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Connecticut 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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The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders
Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.
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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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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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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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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%.
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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.
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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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Ex-GC-Turned President Retiring From Iroquois Gas
Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP will begin the new year with a host of leadership changes, including the retirement of its general counsel-turned president.
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Robinson & Cole Unveils New Hartford Digs
Robinson & Cole LLP recently moved to a new office in Hartford, Connecticut, trading in its 40-year-old office for one with contemporary glass office fronts, more natural lighting and technological upgrades.
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McCarter & English Adds 5-Person McElroy Deutsch Team
McCarter & English LLP has continued the recent expansion of its trusts, estates and private clients practice in New England with the addition of a five-person team from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP.
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Sanctioned NJ Firm Asks To Exit $374M Guo Ch. 11
Four attorneys for associates of convicted fraudster Miles Guo in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy — whose law firm was sanctioned in the proceedings — have urged Connecticut's bankruptcy court to let them leave the case, saying several corporate entities connected to Guo indicated their services are no longer needed.
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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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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.
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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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Conn. Ethics Board Tosses Grievance Against Ex-Town Atty
A Connecticut ethics panel has dismissed a grievance at the heart of a former town attorney's claims that the tax assessor spread lies about his conduct and character, finding that the lawyer broke no professional conduct rules and concluding no further investigation was warranted.
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More Law Firms Want To Merge, But Deals Aren't Skyrocketing
Law firm management consultants say they continue to see historic interest among law firms to engage in merger talks, driven further by a spate of big deals announced during the third quarter of the year, but the number of actual combinations inked has remained fairly steady, Law360 Pulse data shows.
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Littler Adds Excelitas Exec As Chief Digital Innovation Officer
Labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson PC has added the former executive vice president and chief information officer at photonics and light technology company Excelitas Technologies as its chief digital innovation officer.
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Law Firm Billing Rate Hikes Doubled In 2024
Billing rates for the top 100 law firms in the United States surged by 10% from 2023 to 2024, the largest rate hike in the past three years, according to a new research report on Tuesday.
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US Trustee Pans Guo Ch. 11 Trustee's Secret Deal For Firm
The U.S. Trustee's Office on Monday objected to a Chapter 11 trustee's attempt to file under seal a deal with a law firm in the sprawling $374 million bankruptcy of convicted Chinese exile Miles Guo, saying voluminous case law prevents shrouding such settlements with secrecy.
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Legal Employers Say AI Is Affecting Hiring
A majority of legal industry employers say that artificial intelligence is changing the skill sets they look for in hiring, according to a report released Monday by business consulting firm Robert Half, with the report also finding that employers prefer to train existing employees than hire externally.
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Photronics GC Departing After Internal Review
Photronics Inc. has reached a separation agreement with its general counsel of 14 years after placing her on paid leave in mid-June while the company conducted an internal review.
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In-House Teams Using More GenAI And Fewer Law Firms
Nearly 60% of general counsel and chief legal officers expect a reduced reliance on outside legal service providers due to generative artificial intelligence — more than double since a 2023 survey showed 25% of respondents would cut the number of law firms they work with in the next year to slash costs, according to data released Monday.
Expert Analysis
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9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term
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.
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What Web3 Means For Lawyers' Ethical Duties
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.
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NY's Cybersecurity CLE Rule Is A Sign Of Changing Times
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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Opinion
Law Firms Stressing Work-Life Balance Are Missing The Mark
Law firms struggling to attract and retain lawyers are institutionalizing work-life balance through hybrid work models, but such balance is elusive in a client services and tech-dependent world, underscoring the need for firms to instead aim for attorney empowerment and true balance within — not outside — the workplace, says Joe Pack at Pack Law.
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A Law Student's Guide To Thriving As A Summer Associate
Summer associates are expected to establish a favorable reputation and develop genuine relationships in a few short weeks, but several time management, attitude and communication principles can help them make the most of their time and secure an offer for a full-time position, says Joseph Marciano, who was a 2022 summer associate at Reed Smith.
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Burnout Prevention Requires Effort From Attys And Firms
To avoid physical and emotional exhaustion, attorneys must respect their own and their colleagues' personal and professional boundaries, but law firms must also play a role in discouraging burnout culture — especially if they are struggling with attorney retention, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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How I Owned My Power As An Asian American Woman In Law
Gibson Dunn's Debra Yang shares the bumps in her journey to becoming the first female Asian American U.S. attorney, a state judge and a senior partner in BigLaw, and how other women can face their self-doubts and blaze their own trails to success amid systemic obstacles.
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Successful In-House Alt Legal Services Start With 4 Questions
Law firms that are considering creating an in-house alternative legal service provider should focus not on recapturing revenue otherwise lost to outside vendors, but instead consider how a captive ALSP will better fulfill the needs of their clients and partners, say Beatrice Seravello and Brad Blickstein at Baretz & Brunelle.
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3 Reasons To Embrace Jargon In Legal Marketing Content
Ignore what you've been told about jargon — adding insider industry terms to your firm's marketing and business development content can persuade potential clients that you have the specialized knowledge they can trust, says Wayne Pollock at Law Firm Editorial Service.
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Future Lawyers Expect DEI Commitments Beyond Recruiting
To attract future lawyers from diverse backgrounds, firms must think beyond recruiting efforts, because law students are looking for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that invest in employee professional development and engage with students year-round, says Lauren Jackson at Howard University School of Law.
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Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can Law Students Build Real-World Skills?
Allison Coffin at Akin Gump discusses how summer associates going back to school can continue to develop real-world lawyering skills by leveraging the numerous law school resources that support professional development both inside and outside the classroom.
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How Firm Leaders Can Build And Sustain Culture
In uncertain and challenging times, law firm leaders can build and sustain culture by focusing attention on mission, values and leadership development, and applying a growth mindset across their firms, says Scott Westfahl at Harvard Law.
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The Case That Showed Me The Value Of E-Discovery Plans
Robert Keeling at Sidley reflects on leading discovery in the litigation that followed the historic $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger and how the case highlighted the importance of having a strategic e-discovery plan in place.
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Opinion
CLE Accreditation Should Be Tied To Learning Outcomes
Given the substantial time and money lawyers put toward mandatory continuing legal education, CLE regulators and providers should be held to accreditation standards that assess learning outcomes, similar to those imposed on law schools and continuing medical education providers, says Rima Sirota at Georgetown Law.
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Why You Should Leverage AI For Privilege Review
While many lawyers still believe that a manual, document-by-document review is the best approach to privilege logging, certain artificial intelligence tools can bolster the traditional review process and make this aspect of electronic document review more efficient, more accurate and less costly, say Laura Riff and Michelle Six at Kirkland.