California Pulse


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    DLA Piper Litigator Joins Atkinson Andelson In California

    Atkinson Andelson Loya Ruud & Romo PLC announced that the firm has added a former DLA Piper litigator as a partner based out of the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, California.

  • Justices Deny Ramey Appeal Of Sanctions In Google IP Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review $255,000 in sanctions on embattled attorney William Ramey and a client for bringing what a California judge said was a frivolous patent suit against Google, turning down his appeal arguing the decision used the wrong legal standard.

  • Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

    A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

  • Calif.'s High Court Seeks Stronger Rules On False Statements

    California's Supreme Court has rejected the State Bar's proposed rule changes in response to threats and violence against the judiciary — asking for a redraft saying lawyers who make false and reckless statements against judges and judicial officers may be disciplined even if the lawyer "reasonably disagrees with a ruling."

  • After SEC's EDGAR Restrictions, Shareholders Launch POE

    Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow said Friday it has launched a new database that allows shareholders to publicly post exempt solicitations related to their shareholder proposals after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission policy reversal this year.

  • Law360 Pulse Spotlight On Mid-Law Work

    Shutts & Bowen's work on a data center company's stock offering and Robbins Geller's lead counsel spot in an investor class action lead this edition of Law360 Pulse's Spotlight On Mid-Law Work, recapping the top matters for Mid-Law firms from April 10 to 24.

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    Munger Tolles Gains Traction With Summer Associate Revamp

    Since Munger Tolles & Olson LLP announced plans to overhaul its summer associate program, the firm this week said applications have increased by more than a third and nearly all the selected law students have accepted the positions.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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    Kirkland Litigator To Lead Watstein Terepka's New LA Office

    A former Kirkland & Ellis LLP general litigation partner has moved his practice to boutique firm Watstein Terepka LLP to lead its new Los Angeles office.

  • Ex-Workday Atty Ends Bias Suit Following Settlement Talks

    A former in-house attorney for human resources giant Workday has agreed to drop what remains of an employment discrimination suit he launched against his former employer in 2023.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another action-packed week as BigLaw firms shifted leadership roles and new figures revealed lateral hiring trends. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

    DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

  • 'Cheap' Judge OKs $19.5M Snap Deal Fees But 'No Bentleys'

    After warning counsel who negotiated a $65 million securities settlement with Snap that he is "notoriously cheap," and in a tentative order gave a "haircut" to their $19.5 million fee request, a California federal judge talked himself out of the trim at a hearing Thursday but quipped, "No Bentleys."

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    Jones Day Adds Labor Attorney From McDermott In SF

    Jones Day has added a former McDermott Will & Schulte partner who advises leading companies on a wide range of labor and employment matters as a partner in its labor and employment practice in its San Francisco office, the firm has announced.

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    Private Equity MSO Deals Heating Up In Legal Industry

    Private equity is driving a surge in managed services organization deals with U.S. law firms, with the focus on consumer-facing practices like personal injury for now and the potential to one day reshape how even BigLaw firms do business.

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    LegalZoom CLO Saw Comp Plunge Nearly $14M In 2025

    The chief legal officer of LegalZoom.com Inc. earned about $887,000 in total compensation in 2025, a steep drop from the $14.8 million she earned the prior year, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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    Orrick Hires Former Head Of Meta Youth Safety Policy

    Orrick announced Thursday that it hired the former global director of youth safety policy and leader of global youth litigation strategy at Meta Platforms Inc. amid growing U.S. focus on keeping minors safe online.

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    Robinhood CLO Earned $11M In Compensation Last Year

    The top in-house attorney at financial trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. earned nearly $11 million in total compensation in 2025, increasing his total pay by more than $2.3 million from the previous year, according to new documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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    Morgan & Morgan Taps Seyfarth Atty For Employment Push

    Morgan & Morgan PA has added a Seyfarth Shaw LLP attorney to lead and build a California employment division for the injury law firm.

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    DoorDash Alum Built Streamline AI To Fix Legal Dept. Chaos

    After Kathy Zhu created the legal operations department at DoorDash in 2019, she tested generic tools, contract lifecycle management systems and other legal-specific products. But nothing solved her real pain points: managing the chaos of hundreds of requests while maintaining visibility into her legal team's workload.

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    McGuireWoods Adds Tax Atty As Firm Makes PE 'Top Priority'

    McGuireWoods LLP announced Wednesday it has hired a seasoned tax adviser to private investment funds as a San Francisco partner.

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    Simpson Thacher Adds Another Kirkland Finance Alum In Calif.

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has hired another former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner to join its recently formed capital structure solutions practice in the San Francisco area, where she'll focus on banking and other finance matters, Simpson Thacher announced Wednesday.

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    Law Firms Saw Double-Digit Lateral Hiring Growth In 2025

    Lateral hiring increased by 16% in 2025 from 2024, with similar growth for both associates and partners, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement.

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    TPG Legal Chief Gets $14M In First Year In Job

    The top legal officer and general counsel of asset manager TPG Inc. earned more than $14 million in total compensation in 2025, of which more than 80% came from stock awards, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee.

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    Wilson Sonsini Gains New COO From Baker McKenzie

    A longtime Baker McKenzie LLP executive has joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC as its new chief operating officer, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Expert Analysis

  • 3 Forces Reshaping The Legal Buyer-Seller Relationship Author Photo

    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.

  • 5 Steps For GCs To Drive Generative AI Experimentation Author Photo

    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.

  • How Attys Can DIY Their Own System For Professional Growth Author Photo

    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.

  • The Augmented Lawyer: In-House, Outside Counsel AI Collabs Author Photo

    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.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Do I Adjust To In-House After BigLaw? Author Photo

    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.

  • Adapting Legal Thought Leadership To An AI World Author Photo

    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.

  • 10 Practical Tips For Attorneys Navigating High-Profile Cases Author Photo

    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.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Tailor Your Personal Style Author Photo

    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.

  • What GCs Value Most: 7 Tips For Landing The Client Pitch Author Photo

    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.

  • Making Legal Cents: Strategy That Stays In Motion Author Photo

    Instead of lurching between year-end strategic planning season and springtime panic mode, firms need a framework that helps them identify what clients and the market need throughout the year, and then actually adjust course, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Roundup

    Legal Tech Talks Author Photo

    Company founders, attorneys and other professionals working in the legal tech space share their journeys into the industry, challenges they face when working with law firms and legal departments, and common misconceptions about technology.

  • 4 Tips For Attys To Turn An Interim Job Into A Long-Term Role Author Photo

    As some attorneys seek interim roles amid economic uncertainty, big-picture thinking and a few proactive steps can help to turn those short-term assignments into long-term positions, says Amy Vanderhoof at Major Lindsey.

  • The Augmented Lawyer: AI Exercises For Junior Attorneys Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence tools become increasingly adept at handling entry-level legal tasks, firms and organizations must consider new ways to train and mentor junior attorneys to prepare them for leadership in an AI-integrated profession, say attorneys at KXT Law.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Embrace LinkedIn Author Photo

    Attorneys who recognize LinkedIn as a powerful professional platform can gain significant competitive advantages in business development via strategic content creation, meaningful industry discussions and consistent visibility within target markets, says Agatha Mouillet at Horvitz & Levy.

  • Guidance For Attorneys As Tariffs Reshape Legal Hiring Author Photo

    As law firms and in-house legal departments grapple with the uncertainty of evolving tariff policies, attorneys at all career stages should consider how to lean into these shifts to best position themselves for long-term opportunities, says Rena Barnett-Matthews at Attorney Career Coach.

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