California Pulse


  • alfexe .jpg

    State Judges See Uneven Gains In Post-Lockdown Pay Hikes

    State judges received an average 5% raise last year — a "significant" improvement over the 1% to 2% raises on offer during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — but those pay increases were spread unequally across the country, with some state judges earning much higher salaries while the pay for others stagnated, according to a recent survey.

  • 3_up_BA.png

    Weakened CFPB Prompts Ballard Spahr To Form State Team

    Ballard Spahr LLP announced Tuesday that it has formed a new state attorneys general consumer finance response team in response to the Trump administration's efforts to effectively shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

  • 2_up_Sidley.png

    Sidley Expands In Calif. With Latham Emerging Cos. Atty

    Sidley Austin LLP is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a Latham & Watkins LLP emerging companies specialist as a partner in its San Francisco Bay Area offices.

  • 2_up_Squire Patton .png

    Squire Patton Adds LA, London Partners To Global Board

    A trial lawyer and a specialist energy attorney are the two latest members elected to serve on Squire Patton Boggs LLP's global board, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • Larry Nakamura.png

    Carlton Fields Expands Compliance Consulting Arm

    Carlton Fields' consulting arm announced that an experienced compliance executive with more than 30 years of experience has joined as its new chief compliance leader.

  • iStock-1436164447.jpg

    Amid Lateral Tussle, BigLaw Firms Eye 'Boomerang Partners'

    As many law firms continue to tap lateral partner hires to achieve their strategic goals, a handful of firms are focusing on attracting departed partners to return, a once rare phenomenon some say appears to be picking up steam.

  • IMG_8479.png

    Former US Atty In California Returns To Munger Tolles In LA

    Munger Tolles & Olson LLP announced Tuesday it is welcoming back a former U.S. attorney who was previously with the firm, as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • Munger Tolles Gets $10M Retainer To Rep LA In Fire Litigation

    Munger Tolles & Olson LLP has signed a $10 million retainer agreement to represent the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in a series of lawsuits alleging it irresponsibly left a local reservoir empty ahead of last month's devastating Palisades Fire.

  • Buchalter, Parker Milliken Get Stay In $19M Theft Suit

    A California judge on Friday granted a stay to Buchalter PC and Parker Milliken Clark O'Hara & Samuelian APC while the law firms appeal a decision denying their bid to arbitrate a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to help their client bilk nearly $20 million from some trusts in a Ponzi scheme.

  • 2_up_cali.png

    White House Fires 2 Calif. US Attorneys Picked By Biden

    President Donald Trump directed the White House to fire the two remaining Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys in California on Wednesday in his latest push to purge the U.S. Department of Justice of officials appointed under the Biden administration.

  • LegalLions.png

    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Delaware federal judge ruled that tech startup ROSS Intelligence infringed copyrighted material from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw platform to create a competing legal research tool powered by artificial intelligence.

  • Cameron Talley.png

    Meet The Dropout Turned Atty Defending Judge In Murder Trial

    As a California state judge prepares to go on trial Tuesday on charges of murdering his wife, in his corner will be attorney Cameron Talley, a onetime high school dropout and former boxer who uses his ADHD to his advantage in the courtroom.

  • Concentrix GC Gets 10% Pay Bump To Move Closer To Median

    Business technology company Concentrix Corp. boosted its general counsel's pay by 10% in 2024, in what it described as a bid to address the "significant difference" between her salary and the median compensation among the company's peers, according to recent documents lodged with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

  • Kiki Haar.png

    Sumo Logic Atty Rejoins Wilson Sonsini As GC In Residence

    Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has launched a general counsel in residence program with the addition of the former legal leader for Sumo Logic Inc. and Informatica Inc.

  • Tom O_Brien.png

    Berry Producer Driscoll's First-Ever GC To Retire This Year

    Driscoll's first general counsel and human resources leader is set to retire from the berry producer after a decade with the company.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another action-packed week as BigLaw firms expanded their practices and President Donald Trump flexed his executive power with new appointments and policies. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

  • iStock-1220039743.jpg

    Womble Bond Adds BakerHostetler Business Partner In Irvine

    Womble Bond Dickinson has hired a former BakerHostetler partner, who joined the firm's business litigation practice group as a partner in Irvine, California.

  • iStock-1369519570.jpg

    Love And Law: How 2 Busy Lawyers Keep The Spark Alive

    Nurturing a romantic relationship over many years can be challenging for anyone, let alone someone who has intense demands related to their careers the way many successful attorneys do. Here, two successful partners share some quick tips on how they each juggle their decades-long marriages alongside busy practices.

  • Friedman & hubby.JPG

    Thompson Hine Partner Wants To Help You Find True Love

    Heidi B. Friedman, co-chair of Thompson Hine LLP’s environmental, social and governance collaborative, has a side gig playing Cupid. She talked to Law360 Pulse about her new book, "Love Lessons: 104 Dates and the Stories that Led Me to True Love."

  • iStock-1488344026.jpg

    NY Leads Lateral Associate Pay Growth, Up $100K In 5 Years

    Competition for lateral associates in top U.S. legal markets, including New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., has soared over the past five years, as law firms compete fiercely for top talent, according to a recent report from global legal recruitment firm Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • SoCal Judge Admonished For 'Demeaning' Female Lawyers

    A Southern California judge was publicly reprimanded by the state's judicial discipline agency Thursday for a yearslong "pattern of discourteous, undignified and impatient behavior" toward female attorneys, including the use of profanities and inappropriate gestures meant to convey the act of pumping breast milk. 

  • iStock-1956050501.jpg

    Willkie Expands Litigation Bench With Mayer Brown Trio

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has brought on three former Mayer Brown LLP partners in California and Washington, D.C., including two former federal prosecutors, and named one of the new partners as chair of its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act group, the firm announced Thursday.

  • In-House Legal AI Co. Eudia Raises Up To $105M In Series A

    Eudia, an artificial intelligence platform for in-house legal teams, officially launched on Thursday after 18 months operating in stealth and announced the raising of up to $105 million in a Series A funding round.

  • iStock-2149539501.jpg

    84% Of Legal Teams Surveyed Plan To Use AI Within 2 Years

    The adoption of artificial intelligence in corporate law departments has nearly doubled since 2023, with 84% of legal teams surveyed planning to use it in the next two years, according to a new report released Wednesday.

  • John-Schultz-800x533px-v2.jpg

    HPE's Legal Chief Saw Comp Rise To $9.4M In 2024

    The chief operating and legal officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. saw his compensation rise to $9.4 million in 2024, an increase of more than $300,000 from the previous year, according to documents recently filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the California Pulse archive.

Expert Analysis

  • Why All Law Firms Should Foster Psychological Capital Author Photo

    Law firms will be able to reap great long-term benefits if they adopt strategies to nurture four critical components of their employees' psychological wellness and performance — hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism, says Dennis Stolle at the American Psychological Association.

  • A GC's Guide To Litigation, Inspired By Sun Tzu's 'Art Of War' Author Photo

    With caseloads and spending increasing, in-house counsel might find themselves called to opine on the risks and benefits of litigation more often, and they should look at five Sun Tzu maxims from the ancient Chinese classic "The Art of War" to inform their approach to any suit, says Jeff Golimowski at Womble Bond.

  • Mentorship Is Key To Diversity In The Legal Industry Author Photo

    Not only can effective mentorship have a profound impact on women and people of color entering the legal field, but it also benefits mentors and the legal profession as a whole, creating a true win-win situation for all involved, says Natasha Cortes at Grossman Roth.

  • ChatGPT Is A Cool Trick, But AI Won't Replace Lawyers Author Photo

    Generative AI applications like ChatGPT are unlikely to ever replace attorneys for a variety of practical reasons — but given their practice-enhancing capabilities, lawyers who fail to leverage these tools may be rendered obsolete, says Eran Kahana at Maslon.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Valuable In IP And Continued Learning Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent elimination of a rule that partially counted pro bono work toward continuing legal education highlights the importance of volunteer work in intellectual property practice and its ties to CLE, and puts a valuable tool for hands-on attorney education in the hands of the states, say Lisa Holubar and Ariel Katz at Irwin.

  • Increasing Public Access To Legal Services: A Practical Plan Author Photo

    Recommendations recently issued by a special committee of the Florida Bar represent a realistic, pragmatic approach to increasing the accessibility and affordability of legal services, at a time when the disconnect between the legal profession and the public at large has widened considerably, says Gary Lesser, president of the Florida Bar.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Relay Shortcomings To Associates? Author Photo

    Michael Cohen at Duane Morris discusses the best ways to articulate how an associate is not meeting expectations, and why documentation of performance management is crucial for their growth and protecting the firm from discrimination suits.

  • 10 Principles For Effective Partner Reward Systems Author Photo

    Several forces are reshaping partners’ expectations about profit-sharing, and as compensation structures evolve in response, firms should keep certain fundamentals in mind to build a successful partner reward system, say Michael Roch at MHPR Advisors and Ray D'Cruz at Performance Leader.

  • Why Interdisciplinarity Is Key To Designing The Future Of Law Author Photo

    The legal profession faces challenges that urgently demand new solutions, and lawyers and firms can address this by leaning on other industries that have more experience practicing, teaching and incorporating innovation into their core business and service models, says Jennifer Leonard at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Incorporating ADA Guidance Into Lawyer Wellness Movement Author Photo

    The Americans with Disabilities Act and rules of professional conduct may help the legal profession promote lawyer well-being by focusing on mental conditions' actual impact, rather than on associated stereotypes, says Alex Long at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can New Partners Generate Business? Author Photo

    Christine Wong at MoFo discusses how newly elected partners can prioritize business development by creating a strategic plan with the firm's marketing team and strengthening relationships with professional and personal networks.

  • 9 Writing Tips From The Justices' Opinions Last Term Author Photo

    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.

  • What Web3 Means For Lawyers' Ethical Duties Author Photo

    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.

  • NY's Cybersecurity CLE Rule Is A Sign Of Changing Times Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    Law Firms Stressing Work-Life Balance Are Missing The Mark Author Photo

    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.

×

Law360

Law360 Law360 UK Law360 Tax Authority Law360 Employment Authority Law360 Insurance Authority Law360 Real Estate Authority Law360 Healthcare Authority Law360 Bankruptcy Authority

Rankings

NEWLeaderboard Analytics Social Impact Leaders Prestige Leaders Pulse Leaderboard Women in Law Report Law360 400 Diversity Snapshot Rising Stars Summer Associates

National Sections

Modern Lawyer Courts Daily Litigation In-House Mid-Law Legal Tech Small Law Insights

Regional Sections

California Pulse Connecticut Pulse DC Pulse Delaware Pulse Florida Pulse Georgia Pulse New Jersey Pulse New York Pulse Pennsylvania Pulse Texas Pulse

Site Menu

Subscribe Advanced Search About Contact