California Pulse


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    Plaid Recasts Legal Team As Top Lawyer Takes Adviser Job

    Plaid has reshuffled its legal team, including giving additional duties to a former top federal banking official who was appointed by the Trump administration, as the financial technology infrastructure firm's top lawyer transitions to a senior adviser role.

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    Pierson Ferdinand Cybersecurity Litigator Joins Clark Hill

    Clark Hill PLC announced Thursday that an experienced cybersecurity and privacy litigator has joined the firm's San Francisco office from Pierson Ferdinand as a partner.

  • Calif. Judge Admonished For Disparaging Pro Se Litigants

    A California state judge in Los Angeles has been publicly admonished for repeatedly "displaying poor demeanor" toward self-represented small claims litigants, including making disparaging remarks, interrupting litigants and walking out of the courtroom in the middle of proceedings.

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    Meta's Legal Ops Chief Predicts Decline Of Billable Hour

    Meta's global head of legal operations predicts that the billable hour will be the exception, not the rule, in five years, telling a packed room of legal ops professionals at an annual conference this week that he is already asking law firms for fixed-fee agreements for their work.

  • Judge Says LegalForce Must Pay $93K After Losing TM Suit

    A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC to pay nearly $93,000 in fees and costs to the company that operates LawFirms.com, finding the case to be exceptional because LegalForce alleged facts it knew were false and took steps to obscure other facts that showed its case was meritless.

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    $5M Dip In Stock Awards Drops Nvidia GC's Comp To $14.3M

    As Nvidia Corp., which currently has the highest market valuation of any corporation at $5 trillion, boasted of its 65% revenue growth in fiscal year 2026, the man responsible for navigating its legal challenges saw his compensation drop by $5 million, according to a recent securities filing.

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    Barton Adds Rimon IP Atty With Leadership Experience In LA

    Barton LLP has added a partner from Rimon PC in its Los Angeles office, bolstering the firm's intellectual property and commercial litigation capabilities.

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    How A Law Firm Grabbed Hilton's Attention With Its AI Use

    Hilton's legal operations team recently did an artificial intelligence tour where it met with its top 10 law firms in terms of spending to learn more about how they are using AI, and one firm stood apart from the rest.

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    Carta Buys AI-Native Law Firm Avantia To Target PE Market

    U.S.-based private markets fintech company Carta said Wednesday that it has acquired U.K. law firm Avantia Law Ltd. in a move that enables it to offer artificial intelligence-powered legal and compliance services to private equity and venture capital firms.

  • How JetStream's GC Turned Cyber Crime Roots Into AI Role

    Patrick Zeller, the first general counsel of JetStream Security Inc., talks about his career path from prosecuting computer crimes to leading in-house privacy and cyber teams, to helping companies manage artificial intelligence.

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    Could Calif. Fee-Sharing Ban Threaten ABS Model?

    After dropping his suit challenging California’s ban on fee-sharing with nonattorney-owned firms like those formed under Arizona’s alternative business structure program, attorney Brent Wisner ditched the outside investors from his own ABS and formed a managed services organization instead — a shift he said could spell the end of the ABS experiment.

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    Anti-ABA Trend May Cut Law School Costs, But With A Price

    Some law schools may become more affordable, increasing the supply of attorneys, as a growing number of states nix the requirement that aspiring lawyers graduate from American Bar Association-accredited schools. But those new attorneys could be left with a patchwork system that limits where they can practice.

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    Law Firms Saw Double-Digit Q1 Growth, Citi Survey Finds

    Despite geopolitical uncertainties driven by an escalating Middle East conflict, surging energy prices and tariff concerns, law firms' first-quarter performance may be a positive harbinger for the legal industry, according to new survey results from Citi Global Wealth at Work Law Firm Group.

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    Barnes & Thornburg Adds Haynes Boone Insurance Pro

    Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired a partner who previously was counsel at Haynes Boone to bolster its insurance recovery practice.

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    Pillsbury Adds WilmerHale VC Pro In Silicon Valley

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has added a former WilmerHale attorney to expand its global emerging companies and venture capital practice group and capacity to handle venture capital financing matters.

  • Justices Clear Way For Ala.'s Gerrymandered Map In Midterms

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday opened the door for Alabama to use electoral maps that the justices previously found unconstitutionally diluted Black residents' voting power, following the court's recent ruling limiting the Voting Rights Act's use in challenging racial discrimination in congressional redistricting.

  • 'I Am The Judge,' Atty Facing Apple Sanctions Bid Told

    A California federal judge overseeing discovery in a consumer antitrust case against Google LLC rebuked the plaintiffs' attorney Monday as he fought a sanctions motion by former defendant Apple Inc., reminding him "I am the judge in this case" and that his requests must "meet the standard that I set forth."

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    ABA Advises Nixing Law School DEI Rules Under Scrutiny

    The Standards Committee of the American Bar Association's legal education arm has recommended that the section repeal its law school accreditation standards relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, saying that in the face of new government scrutiny, maintaining these requirements for law schools would jeopardize the section's status as a nationwide accreditor.

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    Longtime Blank Rome Litigator Joins Manatt In Los Angeles

    Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP announced Monday that an experienced litigation attorney has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a consumer protection and advertising partner from Blank Rome LLP.

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    Duane Morris Adds Fisher Phillips Employment Pro In Calif.

    Duane Morris LLP has grown its labor and employment offerings in California with the addition of a Fisher Phillips attorney, the firm said Monday.

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    Simpson Thacher Brings On AI, West Coast Privacy Chairs

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced on Monday that a pair of experienced attorneys have joined the firm's Los Angeles and New York offices as partners and the respective new heads of its artificial intelligence and West Coast privacy and cybersecurity teams.

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    Outgoing Okta CLO Saw Comp Exceed $10M In 2025

    The chief legal officer of software company Okta Inc. earned more than $12 million last year, up from about $7.3 million the previous year, a recent securities filing shows.

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    Quinn Emanuel Founder Exiting Executive Chair Role

    Four decades after high-stakes litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan first opened in Los Angeles, founding partner John B. Quinn is stepping down as executive chairman of the firm effective immediately.

  • Levin Simes Atty Sidelined For 'Outrageous' Uber Remarks

    A Levin Simes LLP attorney has agreed to take on a more limited role in multidistrict litigation over Uber driver sexual assaults after he made "outrageous" remarks during a meeting with Uber's lawyers, calling one a "pedophile," "rapist" and "scumbag," among other vulgar insults, according to a stipulation.

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    Ex-Wachtell Lipton Atty Tied To Stolen BigLaw Info Trades

    A former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz attorney who later worked for investment bank LionTree LLC is an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping alleged insider trading scheme that involved stolen information from several prominent law firms, according to a review of publicly available information.

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Expert Analysis

  • 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.

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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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    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.

  • What GCs Value Most: 7 Habits Of Great Relationship Partners Author Photo

    When seeking outside legal advisers, general counsel want commercially savvy lawyers who cultivate relationships of trust with their in-house counterparts, back up the GC's authority and focus on actionable advice instead of abstract legal analysis, say Andrew Dick at The L Suite and Rob Morvillo at Olo.

  • Roundup

    Nonprofit Launch Tips From Founders In The Legal Industry Author Photo

    In this season of giving, take a look back at this Law360 series featuring legal professionals who have founded industry-related nonprofits. They discussed the biggest challenges to getting started, and how to balance the launch and management of an organization along with the demands of their primary work.

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    Generating Confidence In A Legal Nonprofit Author Photo

    I started LawWithoutWalls to change the way legal professionals see and think about their world, and it taught me the importance of giving people a reason to believe in your nonprofit mission, as well as how to achieve work-life integration, says Michele DeStefano at the University of Miami.

  • Nonequity Partner Frustrations Reflect Erosion Of Opportunity Author Photo

    Nonequity partners report the lowest satisfaction, highest stress and poorest financial outlook of any group of lawyers, highlighting a growing structural disconnect that leaves attorneys at many firms feeling like the ladder has been pulled up behind those who already ascended, says Jake Carroll at Nelson Mullins.

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    Building Brand Awareness For A Legal Nonprofit Author Photo

    I co-founded the Bridging the Gap Scholarship as a way to increase minority representation in BigLaw, and my advice for other legal professionals starting a nonprofit is to focus on building brand awareness early on, and to get comfortable delegating work to a dedicated team, says Imani Maatuka at Sidley.

  • Learn Your Colleagues To Cross-Sell Their Services Fearlessly Author Photo

    Understanding where colleagues in other practice areas shine can help attorneys confidently cross-sell each other's services and bring in business to keep the firm afloat in hard times, says Joe Calve at Calve Communications.

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Advertise Ethically Author Photo

    Business development in the legal industry is about building authentic connections and showcasing expertise in a way that reflects reality, and, when done right, it can elevate a practice, establish credibility and bring in clients without risking an ethics violation, says Melody Jackson at Robinhood.

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