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In its coverage this week, Law360 Pulse explored the problem of legal deserts in the U.S., detailed the news of a new AI-native law firm, and focused in on a change-up in Weil Gotshal LLP's corporate department leadership. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
AXS Law has hired a new leader of its international fraud, corruption, national security and congressional investigations practices who was a U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor focused on international fraud matters, including the embezzled money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company.
Major law firms across the country regularly deploy pro bono resources to help people in areas with few lawyers, and they rely on nonprofit and corporate partners with close community ties to direct those resources to where they are needed most.
Legal paraprofessionals can offer much-needed legal aid to those who can't find attorneys, but difficulties scaling up nascent state licensing programs and getting paraprofessionals to rural areas is limiting their impact.
Misuse of artificial intelligence tools and a "state-of-the-art" revamp of electronic dockets in federal cases were among the hottest topics Thursday at a major meeting of judiciary leaders, who also heard a lawmaker warn of eroding trust in the U.S. Department of Justice.
A patchwork of local pipeline programs aims to educate and bring the next generation of attorneys to rural communities and legal deserts across the country.
Husch Blackwell LLP has launched a platform committed to providing tools to defendant companies facing complex torts litigation, dedicating more than 165 attorneys in over 30 states to the effort, the firm has announced.
Artificial intelligence company OpenAI, following the release of the latest model of its ChatGPT software earlier this month, announced on Thursday a legal-specific configuration to perform legal research, analysis and writing.
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader has hired a new principal adviser in its Washington, D.C.-based health practice who was among the original group of lobbyists who helped launch McDermott+, a recently shuttered subsidiary of McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, her new firm announced.
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has hired an attorney from Kressin Powers LLC who previously served as a senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he helped represent the government in its antitrust suit against Google's alleged ad monopolization practices.
Holland & Knight LLP has hired away the director of the Treasury Department's Office of Tribal and Native Affairs as a partner in Washington, D.C., to advise tribal governments, Native entities, and their business and philanthropic partners, the firm announced Wednesday.
Artificial intelligence can help state courts operate more efficiently and ease workload strains by automating repetitive tasks, according to participants in a Wednesday panel discussion organized by the National Center for State Courts.
Crowell & Moring LLP on Wednesday announced the hiring of two former enforcement attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for its antitrust and competition group, with the firm saying it plans more growth of the practice soon.
Barnes & Thornburg LLP has hired the former co-chair of Baker Botts LLP's international trade section, who is joining the firm in Washington, D.C., alongside a former Fox Rothschild LLP partner who works with corporate transactions, the firm announced.
A former enforcement attorney for the Federal Trade Commission who most recently was an antitrust-focused litigator at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has moved her practice to Duane Morris' office in Washington, the firm announced Wednesday.
In rural areas of the U.S., many people live great distances from courthouses and other legal services, creating major barriers to accessing justice and taking a toll on residents, lawyers and legal personnel.
Six nominees for U.S. district judge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for their nomination hearing.
The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the Trump administration's bid to reinstate the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's upgraded citizenship verification database ahead of this year's election, a voting rights group told the court Tuesday, arguing that the administration unlawfully reinterpreted several statutes to claim that Congress authorized the changes.
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP announced Tuesday that the firm has two new C-suite executives, both of whom will be based in New York.
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.
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.
A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division who most recently served as assistant chief of the Technology and Digital Platforms section has joined Ashurst Perkins Coie.
President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington is under fire from one of the home state senators who vowed to use every avenue possible to block him.
Nixon Peabody LLP has hired former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner Kara Stein, who for the past four years has worked as a board member with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the firm announced Tuesday.
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.
The law firm marketing efforts with the best return on investment are things that actively provide value to potential clients: practical business guidance, uncluttered proposals that anticipate their questions and opportunities to participate in curated industry conversations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
To ensure continued success, law firm leaders helming their firms through the legal industry revolution should take inspiration from the Founding Fathers' bold decisions, such as James Madison's abandonment of the Articles of Confederation and George Washington's trust in junior officers', says Samuel Pond at Pond Lehocky.
The artificial intelligence conversation among law firm leaders has advanced from adoption to governance and business impact, but it hasn’t resolved who maintains ownership and operational responsibility, which should be determined by the range of functions that AI touches, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Practice AuthenticityAttorneys who demonstrate who they truly are and what they stand for by sharing the human impact of their results, earning the media's trust by providing accessible analysis, and providing hands-on aid to their communities can build stronger reputations than any advertising budget can buy, says Ray DeLorenzi at RebuttalPR.
Legal artificial intelligence is on a similar trajectory as the internet in the dot-com era, where several internet companies failed after the initial market frenzy, but even if AI company valuations take a hit and the industry goes through a major reordering, legal leaders should note that the technology itself remains genuinely transformational for the delivery of legal services, says Gabriel Buigas at Integreon.
Opinion
Keeping PE Out Of Law Is Job For Courts, Not Capitols
Efforts by lawmakers in California, Colorado and Illinois seeking to bar private equity firms, hedge funds and other nonattorney investors from owning or financing law firms risk intruding on authority that state constitutions and the inherent powers doctrine have traditionally assigned to the judiciary, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.
Ross McNairn, founder and CEO of Wordsmith AI, discusses how the lawyers who treat legal work like an engineering problem and can deploy legal intelligence at scale will define the next decade.
For Americans holding claims to confiscated Cuban property, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Havana Docks v. Royal Caribbean Cruises means that the expiration of their property interest is no longer a bar and that any company using such property is now a potential defendant, say attorneys at Bracewell.
BigLaw firms about to tackle a website redesign need to understand the fundamental changes to costs, timelines, vendors and technology since their last big update so their leadership teams can steer resource management decisions away from costly potential mistakes, says Stephan Roussan at Vertical Minds.
Two recent reports shift the legal posture of every organization deploying artificial intelligence agents because they establish the foreseeability, for negligence liability purposes, of an AI agent becoming weaponized for data exfiltration, says Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks.
Firms willing to develop a new operating model, where AI-powered legal tech is paired with deep industry expertise and a different incentive structure, can win over companies looking to consolidate their legal needs with a single provider, says Lana Manganiello at Practice Growth Partner.
Law firms trying to weave artificial intelligence into summer associate programs should build a program that isn't really about AI but teaches students how to think about using AI, with the goal of building judgment, understanding implications and leveling up in a way that's repeatable, says Zeynep Ersin at Seyfarth.
Series
Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Don't Obstruct Knowledge
Lawyers and firms should treat knowledge transfer as a business development function, using the sharing of context and institutional know-how to preserve continuity through change, strengthen relationships and create long-term competitive advantage, says Mark Wraight at Stinson.
The biggest question about private equity moving into the legal sector is no longer whether it can financially succeed, but how law firms can contend with the unavoidable economic, institutional and ethical tensions introduced by external ownership without compromising their core professional commitments, say Kirsten Vasquez and Allison Rosner at Major Lindsey.
As potential clients use artificial intelligence tools instead of search engines when looking for counsel, it is a democratizing moment for specialized midsize firms and a compression threat for generalist big-firm brand positioning, says Ronn Torossian at 5WPR.