California Pulse


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    Tarter Krinsky Taps Ex-NYU Langone Pro To Launch AI Office

    Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP has launched an Office of Artificial Intelligence and Innovation under the leadership of the former program manager of legal AI integration and compliance at NYU Langone Health.

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    A&O Shearman Profit Hits $1.6B Amid High-Value Work

    A&O Shearman said Thursday that a shift toward higher-value cross-border work in transactions and financings helped boost profitability two years after the firm's formation through a merger, although revenue stayed flat at $3.7 billion.

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    Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To The US Supreme Court's Term

    Federal appeals courts had wide-ranging successes and struggles during the U.S. Supreme Court's recently completed term: One had its best showing in years following its worst showing in years; one felt déjà vu after recently starting to find favor with the justices; and one saw its reputation for independence occupy a rare role in the Supreme Court spotlight.

  • Paramount Wants Merger Judge Recused Over Guild Work

    Paramount has asked a district judge to recuse himself from overseeing a challenge led by a dozen states to the company's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing Wednesday that the judge's former role as labor counsel for a guild that's also challenging the deal risks the appearance of impartiality.

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    Goodwin Adds MoFo Antitrust Pro In San Francisco

    Goodwin Procter LLP has expanded its antitrust capabilities in California with the addition of an attorney from Morrison Foerster LLP, the firm said Wednesday.

  • Apple Allowed To Question Withdrawing Hagens ICloud Client

    A California federal judge has allowed Apple to impose conditions on the withdrawal of a Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP client as a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case, concluding that the consumer's information could be "relevant to spoliation sanctions" or Hagens Berman's adequacy as class counsel.

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    Morgan & Morgan Names Former Amazon Exec As 1st AI Chief

    Personal injury giant Morgan & Morgan has hired a longtime Amazon executive as its first chief artificial intelligence officer to oversee the firm's AI strategy, with the firm saying it is looking to use the technology to drive revenue growth and improve client experience.

  • Lowenstein Sandler Launches Startup Tool With Clerky

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP announced this week a collaboration with legal software provider Clerky to launch a workspace for startup founders.

  • Quinn Emanuel, Spiro Ousted From CoStar Copyright Fight

    A California federal judge has disqualified Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and its attorney Alex Spiro from representing a commercial real estate platform in a copyright infringement suit brought by CoStar, agreeing that the firm's representation of CoStar in a different case should result in its removal from this one.

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    Goodwin Adds Life Sciences Veteran For San Diego Relaunch

    Goodwin Procter LLP announced on Tuesday that it had hired a veteran life sciences attorney to co-chair its new San Diego office, which is slated to open later this summer.

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    Veteran M&A Atty Joins Hanson Bridgett In Bay Area

    Hanson Bridgett LLP announced that an experienced corporate transactional attorney has joined the firm as counsel based in its San Francisco and San Rafael, California, offices, after spending over a decade running her own operation.

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    Calif. Bar Settles With Administrators Of 'Disastrous' Bar Exam

    The State Bar of California has reached a settlement with the administrators of its "disastrous" February 2025 bar exam, whose array of highly publicized technical glitches prevented hundreds of aspiring lawyers from completing the test.

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    Mayer Brown Adds Ex-Orrick Real Estate Partner In LA

    Mayer Brown LLP said Monday it has hired a real estate transactional lawyer in Los Angeles who formerly worked as a partner at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

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    Legal Tech Funding Climbs In 2026 Despite Fewer Deals

    Total funding for legal technology companies increased in the first half of 2026 while deal count fell, suggesting that investors are deploying more capital into fewer companies as artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in the industry.

  • Procopio Native American Head Joins Cox Castle In San Diego

    Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP announced Monday that an experienced real estate attorney who founded and led Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP's Native American practice has joined the firm's San Diego office as a partner.

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    How Stanford Law Initiative Is Riding Private Capital 'Wave'

    A new initiative at Stanford Law School is turning a spotlight on the private capital environment, a once-niche area for investors that has grown into a "massive" financial ecosystem.

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    BigLaw Grew More Selective On Second Quarter Lateral Hires

    Lateral hiring at large U.S. law firms slowed in the second quarter of 2026 after a strong start to the year, with associate and counsel moves declining while partner hiring remained relatively steady, according to figures from legal data company Firm Prospects LLC.

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    Buchalter Taps Firmwide Litigation Chair To Lead LA Office

    Buchalter PC has tapped its firmwide chair of litigation, who has spent almost a decade with the firm on complex business disputes, commercial real estate litigation and intellectual property matters, as the new managing partner of its Los Angeles headquarters.

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    Davis Wright Atty Hit With Sanctions After Winning Sanctions

    After defending six-figure sanctions of plaintiffs lawyers for "a reckless course of prolonging litigation," a Davis Wright Tremaine LLP attorney is facing his own six-figure sanctions, with a California magistrate judge finding he "unnecessarily burdened" opposing counsel despite warnings dating back years about "improper litigation tactics."

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP and Ludd & Ludd lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a San Diego jury ordered Hyatt to pay $15.5 million over the death of a guest who was left uncontacted for a day after failing to check out.

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    Reed Smith Creates AI-Focused Legal Services Team

    Reed Smith LLP has created a department to bring lawyers, e-discovery and AI professionals and others to support clients and the firm with legal, business and technology-focused guidance, and tapped a partner in Philadelphia to spearhead the effort.

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    MedReview Hires CLO From Aesthetics Co. Peachy

    MedReview Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York County Health Services Review Organization, announced that it has hired the general counsel and chief people officer at preventative aesthetics company Peachy.

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    4 Takeaways From Probe Of Feb. 2025 Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco

    Poor implementation of the February 2025 California Bar Exam resulted in millions of dollars in extra costs and negatively affected "a significant portion" of test-takers, according to a new report by the California State Auditor.

  • Oura Health Swaps In Sidley For Quinn After Ex-CEO's DQ Bid

    A California federal judge granted Oura Health's request to swap in Sidley Austin LLP for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in breach-of-contract litigation by the fitness tracker company's former CEO after the ex-executive sought to disqualify Quinn Emanuel for purportedly having access to his confidential data.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another busy week as BigLaw firms expanded headcounts and practices. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse’s weekly quiz.

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Expert Analysis

  • What GCs Value Most: 7 Tips For Landing The Client Pitch Author Photo

    In today’s competitive legal market, successful attorneys treat the pitch process with general counsel like the beginning of a relationship, not a one-off sale — showing up with curiosity, commercial awareness and the ability to engage in a meaningful way from the start, says Andrew Dick at The L Suite.

  • Making Legal Cents: Strategy That Stays In Motion Author Photo

    Instead of lurching between year-end strategic planning season and springtime panic mode, firms need a framework that helps them identify what clients and the market need throughout the year, and then actually adjust course, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

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    Legal Tech Talks Author Photo

    Company founders, attorneys and other professionals working in the legal tech space share their journeys into the industry, challenges they face when working with law firms and legal departments, and common misconceptions about technology.

  • 4 Tips For Attys To Turn An Interim Job Into A Long-Term Role Author Photo

    As some attorneys seek interim roles amid economic uncertainty, big-picture thinking and a few proactive steps can help to turn those short-term assignments into long-term positions, says Amy Vanderhoof at Major Lindsey.

  • The Augmented Lawyer: AI Exercises For Junior Attorneys Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence tools become increasingly adept at handling entry-level legal tasks, firms and organizations must consider new ways to train and mentor junior attorneys to prepare them for leadership in an AI-integrated profession, say attorneys at KXT Law.

  • Series

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Embrace LinkedIn Author Photo

    Attorneys who recognize LinkedIn as a powerful professional platform can gain significant competitive advantages in business development via strategic content creation, meaningful industry discussions and consistent visibility within target markets, says Agatha Mouillet at Horvitz & Levy.

  • Guidance For Attorneys As Tariffs Reshape Legal Hiring Author Photo

    As law firms and in-house legal departments grapple with the uncertainty of evolving tariff policies, attorneys at all career stages should consider how to lean into these shifts to best position themselves for long-term opportunities, says Rena Barnett-Matthews at Attorney Career Coach.

  • How Firms Can Plan For Succession Of Admin Professionals Author Photo

    Many law firms are familiar with the need for attorney succession plans, but it’s also essential to plan for the succession of administrative professionals — from human resources personnel to finance leaders — to ensure continuity of critical day-to-day operations, say Eryn Carter and Travis Armstrong at the Association of Legal Administrators.

  • Series

    Expanding The Reach Of A Legal Nonprofit Author Photo

    I co-founded the Legal Mentor Network with the goal of providing free legal mentoring to law students and early career attorneys, and the experience has highlighted how nonprofits can grow with the help of strong sponsorships and volunteers who all operate from a positive place, says Chrystal Mauro at the Legal Mentor Network.

  • How 1Ls Can Plan For Sped-Up Summer Associate Hiring Author Photo

    The ever-earlier recruiting of summer associates sets high stakes before new law students may even realize, but 1Ls can better land a good 2L summer fit if they hit their first semester focused on the hiring timeline and ready to ask important questions about their would-be firms, says Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

  • How GCs Can Help Build A Geopolitical Command Center Author Photo

    In the face of sustained regulatory and economic uncertainty, general counsel can help businesses move from reactive to proactive management by building a clear, cross-functional geopolitical command center that monitors and coordinates responses to a wide spectrum of issues, says Lars Faeste at FTI Consulting.

  • 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.

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