California Pulse


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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    The University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and attorney Edward Gilbert lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence.

  • Expert Witness Biz Says Ex-Worker Stole Trade Secrets

    Litili, a company that connects expert witnesses to attorneys working on civil cases, has brought a lawsuit in California state court against its former account representative, alleging she took the firm's confidential proprietary business information and used it in her new role at a competing business.

  • Calif. Panel Remands Fee Claims Over Evidence Exclusion

    A California trial court erred when it blocked any reference to underlying legal malpractice allegations in a trial for recovery of fees brought by a San Francisco lawyer against his former clients, according to a Golden State appeals panel, which found the malpractice claims, though "effectively abandoned," had not reached final judgment on the merits.

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    Why Guided Talks Are Key To Retaining Women Attys

    At an American Bar Association summit session on inclusive workplace practices on Thursday, one panelist noted that one of the ABA's recent recommendations is to engage in guided conversations throughout law firms and across the legal profession. But what exactly is a guided conversation?

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    Greenberg Traurig Adds Perkins Coie Tech Transactions Pro

    Greenberg Traurig LLP is expanding its technology team, bringing in a Perkins Coie LLP transactions whiz as a shareholder in its San Diego office.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry began June with another action-packed week as BigLaw firms expanded their presence and offerings. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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    Pillsbury Brings On Buchalter IP Co-Leader In San Diego

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is boosting its intellectual property team, announcing Thursday it is bringing on the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's intellectual property practice as a partner in its San Diego office.

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    Which GCs Sold Stock In May? Intuit, Microsoft, Loar Holdings

    Microsoft's Brad Smith may not carry the title anymore, but he is still the company's top lawyer, and he cashed in $35.3 million worth of company stock in May. Other big law department winners last month were Intuit's Kerry McLean with $12.18 million and Loar Holdings Inc.'s Michael Manella with $12 million. 

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    Boom In Nonequity Partner Tiers Test Law Firms' 'Discipline'

    As nonequity partnership tiers expand across U.S. law firms, experts warn that the model, while effective for retaining talent and controlling costs, demands disciplined management oversight to avoid becoming a liability.

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    After Strong 2024 Growth, US Firms Face Looming Uncertainty

    Domestic lawyer headcount growth among the 400 largest law firms in the U.S. picked up speed in 2024, rising 3.1% on average and outpacing growth the previous year, but experts say the winds that bolstered that expansion may have shifted as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty.

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    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    Many of the largest law firms in the U.S. had a strong year in 2024. And as demand for their services ticked upward they invested in bench strength, boosting the number of lawyers available to assist clients, our latest ranking of the largest U.S. law firms shows.

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    Davis Wright Adds Coblentz Patch Wine Industry Expert In SF

    Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is expanding its food and beverage team, bringing in a Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP transactional attorney specializing in the wine and hospitality industry as a partner in its San Francisco office.

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    Taylor Duma Chair On Firm's Future After Leaders' Departures

    Following a string of departures from the firm now known as Taylor Duma LLP — most notably a former name partner and a onetime managing partner — founding partner and Chairman Marc A. Taylor said the midsize law firm has a plan to grow in a more efficient and agile manner.

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    Weil Lands DLA Piper Entertainment And Sports Ace In LA

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is expanding its transactional team in California, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing in a DLA Piper entertainment, sports and media dealmaker as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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    Today's Legal Workplace Is Hybrid, Collaborative, Survey Says

    Even as lawyers have returned to the office in larger numbers than in the years during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid in-person and remote work remains the norm at law firms today, which have turned their focus to creating flexible, collaborative spaces that "link presence to purpose," according to the results of a survey released this week.

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    MoFo Can't Escape Perkins Coie's 'Taint' In IP Suit, Court Told

    Biometric security company FaceTec told a California federal judge that Morrison & Foerster LLP should be barred from representing identity verification platform Jumio in a patent suit, arguing that its participation is "tainted" by the actions of disqualified co-counsel Perkins Coie LLP.

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    How This Atty Used Her Law Degree To Go From CLO To CEO

    Direct Relief's new CEO Amy Weaver has made various jumps in her career — from Seattle to Hong Kong, online travel to chemical distribution to SaaS, chief legal officer to chief financial officer to chief executive officer. And while the Harvard Law School grad's moves may appear completely different, she sees each role, company, industry and location as a building block.

  • LegalZoom Partners With AI Search Engine Co. Perplexity

    Online legal services provider LegalZoom announced Wednesday a strategic partnership with Perplexity, a search service utilizing large language models to answer user queries.

  • Loeb & Loeb Trusts And Estates Head Jumps To Proskauer

    Proskauer Rose LLP has hired the former chair of Loeb & Loeb LLP's international trusts and estates practice group to represent ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

  • Groups Ask California Bar To Discipline Google's Kent Walker

    Four organizations are citing new court developments involving Google Inc. Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker's alleged mishandling of evidence in again asking the State Bar of California to discipline him.

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    Norton Rose Adds K&L Gates Product Liability Litigator In LA

    Norton Rose Fulbright is expanding its product liability team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing in a K&L Gates LLP trial attorney as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • Calyx Law Expands Into AI, Blockchain With New Partnership

    San Francisco intellectual property and psychedelics lawyer Graham Pechenik announced Tuesday that he has transformed his nearly 10-year-old firm Calyx Law into a new partnership with Frank Gerratana, a Boston-based patent law veteran and former Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC member.

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    Tom Girardi Sentenced To Over 7 Years For $15M Client Fraud

    A California federal judge sentenced Tom Girardi on Tuesday to over seven years in prison for his wire fraud conviction, granting some leniency to the disbarred attorney on his 86th birthday by imposing a sentence below the guidelines in recognition of his age and ailing health. 

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    The Law360 400: A Look At The Top 100 Firms

    A rebound in client work sent the nation’s largest law firms into growth mode last year, driving a wave of hiring, mergers and strategic moves that reshaped the top tier of the Law360 400. Here's a preview of the 100 firms with the largest U.S. attorney headcounts.

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    Murchison & Cumming Personal Injury Atty To Join Signature

    The alternative dispute resolution service Signature Resolution is bringing in a soon-to-retire Murchison & Cumming LLP personal injury trial attorney to join its panel of neutrals.

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Expert Analysis

  • Ask A Mentor: How Can I Promote Thoughtful Use Of AI? Author Photo

    Eran Kahana at Maslon discusses how partners can encourage responsible use of artificial intelligence tools within their firms by learning to spot pitfalls common to AI-generated work product and championing firmwide procedures and trainings that address the risks of uncritically relying on this powerful but imperfect technology.

  • Making Legal Cents: Firm Culture Is The New Game Plan Author Photo

    Law firm culture is often dismissed as a soft factor — merely platitudes on a website that seem disconnected from the bottom line — but by intentionally embedding a strong culture into day-to-day operations, law firms can achieve sustainable success, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • 5 Questions Firms Must Ask For Successful Lateral Integration Author Photo

    To ensure that lateral partners effectively integrate their books of business, firms should design a structured transition plan based on a few fundamentals, from tracking the right data to implementing meaningful incentives, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.

  • Goldilocks Solution: Why The 4-Day Office Week Is Just Right Author Photo

    As law firms continue to wrestle with return-to-office policies, many are being pulled toward one or the other of two extremes: the rigidity of a five-day in-office schedule and the laissez-faire approach of a flexible three-day hybrid model — but a four-day in-office workweek may be the sweet spot, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • As Attys Adopt Generative AI, 3 Elements Should Be Cardinal Author Photo

    As the legal world increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence, lawyers and firms must develop and utilize strong prompting skills, keep a pulse on forthcoming tech evolutions, and remain steadfast to ethical obligations, say Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi and Marty Robles-Avila at BAL.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises Author Photo

    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Prioritize Connections Author Photo

    One reason business development in the legal industry seems so mysterious is because human relationships are so complex, but lawyers can reorient their thinking in two important ways to drive the process of connecting with new colleagues and contacts, say Jamie Lawless and Angela Quinn at Husch Blackwell.

  • Overcoming US Law Firms' Hesitancy To Enter Indian Market Author Photo

    Successful private equity exits with strong returns have solidified India's buyout market as an increasingly attractive destination for future investments, offering compelling reasons for the U.S. legal community to overcome its caution on the country's markets, says Vaishali Movva at Eimer Stahl.

  • Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Make A Plan For The Year Author Photo

    While firms are busy allocating resources and assessing client demand, individual attorneys should use the start of the year to slow down and create a personal business plan, which can be accomplished with a few steps, say Elizabeth Gooch, Teri Robshaw and Chris Newman at McDermott.

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    Talking Mental Health: Caring For Everyone As A Firm Leader Author Photo

    Reid Phillips at Brooks Pierce discusses how he manages the pressure of running a law firm, how sources of stress in the legal industry have changed over the past decade, and what firm leaders should do to help manage burnout and mental health issues among employees.

  • How Firms Can Use LinkedIn To Aid Marketing Efforts In 2025 Author Photo

    LinkedIn has several features law firms can use to showcase their capabilities and thought leadership to reach prospective and existing clients, including the Event and Live features, says Sofia Millar at Reputation Ink.

  • Talking Mental Health: Managing Emotions In Trauma Cases Author Photo

    Nikki Hurtado at The Ferraro Law Firm discusses what motivates her to represent victims of catastrophic injuries, how she copes with the emotional toll of such cases, and what other attorneys taking on similar cases can do to protect their mental well-being.

  • Strategies For Successful Law Firm Mergers In 2025 Author Photo

    Law firms are expected to continue consolidating in the year to come, and because these mergers require a different kind of playbook, firm leaders must carefully consider office culture nuances, professional services economics and talent retention strategy before any merger, say directors at FTI Consulting.

  • Making Legal Cents: Winning More Work In A Crowded Market Author Photo

    In a market where clients have more options, tighter budgets and higher expectations, firms must figure out how to differentiate themselves without discounting their rates, and several practical strategies for pitching, pricing and early-engagement communication can help, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Best Practices For Implementing Firm Revenue Cycle Roles Author Photo

    Law firm revenue cycles are becoming more complex and time-consuming, but hiring dedicated revenue cycle personnel can help streamline the process and reduce the burden on attorneys, says Christine Indiano at Harbor Global.

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