Texas Pulse

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    The 2024 Pro Bono Ranking: How Firms Stack Up

    Law firms are often eager to burnish their social responsibility credentials by leveraging their training and experience to help communities that don’t have the resources to pay BigLaw billing rates. See which firms are leading the pack in pro bono hours.

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    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

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    These Firms Are The 2024 Social Impact Leaders

    Law firms are being heavily scrutinized for their social responsibility efforts, with attorneys, clients and critics all pushing for accountability. Find out which firms made Law360 Pulse's list of firms that are taking the greatest strides on social responsibility.

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    DLA Piper Taps Corporate Atty As Co-US Managing Partner

    DLA Piper has promoted a corporate finance attorney and former managing partner of its Atlanta office as co-U.S. managing partner of the firm.

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    Disbarment Isn't One Size Fits All For Attys Guilty Of Crimes

    Attorney discipline, much like the criminal justice system, is rarely a simple math equation where authorities can plug in a type of wrongdoing and an appropriate punishment is spit out. 

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    FisherBroyles Names New Practice Leaders In Corporate Dept.

    FisherBroyles LLP, which bills itself as the first and the world's largest distributed law firm, is shaking things up in its corporate department, appointing 10 new practice area chairs.

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    Cozen CEO Preps For 5th Term With Lessons From Pandemic

    As he prepares to start his fifth three-year term as CEO of Cozen O’Connor, Michael Heller recently talked to Law360 Pulse about how the firm overcame the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to adapt, and why Philadelphia has become a popular market for larger firms.

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    Burns & Levinson Collapse: A 'Cautionary Tale' For Law Firms

    After 64 years in business, Boston-based law firm Burns & Levinson LLP is closing its doors this month after a tumultuous year that saw nearly half of its attorneys leave and merger talks fail.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP top this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions after a California federal judge wrapped up a high-profile antitrust fight filed by Epic Games against Google that began in 2020.

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    Ex-Natural Gas Co. CLO Joins Kean Miller In Houston

    The former chief legal officer at natural gas company CSI Compressco LP joined Kean Miller LLP's Houston office as special counsel, according to a recent firm announcement.

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    Veteran MTC Counsel On Wayfair, PL 86-272 Pushback

    Nancy Prosser stepped down as general counsel of the Multistate Tax Commission on Sept. 25, capping off a long career in the state and local tax field, mostly on the government side. Here, Law360 speaks to Prosser about her career as well as two key policy issues she has been instrumental in shaping.

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    Legal Tech Funding Surges In Q3 Thanks To 3 Megadeals

    Three outlier megadeals pushed funding for legal technology companies to $1.57 billion in the third quarter of 2024, up from $392.5 million in the same period last year, but the number of mergers and acquisitions fell by about 50%.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    This was another action-packed week for the legal industry as BigLaw firms made a slew of hires and a state judge was admonished for lip synching "Jump" by Rihanna in a TikTok. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

  • Paxton Prosecutor Fee Fight Ends With High Court Rejection

    The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday declined to take up a dispute over how much a special prosecutor appointed to oversee the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton should be paid, ending a fee fight that has stretched on almost as long as the criminal case.

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    Israel-Palestine Suits Tested In Court With Mixed Results

    A slew of lawsuits related to the Gaza war in the Middle East have already yielded mixed outcomes and, in the view of some, contradictory rulings as they've moved through the courts, revealing a tension between free speech and college campus safety while also stoking concerns over the fairness of the judicial system.

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    Houston Firm Says 'Scurrilous' Ex-Atty Not Entitled To Fees

    A Houston law firm is urging a state court to dismiss a lawsuit from a disbarred attorney seeking fees for cases he worked on before going to prison for fraud, arguing that paying him the $3.84 million he is asking for would run afoul of ethics rules and a Texas Supreme Court order.

  • Investor Connected To Texas AG Seeks To Ax Fraud Case

    Nate Paul, a real estate investor at the heart of the failed impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has moved to dismiss federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges against him, arguing that the indictment does not claim that he acted willfully when allegedly ripping off lenders and investors.

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    Houston-Based Locke Lord Atty Joins Int'l Disputes Boutique

    Youssef & Partners, based in Egypt, has added a Houston-based attorney to its international arbitration and litigation practice who came aboard from Locke Lord LLP.

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    US BigLaw Firms Accelerate Enviro Efforts, But Diversity Lags

    Amid a number of recent legal challenges, large law firms in the U.S. have amped up many of their environmental, social and governance-related efforts, with particular growth in environmental sustainability action, while areas like diversity, equity and inclusion have been less successful, according to a report out Wednesday that examined firms' public-facing communications.

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    Biotech Co. Names Well-Traveled Former GC As Board Chair

    Virometix AG, a privately held Swiss biotechnology company developing synthetic vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer, has appointed a globe-trotting former general counsel as chair of its board of directors.  

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    Constangy Appoints Additional Immigration Leadership

    Labor and employment boutique Constangy said Wednesday that a North Carolina partner is stepping up to co-chair the firm's immigration practice group.

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    Munsch Hardt Taps Firm Vet To Lead Austin Shop

    The incoming leader of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC's Austin, Texas, office has been with the firm for his entire legal career.

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    AI-Focused Exec Roles Are Having A Moment At Law Firms

    Several law firms this year, including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP, have filled artificial intelligence-focused chief and director roles to keep up with technological advances and client demands, according to legal recruiters.

  • Judge Puts US Trustee's Depo On Ice In Judge Romance Suit

    A Houston judge Tuesday put Jackson Walker's deposition of the U.S. Trustee for the Texas divisions of the bankruptcy watchdog on hold while he considers whether a Justice Department guideline applies to the ongoing dispute surrounding a former Texas bankruptcy judge's secret relationship with an ex-partner of the firm.

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    Judge Security Data Reflects Policy Shifts As Much As Threats

    Former employees of the U.S. Marshals Service say that while judicial security has never been more urgent, finding trends is nearly impossible: The way threats against federal judges are tracked has varied so much from year to year, the data is essentially meaningless.

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Expert Analysis

  • A GC's Guide To Litigation, Inspired By Sun Tzu's 'Art Of War' Author Photo

    With caseloads and spending increasing, in-house counsel might find themselves called to opine on the risks and benefits of litigation more often, and they should look at five Sun Tzu maxims from the ancient Chinese classic "The Art of War" to inform their approach to any suit, says Jeff Golimowski at Womble Bond.

  • Mentorship Is Key To Diversity In The Legal Industry Author Photo

    Not only can effective mentorship have a profound impact on women and people of color entering the legal field, but it also benefits mentors and the legal profession as a whole, creating a true win-win situation for all involved, says Natasha Cortes at Grossman Roth.

  • ChatGPT Is A Cool Trick, But AI Won't Replace Lawyers Author Photo

    Generative AI applications like ChatGPT are unlikely to ever replace attorneys for a variety of practical reasons — but given their practice-enhancing capabilities, lawyers who fail to leverage these tools may be rendered obsolete, says Eran Kahana at Maslon.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Valuable In IP And Continued Learning Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent elimination of a rule that partially counted pro bono work toward continuing legal education highlights the importance of volunteer work in intellectual property practice and its ties to CLE, and puts a valuable tool for hands-on attorney education in the hands of the states, say Lisa Holubar and Ariel Katz at Irwin.

  • Increasing Public Access To Legal Services: A Practical Plan Author Photo

    Recommendations recently issued by a special committee of the Florida Bar represent a realistic, pragmatic approach to increasing the accessibility and affordability of legal services, at a time when the disconnect between the legal profession and the public at large has widened considerably, says Gary Lesser, president of the Florida Bar.

  • Priorities For Improving The Legal Industry In Texas Author Photo

    To assist Texas lawyers in effectively executing their duties, we should be working on succession planning, attorney wellness, and increasing understanding of the grievance system by both bar members and the public, says Laura Gibson, president of the State Bar of Texas.

  • Leading Your Law Firm's Creation Of A New Practice Group Author Photo

    Marjorie Peerce and Peter Jaslow at Ballard Spahr discuss the challenges of building a new law firm practice group from the ground up, and how sustained commitment, communication and collaboration are the key ingredients for success.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Relay Shortcomings To Associates? Author Photo

    Michael Cohen at Duane Morris discusses the best ways to articulate how an associate is not meeting expectations, and why documentation of performance management is crucial for their growth and protecting the firm from discrimination suits.

  • 10 Principles For Effective Partner Reward Systems Author Photo

    Several forces are reshaping partners’ expectations about profit-sharing, and as compensation structures evolve in response, firms should keep certain fundamentals in mind to build a successful partner reward system, say Michael Roch at MHPR Advisors and Ray D'Cruz at Performance Leader.

  • Why Interdisciplinarity Is Key To Designing The Future Of Law Author Photo

    The legal profession faces challenges that urgently demand new solutions, and lawyers and firms can address this by leaning on other industries that have more experience practicing, teaching and incorporating innovation into their core business and service models, says Jennifer Leonard at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Incorporating ADA Guidance Into Lawyer Wellness Movement Author Photo

    The Americans with Disabilities Act and rules of professional conduct may help the legal profession promote lawyer well-being by focusing on mental conditions' actual impact, rather than on associated stereotypes, says Alex Long at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can New Partners Generate Business? Author Photo

    Christine Wong at MoFo discusses how newly elected partners can prioritize business development by creating a strategic plan with the firm's marketing team and strengthening relationships with professional and personal networks.

  • 9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term Author Photo

    Hidden in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions from the last term are each justice’s talents for crafting choice turns of phrase, highlighting best practices for attorneys to jump-start their own writing, says Ross Guberman at BriefCatch.

  • What Web3 Means For Lawyers' Ethical Duties Author Photo

    As law firms embrace Web3 technologies by accepting cryptocurrency as payment for legal fees, investing in metaverse departments and more, lawyers should remember their ethical duties to warn clients of the benefits and risks of technology in a murky regulatory environment, says Heidi Frostestad Kuehl at Northern Illinois University College of Law.

  • NY's Cybersecurity CLE Rule Is A Sign Of Changing Times Author Photo

    New York's recently announced requirement that lawyers complete cybersecurity training as part of their continuing legal education is a reminder that securing client information is more complicated in an increasingly digital world, and that expectations around attorneys' technology competence are changing, says Jason Schwent at Clark Hill.

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