California Pulse


  • Apple Allowed To Question Withdrawing Hagens ICloud Client

    A California federal judge has allowed Apple to impose conditions on the withdrawal of a Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP client as a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case, concluding that the consumer's information could be "relevant to spoliation sanctions" or Hagens Berman's adequacy as class counsel.

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    Morgan & Morgan Names Former Amazon Exec As 1st AI Chief

    Personal injury giant Morgan & Morgan has hired a longtime Amazon executive as its first chief artificial intelligence officer to oversee the firm's AI strategy, with the firm saying it is looking to use the technology to drive revenue growth and improve client experience.

  • Lowenstein Sandler Launches Startup Tool With Clerky

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP announced this week a collaboration with legal software provider Clerky to launch a workspace for startup founders.

  • Quinn Emanuel, Spiro Ousted From CoStar Copyright Fight

    A California federal judge has disqualified Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and its attorney Alex Spiro from representing a commercial real estate platform in a copyright infringement suit brought by CoStar, agreeing that the firm's representation of CoStar in a different case should result in its removal from this one.

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    Goodwin Adds Life Sciences Veteran For San Diego Relaunch

    Goodwin Procter LLP announced on Tuesday that it had hired a veteran life sciences attorney to co-chair its new San Diego office, which is slated to open later this summer.

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    Veteran M&A Atty Joins Hanson Bridgett In Bay Area

    Hanson Bridgett LLP announced that an experienced corporate transactional attorney has joined the firm as counsel based in its San Francisco and San Rafael, California, offices, after spending over a decade running her own operation.

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    Calif. Bar Settles With Administrators Of 'Disastrous' Bar Exam

    The State Bar of California has reached a settlement with the administrators of its "disastrous" February 2025 bar exam, whose array of highly publicized technical glitches prevented hundreds of aspiring lawyers from completing the test.

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    Mayer Brown Adds Ex-Orrick Real Estate Partner In LA

    Mayer Brown LLP said Monday it has hired a real estate transactional lawyer in Los Angeles who formerly worked as a partner at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

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    Legal Tech Funding Climbs In 2026 Despite Fewer Deals

    Total funding for legal technology companies increased in the first half of 2026 while deal count fell, suggesting that investors are deploying more capital into fewer companies as artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in the industry.

  • Procopio Native American Head Joins Cox Castle In San Diego

    Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP announced Monday that an experienced real estate attorney who founded and led Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP's Native American practice has joined the firm's San Diego office as a partner.

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    How Stanford Law Initiative Is Riding Private Capital 'Wave'

    A new initiative at Stanford Law School is turning a spotlight on the private capital environment, a once-niche area for investors that has grown into a "massive" financial ecosystem.

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    BigLaw Grew More Selective On Second Quarter Lateral Hires

    Lateral hiring at large U.S. law firms slowed in the second quarter of 2026 after a strong start to the year, with associate and counsel moves declining while partner hiring remained relatively steady, according to figures from legal data company Firm Prospects LLC.

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    Buchalter Taps Firmwide Litigation Chair To Lead LA Office

    Buchalter PC has tapped its firmwide chair of litigation, who has spent almost a decade with the firm on complex business disputes, commercial real estate litigation and intellectual property matters, as the new managing partner of its Los Angeles headquarters.

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    Davis Wright Atty Hit With Sanctions After Winning Sanctions

    After defending six-figure sanctions of plaintiffs lawyers for "a reckless course of prolonging litigation," a Davis Wright Tremaine LLP attorney is facing his own six-figure sanctions, with a California magistrate judge finding he "unnecessarily burdened" opposing counsel despite warnings dating back years about "improper litigation tactics."

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP and Ludd & Ludd lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a San Diego jury ordered Hyatt to pay $15.5 million over the death of a guest who was left uncontacted for a day after failing to check out.

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    Reed Smith Creates AI-Focused Legal Services Team

    Reed Smith LLP has created a department to bring lawyers, e-discovery and AI professionals and others to support clients and the firm with legal, business and technology-focused guidance, and tapped a partner in Philadelphia to spearhead the effort.

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    MedReview Hires CLO From Aesthetics Co. Peachy

    MedReview Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York County Health Services Review Organization, announced that it has hired the general counsel and chief people officer at preventative aesthetics company Peachy.

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    4 Takeaways From Probe Of Feb. 2025 Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco

    Poor implementation of the February 2025 California Bar Exam resulted in millions of dollars in extra costs and negatively affected "a significant portion" of test-takers, according to a new report by the California State Auditor.

  • Oura Health Swaps In Sidley For Quinn After Ex-CEO's DQ Bid

    A California federal judge granted Oura Health's request to swap in Sidley Austin LLP for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in breach-of-contract litigation by the fitness tracker company's former CEO after the ex-executive sought to disqualify Quinn Emanuel for purportedly having access to his confidential data.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another busy week as BigLaw firms expanded headcounts and practices. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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    Small Firms Are Billing More Hours, Report Says

    Even amid an explosion of legal technology and artificial intelligence designed to make legal work more efficient, small firms are billing more hours per month on average, and the increase isn't impacting their collections rate, according to a report published Thursday.

  • RICO Defendant Says Claims Target Protected Activity

    An attorney named in a business owner's sprawling racketeering suit against his former business partner and numerous alleged co-conspirators has asked a California federal judge to throw out the claims, arguing the lawyer's actions were protected litigation activity and that the business owner lacks standing to sue.

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    95% Of Surveyed Law Firms Losing Clients, Report Finds

    Hundreds of law firms say they are increasingly losing clients and cite problems delivering their legal services as the top reason for the attrition, according to a report released Thursday.

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    Iridium Offers CLO $873K To Stay Through Rocket Lab Deal

    Global satellite operator Iridium Communications Inc. is offering its top lawyer $873,036 if she doesn't bail out of her job before the company closes its merger with Rocket Lab Corp. next year, according to a securities filing this week.

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    First Tech's New CLO Sees Job As 'Getting On A Moving Train'

    "Getting on a moving train" is how Steven Wright described his transition to chief legal officer at First Technology Federal Credit Union, a merged entity that formed at the beginning of the year. In a recent interview with Law360 Pulse, Wright said the California-based financial institution is in full integration mode.

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Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Leverage Your Atty Bio Author Photo

    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.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Can I Promote Thoughtful Use Of AI? Author Photo

    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.

  • Making Legal Cents: Firm Culture Is The New Game Plan Author Photo

    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.

  • 5 Questions Firms Must Ask For Successful Lateral Integration Author Photo

    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.

  • Goldilocks Solution: Why The 4-Day Office Week Is Just Right Author Photo

    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 Attys Adopt Generative AI, 3 Elements Should Be Cardinal Author Photo

    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.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises Author Photo

    “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.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Prioritize Connections Author Photo

    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 Author Photo

    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.

  • Overcoming US Law Firms' Hesitancy To Enter Indian Market Author Photo

    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.

  • Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Make A Plan For The Year Author Photo

    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 Author Photo

    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.

  • How Firms Can Use LinkedIn To Aid Marketing Efforts In 2025 Author Photo

    LinkedIn has several features law firms can use to showcase their capabilities and thought leadership to reach prospective and existing clients, including the Event and Live features, says Sofia Millar at Reputation Ink.

  • Talking Mental Health: Managing Emotions In Trauma Cases Author Photo

    Nikki Hurtado at The Ferraro Law Firm discusses what motivates her to represent victims of catastrophic injuries, how she copes with the emotional toll of such cases, and what other attorneys taking on similar cases can do to protect their mental well-being.

  • Strategies For Successful Law Firm Mergers In 2025 Author Photo

    Law firms are expected to continue consolidating in the year to come, and because these mergers require a different kind of playbook, firm leaders must carefully consider office culture nuances, professional services economics and talent retention strategy before any merger, say directors at FTI Consulting.

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