California Pulse


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    AI Company GCs Talk Of Being In The Belly Of The Beast

    Five general counsel who are deeply involved in artificial intelligence, including from Microsoft and Anthropic, recently spoke of its impact on their legal departments, and of the ever-present need for trust, judgment and good people skills during this "inflection point with AI."

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    Atty As CEO: How Biz Thinking Drives Ferguson Braswell

    It's rare to meet lawyers who describe themselves as CEOs, but Kyle Ferguson, who studied business before law, applies that title to himself as leader of Ferguson Braswell Fraser Kubasta PC, or FBFK Law, which has grown from a small into a midsize firm in just a few years.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    A BigLaw firm naming its next managing partner and the parent company of an NBA team hiring a new legal chief were among the industry's key moves this week. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    Davis Wright Adds Stradling Yocca M&A Pro In LA

    Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is boosting its Southern California corporate team, bringing in a Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC mergers and acquisitions expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • Retired Federal Judges Throw Shade On Shadow Docket

    Retired federal judges speaking at a Federal Bar Association panel in California Thursday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing use of "shadow docket" emergency rulings that offer little or no explanation, with retired Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford saying the high court has "an obligation to give more of a ruling."

  • Girardi's Atty, Judge Debate If His Conviction Is 'Debatable'

    A California federal judge pushed back Thursday on arguments by Tom Girardi's lawyer that he should be free on bond while he appeals his wire fraud conviction, saying that debating the case doesn't automatically mean it raises "fairly debatable" questions sufficient to meet the Ninth Circuit's standard for remaining free on appeal.

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    DLA Piper Adds Leveraged Finance Partner In LA

    DLA Piper has hired a former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP attorney as a leveraged finance partner in Los Angeles, where she will also serve as leader of the firm's West Coast fund finance team.

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    Greenberg Traurig Co-Founder Larry Hoffman Dies At 95

    Larry J. Hoffman, one of Greenberg Traurig LLP's three co-founders, died Thursday at his home, just weeks after his 95th birthday, a firm spokesperson confirmed.

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    Another Ex-SEC Lawyer Moves, Will Be CalPERS GC In 2026

    The California Public Employees' Retirement System has named its next legal chief, who will take the reins as general counsel when he passes the state bar next year and in the interim will be a special adviser for the pension fund.

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    Jones Day Litigator Jumps To MoFo In Los Angeles

    Morrison Foerster LLP is boosting its litigation team, bringing on a Jones Day commercial litigator with cybersecurity expertise as a partner in its Los Angeles office, it announced on Thursday.

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    US Attorneys, Judicial Noms Advance Amid Senate Tensions

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, faulted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, for getting in the way of efforts by him and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee's ranking Democrat, to expedite the confirmation of U.S. attorney nominees. 

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    Mayer Brown Adds 6 To Projects And Infrastructure Team

    Mayer Brown LLP announced Wednesday that it has welcomed six attorneys to its projects and infrastructure group, including two partners from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Vinson & Elkins LLP.

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    Benesch Lands McGuireWoods' State AG Practice Head In SF

    Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP announced Thursday that it has added the former leader of the state attorneys general practice at McGuireWoods LLP as a partner in the firm's litigation and white collar, government investigations and regulatory compliance practice groups.

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    The Women In Law Report: By the Numbers

    Women are gaining ground in the early stages of their legal careers, with increasing representation among associates at top firms. But the path narrows sharply at the leadership level. Here’s our data dive into the representation of women at law firms in the U.S.

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    The Women In Law Report: Benchmarking Law Firms

    Law360's latest Women in Law Report rankings suggest a small number of firms are keeping up with the potential talent pool. Here's the latest look at how firms match up against their peers. 

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    The Women In Law Report: Representation In The Ranks

    Law360 Pulse's Women in Law Report provides a data-driven view of U.S. law firms at the end of 2024. Here, we look at the representation of women at all levels of a typical law firm, from associates to equity partners.

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    Equity Partnerships: A Law360 Women In Law Ranking

    The path to equity partnership remains steep for many women in law, yet some firms are helping to shatter the glass ceiling and advancing opportunity at the highest levels of leadership.

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    At Critical Moment For AI And World, Boards Turning To GCs

    In today's turbulent times — especially regarding technology — general counsel are having to brief the board on geopolitical volatility as much as on legal issues, an expert panel told an AI legal conference Wednesday.

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    Cleary's Next Managing Partner To Focus On US Growth

    A New York-based corporate capital markets attorney is set to take over as Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's managing partner at a time when the firm is already on a strong growth trajectory.

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    Fennemore Craig Eminent Domain Ace Joins Nossaman In SF

    Nossaman LLP is boosting its eminent domain practice, bringing in a Fennemore Craig PC real estate litigator as a partner in its San Francisco office.

  • Class Action Atty Sanctioned For 'Egregious' Bogus Citations

    A California federal judge has sanctioned a California class action attorney for filing a motion riddled with "egregious" erroneous citations, finding that the citations "bear the hallmarks" of cases hallucinated by artificial intelligence despite the lawyer's insistence that she'd never even heard of AI until opposing counsel made the accusation.

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    Jones Day Adds Ex Fed. Prosecutor To SF Healthcare Team

    Jones Day is expanding its health care team, bringing in a former assistant U.S. attorney as of counsel in its San Francisco office.

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    SEC Taps Gibson Atty To Head Corporation Finance Division

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday named the co-chair of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's securities regulation practice as the new leader of its Division of Corporation Finance, which is responsible for writing rules and providing guidance to publicly traded companies on shareholder disclosure matters, among other things.

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    ABA Task Force Calls On Lawyers To 'Defend Democracy'

    Lawyers must do more to promote and protect the democratic process in the United States, the American Bar Association Task Force for American Democracy said in a new report released Wednesday.

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    Golden State Warriors Co. Hires Chegg CLO As Legal Chief

    Golden State Group, a company encompassing the Golden State Warriors, Golden State Valkyries, Santa Cruz Warriors, Chase Center, Golden State Entertainment and Thrive City, has found its new top attorney in Chegg Inc.'s chief legal officer.

Expert Analysis

  • For Some Lawyers, Building A New Practice Makes Perfect Author Photo

    Leaving an established law firm to start a boutique business of your own requires not only vision and resilience but also a solid business plan to help mitigate risks and increase your chances of unparalleled personal and professional success, says Rebecca Palmer at the Rebecca L. Palmer Law Group.

  • Beyond Billable Hours: The Unseen Labor Of Women In Law Author Photo

    The legal profession has a critical role to play in reducing attrition of women lawyers by addressing the disproportionate burden of the mental load — the often-unseen work of managing tasks and anticipating needs in both personal and professional realms, says Michelle Browning-Coughlin at Northern Kentucky University’s Chase College of Law.

  • 10 Key Strategies For Successful Lateral Partner Integration Author Photo

    To help ensure new partners and practice groups are successfully integrated, firms should embrace specific structured practices that recognize each lateral's distinct value, personalize their integration plans and proactively address transition complexities long after onboarding ends, say Elizabeth Kennedy at NewEdge BD and Erika Steinberg at CMO2Go.

  • How Firms Can Manage DEI Commitments Amid Headwinds Author Photo

    By recalibrating how they structure and communicate their inclusion efforts, law firms can reduce legal exposure and preserve their values, says Angela Vallot at VallotKarp Consulting.

  • Key Ingredients For Effective Law Firm Strategic Planning Author Photo

    As the legal industry faces political turmoil and economic uncertainty, the time is ripe for firms to revisit their strategic plans, ensuring they contain a few essential elements — from accountability systems to broad-based input — to achieve sustainable growth and profitability, says Joe Calve at Calve Communications.

  • AI-Powered Biz Development Can Democratize Rainmaking Author Photo

    As fluency in artificial intelligence becomes a competitive imperative in the legal industry, the next generation of rainmakers likely won’t be defined by their Rolodexes or club memberships, but by their ability to leverage AI business development tools effectively, says Jessica Aries at By Aries.

  • 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.

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