Ex-Simpson Atty Shares Plans As NJ Consumer Affairs Chief

By Nick Muscavage

The New Jersey Senate confirmed Paul R. Rodriguez as the director of the state's Division of Consumer Affairs just before the new year, and he already has a lot planned for the year ahead.

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NYC Bar Calls For Removing Trump After Capitol Riot

By Marco Poggio

The New York City Bar Association called on the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government Monday to remove President Donald Trump from office after a riot of his supporters caused death and destruction in the U.S. Capitol last week.

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NY Firm Accused Of Misleading Debtors In Collection Letters

By Marco Poggio

A Long Island-based law firm was hit with a proposed class action Wednesday, alleging that it violated federal law by sending unsolicited letters to consumers with inaccurate debt balances and misrepresented the nature of those debts, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York.

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Where 5 States Stand On Nonlawyer Practice Of Law Regs

By Aebra Coe

At least five states are in various stages of consideration and implementation of new attorney regulations that would expand the universe of who can practice law — in some cases to include nonlawyers.

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Anheuser-Busch Brews Up Discovery Cost-Saving Algorithm

By Steven Lerner

Anheuser-Busch InBev is making more than just beer, as the brewing giant's in-house legal department told Law360 Pulse it has developed a tool that could reduce time spent reviewing documents and cut discovery costs by millions of dollars.

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Legal Industry Still Largely White And Male, ABA Survey Says

By Marco Poggio

White men still occupy most law firm leadership roles and are more likely to move up the ladder than women, minorities and people with disabilities, according to a survey published Tuesday by the American Bar Association.

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These Firms Steered The Most Cases In The Last 3 Years

By Xiumei Dong

Attorneys have fielded hundreds of thousands of civil lawsuits in federal district courts over the past three years, according to Lex Machina's Law Firms Activity Report released Thursday. Here, Law360 Pulse digs into which law firms racked up the most litigation work.

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Movers & Shakers

1Law's Jason Velez On Nonlawyer Investment

By Aebra Coe

Attorney Jason Velez launched his firm 1Law to experiment with new ideas around how to deliver legal services, including through technology. Here, he speaks with Law360 Pulse about seeking nonlawyer investment for the firm and other innovations.

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Analysis

Virtual Law Firms Grow Amid BigLaw Hiring Slump

By Xiumei Dong

Several law firms that have long embraced a remote work culture saw their headcounts and revenues soar in 2020, a trend some say will continue post-pandemic now that attorneys have gotten used to the work-from-home model.

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Boutique Law Firm Guzman Advisory Adds Partner

By Clarice Silber

Boutique law firm Guzman Advisory Partners said it has added a fourth partner six months after its public launch.

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Legal Tech Expands As Remote Work Settles In

By Steven Lerner

As companies went remote in 2020 amid the pandemic, law firms and legal departments supported the changing work environment with new investments in technology.

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Ex-Apple Insurance Atty Joins Cohen Ziffer As Partner In NY

By Adrian Cruz

New York-based insurance boutique Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna has added a former Apple corporate attorney as a partner, continuing a wave of expansion that included eight arrivals last month, the firm said.

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Davis Polk's Late Discovery Backs Bias Claims, Atty Says

By Lauren Berg

A former Davis Polk associate asked a New York federal judge Wednesday for another chance to rework his racial bias lawsuit against his old firm, saying emails and other documents produced during discovery back up his claims.

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Bonus Spotlight

Davis Polk Sets Associate Bonuses To A New High

By Xiumei Dong

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, one of the very first BigLaw firms to offer fall bonuses last year, announced Monday that it will pay spring and fall bonuses to its U.S. associates and counsel, raising the bonuses scale up to $64,000.

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11 Tech Tips To Help Law Firms Prepare For Attys' Return

By Steven Lerner

As law firms bring their legal professionals back to the office, technology will be instrumental to ensuring a safe and productive work environment. Here are 11 ways firms can use technology to ready their offices for the new normal.

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Older Retired NY Judges May Come Back To Bench After All

By Marco Poggio

New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said Wednesday the state budget for the new fiscal year will allow the court system to retain 46 judges over the age of 70 who were forced off the bench earlier this year after reaching their constitutional age limit and were denied certification to serve an additional two-year term.

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Greenberg Traurig Nabs Simpson Thacher M&A Atty In NY

By Clark Mindock

Greenberg Traurig LLP has snagged a seasoned attorney with years of experience helping private equity and corporate clients in a range of industries from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, marking the latest addition to the firm's corporate practice in New York.

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Q&A

How Greenberg Traurig Added 37 Laterals In 19 Weeks

By Aebra Coe

Greenberg Traurig LLP has added 37 lateral shareholders since the beginning of 2021. CEO Brian Duffy talked to Law360 Pulse about the role in the firm's appeal of a management style light on "micromanaging."

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Gibson Dunn Leadership Shuffle Effort To 'Amplify All Voices'

By Justin Wise

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP on Thursday announced its first leadership reshuffle under newly minted chair and managing partner Barbara Becker, in a move the firm said further expands its "ranks of diverse leaders" across offices and practices.

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Day Pitney Snags Ex-Dentons Partner To Chair Tax Group

By Sarah Martinson

A former Dentons partner who has more than 30 years of experience handling tax matters as in-house counsel and at a private law firm has joined Day Pitney LLP and will helm its tax practice, the firm announced Monday.

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Factor Aims To Help Law Firms With Transactional Work

By Steven Lerner

A service launched Tuesday by alternative legal services provider Factor aims to help law firms complete transactional work by taking over some administrative tasks that were typically performed by associates.

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Latham, Lewis Brisbois Bolster Cybersecurity Benches

By Emily Lever

Latham & Watkins LLP and Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP have each snagged a new lateral cybersecurity and privacy partner in Washington, D.C., and New York, respectively, the firms announced Thursday.

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Ex-BigLaw Atty Says SEC Fails To Prove Securities Fraud

By Al Barbarino

An ex-BigLaw attorney-turned-hedge fund pro who was sentenced last month to six months in prison for bankruptcy fraud wants a New York district court to toss a parallel civil suit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing that the agency failed to state a securities fraud claim.

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Why Willkie, Longford Want Their $50M Funding Deal Public

By Steven Lerner

The $50 million litigation funding agreement between Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Longford Capital Management LP is a market milestone in the acceptance of third-party financing among lawyers and clients alike. Here, leaders from Willkie and Longford tell Law360 Pulse why they made the deal public.

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Video Tech Glitches, Masked Jurors Spark 'Inevitable' Appeals

By Jack Karp

Technical hiccups in videoconferencing, masked jury selection and off-screen witness coaching are some of the pandemic-related issues cropping up in a growing number of appeals attorneys call inevitable.

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Judiciary Seeks $1.54B For Renovations, Better Security

By Ryan Boysen

The U.S. federal court system has asked Congress for $1.54 billion to beef up security, renovate aging courthouses and overhaul inadequate IT systems, as lawmakers contemplate a massive, multitrillion-dollar infrastructure bill.

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Katten Won't Set Return-To-Office Mandate

By Xiumei Dong

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP will not require its attorneys and staff to work in the office for a set number of days once the firm reopens its offices in the fall, according to an internal memo shared with Law360 Pulse.

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Husch Blackwell's Virtual Office Now Among Firm's Largest

By Anna Sanders

Husch Blackwell LLP's virtual office has become one of the BigLaw firm's largest a year after opening during the coronavirus pandemic, with leaders saying the fully remote workspace has buoyed efforts to expand and support clients across the country.

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Do Virtual Courts Have A Harmful Effect On Litigant Empathy?

By Adrian Cruz

Courthouses and other legal bodies have had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic in a similar fashion to many other institutions, by substituting most, if not all of their in-house proceedings with virtual ones typically done over Zoom. But do these virtual courts have a hidden side effect that puts litigants at a disadvantage?

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Mets Promote 2 Senior In-House Attys To Co-General Counsel

By Sue Reisinger

The New York Mets have promoted two in-house lawyers to be co-general counsel, as it seeks to repair its image and change its culture after a sexual misconduct scandal.

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Bryan Cave Adds Global Head Of Korea Practice In NY

By Emily Lever

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has added a cross-border real estate lawyer and former global head of Mayer Brown LLP's practice in the Republic of Korea to practice in its global real estate group and lead its Korea practice from New York, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Paul Weiss Joins Firms Delaying Return Plans, Mandating Vax

By Justin Wise

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP is delaying the next phase of its office return plan and will Monday require all personnel and visitors to be vaccinated to enter its locations, according to a memo shared with Law360.

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Cryptic US Crypto Rules Seen Pushing 'Good Actors' Abroad

By Michele Gorman

The U.S. needs a clear cryptocurrency framework for "good actors" who want to run their businesses with clarity, or risk continuing to lose companies moving abroad where regulations in this space are more apparent, a group of panelists said Thursday during the American Bar Association's annual meeting.

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Do Diversity Reviews Actually Advance Progress?

By Cara Bayles

In recent years, corporate clients have been asking firms more and more for internal demographic data, in an effort to hold BigLaw to its diversity goals. But can client pressure and data gathering actually produce results?

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Mid-Law Salaries Rising Amid Pressure From Market, BigLaw

By Emma Cueto

As BigLaw firms raise associate salaries to new heights, many midsize firms are also increasing their compensation, a move driven largely by the same market pressures affecting BigLaw.

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NY Decries 'Brazen Gaslighting' By Endo's Opioid Attys

By Jeff Overley

The New York Attorney General's Office on Thursday declared that belated and begrudging disclosures by Endo Pharmaceuticals in a tumultuous opioid trial contain "case-changing" revelations and fresh evidence of misconduct by the drugmaker's lawyers.

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Kossoff Wants To Challenge Chapter 7 Discovery Order

By Emma Whitford

Counsel for New York City real estate attorney Mitchell Kossoff is seeking to appeal a discovery order in the ongoing bankruptcy of Kossoff's defunct firm, arguing that turning over records and a list of debts now would waive his client's right not to self-incriminate.

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These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships

By Jacqueline Bell

Many law firms are seeing only modest progress as they seek to close the gender gap in their top ranks. But these firms are working to shake up that reality and forging a path to progress.

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Arnold & Porter Adds SDNY Prosecutor To Litigation Group

By Emily Johnson

Arnold & Porter has boosted its complex litigation practice with the addition of a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who's working in private practice for his first time, the firm announced Monday.

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Ford O'Brien Hit With $20M Malpractice Suit

By Tracey Read

Ford O'Brien Landy LLP was hit with a $20 million malpractice suit in New York state court on Friday by a former client who claims the firm's "haphazard" representation and lack of research led him to incur a $23.4 million arbitration loss in a suit brought by the trading firm at which he used to work.

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Returning To The Office Isn't One-Size-Fits-All

By Xiumei Dong

As summer vacations draw to a close, a growing number of law firms are signaling their desire to bring attorneys back to their desks, with some adopting a four-day-in-office policy. However, as firms grapple with redefining their office culture, experts are cautious about the one-size-fits-all approach.

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Saul Ewing, Freeman Leaders On Why They Combined Forces

By Tracey Read

Saul Ewing LLP and Southern California's Freeman Freeman & Smiley LLP have created a combined law firm with more than 400 lawyers across 18 offices. Law360 Pulse spoke with firm leaders on how the combination takes advantage of "strength on strength."

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2nd Circ. Urged To Affirm Win In Ex-AIG Atty's Retaliation Suit

By Aaron West

American International Group on Friday urged the Second Circuit to affirm its early win in a former employee's retaliation suit, arguing that the employee hadn't shown a connection between the fraud reports he made and his termination.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Georgetown Law's Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic and Ellwanger Law lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions after the full Fifth Circuit unwound decades-old precedent that limited the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to "ultimate employment decisions."

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Hedge Fund Compliance Head Joins Lowenstein Sandler

By Sarah Jarvis

The chief compliance officer and general counsel of hedge fund Glenview Capital Management will join Lowenstein Sandler LLP later this month to focus on advising investment management clients, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Sbaiti To Lead Barclays Unregistered Securities Investor Suit

By Sydney Price

Two lawsuits claiming Barclays customers were duped into buying unregistered securities were consolidated in New York federal court and will be led by counsel from Texas-based Sbaiti & Co. PLLC.

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Judges, Attys Must Pay Special Attention To Implicit Bias

By Jack Karp

While everyone has implicit bias, judges, lawyers and court staff can be particularly susceptible to unconscious prejudices, and their biases can have a greater impact on the people they encounter, according to a webinar held Monday.

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Seward & Kissel Shuffles In Enforcement, Litigation Leaders

By Phillip Bantz

Seward & Kissel LLP said Wednesday it has tapped two partners who formerly were government attorneys to step up and take over as co-leaders of the firm's government enforcement and litigation practice groups.

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Labaton Sucharow Will Lead Norfolk Southern Investor Suit

By Ryan Harroff

A New York federal judge appointed Labaton Sucharow LLP as lead counsel for a proposed class of investors bringing a suit against Norfolk Southern Corp. and multiple major financial firms alleging the transportation company overstated its commitment to safety before a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

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Red Mass: What Does It Mean To Be A Catholic Lawyer?

By Daniel Connolly

This fall, some Catholic lawyers are celebrating the Red Mass, a traditional blessing for the legal profession. An annual mass in Washington, D.C. has sometimes drawn U.S. Supreme Court justices. Amid the church’s ongoing challenges, what does it mean to be a Catholic attorney today?

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Why Gusto's CLO Puts Advocacy 'At The Heart' Of Her Work

By Michele Gorman

Growing up in Ukraine, Dina Segal was influenced by her grandfather, who as a lawyer helped solve complex issues in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. She remembers declaring at age 13 that she wanted to become a lawyer. Now, she advocates for small businesses as chief legal officer at software company Gusto, which helps simplify complex processes in HR services.

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NYU Law Review Accused Of Bias Against Straight White Men

By Ryan Boysen

A self-described straight white male, first-year law student at New York University has hit the school with a proposed class action for discrimination, claiming the prestigious NYU Law Review — which he plans to apply for — gives "preferential treatment to women, non-Asian racial minorities, homosexuals and transgender people."

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NY AG Says Trump Trial Docs Missing As Sidebar Row Ensues

By Stewart Bishop and Frank G. Runyeon

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday said Donald Trump and others likely failed to turn over evidence in their civil fraud trial, in light of a report claiming a Trump Organization executive lied on the witness stand, a dispute that led to an off-the-record sidebar dust-up.

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Santos Pleads Not Guilty To New Charges, Gets Trial Date

By Katherine Smith

U.S. Rep. George Santos pled not guilty to a 10-count superseding indictment charging him with lying to election officials and stealing campaign contributors' personal identity and financial information during a court appearance Friday where a New York federal judge set a September 2024 trial date.

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Crypto Co. DCG Taps Kramer Levin Vet For NYAG Fight

By Aislinn Keely

Crypto venture firm Digital Currency Group has hired a top Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP lawyer to help it fight fraud claims from the New York state attorney general, tapping a litigator who, among other things, played a key role in the impeachment trials of former President Donald Trump.

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Club Urges 2nd Circ. To Affirm Sanctions In Harassment Case

By Emily Sawicki

A New York social club is urging the Second Circuit to affirm a sanctions order against former counsel for a onetime employee who sued the club on sexual harassment claims but whose "continuous pattern of egregious misrepresentations and other misconduct," as the club called it, sank the case.

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Sidley Hires Former Allen & Overy LLP Energy Partner In NY

By Jack Rodgers

Sidley Austin LLP has hired an energy, transportation and infrastructure partner to join the firm's New York office, after working with Allen & Overy LLP for almost three years, the firm announced Monday.

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NYC Mayor Retains WilmerHale Amid Federal Probe

By Andrea Keckley

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has hired WilmerHale as the federal government investigates his campaign fundraising operation, with his former chief counsel acting as co-leader of the BigLaw team, Law360 Pulse has learned.

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Longtime Stroock IP Partner Joins McCarter & English

By Adrian Cruz

McCarter & English LLP announced that an experienced intellectual property partner from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP who focuses on transactional matters joined the firm's New York office following the recent decision of his former firm to cease operations.

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Avenatti Jury Pushed To 'Rat Out' Holdout Juror, Atty Says

By Pete Brush

The trial judge who presided over disbarred lawyer Michael Avenatti's conviction for pilfering money from his then-client, porn star Stormy Daniels, improperly prodded jurors to "rat out" a holdout who didn't want to convict, Avenatti's lawyer told the Second Circuit Friday.

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Cooley Brings On New COO From Fried Frank

By Madison Arnold

Cooley LLP announced Monday that it has hired the former chief operating officer at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP to fill the same role.

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SBF Brings Aboard Marc Mukasey Ahead Of Likely Appeal

By Hailey Konnath

Sam Bankman-Fried has retained prominent white collar lawyer Marc Mukasey as the disgraced founder of FTX prepares for his upcoming sentencing as well as a likely appeal, according to a filing in New York federal court Tuesday.

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Gibbons' Exec Chair Departs After Over 3 Decades With Firm

By Lynn LaRowe

Gibbons PC announced on Thursday that a longtime leader who shepherded the firm through a merger, expansions and a rebranding has departed after more than three decades with the firm, including the past 20 years in leadership posts.

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NY Investment Funds Pro Rejoins Akin From Paul Hastings

By Andrea Keckley

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP announced the return of a veteran investment management attorney to its New York office on Thursday following his approximately five-year stint at Paul Hastings LLP.

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Polsinelli Adds 9 Cybersecurity Attys From Maynard Nexsen

By Xiumei Dong

Polsinelli PC said Tuesday that it has expanded its cybersecurity and data privacy team with the addition of a nine-lawyer group from Maynard Nexsen PC, including four former practice leaders.

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Feds Seek Over 5 Years For NYC Atty In $18.8M Ponzi Scheme

By Andrea Keckley

Federal prosecutors are seeking 5¼ to 6½ years in prison for a New York City attorney who admitted to running an $18.8 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded real estate investors, in addition to separately laundering funds from an expansive insurance fraud scheme.

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These Cos. Are In The Hot Seat As Proxy Season Approaches

By Sue Reisinger

At least four high-profile corporations and their general counsel are gearing up for a tougher-than-usual 2024 proxy season — those three months in the spring when most companies hold their annual meetings.

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These Are The Hottest Trends In Law Firm Design

By Tracey Read

Out with the law library and in with Zoom rooms? Law360 Pulse recently talked to architects and legal employers to find out what the biggest trends are in law firm design.

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Feds' Crypto Focus Is No Longer On 'Whack-A-Mole' Cases

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Department of Justice is no longer playing "whack-a-mole" in its crypto cases, and instead is taking on large-scale actors in the hopes of encouraging industrywide compliance, veteran crypto-focused prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office said Friday.

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Stinson Adds Bressler Amery's NY Managing Principal

By Jack Rodgers

Stinson LLP has hired its sixth attorney in the past year in New York, who joins its financial services and class action practice division as a partner after working as the managing principal of Bressler Amery & Ross PC's New York office.

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Anderson Kill Litigator To Co-Lead GRSM50 Antitrust Group

By Andrea Keckley

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has tapped a former Anderson Kill PC litigator with more than three decades of civil and criminal experience to co-chair its antitrust practice group, the firm announced on Wednesday.

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Tarter Krinsky's Cybersecurity Co-Chair Joins Norton Rose

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP's former privacy and cybersecurity co-chair is moving to Norton Rose Fulbright, bringing a former associate with her to the firm's New York office.

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Law360 Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Mitchell Law PLLC, Gessler Blue LLC and Dhillon Law Group Inc. lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found that states can't bar former president Donald Trump from running for reelection this year based on a 14th Amendment provision.

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Judge Orders Probe Into NY Atty's Secret Courtroom Meeting

By Marco Poggio

A New York court will look into whether a secret meeting last year between the local attorney representing a man charged with murder and the law clerk for the judge trying his case amounted to an ethical violation and possibly infringed the man's constitutional right to a fair trial, attorneys told Law360 Friday.

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Trump Floats Quasi-Advice Of Counsel Defense For NY Trial

By Lauren Berg

Donald Trump's attorneys told a New York judge they will argue that he lacked intent to commit the felonies alleged in his hush money case because the former president knew he had attorneys involved in the payoffs to women during his 2016 election campaign, but that it's not quite an advice-of-counsel defense.

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In-House Office Snapshot: McKinsey & Co.

By Sue Reisinger

Here Law360 Pulse presents its first Office Snapshot of an in-house legal department. Lawyers at the giant management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. recently developed a program to enhance collaboration across regions and industry practice areas.   

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Trump's Mystery Docket: Inside NY's Secretive Filing System

By Frank G. Runyeon

The first criminal indictment of a former American president may have arrived in 21st century New York, but it landed in a court system stuck in the past — where the official record is a disorganized and incomplete mass of paper with no accounting of what's inside.

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Success Unlikely For Menendez As Independent, Analyst Says

By Carla Baranauckas

Although embattled Sen. Robert Menendez, under indictment on federal corruption charges, announced he will not run in New Jersey's Democratic primary but may seek reelection as an independent, the effort is likely to be fruitless, a Garden State political analyst said Friday.

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Trump Hit With Gag Order In NY Criminal Trial After Threats

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money case on Tuesday imposed a limited gag order on the former president, barring him from speaking publicly about jurors or witnesses and limiting what he can say about any attorneys in the case, prosecutors, court staff or their families.

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How Senior Associates Can Build Their Books Of Business

By Kevin Penton

As associates grow into their positions, there can come a point at which they realize that mastering the art of the legal brief or the deposition is not enough: They also need to learn how to attract and retain clients.

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Paul Hastings Adds Group Co-Chair With Finance Duo Hire

By Andrea Keckley

Following group hires in the finance space, Paul Hastings LLP announced Wednesday it is hiring two attorneys from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, one of whom will co-chair its asset-backed finance practice.

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King & Spalding Hires Ex-Capital One Assoc. GC As Partner

By Sue Reisinger

King & Spalding LLP said Wednesday it has added a former associate general counsel at Capital One as a partner in its finance and restructuring practice group in New York.

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Large-Cap PE Specialist Moves To Sidley From Paul Weiss

By Al Barbarino

A veteran private equity attorney has joined Sidley Austin LLP's mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice in New York from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he told Law360 in a Thursday interview that he will continue representing large cap private equity firms amid an anticipated uptick in both platform acquisitions and exits. 

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'Eat Or Be Eaten': Mid-Law Drove Q1 Law Firm Mergers

By Aebra Coe

As firms feel the pressure to grow to meet client demands, midsize law firms appear to be more eager to gobble up small law firms and less thrilled by the idea of being acquired, according to consultants and first quarter U.S. law firm combination results collected by Law360 Pulse.

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Barclay Damon Hires 3 IP Attys From Murtha Cullina

By Emma Cueto

Barclay Damon LLP announced Tuesday it added a Hartford, Connecticut-based, five-person intellectual property group, consisting of two partners, one counsel, a patent agent and a paralegal, from New England law firm Murtha Cullina LLP.

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Sen. Menendez's Wife Gets Own Bribery Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

A New York federal judge agreed on Thursday to give the wife of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez her own trial in a sprawling case accusing the couple of accepting bribes for using the New Jersey Democrat's influence to further the interests of three businessmen.

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Marshall Dennehey Adds Co-Chair Of Disciplinary Practice

By James Boyle

An attorney with more than 30 years of experience representing professionals in malpractice and liability matters has moved his practice to Marshall Dennehey PC after more than 17 years with Catalano Gallardo & Petropoulos LLP.

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An Olympics Volunteer, This GC Still Seeks To Be Champion

By Sue Reisinger

Robert Herbst, a former general counsel and world champion weightlifter, has woven together the law and sports throughout his career, including this week in Paris where he is working with the U.S. Olympic team as a volunteer.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Fillmore Law Firm LLP, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and the Business Roundtable lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Texas federal judge blocked a Federal Trade Commission ban on noncompete agreements in employment contracts.

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Cozen O'Connor Reelects CEO Michael Heller To Fifth Term

By James Boyle

Cozen O'Connor's continuous steady growth over the last 12 years has prompted the firm's leadership to reelect its current chief executive for another three-year term.

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Ex-Constantine Cannon, Robins Kaplan Attys Form Antitrust Firm

By Xiumei Dong

A team of 10 attorneys formerly with Constantine Cannon LLP and Robins Kaplan LLP has formed a new boutique firm specializing in antitrust law, with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., according to a Tuesday announcement.

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Akerman Adds In-House Atty From WR Berkley

By Madison Arnold

An assistant vice president and counsel to W.R. Berkley Corp., a commercial lines property and casualty insurance holding company, left his in-house role to become a partner with Akerman LLP in New York, the firm announced Monday.

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NY Lawyer Wants Jay-Z's Claims In Suit Against Buzbee Tossed

By Emily Sawicki

A New York City lawyer wants a court to dismiss allegations that she took part in a conspiracy with prominent attorney Tony Buzbee to extort Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter via a since-dropped rape case, arguing that the hip-hop mogul's claims against her were brought in an improper forum and that he failed to state a claim.

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Q&A

Gordon Rees Leader Talks Handing Reins To New Blood

By James Mills

As he approached two decades at the helm of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, managing partner Dion Cominos says he knew it was time to turn over leadership of the firm to a "new generation."

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Real Estate Finance Pro Returns To ArentFox Schiff In NY

By Aebra Coe

ArentFox Schiff LLP has added a real estate finance partner in New York from Greenspoon Marder LLP who returns to the firm after seven years away, the firm announced this week.

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SEC, Crypto Bank Veteran Joins DeFi Platform As GC

By Aislinn Keely

A former senior attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who most recently served as cryptocurrency bank Anchorage Digital's general counsel, is taking her experience navigating federal regulations and institutional demands to decentralized finance infrastructure platform Veda, the firm announced Tuesday.

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NY Law Mandating Judicial Fine Declared Unconstitutional

By Madison Arnold

A New York state appeals court has declared unconstitutional a statute that mandates a judge forfeit $1,000 to a plaintiff if the judge refuses to issue a writ of habeas corpus.

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How These Small Firms Have Withstood The Test Of Time

By Rachel Rippetoe

According to the leaders of small law firms that have survived for generations, and whose legacies include prosecuting secessionists after the Civil War and taking on Ford Motor Co. in one of the first automobile-related product liability cases, succession planning and deep community ties have been key to their longevity.

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NY Firm Falcon Rappaport Adds Employment Partner

By Matt Perez

New York business law firm Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP has hired an attorney from Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP as a partner in its labor and employment practice group, the firm announced.

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5 Best Practices For Firms Designing DEI Programs

Nikki Lewis Simon, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Greenberg Traurig, discusses best practices — and some pitfalls to avoid — for law firms looking to build programs aimed at driving inclusion in the workplace.

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