Pennsylvania Pulse


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    Firms Seek To Help 'Most Vulnerable' In Rural America

    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.

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    Strict Rules Limit Paraprofessional Ranks In Legal Deserts

    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.

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    Patchwork Efforts Grow Lawyer Pipeline To Reach Legal Deserts

    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.

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    Babst Calland Adds Houston Harbaugh Litigator In Pittsburgh

    Babst Calland Clements and Zomnir PC has grown its litigation group in Pennsylvania with the addition of a Houston Harbaugh PC attorney.

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    Husch Blackwell Launches Complex Torts Litigation Unit

    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.

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    OpenAI Adds ChatGPT Configuration Tuned To Legal Work

    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.

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    AI Could Help State Courts Run More Efficiently, Panelists Say

    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.

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    Getting To Court Can Pose Barrier To Justice In Rural America

    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.

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    Former Kline & Specter Attys Launch Firm With Help From AI

    Two former Kline & Specter PC attorneys have struck out on their own with a Philadelphia-based law firm built around complex litigation and a technology-forward approach to practicing law.

  • UPS Hit With $516K Fee Award Over Discovery Conduct

    UPS must hand over more than $516,000 in attorney fees and costs to counsel for workers alleging security-screening and walking time went unpaid, after a Pennsylvania federal judge said the award was warranted to sanction the company's discovery conduct and deter similar "hide-the-ball" tactics.

  • Judge Says Feds Should Investigate Philly DA Krasner

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday said that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner should be investigated for possible "criminal wrongdoing" in his office's handling of a man's long-running bid to overturn his murder conviction, referring the matter to the U.S. attorney's office.

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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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    Pa. Justices Dubious About Disbarring Ex-Sacks Weston Atty

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday dug into its attorney disciplinary board's request for the disbarment of a former Sacks Weston Diamond Law LLC attorney who defrauded the firm out of nearly $320,000, suggesting in its questioning that the matter was not a clear-cut example for the application of the state's harshest penalty for lawyers.

  • No Pause Needed In Daniel's Law Cases, 3rd Circ. Told

    Atlas Data Privacy Corp. urged the Third Circuit to reject a bid to pause discovery in consolidated litigation over New Jersey's judicial privacy law as the appeals court considers a First Amendment challenge to the statute, arguing the defendant data brokers failed to show irreparable harm.

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    Pa. Appellate Panel Scolds Attys In $18.5M Med Mal Case

    Attorneys from Burns White LLC and Philadelphia personal injury firm Bosworth & Associates both got a dressing-down from a Pennsylvania appellate panel over their conduct in a medical malpractice case, though the court upheld the $18.5 million jury verdict for the plaintiff.

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    GC Of Pa.'s Kennametal Earned $2 Million Last Year

    The top in-house attorney for Pittsburgh-area industrial tool supplier Kennametal increased her total compensation for fiscal year 2026 to nearly $2 million, according to a recent public filing.

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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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    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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    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.

  • Atty Says NFL Parkinson's Claims Ban Lacked Due Process

    An attorney barred from representing claimants seeking NFL concussion settlement funds was denied basic due process during an audit of his work, he has argued in asking the Pennsylvania federal court to vacate his sanctions.

  • Bove Rejects Recusal Bid Tied To DOJ Whistleblower Claims

    U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove declined Monday to recuse himself in a Third Circuit immigration case, saying the attorneys for the petitioner are "recycling a failed pre-confirmation political smear" on him.

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    UPenn Prof Hires John Eastman For Race Bias Appeal

    A suspended University of Pennsylvania law professor has hired President Donald Trump's former attorney John Eastman to argue her Third Circuit bid to revive her case alleging the school disciplined her based on her race.

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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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Expert Analysis

  • Making Legal Cents: Create Marketing Clients Find Useful Author Photo

    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.

  • Law Firm Leaders Should Adopt Founding Fathers' Bold Ideas Author Photo

    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 AI Ownership Question Firms Can't Afford To Skip Author Photo

    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.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Practice Authenticity

    Attorneys 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 AI Adoption Tips And Takeaways From Dot-Com Bubble Author Photo

    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 Author Photo

    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.

  • Legal Tech Talks: WordSmith AI's CEO On Shifting Mindsets Author Photo

    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.

  • Avoiding The Changing Pitfalls Of Firm Website Redesigns Author Photo

    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.

  • Public AI Disclosures Raise Stakes For AI Agent Oversight Author Photo

    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.

  • How Firms Can Win Market For Unified Legal Client Services Author Photo

    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.

  • 7 AI Training Tips For Law Firm Summer Associate Programs Author Photo

    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.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Don't Obstruct Knowledge Author Photo

    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.

  • How Private Equity Priorities Will Test The Law Firm Model Author Photo

    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.

  • AI-Powered Search Demands New Legal Marketing Playbook Author Photo

    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.

  • What Law Firm MSOs Can Learn From Accounting Co. Model Author Photo

    Private equity capital has been flowing into accounting firms for years, with investors developing creative structures to work within that field's specific ownership restrictions, and the framework developed by these transactions offers valuable insights for law firms looking for outside investment, says Russell Shapiro at Levenfeld Pearlstein.

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