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California Pulse
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The 2025 Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders
Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.
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Prestige Leaders: The Firms In The Billionaires' Club
As BigLaw firms continue to post record-breaking revenues, we're highlighting the firms that reported more than $1 billion in gross revenue in the most recent calendar year.
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What It Takes to Stay Elite As Legal Market Shifts
The law firm market has undergone unprecedented change in recent years, allowing for more upward mobility for some firms yet presenting risks for the longtime stalwarts of prestige. Here's how law firms navigate those shifting dynamics.
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These Firms Are The 2025 Prestige Leaders
Clients gravitate towards firms with sterling reputations, and so does exceptional legal talent. Here are this year's Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders — the 100 firms the industry recognizes for their prominence, power and distinction.
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Ropes & Gray Names 21 New Partners, Keeps 1-Tier Structure
Ropes & Gray LLP has announced that it will stick to its unique one-tier partnership structure and is promoting 21 attorneys from four offices to partner as of Nov. 1.
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Latham Adds Gibson Dunn IP Transactions Ace In SF Bay Area
Latham & Watkins LLP is expanding its corporate team, bringing in a Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP intellectual property transaction expert as a partner in its San Francisco Bay Area offices.
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How GCs Can Keep The 'Essence' Of Their DEI Efforts
While shifts this year in federal diversity, equity and inclusion guidelines may have changed the way corporate legal teams track and share demographic information — including for their external counsel — a panel of in-house attorneys who spoke Monday said their work on the issue continues.
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Katten Names Real Estate Finance Atty As New Leader In LA
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has promoted a longtime real estate finance attorney to be the new head of its Los Angeles office.
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Spiro Can't Be Witness And Musk Atty, Twitter Investors Say
Elon Musk's informed written consent does not mean that Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro can serve as both his lead counsel and witness in the trial over a class of investors' allegations that Musk tried to tank Twitter's stock, those investors told a California federal judge on Friday.
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Paul Weiss, NFL And FIFA Defender, Launches Sports Practice
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, whose attorneys have represented the National Football League and FIFA, and have helped lead multibillion-dollar transactions on the acquisition of sports teams and businesses, has launched a formalized sports practice, the firm announced Monday.
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Goodwin Elects PE Pro As Incoming Managing Partner
Goodwin Procter LLP has elected private equity partner Joshua Klatzkin as the firm's next managing partner to take over next year from Mark Bettencourt, who has held the role since 2019, the firm announced Monday.
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Squire Patton Brings Back Corporate Ace In San Francisco
A transactional attorney who started her legal career at Squire Patton Boggs LLP more than 20 years ago has rejoined the firm as a San Francisco-based partner.
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LA County Commits An Added $828M For Sex Abuse Victims
Los Angeles County Friday said it has tentatively agreed to shell out an additional $828 million to settle hundreds of cases alleging childhood sexual abuse that occurred in county facilities, an amount that follows a $4 billion settlement announced earlier this year.
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Workday Says Ex-Atty Doesn't Have A Valid Fraud Claim
A former in-house attorney for Workday Inc. cannot pursue his claim alleging the company made fraudulent promises about his compensation, Workday has told a California federal judge, saying the attorney is trying to impermissibly repackage a breach of contract claim into a tort claim.
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Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown
The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.
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Law360 Pulse Spotlight On Mid-Law Work
Robinson & Cole's handling of a $146.5 million healthcare transaction and Munger Tolles' defense of OpenAI in a trade secrets suit lead this edition of Law360 Pulse's Spotlight On Mid-Law Work, recapping the top matters for Mid-Law firms from Oct. 3 to 17.
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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week
Caldwell Cassady & Curry PC and Miller Fair Henry PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Texas federal jury found Samsung must pay nearly $445.5 million for infringing four wireless communication patents.
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MGA Fights New Trial On Damages In Doll TM Case
Toy maker MGA Entertainment wants to appeal a California federal judge's decision calling for a new jury trial to consider whether to award punitive damages to hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris over a line of dolls called L.O.L. Surprise O.M.G.
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UC Law School Can Drop Hastings Name, Appeals Court Says
California is allowed to drop Serranus Clinton Hastings' name from the University of California's San Francisco-based law school, a state appeals court has ruled, backing a trial judge's decision to toss a lawsuit filed by the former chief state Supreme Court justice's descendants and various school alumni.
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How Frost Brown, Gibbons Merger Plans Took Root
The proposed tie-up of Midwest-based Frost Brown Todd LLP and Northeast middle-market peer Gibbons PC is being praised as a smart combination in an increasingly competitive middle market where consolidation pressures are driving an increase in merger activity.
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AI Offers Class Action Firms An Edge — At A Price
Generative artificial intelligence is helping smaller class action firms gain an edge over well-monied BigLaw competitors, but litigation attorneys say the advantages come with several catches.
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Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz
This was another action-packed week for the legal industry as law firms expanded their operations and hired C-suite executives. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
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Privacy Compliance Needs 'Kindergarten Rules,' Atty Says
Panelists at a Los Angeles conference on the intersection of technology and entertainment tackled the issue of privacy and data laws Thursday, with one participant telling the crowd that helping clients avoid legal entanglements in those areas involves applying "kindergarten rules."
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Judge Shields Migrants From ICE After Courthouse Arrests
A California federal judge on Thursday barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining two asylum-seeking mothers without notice and a hearing, ruling the agency's courthouse arrest tactics likely violate due process.
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Kendall Brill Adds Ex-Prosecutor Who Quit Over Plea Deal
Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP has added a former federal prosecutor in California who resigned earlier this year after her objection to a proposed plea deal for a convicted sheriff's deputy, the firm has announced.
Expert Analysis
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Generating Confidence In A Legal Nonprofit
I started LawWithoutWalls to change the way legal professionals see and think about their world, and it taught me the importance of giving people a reason to believe in your nonprofit mission, as well as how to achieve work-life integration, says Michele DeStefano at the University of Miami.
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Nonequity Partner Frustrations Reflect Erosion Of Opportunity
Nonequity partners report the lowest satisfaction, highest stress and poorest financial outlook of any group of lawyers, highlighting a growing structural disconnect that leaves attorneys at many firms feeling like the ladder has been pulled up behind those who already ascended, says Jake Carroll at Nelson Mullins.
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Building Brand Awareness For A Legal Nonprofit
I co-founded the Bridging the Gap Scholarship as a way to increase minority representation in BigLaw, and my advice for other legal professionals starting a nonprofit is to focus on building brand awareness early on, and to get comfortable delegating work to a dedicated team, says Imani Maatuka at Sidley.
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Learn Your Colleagues To Cross-Sell Their Services Fearlessly
Understanding where colleagues in other practice areas shine can help attorneys confidently cross-sell each other's services and bring in business to keep the firm afloat in hard times, says Joe Calve at Calve Communications.
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Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Advertise Ethically
Business development in the legal industry is about building authentic connections and showcasing expertise in a way that reflects reality, and, when done right, it can elevate a practice, establish credibility and bring in clients without risking an ethics violation, says Melody Jackson at Robinhood.
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Ask A Mentor: How Do I Help After Mental Health Leave?
Molly Ranns at the State Bar of Michigan suggests five ways to smooth a colleague's return to practice after short-term mental health leave, while creating a firm culture that protects employees’ emotional health.
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Tips For Attracting Stellar CLOs In A Competitive Landscape
Amid a rapidly changing regulatory environment and a fierce market for talent, companies hoping to attract the best chief legal officers must have a strong grasp of their roles’ biggest selling points, and any roadblocks that may prevent them from recruiting the strongest choice, says Heather Fine at Major Lindsey.
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'Golden Handcuffs' May Be A Double-Edge Sword For Firms
As law firms increasingly use certain financial incentives to retain partners in a fierce lateral market, managing partners should consider the pros and cons of various deferred compensation schemes, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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The 10-Min. Rule For Building A Business Development Habit
Many lawyers assume that becoming a rainmaker requires a significant investment of time and effort, but the truth is that building a consistent habit of business development can start with just 10 minutes of strategic outreach a day, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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5 Pointers For Firm Leaders Communicating Tough Decisions
Certain law firm decisions — such as whether to challenge an executive order — cannot be crowdsourced, but leadership can collaboratively communicate these choices using strategies that build trust, reinforce values and preserve cohesion, says John Hellerman at Hellerman Communications.
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Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Create A Succession Plan.jpg)
Conversations around retirement and succession can be understandably difficult, but when attorneys make a plan for the transition early and effectively, they have the opportunity to not only keep work but also increase it, says Jillian McKenna at Verrill Dana.
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Looking Under The Hood Of The $3,000 Billable Hour
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In recent years, top-tier law firms have pushed hourly rates to unprecedented heights, with some partners commanding $3,000 per hour — but this eye-popping number doesn’t tell the full story, as there are numerous caveats and rigorous winnowing along the way, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.
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How Law Firms Can Keep Nonequity Partners Happy
Law firms that successfully manage two-tiered partnership do so by creating a culture that treats everyone with respect and by establishing financial incentives outside their base compensation to reward performance, says Carol Morganstern at Major Lindsey.
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Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Leverage Your Atty Bio
If maintained properly, your firm bio can help attract potential clients and create authentic connections, so it's crucial to take steps to write an updated attorney profile that goes beyond a list of credentials, says Raychel Lean at Reputation Ink.
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Ask A Mentor: How Can I Promote Thoughtful Use Of AI?
Eran Kahana at Maslon discusses how partners can encourage responsible use of artificial intelligence tools within their firms by learning to spot pitfalls common to AI-generated work product and championing firmwide procedures and trainings that address the risks of uncritically relying on this powerful but imperfect technology.