California Pulse


  • Christopher D. Jackson

    Jackson Lewis Adds Chief Performance Officer To Exec Team

    Jackson Lewis PC announced Friday that it has expanded its professional team with the recent addition of an expert on law firm operations and financial strategy to the firm's Orange County, California, office as its firmwide chief office performance officer.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Agnifilo Intrater LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New York judge threw out the top two charges against Luigi Mangione concerning allegations he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

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    Calif. Bar Taps Judicial Council Pro For Director Role

    The State Bar of California has announced the selection of a longtime statewide courts administrator as its new executive director, following the departure of its prior leader amid the fallout from the bungled administration of the February 2025 bar exam.

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    Threat Hunting And Training: Law Firms' New Cyber Strategy

    Some law firms are taking new steps to stop cyberattacks before they occur, including the use of threat hunting, increased automation and updated training to prepare staff for today's more sophisticated bad actors.

  • Calif. County Deputy DA Loses Free Speech Retaliation Suit

    A California federal judge has tossed a retaliation suit from a former Santa Clara County, California, deputy district attorney.

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    Jackson Lewis Lands 2 Principals From Stokes Wagner

    Jackson Lewis PC announced Thursday that it has hired two former Stokes Wagner attorneys as principals in two of its California offices to bolster the employment law services it offers its clients.

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    Goodwin Venture Capital Ace Joins Lowenstein Sandler

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP has added a Goodwin Procter LLP partner in Northern California, strengthening its emerging companies and venture capital group, the firm announced Thursday.

  • Industrial Laser Co. Coherent Embeds Eudia Legal AI

    Coherent Corp., a Pennsylvania-based tech company that specializes in manufacturing materials, networking components and lasers, announced Thursday a new partnership with California-based legal artificial intelligence startup Eudia.

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    Sheppard Mullin Lands 21-Atty IP Team From Ropes & Gray

    Continuing on efforts to grow its intellectual property group and build a nationally acclaimed patent litigation practice, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP announced Thursday that it is bringing in a 21-attorney IP team from Ropes & Gray LLP.

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    Litigation Spending To Keep Growing As Biz Risks Run High

    Companies are likely to increase their spending on litigation next year, some by over 10%, as legal disputes become more complex, more contentious and more high-stakes, according to a new report out Thursday.

  • Feds Want 3 Years For Girardi Son-In-Law's Chicago Contempt

    Tom Girardi's son-in-law should receive a three-year prison sentence for his admitted role in helping the once-celebrated plaintiffs' lawyer steal millions from Lion Air crash victims, federal prosecutors in Chicago argued Wednesday.

  • Ex-Calif. Judge Gets 35 Years For Shooting Wife To Death

    Former California state court judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson lost his bid for a new trial Wednesday and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death at home in a drunken rage, with the presiding judge expressing sympathy for his "extraordinary" son who tried to save his mother's life.

  • Christopher "Smitty" Smith, Steven Werth and Katherine Meek

    Saul Ewing Lands Greenspoon Marder Enviro Atty Trio In LA

    Saul Ewing LLP is expanding its environmental team, bringing in a trio of Greenspoon Marder LLP litigators in the firm's Los Angeles office.

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    People Skills Helped This GC Grow Role At Grocers Group

    Leticia Espinoza was the first person in her family to go to college and join a specialized profession — an achievement she continues to expand on by becoming a lawyer, then a general counsel, a chief legal and human resources officer, and most recently over the summer, the chief administration officer at Heritage Grocers Group, one of the largest Hispanic and ethnic food retailers in the country.

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    CLOC President Exits To Launch Tech Venture

    The president of the board of directors for the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, or CLOC, a member-run organization for in-house legal operations professionals, stepped down on Wednesday.

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    Courts Told Head-In-The-Sand Approach To AI Can Backfire

    State courts might be inclined not to implement generative artificial intelligence tools or to ban staff from using them to avoid hallucinations and privacy breaches, but that strategy could backfire, a panelist told a court technology conference Tuesday.

  • UC Groups Sue Trump Admin Alleging Free Speech Violations

    A coalition of faculty, staff and unions affiliated with the University of California system sued the Trump administration in federal court Tuesday, arguing the suspension of $584 million in research projects along with threats to terminate billions more violates the law and is an attempt to violate their free speech.

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    Willkie Taps PE Head To Co-Lead The Firm In 2027

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced Tuesday that the nearly decade-long head of its private equity practice will step up to co-lead the firm as its joint chairman at the start of 2027.

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    California AG Bonta Names New State Solicitor General

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta has promoted a veteran attorney in the state's Department of Justice to become the state's new solicitor general.

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    Orrick Hires Ex-Chair Of Paul Hastings' Palo Alto Office

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP announced on Tuesday that it has hired the former chair of Paul Hastings LLP's Palo Alto office.

  • Stanford Tech Lab Partners With Cleary, Davis Wright, Vorys

    Stanford Law School on Monday announced the official launch of its Legal Innovation through Frontier Technology Lab, whose advisory board founding members include law firms and an artificial intelligence company.

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    Summer Associates Remain On The Fence About AI In Law

    Most summer associates used generative artificial intelligence tools at their firms this year, but views on adoption were mixed. Students told Law360 Pulse the tools were useful for research and drafting, but voiced concerns over reliability, job loss and diminished writing skills.

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    These Firms Were The Top For Their Summer Associates

    Working as a summer associate is a rite of passage for many law students, and these training programs can boost aspiring attorneys' confidence in their career paths. Find out what students valued most and how they rated those experiences in a new survey from Law360 Pulse.

  • summer

    What Summer Associates Learned From Working At Firms

    We asked this year's cohort about the most valuable lessons they learned during their summer associateship. Here's the advice they shared for those ready to jump into law firm life.

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    Potomac Law Group Adds Pair Of Litigators In San Francisco

    Two new litigators have joined a Potomac Law Group PLLC affiliate in San Francisco as partners — a business and civil litigator most recently with the Spaulding McCullough & Tansil LLP boutique, and a white collar defense and civil litigator with the Rogers Joseph O'Donnell LLP boutique.

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Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Turn Deferral To My Advantage? Author Photo

    Diana Leiden at Winston & Strawn discusses how first-year associates whose law firm start dates have been deferred can use the downtime to hone their skills, help their communities, and focus on returning to BigLaw with valuable contacts and out-of-the-box insights.

  • Resume Gaps Are No Longer Kryptonite To Your Legal Career Author Photo

    Female attorneys and others who pause their careers for a few years will find that gaps in work history are increasingly acceptable among legal employers, meaning with some networking, retraining and a few other strategies, lawyers can successfully reenter the workforce, says Jill Backer at Ave Maria School of Law.

  • Law Firm Guardrails For Responsible Generative AI Use Author Photo

    ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools pose significant risks to the integrity of legal work, but the key for law firms is not to ban these tools, but to implement them responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, say Natalie Pierce and Stephanie Goutos at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Opinion

    We Must Continue DEI Efforts Despite High Court Headwinds Author Photo

    Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down affirmative action in higher education, law firms and their clients must keep up the legal industry’s recent momentum advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the profession in order to help achieve a just and prosperous society for all, says Angela Winfield at the Law School Admission Council.

  • Law Firms Cannot Ignore Attorneys' Personal Cybersecurity Author Photo

    Law firms that fail to consider their attorneys' online habits away from work are not using their best efforts to protect client information and are simplifying the job of plaintiffs attorneys in the case of a breach, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy and Protection.

  • Why Writing CLE Should Be Mandatory For Lawyers Author Photo

    Though effective writing is foundational to law, no state requires attorneys to take continuing legal education in this skill — something that must change if today's attorneys are to have the communication abilities they need to fulfill their professional and ethical duties to their clients, colleagues and courts, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona.

  • How To Find Your Inner Calm When Client Obligations Pile Up Author Photo

    In the most stressful times for attorneys, when several transactions for different partners and clients peak at the same time and the phone won’t stop buzzing, incremental lifestyle changes can truly make a difference, says Lindsey Hughes at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Support Gen Z Attorneys? Author Photo

    Meredith Beuchaw at Lowenstein Sandler discusses how senior attorneys can assist the newest generation of attorneys by championing their pursuit of a healthy work-life balance and providing the hands-on mentorship opportunities they missed out on during the pandemic.

  • Law Firm Cybersecurity Should Not Get Lost In The Cloud Author Photo

    A recent data leak at Proskauer via a cloud data storage platform demonstrates key reasons why law firms must pay attention to data safeguarding, including the increasing frequency of cloud-based data breaches and the consequences of breaking client confidentiality, says Robert Kraczek at One Identity.

  • Advice For Summer Associates Uneasy About Offer Prospects Author Photo

    There are a few communication tips that law students in summer associate programs should consider to put themselves in the best possible position to receive an offer, and firms can also take steps to support those to whom they are unable to make an offer, says Amy Mattock at Georgetown University Law Center.

  • How Law Firms Can Cautiously Wield AI To Streamline Tasks Author Photo

    Many attorneys are going to use artificial intelligence tools whether law firms like it or not, so firms should educate them on AI's benefits, limits and practical uses, such as drafting legal documents, to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving legal market, say Thomas Schultz and Eden Bernstein at Kellogg Hansen.

  • Keys To Managing The Stresses Of Law School Author Photo

    Dealing with the pressures associated with law school can prove difficult for many future lawyers, but there are steps students can take to manage stress — and schools can help too, say Ryan Zajic and Dr. Janani Krishnaswami at UWorld.

  • Can Mandatory CLE Mitigate Implicit Bias's Negative Impacts? Author Photo

    Amid ongoing disagreements on whether states should mandate implicit bias training as part of attorneys' continuing legal education requirements, Stephanie Wilson at Reed Smith looks at how unconscious attitudes or stereotypes adversely affect legal practice, and whether mandatory training programs can help.

  • Ditch The Frills And Start Writing Legal Letters In Plain English Author Photo

    To become more effective advocates, lawyers need to rethink the ridiculous, convoluted language they use in correspondence and write letters in a clear, concise and direct manner, says legal writing instructor Stuart Teicher.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Negotiate My Separation Agreement? Author Photo

    Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey discusses how a law firm associate can navigate being laid off, what to look for in a separation agreement and why to be upfront about it with prospective employers.

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