Time Stanford U. General Counsel To Retire In August
Stanford University is searching for a new general counsel after long-time legal chief Debra Zumwalt announced this week that she will retire in August after serving five university presidents and dealing with several school scandals.
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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors
The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.
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Legal Chiefs Shift Work From Firms Amid 'Threshold Moment'
Nearly all the chief legal officers and general counsel who participated in a recent survey said they plan to move more law firm work in-house or to alternative providers within the next two years as increasing outside counsel rates, artificial intelligence and ongoing efficiency pressure factor into how they distribute work, according to a report published Wednesday.
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Crowell Lands Buchalter Practice Group Co-Chair In Calif.
Crowell & Moring LLP announced Thursday that it has added the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's white collar and government investigations practice to bolster its capacity to handle healthcare fraud and other cases.
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Ex-Teacher Turned GC On How She's Grown Into Partner Role
When general counsel Deborah Carrillo was recently named a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, she had traveled a long way from being the middle school math teacher who aspired to use the law to right the inequities of public school systems.
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Ogletree's New Data Chief Hopes AI Use Becomes Widespread
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC recently promoted Timothy Fox to the newly created role of chief data and artificial intelligence officer. Here, Fox spoke with Law360 Pulse about what he wants to accomplish in the role and his hopes for widespread generative AI adoption in the legal industry.
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Judge Questions If Workers' Attys Can Handle AI Bias Class
A California federal judge called out the attorneys for a proposed class of workers who accused human resources software company Workday of using biased artificial intelligence to screen out job applicants, saying Wednesday that evidence indicated they'd been "asleep at the wheel."
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Ex-Mozilla CLO Returns To Search Engine As Business Chief
Tech company Mozilla has welcomed back its former top in-house attorney to serve the company in an expanded role.
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Calif. Bill Would Ban AI From Replacing Arbitrators' Analysis
A bill introduced in the California state Senate seeks to regulate attorneys' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide, including banning lawyers from entering private client information into public AI systems and prohibiting arbitrators from utilizing AI in decision-making.
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Wilson Sonsini Creates Defense Tech Team, Hires Google Atty
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC announced Wednesday that it is launching a defense tech industry group with the hire of a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who most recently worked as an enterprise account executive for Google Public Sector's national defense business.
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Coblentz Patch Hires New COO As CEO Prepares To Retire
A longtime business executive at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has joined San Francisco's Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP as chief operating officer, taking over responsibilities from its outgoing CEO, who is preparing to retire this year.
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GCs Uneasy, Wary Of Litigation Amid Tight Budgets In 2026
Cybersecurity risks keep escalating and employment disputes remain a challenge while general counsel also face changing enforcement priorities and tightening budgets, according to a survey released Wednesday.
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Rapidly Expanding Clark Hill Names Chief Growth Officer
Following several years of growth via lateral hires and combinations, Clark Hill PLC has tapped the former co-leader of its litigation practice group to take on the new role of chief growth officer, the firm announced Wednesday.
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USC Gould Law School, Akerman Launch Law+AI Initiative
Akerman LLP is teaming with the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law to launch a Law+AI Initiative to help in developing the standards and regulatory path for full-scale artificial intelligence adoption across fields and industries.
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Ogletree, Littler, Norton Rose Announce New Innovation Roles
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Littler Mendelson PC and Norton Rose Fulbright have all announced new innovation appointments and hires this week.
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Chipotle Replaces Legal Chief Amid Leadership Moves
Chipotle Mexican Grill has promoted its chief human resources officer, announcing Monday that she is now also the restaurant chain's chief legal officer.
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Law Firms Bet Big On Tech Leadership In 2025
The latest wave of leadership moves shows law firms increasingly adding tech-savvy executives to drive innovation and transformation, as firms race to keep pace with emerging technologies, shifting client expectations and intensifying market pressures.
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Qdoba Restaurant Chain Taps Food Industry Veteran As CLO
Fast-casual restaurant chain Qdoba announced Monday that an industry veteran formerly with Krispy Kreme, KFC and Yum Brands will be its new chief legal officer.
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McGlinchey Stafford Closure Latest Casualty Of Mid-Law Pressures
Without any mass exodus of attorneys, the pending closure of New Orleans-based firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC stands apart from other firm shutdowns in recent years but still reflects the difficulties facing full service midsize firms amid rising pressures related to rates and compensation.
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Wilson Elser Promotes 41 Attorneys to Partnership
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP has named its partner class for 2026, promoting 41 attorneys and outdoing last year's class by seven attorneys, the firm announced Monday.
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Automotive Litigation Boutique Narain Maclear Opens In Calif.
The new year brings the opening of a California-based law firm, Narain Maclear LLP, an automotive litigation-focused boutique made up largely of lawyers and professional staff from LTL Attorneys LLP in Los Angeles.
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Skadden's Ex-Palo Alto Leader Named Aetherflux's COO, CLO
The former head of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Palo Alto office Joe Yaffe is now Aetherflux's chief operating officer and chief legal officer as the San Carlos, California, space-based solar power startup moves ahead with its "Galactic Brain" project to launch an artificial intelligence data center satellite in space, Aetherflux announced Friday.
Expert Analysis
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Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers
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.
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Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll
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.
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Series
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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.
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The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation
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.
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The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms
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.
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The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey
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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.
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Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors
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.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload?.jpg)
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.
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A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms
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.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments?.jpg)
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.
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Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap
In order to improve access to justice for those who cannot afford a lawyer, states should consider regulatory innovations, such as allowing new forms of law firm ownership and permitting nonlawyers to provide certain legal services, says Patricia Lee Refo, president of the American Bar Association.
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How Attys Can Guard Against Rising Settle-And-Sue Claims
Certain precautions can help lawyers avoid post-settlement malpractice claims and create a solid evidentiary defense, as settle-and-sue lawsuits rise amid pandemic-induced dispute settlements, say Bethany Kristovich and Jeremy Beecher at Munger Tolles.
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What I Learned As A Virtual Summer Associate
It is necessary in a virtual law firm summer program to think twice about asking questions you may be able to answer on your own, but this independence and other aspects of a remote internship may help to instill habits that would be useful for future full-time associates, says law student Kelley Sheehan, who interned at Patterson & Sheridan this summer.