California Pulse

  • Senate Panel OKs Fix For Federal Courts' 'Genuine Crisis'

    The Senate Judiciary Committee voted out unanimously on Thursday a bipartisan bill to create 66 new and temporary judgeships to alleviate the federal courts' workload.

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    K&L Gates Plans To Train Summer Associates On Gen AI

    K&L Gates LLP plans to train its summer associates in generative artificial intelligence while also introducing its current lawyers to these new AI tools.

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    Northwestern Leader Rejoins McDermott To Drive Innovation

    A Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law assistant dean has returned to McDermott Will & Emery LLP as the latest addition to the firm's human resources team, the firm said Wednesday.

  • LegalTech Fund And Scopus Ventures Back LawPro.ai

    LawPro.ai, a startup that provides automation software for legal tasks, announced on Thursday the completion of a seed investment round for product and marketing growth.

  • Money Fight Between Trustee, Law Firm Goes To Mediation

    A money conflict between a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee and an outside law firm is going to mediation, the parties announced in a court filing this week. It's the latest move in the saga of Litigation Practice Group, the failed California debt relief law firm that was secretly run by a disbarred lawyer.

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    BigLaw Talent Wars Reach Congressional Oversight Attys

    Demand for experienced congressional investigations attorneys is at an all-time high, leading to lateral hires and the launch of new practices as firms rush to compete with the handful of established oversight market leaders.

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    Behind The Scenes With The Congressional Investigations Bar

    Congressional oversight is a strange beast: part litigation, part politics and part public relations. Oversight veterans spoke to Law360 about what the process looks like and the many pitfalls they try to avoid.

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    Nature Abhors A Vacuum: The Creation Of The Oversight Bar

    Just 15 years ago, congressional investigations were barely regarded as a full-on practice area, even in the D.C. legal world. The 2008 financial crisis — and a few pioneering attorneys — changed all of that.

  • FBI Told OneTaste Witness To Delete Evidence, Ex-Execs Say

    Two former executives of sexual wellness company OneTaste Inc. said they uncovered "shocking" evidence that an FBI agent told a former employee of the business and key government witness to delete an old email account, allegedly destroying exculpatory evidence in a forced-labor conspiracy case.

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    Skadden Taps Fried Frank Exec As Its 1st Chief People Officer

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP announced Wednesday that it will soon welcome as its first-ever chief people officer an experienced human resources professional who spent eight years in a similar role at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

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    Law Grads Told To 'Ride The Waves Of Change'

    In debunking a familiar quote shared by Apple's Steve Jobs and comparing working with colleagues to being NFL teammates, 2024 law school commencement speakers asked their future legal colleagues to allow space for their career aspirations to change and not underestimate the impact they can make — both individually and as a community.

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    Biden Names Prosecutors, Judge For 3 District Courts

    President Joe Biden announced nominees Wednesday for district courts in Minnesota, California and Pennsylvania.

  • UC Berkeley Slams 'Ripped-From-Headlines' Antisemitism Suit

    The University of California, Berkeley and its law school asked a California federal court to throw out a suit alleging they tolerated antisemitism on campus, arguing that the latest version of the complaint includes "ripped-from-the-headlines" claims stemming from incidents that are still being investigated and addressed.

  • Labcorp Workers' $2.4M Wage Deal Wins Court Approval

    A California federal judge placed the final stamp of approval on a $2.4 million deal ending class claims that Labcorp failed to pay overtime wages for the time carriers spent driving to and from locations and violated state meal and break laws.

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    Masimo Corp. GC Saw $1M Compensation Increase In FY23

    The general counsel at California-based health technology company Masimo Corp. earned around $3.3 million in total compensation for fiscal year 2023, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission statement. 

  • Stanford Says Instructor's Firing Over Gaza Class Is Legit

    Stanford University has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a Black Muslim lecturer who said he was let go after giving a controversial talk on the Gaza war, saying it didn't dismiss him because of his race, color or religion, but because he ran a bad classroom exercise.

  • Justices Urged To Review Fee Denial In DOL Stock Plan Case

    A construction design firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight for attorney fees after beating an enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the company and its founders mismanaged an employee stock ownership plan, with the firm arguing the Ninth Circuit erred in siding with the DOL.

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    Uniswap Taps Coinbase Atty To Be CLO As SEC Fight Looms

    The firm behind decentralized marketplace Uniswap has brought on a senior Coinbase attorney and seasoned litigator to helm its legal operations as it stares down a potential enforcement action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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    Jones Day Lands Alston & Bird Financial Markets Atty In LA

    Jones Day announced Tuesday it brought on an Alston & Bird partner who started his decades-long legal career at Jones Day and will now work out of the firm's offices in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, strengthening its financial markets practice.

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    Procopio Atty Who Worked At Oracle To Lead IP Litigation Team

    Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP has named a Silicon Valley-based partner as leader of its intellectual property litigation team, whose 40 years of legal experience includes an in-house role at Oracle Corp.

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    WilmerHale Lands Latham Atty To Help Lead Life Sciences

    WilmerHale has added a partner in Palo Alto, California, who is an expert in complex strategic collaboration and licensing transactions, to co-chair its life sciences practice group, the firm said Tuesday.

  • GRSM50 Adds Labor And Employment Pro In San Diego

    Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has hired as a partner for its employment law practice an attorney with prior private practice experience who has also worked for multiple companies and a labor union during her more than 20-year career.

  • Compliance Software Co. Mitratech Acquires HotDocs

    Legal and compliance software company Mitratech Holdings LLC announced on Monday the acquisition of HotDocs, an automated document creation and management platform.

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    Law Firms Roll Back Summer Programs In Tight Legal Market

    Law firms that can't find enough work for the deluge of prospective and newly minted attorneys already on their hands are tightening their pipelines for new talent this season, rolling back their summer associate positions for 2024, according to legal industry experts.

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    What Are Summer Associates Saying?

    Law360 Pulse asked prospective summer associates about how their top-choice firms distinguished themselves from their peers. Here are some of the ways.

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Expert Analysis

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Firms Coach Associates Remotely? Author Photo

    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.

  • How Law Firms Can Welcome And Celebrate Autistic Lawyers Author Photo

    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.

  • Law Firm Tips For Evaluating AI And Machine Learning Tools Author Photo

    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.

  • A Call For Personal Accountability On Diversity And Inclusion Author Photo

    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.

  • Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers Author Photo

    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.

  • Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll Author Photo

    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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    Ask A Mentor: Should My Law Firm Take On An Apprentice? Author Photo

    Mentoring a law student who is preparing for the bar exam without attending law school is an arduous process that is not for everyone, but there are also several benefits for law firms hosting apprenticeship programs, says Jessica Jackson, the lawyer guiding Kim Kardashian West's legal education.

  • The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation Author Photo

    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.

  • The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms Author Photo

    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.

  • The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey Author Photo

    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.

  • Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors Author Photo

    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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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload? Author Photo

    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.

  • A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms Author Photo

    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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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments? Author Photo

    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. 

  • Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap Author Photo

    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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