California Pulse


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    Webcor Promotes General Counsel To EVP, CLO

    Commercial general contractor Webcor announced Thursday that it has tapped its general counsel to take on the role of executive vice president and chief legal officer.

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    Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

    Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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    Sidley Grows In Calif. With Life Sciences, Emerging Cos. Hires

    Sidley Austin LLP announced three partner hires in California, which the firm said will enhance its capabilities in the life sciences and emerging companies and venture capital practices.

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    Sex Abuse, Wages, Wildfires Drive Complex Case Spike In LA

    What constitutes complex civil litigation is undergoing a "dramatic transformation" in Los Angeles, where cases involving sexual abuse and the Catholic Church, novel employment issues and recent wildfires are driving a surge in complicated disputes, according to a new report.

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    Can BigLaw Find 'More Thoughtful' Approach To 1L Stipends?

    Large law firms experienced public pushback this spring after implementing new stipend programs for prospective summer associates who choose to take on public interest work after their first year of law school. However, it's unclear whether firms will be moved by the criticism.

  • Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

    The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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    Adobe Hires PayPal Atty As VP Of Corp. Legal

    An in-house attorney of more than a decade at PayPal has joined Adobe Inc. as vice president of corporate legal, according to an announcement on social media from a senior lawyer at the software giant.

  • Legal Tech Co. Sues US Over Anthropic AI Shutdown Order

    Legal tech company Legion has sued the U.S. government in D.C. federal court over a directive ordering Anthropic to shut down two of its advanced AI models to foreigners, alleging the move caused the company to lose access to one of the models that powers its platform.

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    AAA Rolls Out Protocol For AI Agent Transactions

    The American Arbitration Association launched an open-source method on Wednesday for attaching legal terms to transactions brokered by artificial intelligence agents, saying most agent-to-agent transactions currently lack verifiable terms and are unclear about which jurisdiction's law governs.

  • Baker McKenzie Partner Class Dips To 47 Attys

    Baker McKenzie has promoted a smaller-than-usual partner class of 47 attorneys, according to an announcement from the firm on Tuesday.

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    How Empathy Can Make Associates Better Lawyers

    As associates navigate a legal industry increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence and related technology that makes information more readily available than ever before, developing empathy will be increasingly crucial, legal experts tell Law360 Pulse.

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    How Associates Can Maximize Their New Pay Raises

    For the first time in over two years, many associates have seen their base pay rise by at least $10,000 and some by as much as $45,000 annually. Here's what financial experts say young lawyers should do with the extra income.

  • Calif. Judge Restores Immigration Courthouse Arrest Limits

    A California federal judge Tuesday vacated the Trump administration's policies on civil arrests at immigration courthouses, restoring limits on those arrests and finding that the government didn't adequately explain its policy shift.

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    Arnold & Porter Rehires City Of Hope Deputy GC In LA

    The former deputy general counsel of litigation at a nonprofit cancer research and treatment center has returned to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP in Los Angeles, as counsel in the firm's complex litigation practice.

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    What Attorneys Really Think About Their Profession

    Law360 Pulse asked attorneys for their thoughts on what being an attorney is actually like — what they love about their job, what they see as the biggest misconceptions about a career in law and what advice they have for new lawyers. Here's what they said.

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    Associates Unhappy Over Leave, Firm Leadership

    Associates are dissatisfied over the lack of transparency at their law firms, what they perceive to be limited opportunities for advancement and how their leaders communicate, Law360 Pulse found in its sixth annual Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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    Are Attorneys Happy At Work? Depends Who You Ask

    Most lawyers are satisfied with their careers, but their happiness at work varies depending on their rank, a new Law360 Pulse survey found.

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    Axinn Giving $25K Bonuses As Glenn Agre Matches Milbank

    Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes LLP will match the Milbank LLP base pay scale for associates, while Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP — which was already paying above-market salaries — will hand out special summer bonuses of up to $25,000, the boutiques told Law360 Pulse Tuesday.

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    LA Superior Court Gains Prominence With 'Nuclear' Verdicts

    Los Angeles County Superior Court was among the country's top sites for awarding big civil damages in recent years, according to a Lex Machina report.

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    'Rubber-Stamp' Doc Sealing In Federal Civil Cases 'Run Amok'

    Most sealing motions in federal civil litigation are granted, often without proper review, blocking important information from public view, a team of law professors and researchers found in a new study.

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    Broadway Financial Hires Ex-Invesco General Counsel As CLO

    Broadway Financial Corp., the parent company of City First Bank, has found its new legal leader in a financial services veteran who most recently served as general counsel at Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc.

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    Investors Nearly Unanimously Reject Anti-Diversity Proposals

    An anti-diversity proxy campaign has submitted shareholder proposals at almost 90 companies in 2025 and 2026, and so far investors have rejected them almost unanimously two years in a row, according to a new report.

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    Fighting Cyber Threats: What Law Firms Need To Do Now

    Law firms, especially small and midsize ones, are increasingly becoming victims of cyberattacks. Here are some practical tips for firms to thwart cyberattacks and reduce damage when breaches occur.

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    Small Firms Hit Hardest As Data Breaches Surged In 2025

    Cyberattacks targeting law firms remained widespread in 2025, with smaller firms accounting for the majority of reported breaches, according to a Law360 Pulse analysis. The pace shows little sign of easing this year, as experts warn that cybercriminals are becoming more organized, sophisticated and financially motivated.

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    CLM Co. Agiloft Hires Ex-Mitsubishi, John Deere Exec As GC

    Contract lifecycle management provider Agiloft Inc. on Monday announced the hiring of a former senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Mitsubishi HC Capital America Inc. as its general counsel, following the recent vacancy of the company's chief legal officer role.

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Expert Analysis

  • Burnout Prevention Requires Effort From Attys And Firms Author Photo

    To avoid physical and emotional exhaustion, attorneys must respect their own and their colleagues' personal and professional boundaries, but law firms must also play a role in discouraging burnout culture — especially if they are struggling with attorney retention, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • How I Owned My Power As An Asian American Woman In Law Author Photo

    Gibson Dunn's Debra Yang shares the bumps in her journey to becoming the first female Asian American U.S. attorney, a state judge and a senior partner in BigLaw, and how other women can face their self-doubts and blaze their own trails to success amid systemic obstacles.

  • Successful In-House Alt Legal Services Start With 4 Questions Author Photo

    Law firms that are considering creating an in-house alternative legal service provider should focus not on recapturing revenue otherwise lost to outside vendors, but instead consider how a captive ALSP will better fulfill the needs of their clients and partners, say Beatrice Seravello and Brad Blickstein at Baretz & Brunelle.

  • 3 Reasons To Embrace Jargon In Legal Marketing Content Author Photo

    Ignore what you've been told about jargon — adding insider industry terms to your firm's marketing and business development content can persuade potential clients that you have the specialized knowledge they can trust, says Wayne Pollock at Law Firm Editorial Service.

  • Future Lawyers Expect DEI Commitments Beyond Recruiting Author Photo

    To attract future lawyers from diverse backgrounds, firms must think beyond recruiting efforts, because law students are looking for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that invest in employee professional development and engage with students year-round, says Lauren Jackson at Howard University School of Law.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can Law Students Build Real-World Skills? Author Photo

    Allison Coffin at Akin Gump discusses how summer associates going back to school can continue to develop real-world lawyering skills by leveraging the numerous law school resources that support professional development both inside and outside the classroom.

  • How Firm Leaders Can Build And Sustain Culture Author Photo

    In uncertain and challenging times, law firm leaders can build and sustain culture by focusing attention on mission, values and leadership development, and applying a growth mindset across their firms, says Scott Westfahl at Harvard Law.

  • The Case That Showed Me The Value Of E-Discovery Plans Author Photo

    Robert Keeling at Sidley reflects on leading discovery in the litigation that followed the historic $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger and how the case highlighted the importance of having a strategic e-discovery plan in place.

  • Opinion

    CLE Accreditation Should Be Tied To Learning Outcomes Author Photo

    Given the substantial time and money lawyers put toward mandatory continuing legal education, CLE regulators and providers should be held to accreditation standards that assess learning outcomes, similar to those imposed on law schools and continuing medical education providers, says Rima Sirota at Georgetown Law.

  • Why You Should Leverage AI For Privilege Review Author Photo

    While many lawyers still believe that a manual, document-by-document review is the best approach to privilege logging, certain artificial intelligence tools can bolster the traditional review process and make this aspect of electronic document review more efficient, more accurate and less costly, say Laura Riff and Michelle Six at Kirkland.

  • Persuading The Court With Visual Aids In Written Argument Author Photo

    Robert Dubose at Alexander Dubose describes several categories of visuals attorneys can use to make written arguments easier to understand or more persuasive, and provides tips for lawyers unused to working with anything but text.

  • BigLaw Vs. Mid-Law Summer Programs: The Pros And Cons Author Photo

    There are major differences between BigLaw and Mid-Law summer associate programs, and each approach can learn something from the other in terms of structure and scheduling, the on-the-job learning opportunities provided, and the social experiences offered, says Anna Tison at Brooks Pierce.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Do I Take Time Off? Author Photo

    David Kouba at Arnold & Porter discusses how attorneys can prioritize mental health leave and vacation despite work-related barriers to taking time off.

  • Law Firms Must Prioritize Mental Health In Internal Comms Author Photo

    The traditional structure of law firms, with their compartmentalization into silos, is an inherent challenge to mental wellness, so partners and senior lawyers should take steps to construct and disseminate internal action plans and encourage open dialogue, says Elizabeth Ortega at ECO Strategic Communications.

  • Our Current Approach To Trial Advocacy Training Is Lacking Author Photo

    The key to trial advocacy is persuasion, but current training programs focus almost entirely on technique, making it imperative that lawyers are taught to be effective storytellers and to connect with their audiences, says Chris Arledge at Ellis George.

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