California Pulse


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    BigLaw Hiring Heats Up In Q1 As Firms Chase Partner Talent

    Large U.S. law firms started 2026 with a surge in lateral moves that boosted partner hiring to the highest level in six years, but softened on associate additions, according to new data from legal intelligence provider Firm Prospects.

  • Calif. Lawyer Sues Over State Bar Investigations

    A California trial lawyer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that he has been unfairly investigated by the state bar since 2019, alleging the office "illegally prioritizes revenue-generation over protection of the public."

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    Nixon Peabody Names Entertainment And Sports Team Heads

    Nixon Peabody LLP has appointed two new leaders for its growing entertainment and sports practice, to which it also added a pair of Los Angeles-based associates.

  • Nossaman Adds Procopio Construction Trio In California

    Nossaman LLP has deepened its infrastructure group by adding a pair of partners and an associate to its Orange County roster who joined from Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.

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    Katten's Profits Per Equity Partner Climb To $3.32M

    Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has reached several key financial growth milestones in the less than two years since litigator and former federal prosecutor Gil Soffer became chair of the Chicago-headquartered firm, without jumping into the recent law firm merger frenzy.

  • John Eastman Disbarred Over Bid To Overturn 2020 Election

    California's highest court on Wednesday ordered the disbarment of California attorney John Charles Eastman, who a state bar court found had helped plan and promote President Donald Trump's strategy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

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    Consumer Cases Drive Class Action Spike, Report Says

    Federal class action filings spiked in 2025 after nearly a decade of relative stability, fueled by a surge in consumer protection lawsuits tied to data breaches, digital commerce and online accessibility claims, according to a new report from Lex Machina.

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    Ex-DOJ Antitrust Atty On Google Case Joins Wilson Sonsini

    A lead attorney on the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's monopolization cases against Google LLC who left the agency last week joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday as a partner.

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    Sotomayor Apologizes For 'Hurtful' Comments About Kavanaugh

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor publicly apologized Wednesday for comments she made at a University of Kansas appearance earlier this month criticizing Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

  • DOJ Atty Slapped With $250 Sanction For Missed Deadlines

    A California federal judge hit a U.S. Department of Justice attorney with a $250 sanction for repeatedly missing deadlines in a noncitizen's habeas corpus case, rejecting his assertions that his need to juggle tasks under a 300-plus caseload should excuse him.

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    Aviation Co. Hermeus Taps Veteran Aerospace Atty As GC

    Hermeus, a venture-backed defense aviation company that recently moved its headquarters to Los Angeles from Atlanta, has tapped a former Relativity Space attorney to serve as its new general counsel and executive leadership team member.

  • U.S. Legal Support Acquires Calif. Court Reporting Firm

    Court reporting and litigation support services provider U.S. Legal Support announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal to purchase Northern California-based court reporting firm American Reporting Services, calling the acquisition a reflection of "continued consolidation within the litigation support industry."

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    'That's The Price': Meet The Legal 'Czar' Billing $6,000 An Hour

    Want this California lawyer to work with you? Be prepared to pay up — his services cost $3,000 per hour for litigation and $6,000 per hour for compliance work, one of the highest rates of any lawyer in the United States. He spoke with Law360 Pulse about the niche market he occupies, why he charges so much, and why he calls himself “The Czar.”

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    Willkie Adds O'Melveny Litigator To Los Angeles Office

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP expanded its Los Angeles office with the recent addition of a litigator who moved her practice after nearly 15 years with O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

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    Higher Partner Rate Hikes Are The New Normal For GCs

    The largest law firms continued to get the bulk of the work in 2025 despite having the most expensive rates, while mid-tier firms are grabbing a bigger piece of the action, according to a new report by LexisNexis CounselLink.

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    Legal AI Giant Legora Opens San Francisco, Toronto Offices

    Sweden-based Legora, which offers a legal artificial intelligence platform, further expanded its North American footprint, announcing Wednesday the opening of a San Francisco and Toronto office.

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    Mattel Legal Chief's Compensation Dipped To $2.8M Last Year

    The legal leader for toymaker Mattel Inc. took a $540,000 hit in non-equity incentive pay, lowering his total compensation in 2025 to $2.8 million, according to a securities filing.

  • Pot Co. CFO Says Attys Must Be DQ'd In Embezzling Suit

    The former CFO of four related cannabis companies, who is accused of embezzling from those companies, is urging a California state court to disqualify the plaintiffs' attorneys, saying there is a conflict of interest between the company plaintiffs and the individual plaintiffs.

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    MoFo Brings On Former Federal Prosecutor In San Francisco

    Morrison Foerster LLP announced Wednesday that it has expanded its investigations and white collar defense group with a partner in San Francisco who has served as an assistant U.S. attorney and as a deputy attorney general with the California Attorney General's Office.

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    How Nextdoor's CLO Rose From Neighbor To Top Lawyer

    It turns out that Sophia Contreras Schwartz lives just a quarter-mile away from John Orta, who in summer 2018 was preparing to start as the first lawyer at the location-based social network that connects neighbors and fosters community interaction. Here, Contreras Schwartz shared with Law360 Pulse how her path to becoming chief legal officer was "very Nextdoor."

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    Hogan, Cadwalader Partners Vote To Forge Ahead With Merger

    Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader said Wednesday that their partners have voted in favor of their merger ahead of the scheduled launch of the combined law firm on July 1.

  • Calif. Federal Judges Weigh Audio Access For Civil Jury Trials

    California Northern District federal judges are seeking public comment on modifying local court rules to allow jurists to audio stream civil jury trials in the district, which regularly presides over high-stakes courtroom fights involving tech giants such as Google, Meta, OpenAI and Apple.

  • Apple Users Slam 'Distorted' Antitrust Depo Sanctions Bid

    Phone users who accuse Google of suppressing rival search engines with anticompetitive deals slammed Apple's bid for sanctions over their counsel's allegedly "unrelenting and increasingly egregious" subpoena efforts, telling a California federal judge that the tech company's motion is based on a "distorted account of the discovery record."

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    Mayer Brown Focuses On Increasing AI Adoption In 2026

    Mayer Brown LLP is focused on increasing artificial intelligence adoption among its attorneys and staff this year and has launched an AI literacy program to help achieve that goal.

  • Willkie Latest Firm Certified Under International AI Standards

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced Tuesday that it has achieved certification for its artificial intelligence management system under standards established by two Switzerland-based international bodies.

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Expert Analysis

  • 6 Ways To Build Pro Bono Culture If You Lack Dedicated Staff Author Photo

    Firms can develop a strong pro bono culture without hiring dedicated professionals through strategies like demonstrating active involvement by leadership, tailoring volunteer tasks to individual professional development needs and building trusted partnerships within the legal aid community, says Stacy Zinken at Paladin.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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