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Georgia Pulse
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If High Court Upends Jan. 6 Conviction, What Happens Next?
If the U.S. Supreme Court decides prosecutors overstepped by charging a rioter who stormed the Capitol with obstruction, the results will likely be mixed for hundreds of other defendants charged with the same crime, particularly those who have been convicted. That post-appeal uncertainty is nothing new, defense attorneys say.
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11th Circ. 'Emphatically' Upholds JCPenney's Sanctions Win
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a $63,000 sanction against an Alabama shopping mall amid its lease dispute with JCPenney, finding that the mall acted in bad faith by not notifying the court of a lack of diversity jurisdiction, eventually sinking the case — only after JCPenney won partial summary judgment and a later mediation failed.
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Dentons Bolsters Public Affairs Efforts In Atlanta
Dentons has brought on the former president of public affairs firm Full Focus Communications to head up its public affairs efforts in its Atlanta office, turning to a professional who's worked with Georgia officials such as then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
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How College GCs Are Dealing With Drama Of Protests
New York City police descended on the Columbia University campus late Tuesday to arrest encamped protesters of the Israel-Gaza war, as general counsel for at least 20 universities across the nation grapple with how best to keep students safe while protecting everyone's free-speech rights.
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Ga. Bar Exam's February Pass Rate Hits 8-Year High
People who sat for Georgia's February bar exam drove up the overall passage rate from last year to 51.7%, the highest rate for a February exam since 2016 when the overall pass rate was 54.3%, according to state officials.
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Law Firms See Revenue Soar Amid Rate Hikes
Law firm revenue soared by 9.5% during the first quarter of 2024, buoyed by a nearly comparable hike in billing rates compared to the similar period in 2023, according to a new report from Wells Fargo's legal specialty group.
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Ex-BCLP Atty From Pro Bono Nonprofit Named Atlanta Judge
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has named the co-director of the Safe and Stable Homes Project at Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation to serve as a judge in Georgia's largest municipal court.
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Yoga Lawyer: A Way of Being In The (Legal) World
More than a decade ago, a stressful job and a pile of physical ailments prompted attorney Cindy Pensoneau to take a deep dive into yoga. Today, she continues to work as both a lawyer and as a yoga teacher, illustrating the growing role that the ancient mind-body practice can play in improving attorney mental health.
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GCs Help Companies Close The Gap On Mental Health Efforts
While they wait for their companies to implement more wellness policies that reach the root causes of employees’ stress and burnout, some general counsel and chief legal officers are filling the gap to help their law teams feel more supported.
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Here's Why This GC Went Public With Her Bipolar Diagnosis
Kelly Rentzel, who has held several general counsel positions throughout her career, largely credits her law degree for giving her the confidence to talk publicly about her bipolar diagnosis — which is something she had contemplated for two decades before taking the initial steps that ultimately led her to a lectern.
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Attys Say $5M Fee In Acella Settlement A Modest Proposal
Plaintiffs' attorneys who recently reached a $46.5 million class action settlement with Acella Pharmaceuticals LLC over faulty thyroid medication asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to sign off on their $5 million cut of the deal as a "presumptively reasonable" proposal.
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Womble Bond Promotes UK Partner To Innovation Chief
Womble Bond Dickinson in the U.K. has elevated partner and head of innovation Sam Dixon to chief innovation officer, the transatlantic law firm announced earlier this week.
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Trial Set For Lin Wood's Ex-Partners' Defamation Suit
Controversial attorney Lin Wood will face trial in August in a defamation case brought by his former law partners who say he falsely accused them of trying to extort him, a Georgia federal judge decided Tuesday.
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ABA Knocks Down 'Implausible' Data Breach Class Action
The American Bar Association members suing the organization over a data breach have not identified any security measures the ABA failed to take, a New York federal judge said Tuesday when nixing what the organization called the members' "implausible" proposed class action.
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Squire Patton Taps Leader For New Insurance Disputes Group
Squire Patton Boggs LLP has created a new practice that brings together its long-standing dispute work for insurance companies, naming a partner who represents some of the largest U.S. insurance companies to lead the new practice, the firm said Tuesday.
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Return To Office Poses Pitfalls For Atty Mental Health
As a therapist specialized in treating lawyers, Stacey Dougan hears a lot about law firm politics, addiction and the career's overwhelming demands. But lately, her clients have been bringing up a new source of anxiety: returning to the office.
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Mid-Law Not Immune To Structural Mental Health Challenges
Despite the common narrative that lawyers can trade higher pay for better well-being and work-life balance by moving to smaller firms, experts say that Mid-Law firms are generally facing the same industry pressures that contribute to long hours, stress and poor attorney mental health.
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Ethics Probes Take Mental Toll On Solo, Small Firm Attorneys
Facing a disciplinary complaint can take a toll on any attorney’s mental health. But for solo practitioners and small firm lawyers, who typically juggle all aspects of their business from handling client matters to administrative tasks like managing trust accounts, it can threaten to upend their lives.
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Ga. High Court Tosses Atty's Road Rage Murder Conviction
The Supreme Court of Georgia threw out the murder conviction of a former corporate lawyer who was convicted of killing a real estate developer in a road rage incident, ruling Tuesday that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the attorney's defense that the death was accidental.
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Ga. Judicial Watchdog Sets Date For Judge's Ethics Trial
The ethics hearing of a Georgia judge accused of calling litigants names, sexually harassing attorneys and courthouse employees, and trying to get a friend's children out of legal trouble is set for June, according to an order filed Friday in the Georgia Supreme Court.
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11th Circ. Should Nix Tax Court Judges' Shield, Widow Says
The widow of a supermarket butcher told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court not only wrongly upheld tax liabilities against her stemming from her husband's tax filings but also erroneously affirmed unconstitutional job protections for its judges.
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Ga. Bar Selects Longtime Litigator As Next President-Elect
The managing partner of Cox Byington Twyman LLP, a full-service small law firm based in Rome, Georgia, has been named the next president-elect of the state's bar, according to election results recently posted on the organization's website.
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Immigration Firm BAL Lands 21 Attys From Seyfarth
Immigration firm Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP is set to welcome about 90 legal professionals — including 21 attorneys — from Seyfarth Shaw LLP this summer and will open a new office in Atlanta as part of the expansion, the firm said Monday.
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The Best Therapy For Lawyers, According To Ex-Lawyers
Attorneys-turned-therapists say no one understands the stresses of being a lawyer like another lawyer. They also say their clients sometimes struggle at first with treatment that prioritizes feelings, mindfulness and even body awareness over the intellectualizing and rationalizing that make them successful at their jobs.
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How Dechert's Culture Helped Its SF Leader Forge Resilience
When his 2-month-old daughter was hospitalized with a potentially fatal condition, Dechert partner Jonathan Stott leaned on firm mentors and colleagues for strength. Now, as managing partner of the firm's San Francisco office Stott is on a mission to pay it forward and continue fostering a supportive and resilient office community.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Firms Coach Associates Remotely?.jpg)
Practicing law through virtual platforms will likely persist even after the pandemic, so law firms and senior lawyers should consider refurbishing their associate mentoring programs to facilitate personal connections, professionalism and effective training in a remote environment, says Carol Goodman at Herrick Feinstein.
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How Law Firms Can Welcome And Celebrate Autistic Lawyers
As the U.S. observes Autism Acceptance Month, autistic attorney Haley Moss describes the societal barriers and stereotypes that keep neurodivergent lawyers from disclosing their disabilities, and how law firms can better accommodate and level the playing field for attorneys whose minds work outside of the prescribed norm.
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Law Firm Tips For Evaluating AI And Machine Learning Tools
Many legal technology vendors now sell artificial intelligence and machine learning tools at a premium price tag, but law firms must take the time to properly evaluate them as not all offerings generate process efficiencies or even use the technologies advertised, says Steven Magnuson at Ballard Spahr.
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A Call For Personal Accountability On Diversity And Inclusion
While chief legal officers are increasingly involved in creating corporate diversity, inclusion and anti-bigotry policies, all lawyers have a responsibility to be discrimination busters and bias interrupters regardless of the title they hold, says Veta T. Richardson at the Association of Corporate Counsel.
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Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers
Every lawyer can begin incorporating aspects of software development in their day-to-day practice with little to no changes in their existing tools or workflow, and legal organizations that take steps to encourage this exploration of programming can transform into tech incubators, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
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Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll
As junior associates increasingly report burnout, work-life conflict and loneliness during the pandemic, law firms should take tangible actions to reduce the stigma around seeking help, and to model desired well-being behaviors from the top down, say Stacey Whiteley at the New York State Bar Association and Robin Belleau at Kirkland.
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The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation
As clients increasingly want law firms to serve as innovation platforms, firms must understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach — the key is a nimble innovation function focused on listening and knowledge sharing, says Mark Brennan at Hogan Lovells.
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The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms
In addition to establishing their brand from scratch, women who start their own law firms must overcome inherent bias against female lawyers and convince prospective clients to put aside big-firm preferences, says Joel Stern at the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.
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The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey
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Jane Jeong at Cooley shares how grueling BigLaw schedules and her own perfectionism emotionally bankrupted her, and why attorneys struggling with burnout should consider making small changes to everyday habits.
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Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors
Black Americans make up a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated population but are underrepresented among elected prosecutors, so the legal community — from law schools to prosecutor offices — must commit to addressing these disappointing demographics, says Erika Gilliam-Booker at the National Black Prosecutors Association.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload?.jpg)
Young lawyers overwhelmed with a crushing workload must tackle the problem on two fronts — learning how to say no, and understanding how to break down projects into manageable parts, says Jay Harrington at Harrington Communications.
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A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms
Law firms could combine industrial organizational psychology and machine learning to study prospective hires' analytical thinking, stress response and similar attributes — which could lead to recruiting from a more diverse candidate pool, say Ali Shahidi and Bess Sully at Sheppard Mullin.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments?.jpg)
In the first installment of Law360 Pulse's career advice guest column, Meela Gill at Weil offers insights on how associates can ask for meaningful work opportunities at their firms without sounding like they are begging.
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Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap
In order to improve access to justice for those who cannot afford a lawyer, states should consider regulatory innovations, such as allowing new forms of law firm ownership and permitting nonlawyers to provide certain legal services, says Patricia Lee Refo, president of the American Bar Association.
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Law Firm Biz Development Tips For The Pandemic Era
Jessica Starr and Monica Ulzheimer at Alston & Bird look at four areas where business development and other law firm administrative teams can take a leadership role in driving practice growth at a time when attorney interactions with clients and peers are limited.