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DC Pulse
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OPM Memos Push Changes In Federal Hiring Based on 'Merit'
The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued two memos outlining plans for hiring federal workers based on merit, following President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring that the federal hiring system focuses too much on anti-discrimination and not enough on employees willing to serve the executive branch.
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Harvard Taps Paul Weiss High Court Litigator For Board
Kannon Shanmugam, a Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partner and veteran U.S. Supreme Court litigator, has been selected to join the Harvard Corp. governing board, according to an announcement made Thursday.
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PCAOB Taps New Acting General Counsel
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Thursday announced that Connor Raso has been appointed acting general counsel, following stints in the PCAOB's office of the general counsel and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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DOJ Sidelines ABA From Vetting Trump's Judicial Picks
The Justice Department plans to direct judicial nominees away from a long-standing vetting process by the American Bar Association, labeling it an "activist organization," according to a Thursday letter by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
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9th Circ. Judge Warns Of 'Rule Of Law Recession'
On Thursday, Beverly Hills trial lawyer Paul Kiesel brought together a panel including a former U.S. Department of Justice senior trial counsel, a state attorney general, and former BigLaw associate Rachel Cohen, to discuss what Senior U.S. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown called a "rule of law recession."
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'Silent Majority' Of GCs Band Together To Protect Rule Of Law
A few hundred general counsel have recently joined together in a private, bipartisan group, aiming to rally their collective power, from potentially gathering signatures for future amicus briefs to fielding questions about factors to consider when changing outside counsel, to preserve the rule of law in the wake of the Trump administration's executive orders against law firms.
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Law Firm GCs Warn Of AI Risks At ABA Ethics Panel
As large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT become more prevalent, law firm general counsel who spoke as part of an American Bar Association panel outside Washington, D.C., on Thursday said their attorneys' use of the technology is something that keeps them up at night.
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Ex-US Attorney For DC Joins Winston & Strawn
The former U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., has moved into private practice at Winston & Strawn LLP after stepping down from his post in January as former President Joe Biden left office.
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Biden WH Atty Joins O'Melveny To Tackle Healthcare Issues
An attorney who has held posts in the White House, Congress and federal agencies has joined the congressional investigations team at O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where he will focus on clients in the healthcare industry, the firm said Thursday.
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Law Firm Real Estate Report
May was a month of new markets for several firms as they made their first entries into a handful of notable U.S. cities. They include Carlton Fields, which expanded into Minnesota with a new Minneapolis office staffed by attorneys formerly with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. And a merger with a Seattle-based firm gave Dickinson Wright PLLC its first office in the Pacific Northwest.
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Ex-Mayer Brown Federal Contracting Pros Join Fox Rothschild
Fox Rothschild LLP announced Wednesday that it has hired a pair of former Mayer Brown LLP counsel with a history advising clients like Lockheed Martin and regional TriCare administrator TriWest on major federal contracting matters.
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BakerHostetler Taps Partners To Lead Arbitration Subpractice
BakerHostetler announced Wednesday that it has chosen one of its longtime Washington, D.C., attorneys and a New York attorney who returned to the firm a few years ago from Alston & Bird LLP to co-lead its international arbitration and litigation team's investor-state arbitration subpractice.
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3 Takeaways From The Judgments On Trump's Law Firm EOs
Three federal judges have now weighed in on President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms, with each ruling in favor of the firms and deeming the orders unconstitutional. Here are three takeaways from the combined 227 pages of those judges’ conclusions.
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Eversheds, William Fry Call Off Irish Merger Talks
Eversheds Sutherland's Irish office will not go ahead with a discussed plan to merge with Dublin-based William Fry LLP, the two firms said Thursday.
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Robinson & Cole Leader On Finding Firm's 'Secret Sauce'
After nearly 35 years at Robinson & Cole LLP, including the past four as managing partner, Rhonda Tobin has learned what makes the firm special — its people. Tobin recently told Law360 Pulse about how integral the firm's people are to its culture and her job, and the challenges of becoming a firm leader in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Senate Committee Sets June Hearing For Trump's EBSA Pick
The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing in early June on President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, according to a news release Thursday.
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High Court Restores Federal Approval Of Utah Oil Railway
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the federal government's approval of a rail project intended to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin.
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Justices Told Del. Expert Law Doesn't Apply In Federal Court
A retired attorney who claims he was negligently injured by healthcare providers urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hold that a Delaware federal court need not apply a state statute requiring an expert affidavit for all medical malpractice suits.
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FERC's Ex-GC Joins Wilson Sonsini's DC Energy Team
The former general counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC's energy and climate solutions practice in Washington, D.C., as a partner, the firm announced Wednesday.
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DC Circ. Denies Steve Bannon's Bid For En Banc Rehearing
Right-wing media figure Steve Bannon, who was a chief strategist during the first Trump administration, has been rebuffed in his bid for an en banc rehearing at the D.C. Circuit on his contempt of Congress conviction, a move his legal team deemed "overriding politicalization."
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Trump Nominates Ex-Personal Atty Emil Bove For 3rd Circ.
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he is nominating Emil Bove, his former criminal defense attorney who served as acting deputy attorney general, for the Third Circuit.
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Rate Hikes May Be Masking BigLaw's Financial Vulnerabilities
Revenue and profits have both been on a strong upward trajectory in recent years for large U.S. law firms, but those strides may not tell the whole story when considering factors like inflation and the role that aggressive rate hikes, which some say are unsustainable, have played in the increases.
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Cooley Adds Ex-FDA Attorney To DC Life Sciences Group
Cooley LLP has hired a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration attorney, who for the majority of her public service career worked as an associate chief counsel, trying civil actions and criminal prosecutions against those accused of violating regulations for a range of products.
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Law Firms Slow To Adopt $225K Associate 1st-Year Salaries
First-year associate salaries of $225,000 may make headlines, but they aren't yet the reality at most law firms surveyed for a new report by the National Association for Law Placement.
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Gibson Dunn Helps 1st-Year Associates Connect With 'Pods'
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP launched a unique virtual program to connect first-year associates with other young attorneys in different U.S. offices. Five years later, the “New Associate Pods” program is still going strong.
Expert Analysis
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Series
My Nonpracticing Law Job: Legal Commentary Ghostwriter
Wayne Pollock at Copo Strategies shares how he went from overworked Am Law 50 associate to owner of a legal thought leadership ghostwriting service, and provides four lessons for anyone who might be considering launching a business within the legal industry.
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Ask A Mentor: As Trials Grow Rarer, How Do I Hone My Skills?
Gary Parsons at Brooks Pierce offers advice for young lawyers seeking trial experience in an environment where fewer cases make it to trial, including how to build their reputations, set their expectations and pick the right firm.
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Talking Mental Health: Managing Depression As A Co. Founder
New Era ADR co-founder Collin Williams discusses his journey navigating a clinical depression diagnosis, how this experience affected his leadership style, and what the legal industry can do to better support attorneys with mental health conditions.
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Series
My Nonpracticing Law Job: Career And Wellness Coach
Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea shares how she went from BigLaw partner to legal industry career and wellness coach, and explains how attorneys can use their capabilities, knowledge and professional networks to pursue coaching themselves, or bring refreshed meaning and purpose to their current roles.
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Series
Talking Mental Health: Tackling Stress As A Practice Leader
Constance Rhebergen at Bracewell discusses how she handles the stress of being a practice chair, how sources of stress have changed in the legal industry over the past decade and what law firms can do to protect attorney mental health.
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Making Legal Cents: Engaging A Remote, Evolving Workforce
In the face of a dispersed and changing workforce with Generation Z entering the scene, law firms should consider some practical strategies to revitalize their cultures, provide meaningful mentorship and safeguard their knowledge bases, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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How Firms Can Effectively Evaluate Their Summer Associates
One of the most effective ways firms can ensure their summer associate programs are a success is by engaging in a timely and meaningful evaluation process and being intentional about when, how and by whom feedback should be provided, say Caroline Cimei and Erica Fine at Shutts & Bowen.
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Series
Talking Mental Health: Life As A Lawyer With OCD
Kelly Hughes at Ogletree discusses what she’s learned in the 14 years since she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, recounting how the experience shaped her law practice, what the legal industry and general public get wrong about the disorder, and how law firms can better support employees who have OCD.
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3 Innovative Ways AI May Be Used In Legal Practice
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly be used by outside counsel to better predict the outcomes of litigation — thus informing legal strategy with greater precision — and by clients to scrutinize invoices and evaluate counsel’s performance, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Series
My Nonpracticing Law Job: Librarian
Lisa A. Goodman at Texas A&M University shares how she went from a BigLaw associate who liked to hang out in the firm's law library to director of a law library herself in just over a decade, and provides considerations for anyone interested in pursuing a law librarian career.
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Legal Briefs Can Benefit From Cleaned Up Case Citations
Federal courts have recently been changing the way they quote decisions to omit insignificant details and string cites, and lawyers should consider adopting this practice to enhance the readability of their briefs — as long as accuracy stays top of mind, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.
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5 Best Practices For Firms Designing DEI Programs
Nikki Lewis Simon, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Greenberg Traurig, discusses best practices — and some pitfalls to avoid — for law firms looking to build programs aimed at driving inclusion in the workplace.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Ask A Mentor: How Do I Juggle Billables And Other Activities?
While involvement in internal firm initiatives can be rewarding both personally and professionally, associates' billable time requirements don’t leave much room for other work, meaning they must develop strategies to ensure they’re meeting all of their commitments while remaining balanced, says Melanie Webber at Fisher Phillips.
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Making Legal Cents: How To Adapt As Clients Tighten Budgets
Amid a dip in corporate legal spending and client pushback on bills, Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants highlights specific in-house counsel frustrations and explains how firms can provide customized legal advice with costs that are supported by undeniable value.