California Pulse


  • Calif. Ethics Panel Weighs Judge DQs In Racial Justice Cases

    A California judge who previously served as a district attorney need not be recused from a case involving California Racial Justice Act claims solely because the judge previously handled cases involving elements that may be subject to discovery under the act, the state's judicial watchdog has put forward in a draft opinion.

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    Rate Hikes May Be Masking BigLaw's Financial Vulnerabilities

    Revenue and profits have both been on a strong upward trajectory in recent years for large U.S. law firms, but those strides may not tell the whole story when considering factors like inflation and the role that aggressive rate hikes, which some say are unsustainable, have played in the increases.

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    Hollywood Attys Put Focus On Assault Victims With New Firm

    After a yearslong court battle against hotel tycoon Steve Wynn, attorneys Mike Holtz and Jordan Matthews earned a reputation as dogged fighters on behalf of sexual assault victims and accusers, and this month, they launched their own firm dedicated to handling sexual assault and harassment cases in the entertainment and gaming industries.

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    Law Firms Slow To Adopt $225K Associate 1st-Year Salaries

    First-year associate salaries of $225,000 may make headlines, but they aren't yet the reality at most law firms surveyed for a new report by the National Association for Law Placement.

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    Gibson Dunn Helps 1st-Year Associates Connect With 'Pods'

    At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP launched a unique virtual program to connect first-year associates with other young attorneys in different U.S. offices. Five years later, the “New Associate Pods” program is still going strong.

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    Hamilton Miller Tops New Ranking Of Midsize Law Firms

    Miami-based Hamilton Miller & Birthisel LLP has topped the inaugural ranking of the leading 200 midsize law firms from legal software provider SurePoint Technologies, which scored firms based on factors such as gender and ethnic diversity, and attorney roster growth.

  • Anthropic Declaration Partly Stricken Over AI Hallucination

    A California federal magistrate judge has partially stricken an expert report filed by Anthropic in copyright infringement litigation that cited a nonexistent study — an error created by the artificial intelligence company's own Claude AI tool — calling the issue "serious," but "not quite so grave as it first appeared."

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    Withers Taps London Trusts And Estates Atty As Next Chair

    Withers announced Tuesday that its next chair will be a London-based trusts and inheritance disputes lawyer with more than 25 years at the firm, who is set to assume the role in July.

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    Goodwin Debt Financing Ace Rejoins Gibson Dunn In LA

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is expanding its West Coast team, announcing Tuesday it is welcoming back a debt financing expert, who left for a few years to join Goodwin Procter LLP, as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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    K&L Gates Names New Managing Partner, Committee Chair

    K&L Gates LLP has kicked off a leadership transition process that will continue through next summer and will include the appointment of a new managing partner in July and a management committee chair by June 2026.

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    Kirkland Lands 12 Litigation Partners From King & Spalding

    Twelve former litigation partners from King & Spalding LLP are among close to 30 attorneys who are moving to Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the latter firm told Law360 Pulse Tuesday.

  • Calif. Bar Seeks More Remedies After Problematic Feb. Exam

    The state bar of California has formally asked the state Supreme Court to approve measures including a limited provisional licensure program and a more direct pathway to admission for out-of-state attorneys, in the state bar's latest attempt to seek equitable remedies amid the fallout from the bungled February 2025 California bar exam.

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    California Litigator Joins Pierson Ferdinand From Pillsbury

    After over 25 years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, an experienced, California-based litigator has come aboard Pierson Ferdinand LLP as a partner, the virtual law firm announced Tuesday.

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    Paul Hastings Lands 5-Atty LA Real Estate Team From Latham

    Paul Hastings LLP's real estate practice is adding an experienced five-partner land use team from Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, the firm announced Tuesday.

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    Why Training Partners To Supervise AI Is Now A Priority

    As law firms integrate generative artificial intelligence into their operations and teach attorneys to use it, some are getting their partners up to speed by training them specifically in how to supervise the use of these tools.

  • Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, a handful of attorneys secured billions of dollars in settlements and judgments for both classes and individual plaintiffs against massive companies and organizations like Facebook, Dell, the National Association of Realtors, Johnson & Johnson, UFC and Credit Suisse, earning them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2025.

  • Legendary Calif. Judge Alsup Likely To Go Inactive In 2025

    U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup, a larger-than-life jurist who's overseen some of the most consequential litigation in California's Northern District, indicated in a court filing Friday that he'll likely take inactive status before year's end, although the 79-year-old judge warned Law360 that he hasn't made a final decision.

  • Atty, Stepdaughter Face $600K Workers' Comp Fraud Charges

    The Orange County District Attorney's Office has charged a California attorney and his stepdaughter with conspiring to defraud a police department she was employed at by filing fraudulent workers' compensation payments.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another action-packed week as BigLaw firms shifted operations, expanded practices and took on new talent across the country. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Latham & Watkins LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court left in place an Oklahoma state court ruling barring the launch of the nation's first religious charter school.

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    Kirkland Partner Joins Investment Group As First CLO

    A 20-year partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP has moved in-house as the first chief legal officer at Lane42 Investment Partners LLC, a new alternative asset management company.

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    Foley & Lardner Adds DLA Piper, McDermott Corporate Pros

    Foley & Lardner LLP has hired two seasoned attorneys in California who previously practiced at DLA Piper and McDermott to bolster its innovative technology sector and transactions practice group.

  • 2 Firms Tapped To Lead Visa Derivative Suits Over DOJ Claims

    A California federal judge has combined lawsuits accusing Visa's executives and directors of allowing the company to understate the regulatory risk it faced by engaging in anticompetitive actions currently at the center of a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice last year, and appointed two law firms to lead the litigation.

  • Levi Strauss Calls For Sanctions Against Boies Schiller

    Levi Strauss is seeking more than $15,000 from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and training for the firm's litigation attorneys in the proceeding over a former executive's sex discrimination claims, telling a California federal judge that Boies Schiller flouted deadlines and refused to meet with opposing counsel.

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    Goodwin Procter Gave EEOC Data On Applicants' Race, Pay

    Goodwin Procter LLP turned over a trove of demographic and employment data on thousands of applicants for its fellowships, summer associate programs and full-time positions in response to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's March inquiry into its diversity programs.

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