California Pulse


  • Blank Rome Beats DQ Bid In Cannabis Dispensary Loan Fight

    A married couple who operate a New Jersey cannabis dispensary cannot escape claims that they misused roughly half of a $1.6 million business loan, a California federal court ruled on Wednesday while also rejecting the entrepreneurs' attempt to disqualify the lender's law firm.

  • 9th Circ. Suspends 2 Attys For 6 Months Over AI Hallucinations

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday temporarily suspended two California immigration attorneys from practicing before the appellate court for filing briefs in a deportation relief case containing artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations, finding no excuse for their "extraordinary confession" of not vetting citations used by unlicensed brief writers.

  • Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

    Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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    Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

    Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 million to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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    Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

    The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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    OpenAI Hires Ironclad CEO To Lead Legal Vertical

    Jason Boehmig, co-founder and former chief executive of contract management software company Ironclad Inc., announced on Tuesday that he has joined OpenAI, the company behind the artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT, in a role leading products for its legal vertical.

  • Sidley Promotes 52 Attys After Adding Income Partner Tier

    Sidley Austin LLP has elevated 52 attorneys to partner from 11 offices in 23 practice areas.

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    DLA Piper Brings On A&O Shearman M&A Partner In SF

    DLA Piper has announced it is pushing forward with its "strategic expansion" in Northern California with the addition of "a market-leading dealmaker" from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling.

  • Ex-McDermott, Venable Attys Sued Over Estate's $40M Tax Bill

    The estate of a successful dentist who died in 2017 sued McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, Venable LLP and two attorneys in California state court Monday, alleging they gave negligent legal advice in planning the dentist's estate causing it to owe the IRS $40 million in taxes and penalties.

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    Fennemore Craig Builds Calif. Presence With Boutique Tie-Up

    Fennemore Craig PC has launched its 24th office with the addition of a 15-person team of attorneys and legal professionals from Northern California boutique Reynolds Law LLP.

  • Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

    The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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    BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

    BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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    Foley & Lardner Taps Firm Veteran As Litigation Dept. Chair

    Foley & Lardner LLP has appointed a partner who previously led its national construction practice group for 18 years to serve as chair of the firm's national litigation department.

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    Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

    Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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    Paul Hastings Lands Winston & Strawn Capital Markets Duo

    Paul Hastings LLP announced Tuesday that it has brought on a pair of capital markets and public advisory partners in Dallas and Orange County, California, who came aboard from Winston & Strawn LLP just as that firm combined with U.K.-based Taylor Wessing to form Winston Taylor.

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    Disney Deputy GC Joins Starz As Legal, Strategy Chief

    A seasoned media and M&A lawyer who spent almost three decades in-house at The Walt Disney Co. is set to join Starz Entertainment LLC next week as chief legal and strategy officer, the TV network said Monday.

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    O'Melveny Adds M&A Pro From Paul Hastings In SF

    O'Melveny & Myers LLP announced Monday that it has welcomed back a mergers and acquisitions attorney who started his career at the firm before most recently working at Paul Hastings LLP.

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    Keker Promotes New Managing Partner, New GC

    San Francisco trial boutique Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP has promoted a longtime partner to managing partner, and named a new general counsel, the firm announced Monday.

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    Hueston Hennigan To Pay Summer Bonuses Up To $35K

    Trial firm Hueston Hennigan is the second boutique to announce it will dole out midyear bonuses to associates.

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    As Judicial AI Use Gains Steam, Training Lags

    Court systems around the country are emerging bullish on the use of generative artificial intelligence by judicial officers, but implementation, training, resources and overall regulations remain scattershot, giving rise to concerns that a learning gap could lead to missteps.

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    Winston Taylor Deal 'Natural Outcome' Of Global Ambitions

    When Steve D'Amore was elected chairman of Winston & Strawn in 2023, he expressed a commitment to leading the firm's global expansion, a goal that took shape on Monday with the completion of its combination with U.K.-based Taylor Wessing.

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    Epstein Becker Adds 6 Manatt Phelps Litigators

    Epstein Becker Green has added six litigators experienced in commercial and healthcare matters who previously worked for Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP in its Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices, the firm announced Monday.

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    Freshfields Names M&A Pro As US Managing Partner

    Freshfields LLP announced Monday that a New York-based mergers and acquisitions partner has been named U.S. managing partner.

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    Winston Taylor Goes Live As New Transatlantic Giant

    Winston Taylor officially launched on Monday, bringing together Winston & Strawn LLP and the U.K. arm of Taylor Wessing to form a unified transatlantic law firm.

  • Calif. Panel Reverses Order For Citing Atty's Bogus Case Law

    A California appellate panel on Thursday reversed a judgment in favor of a man accused of abusing his son, finding that "without doubt" the trial judge abused her discretion by incorporating the man's bogus legal citations into her ruling, despite being alerted to the mistakes in advance.

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Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Extend Your Content's Life Author Photo

    Attorneys often limit the impact of their thought leadership by letting their content languish after initial publication, but through four easy strategies for retooling existing content, they can maximize its reach and further their business development goals, says Jillian McKenna at Verrill Dana.

  • Why Law Firm Leaders Should Care About Student Debt Crisis Author Photo

    ​​​​​​​As the student debt crisis evolves under changing federal policies, firms that proactively address the burden will have significant advantages in recruiting and retaining the best young lawyers, says Brian Kabateck at Kabateck.

  • Series

    Talking Mental Health: Encouraging New Attys To Find Joy Author Photo

    Rudene Haynes at Hunton discusses her experiences as a hiring partner, common sources of stress that newer attorneys face and steps that law firms can take to protect their attorneys' mental health and encourage personal life fulfillment.

  • Fla. Bar's Cyber Incident Response Plan Sets Precedent Author Photo

    The incident response plan developed by the Florida Bar's cybersecurity and privacy committee might not seem all that consequential, but it's a long overdue framework that could go a long way toward protecting the highly sensitive data law firms handle — and could even set a model for other professional organizations to follow, says Chris Boehm at Zero Networks.

  • Why Attorneys Should Write About Justices' Minority Opinions Author Photo

    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s searing dissents this past term serve as a reminder for attorneys to analyze U.S. Supreme Court minority opinions in their thought leadership for three key reasons, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • 3 Business Development Lessons From Mozart's 'Magic Flute' Author Photo

    Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” offers a useful framework for attorneys to build relationships and develop new business, inspired by Prince Tamino’s curiosity, courage and consistency, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 5 Ways Legal Teams Can Use KPIs To Quantify Their Value Author Photo

    As in-house legal departments are increasingly expected to do more with less, developing a thoughtful framework to measure key performance indicators can help them both maximize and demonstrate their contribution to business success, say co-founders at New Era ADR.

  • Series

    Defining The Culture For A Legal Nonprofit Author Photo

    We co-founded The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators to connect leading trial lawyers, litigation experts and academics, and our experience has shown that embracing opportunity, responding fearlessly to market realities, and relentlessly defining the organization’s culture have all been integral to success, say Stéphane Bonifassi, Lincoln Caylor and Elizabeth Ortega.

  • 5 Emerging Themes Shaping Lateral Partner Moves This Year Author Photo

    A few key trends have arisen in partners’ lateral movements in the first half of 2025, reflecting a legal market defined by macroeconomic uncertainty, shifts in firm structures and rising scrutiny of firm affiliations, say legal recruiters at Macrae.

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Be A Mentor Or Mentee Author Photo

    Mentorship is a powerful tool for business development when both mentors and mentees approach their relationships with strategic purpose, ensuring professional success while supporting broader business goals, say Angela Liu at Dechert and Jessica Lewis at WilmerHale.

  • 4 Biz Dev Steps For Attys Who Don't Know What They Want Author Photo

    Junior attorneys are increasingly expected to start building books of business while they are still figuring out their long-term career goals, but a few pointers can help young lawyers develop business even when they’re uncertain about their future direction, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.

  • Protecting Client Funds From Cyberattacks Author Photo

    As cyberattacks on law firms continue to escalate, bar associations, law firms and individual lawyers must all take steps to protect client funds in attorney trust accounts — from imposing cyber hygiene mandates to reimagining malpractice coverage — because once that money is gone, it’s generally gone for good, says Michael Epstein at The Epstein Law Firm.

  • Making Legal Cents: For Billing, Think Value, Not Time Author Photo

    Pricing strategy is one of the most consistently discussed but underleveraged tools in a firm's arsenal, and rather than keeping hourly billing because it's easy, firms should consider their differentiators when structuring more effective fee models, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • Series

    Achieving Organic Growth For A Legal Nonprofit Author Photo

    We started Law Rocks to promote music education for underprivileged youth and raise funds for local nonprofits, and our 15-year journey has shown that enthusiasm, persistence and a great network can lead to a surprising amount of organic growth, say Nick Child and Ted Scott at Secretariat.

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Engage With The Media Author Photo

    Business development is all about awareness — and by taking existing skills and adapting them to build media relationships and thereby address today's audiences, lawyers can expand their outreach and use thought leadership to build a more complete, compelling personal brand, says Michael Goodwin at Stanton PR.

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