California Pulse


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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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    Arnold & Porter Expands On West Coast With K&L Gates Team

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is continuing to grow on the West Coast, announcing Monday that it has added seven lawyers from K&L Gates LLP to its newly launched Seattle office and one to its Los Angeles location.

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    More AI-Generated Filings Could Be Coming To State Courts

    As generative artificial intelligence tools get better at legal tasks, some court watchers are raising concerns about a possible surge in AI-generated legal filings overwhelming state judicial systems.

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    Nutter Absorbs Calif. Trusts Boutique, Adds 13 Attys Firmwide

    Boston-headquartered Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP announced Monday that it has added a total of 13 attorneys in California, New York and Hawaii, marking the single-largest growth in the firm's 146-year history.

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    Willkie Taps Chicago Leader For New Americas Chair Role

    Craig C. Martin, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's chief for its Americas operations, told Law360 on Friday that he is excited to serve in the newly created post to help steer the continued growth of the firm and ensure that the best services are being provided to clients.

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    Politics And Privacy Laws Collide 5 Years After Salas Shooting

    Five years after a disgruntled litigant killed a New Jersey federal judge's son at their home, experts and judges disagree over whether the judicial privacy laws enacted following the shooting are doing much to protect jurists, while political leaders' heated rhetoric makes for an even more dangerous landscape for judges.

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Expert Analysis

  • Making Legal Cents: How Law Firms Can Innovate Faster Author Photo

    To meet the demands of an evolving legal market and changing client expectations, law firms must not only embrace innovation, but also find ways to accelerate adoption and mitigate risks in an industry historically resistant to change, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Should Departing Partners Approach Pay? Author Photo

    Sabina Lippman at CenterPeak discusses steps BigLaw partners can take when considering a move or announcing their departure to help navigate tricky compensation issues and remain on good terms with their current partners.

  • How 2 Litigators Decided Dad Would Stay Home With The Kids Author Photo

    Jennifer Hoekstra at Aylstock Witkin shares the tough conversations about timing, goals, logistics and values involved in her family's decision that she would build her career as a litigator and law firm partner while her husband stepped back from his own litigation role to stay home with their children.

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    My Nonpracticing Law Job: Legal Commentary Ghostwriter Author Photo

    Wayne Pollock at Copo Strategies shares how he went from overworked Am Law 50 associate to owner of a legal thought leadership ghostwriting service, and provides four lessons for anyone who might be considering launching a business within the legal industry.

  • Ask A Mentor: As Trials Grow Rarer, How Do I Hone My Skills? Author Photo

    Gary Parsons at Brooks Pierce offers advice for young lawyers seeking trial experience in an environment where fewer cases make it to trial, including how to build their reputations, set their expectations and pick the right firm.

  • Talking Mental Health: Managing Depression As A Co. Founder Author Photo

    New Era ADR co-founder Collin Williams discusses his journey navigating a clinical depression diagnosis, how this experience affected his leadership style, and what the legal industry can do to better support attorneys with mental health conditions.

  • Series

    My Nonpracticing Law Job: Career And Wellness Coach Author Photo

    Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea shares how she went from BigLaw partner to legal industry career and wellness coach, and explains how attorneys can use their capabilities, knowledge and professional networks to pursue coaching themselves, or bring refreshed meaning and purpose to their current roles.

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    Talking Mental Health: Tackling Stress As A Practice Leader Author Photo

    Constance Rhebergen at Bracewell discusses how she handles the stress of being a practice chair, how sources of stress have changed in the legal industry over the past decade and what law firms can do to protect attorney mental health.

  • Making Legal Cents: Engaging A Remote, Evolving Workforce Author Photo

    In the face of a dispersed and changing workforce with Generation Z entering the scene, law firms should consider some practical strategies to revitalize their cultures, provide meaningful mentorship and safeguard their knowledge bases, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • How Firms Can Effectively Evaluate Their Summer Associates Author Photo

    One of the most effective ways firms can ensure their summer associate programs are a success is by engaging in a timely and meaningful evaluation process and being intentional about when, how and by whom feedback should be provided, say Caroline Cimei and Erica Fine at Shutts & Bowen.

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    Talking Mental Health: Life As A Lawyer With OCD Author Photo

    Kelly Hughes at Ogletree discusses what she’s learned in the 14 years since she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, recounting how the experience shaped her law practice, what the legal industry and general public get wrong about the disorder, and how law firms can better support employees who have OCD.

  • 3 Innovative Ways AI May Be Used In Legal Practice
    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly be used by outside counsel to better predict the outcomes of litigation — thus informing legal strategy with greater precision — and by clients to scrutinize invoices and evaluate counsel’s performance, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Roundup

    My Nonpracticing Law Job Author Photo

    Not every law degree leads to a law practice. In this Law360 Pulse series, former practicing attorneys share the stories of how they went from practicing corporate law to using their knowledge and background to carve out a nontraditional career path in the legal industry.

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    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.

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