Pennsylvania Pulse


  • Pick For Del.'s 3rd Circ Seat Questioned On Ties To The State

    Jennifer L. Mascott, nominee for a Delaware seat on the Third Circuit who is currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, came under questioning from Democrats on Wednesday regarding her lack of connections to the state and her qualifications for the judgeship.

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    Stradley Ronon Adds Ex-Brandywine Atty To Philly Office

    An attorney specializing in advising clients on real estate transactions has returned to private practice after nearly five years as an in-house attorney, joining Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP in its Philadelphia office.

  • Eastburn & Gray Absorbs Absorbs Philly-Area Litigation Firm

    Regional firm Eastburn & Gray PC has boosted its commercial litigation team in its offices in the Philadelphia suburbs with the recent addition of four attorneys from the McShea Law Firm, which closed after nearly 30 years in operation.

  • Pennsylvania Powerhouse: Duane Morris LLP

    Though they sit on opposite sides of the state, the attorneys in Duane Morris LLP's Pittsburgh and Philadelphia offices have closely collaborated on significant litigation wins in Pennsylvania in the past year, involving matters such as medical malpractice, fracking and even Sesame Place.

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    Legal Rates Surge Moderates, But Pressure Remains High

    As legal departments face mounting pressure to manage costs, increases in hourly billing rates from law firms appear to be moderating, with the first few months of 2025 presenting a snapshot of this reality, according to a recent report from Wolters Kluwer's ELM Solutions.

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    The Top In-House Hires Of August

    Legal department hires in the last month included high-profile appointments at the Association of Corporate Counsel, GE Vernova, and a California legal legend joining an AI startup named Anthropic. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from the past few weeks.

  • 3rd Circ. Probes Jurisdiction In Dispute Over NJ US Atty

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday ordered defendants and the federal government to make a case for the appeals court's jurisdiction over a district court's ruling disqualifying acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from overseeing two cases, saying the court "ordinarily lacks jurisdiction" over pretrial orders in criminal cases.

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    3rd Circ. Wants NJ Justices' Input On Judicial Privacy Law

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to address whether the state's judicial privacy law requires a mental state for purported infractions, a question that could prove crucial for data brokers facing dozens of lawsuits over their alleged violations of the statute.

  • Pennsylvania Powerhouse: Buchanan Ingersoll

    As the United States prepares for its 250th anniversary celebration, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC marked its 175th year in 2025 by finding a new home for Philadelphia's SS United States, along with closing labor deals and mergers with a strong impact on the state's economy, setting precedent in environmental litigation and defending its hometown health network's employment contracts.

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    Pierson Ferdinand Adds 8 Partners Across 6 Markets

    Fast-growing Pierson Ferdinand LLP announced Tuesday that it has added eight partners across five U.S. markets and in London, enhancing the firm's capabilities in litigation, employment and corporate law.

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    Ex-Clerk For Philly Judge Joins Eckert Seamans Bench

    An attorney who clerked for more than 12 years for a Philadelphia federal judge plans to use his insight into judicial decision-making to advise clients on litigation matters, following his recent move back to private practice with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC.

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    The 2025 Regional Powerhouses

    Law360's annual list of regional powerhouses reflects not only the work of exemplary firms, but also emerging legal trends in each state, from matters involving Colorado's growing life sciences industry, to an uptick in bankruptcies in Delaware, to the continued flurry of intellectual property litigation in California.

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    Co-Founder Of Dentons' Pittsburgh Office Dies At 84

    The co-founder of Pittsburgh's Cohen & Grigsby, which became one of the city's largest law firms when it joined forces with Dentons, died this week.

  • UPenn Prof Suspended For Racist Remarks Loses Bias Claim

    University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax lost her federal discrimination claims against the school for suspending her over disparaging comments she made about minorities, with a judge finding that she was disciplined for racist speech, not because of her own race.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Fifth Circuit vacated a pair of Biden-era regulations aimed at bolstering transparency in the short-selling market.

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    Scores On July Bar Exam Rise Amid Dip In Test Takers

    The number of examinees passing the multistate bar exam in July continued to gain momentum, with near record highs seen this summer over the past 12 years, according to an announcement from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

  • Philly Wants Sanctions For 'Appalling Treatment' Of Counsel

    In the wake of a $3 million judgment imposed against the city of Philadelphia in the case of a man who claimed he was shot by police and framed for rape, the city has asked a federal judge to sanction one of the plaintiff's lawyers for allegedly making false accusations that defense counsel were racist and suborned perjury.

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    Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q2

    A promotion to partner or election to practice group chair means a slew of new responsibilities and also lots of well-deserved recognition. Law360 reveals the list of attorneys whose commitment to legal excellence earned them highly coveted spots in the law firm leadership ranks. Find out if your old legal friends — or rivals — moved up in the second quarter of the year.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    BigLaw firms announced a slew of new hires this week as the legal industry sees August recede in the rearview mirror. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    In Their Words: Will AI Kill The Billable Hour?

    The rising use of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow attorneys to get work done faster is creating tension with the traditional model of billable hours. Here, six legal leaders give their take on whether AI will eliminate the billable hour.

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    Saul Ewing Atty Moves Education Practice To Husch Blackwell

    A Saul Ewing LLP attorney specializing in advising educational institutions on litigation and providing policy guidance has moved her practice to Husch Blackwell LLP, where she splits her time between the firm's virtual office and at its Wilmington, Delaware, location.

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    Law Firm Real Estate Report

    Several law firms in the Mid-Atlantic region experienced a busy month of office moves in August, with New Jersey in particular seeing a number of relocations.

  • Philly Man Found Guilty Of Plot To Kill Prosecutors, Judges

    A New Jersey state court has convicted a Pennsylvania resident of scheming to murder several prosecutors and two state court judges through a murder-for-hire plot while serving a 15-year prison sentence for a previous arson conviction, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Wednesday.

  • DOJ Seeks To Expedite Appeal Over NJ US Atty Role Dispute

    The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Third Circuit to expedite its appeal of a Pennsylvania federal judge's ruling disqualifying acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from overseeing two criminal cases, emphasizing the critical questions about her authority under federal law and the fact that the dispute has delayed multiple pending trials.

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    Ex-Law Dean Joins Tucker Arensberg's Litigation Team

    A former dean at West Virginia University College of Law has recently returned to litigation after spending more than five years in education, joining Tucker Arensberg PC's Pittsburgh office to advise clients on civil and toxic tort litigation.

Expert Analysis

  • How Law Students Can Effectively Use AI In Their Job Search Author Photo

    Law students can use artificial intelligence tools strategically throughout the job application process to review materials, prepare for interviews and navigate employers’ use of similar tools, but there are several key missteps they should be careful to avoid, says Lauren Wong at University of San Diego School of Law.

  • An After-Placement Plan Maximizes Legal Content's Potential Author Photo

    Before landing a published quote, feature or interview, law firms should articulate the content’s purpose and develop a strategic plan for repurposing it to ensure they’re aligning public relations efforts with measurable business outcomes, says John Hellerman at Hellerman Communications.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Should I Coordinate Pro Bono Projects? Author Photo

    Julie LaEace at Perkins Coie offers tips for attorneys acting as pro bono coordinators, including how to choose appropriate projects, how to encourage participation and why it is important to keep in touch with legal aid partner organizations.

  • 6 Strategies For Navigating Legal Leadership Transitions Author Photo

    Amid uncertainty in the legal job market, attorneys who are considering a transition to a leadership role must fundamentally reimagine their approach to value creation and develop a new set of skills, say Stacy Bratcher at Cottage Health and Michael Watkins at Genesis Advisers.

  • The Augmented Lawyer: Crafting Responsible AI Policies Author Photo

    As the legal industry increasingly looks to impose responsive guardrails for artificial intelligence use, firms and organizations’ internal use policies, outside counsel guidelines and vendor contracts can address confidentiality and data retention concerns in several ways, say attorneys at KXT Law.

  • 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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