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California Pulse
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Legal Ops Pay Stagnates As Big Company GCs See Increases
A company's size has always influenced pay for in-house lawyers, but a new study shows a significant difference for general counsel and chief legal officers, with their median base salaries running 90% higher than their counterparts at smaller organizations. Meanwhile, compensation for directors of legal operations was flat.
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Legal Deserts: Millions Across America Struggle To Access Lawyers
Tens of millions of Americans live in towns and counties across the nation with limited or no access to legal services. By one estimate, at least a third of the nation's counties qualify as a "legal desert," having only one or no attorney per 1,000 residents. Roughly 24 million Americans reside in these counties.
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California Wildfire Litigator Joins Sterlington From Buchalter
Sterlington PLLC announced Monday that an experienced litigation attorney with a niche practice focusing on matters related to wildfires has joined the New York-based firm from Buchalter PC and will work remotely from Sacramento, California.
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What Happens When The Only Lawyer In Town Retires?
Many rural attorneys, often the only lawyer in town, work until they die or simply close their practices when they retire. But small to mid-sized firms looking to expand into rural markets could help to make succession planning a real possibility for these solo practitioners.
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First-Gen Students Pressured By Earlier BigLaw Recruiting
Students who are the first in their families to attend law school have been thrown a new challenge at the beginning of their legal journeys, as BigLaw accelerates their recruitment timelines.
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The 2026 Summer Associate Experience: AI Led The Way
Summer associate programs give law students an up-close look at changes unfolding in the legal industry, and a new Law360 Pulse survey found artificial intelligence use and pay have reached new heights.
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What Summer Associates Learned From Working At Firms
From learning how to come back from mistakes to cross-team collaboration, this year's summer associates came away with lessons that will help them succeed in their future careers. Here's what they want law students to know as they begin their own journeys.
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Sullivan & Cromwell Adding Kirkland Private Equity M&A Attys
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced Tuesday that four private equity mergers and acquisitions attorneys are moving to the firm from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
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Man Cops To Bombing Calif. Courthouse Over Gun Seizure
A California man pled guilty on Monday to setting off a bomb at a Santa Barbara County courthouse in 2024 as retaliation for law enforcement officers taking away his firearms.
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Disney Taps Warner Bros. Atty As Corp. Transactions Lead
Disney has expanded its corporate transactions legal team with the addition of Warner Bros. Discovery's senior vice president of business and legal affairs, according to an internal memo.
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State Farm Attorney Sanctioned $999.99 For AI Hallucinations
An attorney for State Farm who filed several motions citing nonexistent cases and fabricated quotes generated by AI software must pay a $999.99 sanction, a Los Angeles judge ruled, an amount one cent below the threshold that would have triggered a mandatory notice to the State Bar of California under state law.
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One County, One Lawyer: Legal Deserts Take A Human Toll
Divorce is often hard, but it is harder still when there’s just one lawyer in town. The story of one divorcing couple in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula illustrates the financial costs and emotional pain of living in a legal desert, and it helps explain why lawyer shortages are spreading throughout rural America. This story introduces Law360 Pulse’s special series on legal deserts.
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Morgan & Morgan Plans $1B In AI Spending, Unveils Platform
Personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan formally announced Monday that it has been running a proprietary artificial intelligence platform over the past few years while also committing to spend at least $1 billion on AI and technology improvements over the next decade.
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K&L Gates Hires 6-Atty Pillsbury Team In California, Texas
K&L Gates LLP announced Monday that it recently added six attorneys from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP to bolster its corporate, intellectual property, litigation, and labor and employment practices.
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Jackson Lewis Removes Ex-Atty's Bias Suit To Federal Court
Jackson Lewis PC has moved a former associate's suit accusing the firm of refusing to accommodate her temporary work restrictions following her medical leave to California federal court, saying state court wasn't the right venue for dispute.
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Attys Must Arbitrate $8 Oil To Fight $625K Sanction: 9th Circ.
Class action lawyers slapped with six-figure sanctions for suing Walmart Inc. based on erroneous purchase information can't yet challenge the discipline, the Ninth Circuit ruled, suggesting they may first need to arbitrate grievances over an $8 bottle of avocado oil.
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ABA Cyber Task Force Co-Chair Eyes AI Education Boost
With the legal industry presenting a more and more enticing target for cyberattacks, it's becoming increasingly important for practitioners to know how to best protect clients' data and most effectively use emerging artificial intelligence tools — a task that the American Bar Association's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force is well positioned to assist with, its incoming co-chair recently told Law360.
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2 Former BigLaw Attys Open SF Litigation Boutique
Two former partners at Greenberg Traurig LLP and Levin Law PA have launched a new boutique focusing on artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and cybersecurity in the San Francisco Bay area, they announced this week.
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Anti-Trans Care Push Continues Despite Big Proxy Losses
While conservative investor groups filed at least six shareholder proposals focused on transgender care coverage for minors during the 2025-2026 proxy season, all have been overwhelmingly defeated — with the most recent coming this week at Nike Inc.
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Greenberg Traurig, Eckert Seamans Hit By Data Breaches
Greenberg Traurig LLP and Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC have publicly revealed that they've been hit by data breaches, adding to the dozens of cybersecurity incidents U.S. law firms have suffered this year.
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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week
Elias Law Group LLP and Stinson LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Missouri cannot use a newly drawn congressional map that favors Republicans in the midterms.
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Law Firm Leasing Marks Record In Second Quarter Of 2026
The second quarter of 2026 was a record quarterly high for law firm leasing, with 7.3 million square feet of office space leased from April to June in the U.S. legal sector, according to a new report from commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield.
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Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz
The legal industry had another busy week as Law360 released new diversity data exploring the representation of women and people of color at U.S. law firms. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
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Jay-Z Can't Undo Buzbee's Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit
A California state appeals court has refused to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted music superstar Jay-Z by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying the case was properly thrown out under California's free speech statute.
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Ex-Immigration Judge Sues For Retaliatory Termination
A former immigration judge in California has sued Attorney General Todd Blanche, claiming she was fired after raising concerns about a spring 2025 directive ordering her and her colleagues to grant every motion to change venue filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys.
Expert Analysis
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3 Forces Reshaping The Legal Buyer-Seller Relationship
This year's Buying Legal Council Conference highlighted three emerging forces in how buyers and sellers operate in the legal ecosystem — artificial intelligence, data and preferred panels — and organizations would be well advised to combine them into an integrated framework for transparency, performance and collaboration, says Matthew Prinn at RFP Advisory Group.
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5 Steps For GCs To Drive Generative AI Experimentation
As legal departments face mounting pressure to do more with less, general counsel should lead a structured process for adopting generative artificial intelligence tools to transform productivity, manage risk and align with enterprise priorities, says Maesea McCalpin at Gartner.
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How Attys Can DIY Their Own System For Professional Growth
Amid law firm layoffs of business development staff, lawyers cannot depend solely on their firms to foster their professional growth, and must instead create their own initiatives for building community, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.
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The Augmented Lawyer: In-House, Outside Counsel AI Collabs
As artificial intelligence changes the dynamic between in-house and outside counsel, both internal and external legal teams must thoughtfully reimagine how to mutually leverage AI tools to collaborate and deliver successful outcomes, say Karineh Khachatourian at KXT Law and Diane Honda at Redis.
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Ask A Mentor: How Do I Adjust To In-House After BigLaw?
Sirisha Gummaregula at QuisLex offers advice on navigating the challenges that come with taking on an in-house counsel role after leaving law firm life, including learning your company's business goals and leading with empathy and collaboration.
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Adapting Legal Thought Leadership To An AI World
As potential clients with legal questions increasingly rely on summaries generated by artificial intelligence, attorneys must rethink their content strategy to make sure AI chatbots and search overviews cite their thought leadership, say Ioana Good and Adrien Maines at Promova and Nancy Myrland at Myrland Marketing.
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10 Practical Tips For Attorneys Navigating High-Profile Cases
Complex corporate litigation now often unfolds under the glare of a parallel trial in the court of public opinion, requiring attorneys to adopt a cohesive strategy for legal filings, leadership communications and narrative control, says Monica Smith at Integer PR.
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Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Tailor Your Personal Style
In an industry where competition for clients is fierce, a thoughtful approach to personal style can give you the confidence to walk into any room and own it, the magnetism to make connections that matter, and the tools to highlight your deeper professional values, says Leslie Berkoff at Moritt Hock.
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What GCs Value Most: 7 Tips For Landing The Client Pitch
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.
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Making Legal Cents: Strategy That Stays In Motion
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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Roundup
Legal Tech Talks
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.
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4 Tips For Attys To Turn An Interim Job Into A Long-Term Role
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.
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The Augmented Lawyer: AI Exercises For Junior Attorneys
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.
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Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Embrace LinkedIn
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.
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Guidance For Attorneys As Tariffs Reshape Legal Hiring
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.