Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
A former associate attorney who was on the partnership track at Jackson Lewis PC has brought suit against the employment law firm in California state court, alleging that it refused to accommodate her temporary medical restrictions after she returned from leave and pressured her to accept a demotion or resign.
While general legal artificial intelligence assistants like Harvey and Legora dominate headlines, law firms are increasingly betting on practice-specific AI platforms designed for particular legal tasks.
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight LLP announced Wednesday a longtime federal prosecutor and former executive counsel at energy equipment company GE Vernova has joined the firm's San Diego office as a partner.
Sheppard announced Wednesday that the firm has added an experienced intellectual property attorney focused on life sciences as a San Diego area-based partner, a day after announcing the addition of two Chicago-based transactional partners.
It is exceedingly rare when in-house counsel snitch on their own company. But when they do, in-house whistleblowers often suffer severe consequences.
After announcing their intent to merge last December, leaders from Winston & Strawn LLP and the U.K. arm of Taylor Wessing LLP embarked on a "listening road show" to help guide the visual identity of the new firm. They saw an opening to stand out from other major law firms.
A California federal judge overseeing an antitrust litigation accusing Google of shutting out rival search engines has asked for evidence showing that the consumers bringing the case have standing.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP has added a former Reed Smith LLP mergers and acquisitions star to chair its West Coast Mergers & Acquisitions Practice at its Menlo Park, California, office, where he brings deep experience handling complex mergers, cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, stock investments, consolidations and more.
American Healthcare Systems Corp. and its founder announced Tuesday that they have filed an amended complaint in California state court against the company's former in-house counsel, alleging he orchestrated a coordinated extortion and takeover scheme to seize control over the corporation.
A co-founder of the global labor and employment juggernaut Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC died Monday after decades of helping shape the firm's values of honesty and transparency.
Some legal chiefs used June to spring high-level stock transactions, led by Rocket Lab's Arjun Kampani, who reported $13 million worth of deals. Broadcom's Mark Brazeal earned nearly $9.7 million in stock sales last month, while Erin Kerber of Credit Acceptance Corp. and Paul Mahon of United Therapeutics both reported selling $9 million worth of their companies' stocks.
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP announced that a pair of experienced litigators focused on class action defense and consumer protection matters have joined the firm's Los Angeles office from Blank Rome LLP.
Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP announced Monday that a patent attorney with nearly 30 years of experience has joined the firm's San Francisco office as a partner from HG Law LLP.
Haynes Boone announced Monday that it has launched a firmwide initiative treating generative artificial intelligence as a "core lawyering skill," with workshops at all attorney levels administered by legal learning platform Hotshot.
Young lawyers continue to be very mobile, with roughly two-thirds of new graduates saying they have already held two or more jobs in a report released Tuesday by the National Association for Law Placement, which also found high levels of job satisfaction and large but decreasing amounts of law school debt.
Winston Taylor has hired three attorneys from DLA Piper, who focus their practices on IP litigation and rejoin a colleague from their former firm who took a role as leader of its U.S. International Trade Commission practice last month, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Legal tech company Legion has voluntarily dropped its claims against the Commerce Department over an order forcing artificial intelligence platform Anthropic to shut down two of its advanced models to foreigners, days after news broke that the government had rescinded the directive.
A lot has changed in BigLaw recruiting as firm leaders increasingly look strategically to partner hires to add revenue. For instance, the summer lull in hiring is gone, top recruiters say.
Hausfeld LLP announced Monday that after a stint serving as litigation counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, an experienced San Francisco-based attorney has rejoined the firm as a partner.
Legal management services organizations, which outsource the administrative aspects of law firms to separate entities, are poised to disrupt the industry in the year to come, so firms and attorneys should consider the advantages and disadvantages of several MSO models, say Frederick Shelton and Ayven Dodd at Shelton & Steele.
Impostor syndrome prevails as a main root cause of attorney burnout, but sufferers can equip themselves with a series of practice tips that build confidence through evidence, not emotion, to address the mindset behind this damaging condition, says Jonathan Cohen at PNY.
Today's general counsel expect outside lawyers to show interest, relevance and value long before there is a live matter to address, including by engaging with attorneys at every level of the company and dispensing free advice thoughtfully, says Andrew Dick at The L Suite.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Start Early In Your Career
Having the courage to embark on your legal business development strategy early in your career allows you to sooner reap the rewards of a strong network, which in turn can increase the momentum of referrals over the course of your career, says Kristin Housh at Sheppard Mullin.
As the legal profession navigates changes driven by artificial intelligence and broader pressures, leaders should consider behavioral research-backed strategies to translate enthusiasm into tangible results for team performance, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
Though law firms and private equity firms appear to be strange bedfellows, such combinations may offer opportunities for ailing midsize firms — which must be weighed against risks to culture, brand and growth prospects, say directors at FTI Consulting.
This year's Buying Legal Council Conference highlighted three emerging forces in how buyers and sellers operate in the legal ecosystem — artificial intelligence, data and preferred panels — and organizations would be well advised to combine them into an integrated framework for transparency, performance and collaboration, says Matthew Prinn at RFP Advisory Group.
As legal departments face mounting pressure to do more with less, general counsel should lead a structured process for adopting generative artificial intelligence tools to transform productivity, manage risk and align with enterprise priorities, says Maesea McCalpin at Gartner.
Amid law firm layoffs of business development staff, lawyers cannot depend solely on their firms to foster their professional growth, and must instead create their own initiatives for building community, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.
As artificial intelligence changes the dynamic between in-house and outside counsel, both internal and external legal teams must thoughtfully reimagine how to mutually leverage AI tools to collaborate and deliver successful outcomes, say Karineh Khachatourian at KXT Law and Diane Honda at Redis.
Sirisha Gummaregula at QuisLex offers advice on navigating the challenges that come with taking on an in-house counsel role after leaving law firm life, including learning your company's business goals and leading with empathy and collaboration.
As potential clients with legal questions increasingly rely on summaries generated by artificial intelligence, attorneys must rethink their content strategy to make sure AI chatbots and search overviews cite their thought leadership, say Ioana Good and Adrien Maines at Promova and Nancy Myrland at Myrland Marketing.
Complex corporate litigation now often unfolds under the glare of a parallel trial in the court of public opinion, requiring attorneys to adopt a cohesive strategy for legal filings, leadership communications and narrative control, says Monica Smith at Integer PR.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Tailor Your Personal Style
In an industry where competition for clients is fierce, a thoughtful approach to personal style can give you the confidence to walk into any room and own it, the magnetism to make connections that matter, and the tools to highlight your deeper professional values, says Leslie Berkoff at Moritt Hock.
In today’s competitive legal market, successful attorneys treat the pitch process with general counsel like the beginning of a relationship, not a one-off sale — showing up with curiosity, commercial awareness and the ability to engage in a meaningful way from the start, says Andrew Dick at The L Suite.