DC Pulse


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    When Firms Hire Before Grades, What Drives Decisions?

    For some law students, the race for summer associate jobs is ending before their grades are even posted. As firms continue to move hiring earlier, recruiters say decisions are increasingly being made with limited academic information, shifting the focus toward experience, connections and perceived fit.

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    What Students Want In A Summer Associate Job

    Office locations and available practice areas were the top considerations for prospective summer associates, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP retaining its position as the most coveted destination, according to Law360 Pulse's 2026 Summer Associates Survey.

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    Steptoe Adds 4-Atty Team From Winston & Strawn

    Steptoe LLP has hired four former Winston & Strawn LLP lawyers, who are joining in Washington, D.C., as partners to work on a range of issues involving multinational corporations, including their executives, sanctions and white collar matters.

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    Spencer Fane Adds GrayRobinson Atty To Food & Bev Team

    A former in-house attorney, who worked for Lyft and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, has left her most recent role as a GrayRobinson PC attorney to join Spencer Fane LLP's newly launched food and beverage group.

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    DOJ Lawsuit 'A Shot Across The Bow' To State Bar Authorities

    A recent Justice Department lawsuit accusing D.C. attorney disciplinary officials of "partisan and ideological bias" in a case against a former agency lawyer is drawing criticism from those who say it's a continued attack on state bar authorities and would create a special class of attorneys exempt from ethics rules.

  • Trump Seeks Circuit Seats For 2 Judges He Appointed

    President Donald Trump's recent picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits mark the first time in his second administration that he's seeking to elevate judges he appointed in his first term.

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    AI Won't Totally Replace Outside Counsel, In-House Leaders Say

    Law360 Pulse asked attendees and speakers at the 2026 CLOC Global Institute in Chicago last week whether in-house legal departments will rely less on outside law firms when they use artificial intelligence tools. Here is what they had to say.

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    Holland & Knight Taps Wiley Leader As Telecom Chair

    Holland & Knight LLP announced Monday it has hired the former co-chair of Wiley's wireless practice in Washington to take the reins of the Tampa, Florida-headquartered firm's telecommunications, media and technology team as chair.

  • Justices Deny Eli Lilly's Qui Tam Constitutional Challenge

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review Eli Lilly's $183 million trial loss to a whistleblower who claimed the drugmaker knowingly defrauded the government by underpaying Medicaid drug rebates.

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    Cleary Adds Goodwin Partner To Global Funds Group

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has added a Goodwin Procter LLP partner to beef up its global funds group and advisory expertise for private fund sponsors and investment advisers, according to a Monday announcement.

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    High Court To Examine Title IX Protections For Coaches, Profs

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case arguing that Title IX sex discrimination safeguards should be extended to college coaches and professors, tackling a persistent split on the question among circuit courts.

  • Justices Deny Va. Dems' Emergency Redistricting Bid

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia Democrats' request to stay a state high court ruling that invalidated a newly drawn, voter-approved congressional redistricting map. 

  • Fed. Circ. Urges Justices To Reject Newman Suspension Case

    The Federal Circuit has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Judge Pauline Newman's appeal targeting a suspension imposed on her by the court's other judges, arguing that a lower court correctly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

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    ABA Section Votes To Scrap Law School DEI Standards

    The American Bar Association's legal education section on Friday voted to eliminate its requirements that law schools show a commitment to diversity in their student body in order to remain accredited, a policy that has been under fire since a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Haynes Boone lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have sent disputes to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate subsequent awards.

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    Girardi Trial Judge Josephine Staton To Take Senior Status

    The California federal judge who sentenced disgraced trial attorney Tom Girardi to prison for wire fraud last year has announced that she'll be taking senior status in the fall, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint her successor.

  • K&L Gates To Part Ways With Singapore Law Firm

    K&L Gates LLP plans to separate from the Singapore law firm it combined with in 2019, while maintaining a presence in the city state, the firm announced on Friday.

  • Beltway Moves: DOJ, Cooley, Fenwick

    The U.S. Department of Justice official leading the Trump administration's bid to revive executive orders targeting law firms recently announced his impending departure from the agency in one of the latest major moves in the Washington, D.C., legal world.

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    Jenner & Block Hires 24-Year FCC Leader For Its DC Team

    Jenner & Block LLP has hired a former U.S. Federal Communications Commission leader who spent more than 24 years with the agency and most recently helped supervise investigations into unauthorized satellite operations, 911 outages and more, the firm announced this week.

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    Littler Names First-Ever Wellness Director

    Littler Mendelson PC has created a new role for one of its employment and labor law shareholders to develop and implement programs that support the mental, physical and emotional health of all firm employees.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry marked mid-May with another busy week as BigLaw firms expanded their practices and presence across the country. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    DOJ Asserts Broad Power In BigLaw Executive Order Appeal

    A Trump administration attorney told the D.C. Circuit on Thursday that the courts have no authority to review the president's decision to revoke someone's security clearance for any reason, including race, religion, or even refusal to pay a $1 million bribe.

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    Ballard Spahr Chair Elected To Second Term

    Peter V. Michaud has been elected to a second three-year term as chair of Ballard Spahr LLP and will steer the firm through the end of 2029, Law360 Pulse has learned.

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    Fenwick Hit With FTX Suit In DC Over $525M Losses

    A group of former FTX customers has sued Fenwick & West LLP in federal court in Washington over its work representing FTX from 2018 to 2022, seeking to recover more than $525 million for losses stemming from the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse.

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    Meta's Legal Ops Chief Predicts Decline Of Billable Hour

    Meta's global head of legal operations predicts that the billable hour will be the exception, not the rule, in five years, telling a packed room of legal ops professionals at an annual conference this week that he is already asking law firms for fixed-fee agreements for their work.

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Expert Analysis

  • 5 Questions Firms Must Ask For Successful Lateral Integration Author Photo

    To ensure that lateral partners effectively integrate their books of business, firms should design a structured transition plan based on a few fundamentals, from tracking the right data to implementing meaningful incentives, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.

  • Goldilocks Solution: Why The 4-Day Office Week Is Just Right Author Photo

    As law firms continue to wrestle with return-to-office policies, many are being pulled toward one or the other of two extremes: the rigidity of a five-day in-office schedule and the laissez-faire approach of a flexible three-day hybrid model — but a four-day in-office workweek may be the sweet spot, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • As Attys Adopt Generative AI, 3 Elements Should Be Cardinal Author Photo

    As the legal world increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence, lawyers and firms must develop and utilize strong prompting skills, keep a pulse on forthcoming tech evolutions, and remain steadfast to ethical obligations, say Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi and Marty Robles-Avila at BAL.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises Author Photo

    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Prioritize Connections Author Photo

    One reason business development in the legal industry seems so mysterious is because human relationships are so complex, but lawyers can reorient their thinking in two important ways to drive the process of connecting with new colleagues and contacts, say Jamie Lawless and Angela Quinn at Husch Blackwell.

  • Roundup

    Biz Development Tip Of The Month Author Photo

    This year, experts shared 12 actionable strategies on building business in today's competitive legal market, from prioritizing human connections to maximizing the impact of thought leadership.

  • Overcoming US Law Firms' Hesitancy To Enter Indian Market Author Photo

    Successful private equity exits with strong returns have solidified India's buyout market as an increasingly attractive destination for future investments, offering compelling reasons for the U.S. legal community to overcome its caution on the country's markets, says Vaishali Movva at Eimer Stahl.

  • Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Make A Plan For The Year Author Photo

    While firms are busy allocating resources and assessing client demand, individual attorneys should use the start of the year to slow down and create a personal business plan, which can be accomplished with a few steps, say Elizabeth Gooch, Teri Robshaw and Chris Newman at McDermott.

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    Talking Mental Health: Caring For Everyone As A Firm Leader Author Photo

    Reid Phillips at Brooks Pierce discusses how he manages the pressure of running a law firm, how sources of stress in the legal industry have changed over the past decade, and what firm leaders should do to help manage burnout and mental health issues among employees.

  • How Firms Can Use LinkedIn To Aid Marketing Efforts In 2025 Author Photo

    LinkedIn has several features law firms can use to showcase their capabilities and thought leadership to reach prospective and existing clients, including the Event and Live features, says Sofia Millar at Reputation Ink.

  • Talking Mental Health: Managing Emotions In Trauma Cases Author Photo

    Nikki Hurtado at The Ferraro Law Firm discusses what motivates her to represent victims of catastrophic injuries, how she copes with the emotional toll of such cases, and what other attorneys taking on similar cases can do to protect their mental well-being.

  • Strategies For Successful Law Firm Mergers In 2025 Author Photo

    Law firms are expected to continue consolidating in the year to come, and because these mergers require a different kind of playbook, firm leaders must carefully consider office culture nuances, professional services economics and talent retention strategy before any merger, say directors at FTI Consulting.

  • Making Legal Cents: Winning More Work In A Crowded Market Author Photo

    In a market where clients have more options, tighter budgets and higher expectations, firms must figure out how to differentiate themselves without discounting their rates, and several practical strategies for pitching, pricing and early-engagement communication can help, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Best Practices For Implementing Firm Revenue Cycle Roles Author Photo

    Law firm revenue cycles are becoming more complex and time-consuming, but hiring dedicated revenue cycle personnel can help streamline the process and reduce the burden on attorneys, says Christine Indiano at Harbor Global.

  • Tips For Constructing Your Small-Law Exit Strategy Author Photo

    By initiating planning and processes to evaluate personal retirement goals and firm value early, longtime solo practitioners and small-firm owners can unlock a range of possibilities and potential buyers, setting up for a profitable exit and a rewarding transition, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

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