California Pulse


  • California High Court Rejects Dunn's Bid To Nix Suspension

    The California Supreme Court has declined to review a California State Bar decision to impose a one-year stayed suspension on former State Bar executive Joseph Dunn.

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    Grindr CLO Saw Compensation Surpass $6M In 2025

    Grindr's chief legal officer received roughly $6.1 million in compensation for 2025, up about $1.3 million from the prior year due to an increase in stock awards, a public securities filing says.

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    Data Center Boom Unites Wide-Ranging Practice Areas

    As the legal industry vies to take advantage of the trillions of dollars of investment on the horizon for data center development, a range of law firms have formed multidisciplinary groups that can handle various aspects of the projects, from real estate and energy to finance and regulatory work.

  • Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury cleared Armistice Capital and two of its executives of class action claims that it pumped and dumped $250 million in Vaxart stock during the COVID-19 pandemic and violated federal securities law with insider trading.

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    EBay Legal Chief Gets $8.4M In Compensation In 2025

    The chief legal officer of eBay Inc. received roughly $8.4 million in compensation for 2025, her first full year in the post, according to a public filing.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    Insights on 2026 law firm performance and BigLaw firm efforts to expand practice offerings made this another action-packed week for the legal industry. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

  • Cannabis Dispute Ends With Plaintiff Co. Facing $1.34M Default

    A California state court snuffed out a Los Angeles cannabis company's fraud lawsuit against its investors and landlords, which were accused of stealing $40 million and wrecking its cannabis license, opening the door for the ex-business partners to score a $1.34 million default judgment.

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    Choice Of Trump's Attys For Bench Worries Some, Not Others

    President Donald Trump is drawing from a pool of his own personal lawyers to fill some seats on the federal bench — a change in strategy from his first term that some experts say is unremarkable, but that others worry will undermine the legitimacy of the courts.

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    This CLO Shifts Mindsets About AI From 'Fear To Innovation'

    When Ali Hartley introduced AI to her team members at electronic health record platform SimplePractice, she asked them to create a cafe menu using AI in less than 30 minutes. She wanted the exercise to show her employees — who at the time ranged from former software coders to people who had never experimented with ChatGPT — that AI can serve as a creative and innovative partner.

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    Buchalter Adds Engineer Turned Patent Atty From Mintz

    Buchalter PC announced Wednesday that it has welcomed an engineer-turned-lawyer to its Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, touting her long-standing experience as a patent litigator and registered patent attorney.

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    Law Firm Real Estate Report

    An active April saw several law firms around the country expand their footprints into new markets and move their teams into new spaces.

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    Sheppard Adds 15 Perkins Trial Attys As It Targets IP Growth

    Sheppard announced another major addition to its intellectual property practice on Thursday, welcoming a 15-lawyer litigation team from Perkins Coie that includes five partners.

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    Why A Mid-Law Firm Went All In On One E-Discovery Platform

    Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass LLP selected CS Disco as its preferred provider for e-discovery technology, the mid-sized law firm confirmed exclusively to Law360 Pulse on Thursday.

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    Demand Rebound, Rising Rates Fuel BigLaw Revenue Jump

    BigLaw firms had a strong first quarter of 2026, driven by ever-increasing billing rates and higher-than-expected demand for legal services, according to survey results released Wednesday.

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    Life After BigLaw: These Attys Found Freedom At Boutiques

    Former BigLaw attorneys who are now practicing at boutiques are grateful for their experiences at those large law companies, but they are finding a small law arrangement gives them more control over their practices.

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    Epport Richman Litigator Joins Fox Rothschild In LA

    Fox Rothschild LLP announced Wednesday it has added a Los Angeles-based partner from Epport Richman & Robbins LLP to its litigation department, touting his experience representing corporate clients in commercial disputes, corporate governance lawsuits and securities litigation.

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    Associates Are Facing Shifting, Unclear In-Office Policies

    Law firm policies on in-office work are in flux and often require reading between the lines of office culture and leader preferences in order to fully comply, a reality that's driving a high degree of frustration in the industry, according to recruiters who work with lateral associate candidates.

  • Dems Say Calif. Redistricting Map Isn't Racial Gerrymandering

    The campaign arm of House Democrats has asked a California federal judge to toss a challenge to the state's new voter-backed congressional districts, saying state Republicans had failed to provide direct evidence that it benefits one race more.

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    Legalist Raises $415M Fund To Bring Total Assets To $2B

    Legalist has raised $415 million for a new fund that aims to continue the litigation funder's strategy of investing in a wide variety of relatively small cases with the help of technology.

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    Mayer Brown Adds Ex-PEG CLO To LA Funds Practice

    Mayer Brown LLP announced Tuesday that an experienced corporate attorney has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a global funds and asset management partner following a stint working as chief legal officer with real estate investment firm PEG Cos. Inc.

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    Hims & Hers' Legal Chief Earned $4.8M In 2025

    Soleil Boughton, chief legal officer of Hims & Hers Health Inc., earned total compensation of $4.8 million last year, according to a securities filing Tuesday.

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    HSF Kramer Appoints Belfast Lead As ALSP Managing Partner

    Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP on Tuesday announced the appointment of a partner who has been with the firm for over two decades as its new managing partner of digital legal delivery, its alternative legal services practice.

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    AI-Powered Legal Ops Is Starting To Pay Off On Deals

    A new study supports what some legal industry experts have been saying for months — an AI-driven legal operating model is taking over the contract management industry and has begun giving companies a real return on their investment. 

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    Legal Ops Teams Grapple With Slew Of 'AI Native' Firms

    The growing number of law firms pitching themselves as "AI native" is generating feelings of artificial intelligence fatigue inside corporate legal departments, as legal operations experts say the term is becoming diluted amid the rush to cash in on the AI boom.

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    Axinn Hires Chief Innovation Officer From Proskauer

    Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP announced Monday the hiring of Rachael Philbin, previously at Proskauer Rose LLP, as its chief innovation officer out of New York City.

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Expert Analysis

  • Talking Mental Health: Fostering Cultures Where Women Excel Author Photo

    Sylvie Rodrigue at Torys discusses why authenticity is essential to women's career growth, why burnout is not the result of a lack of resilience, how the legal industry can better support women's mental health needs, and how firms can address gender gaps in senior roles.

  • How Clients Can Make The Most Of Law Firm Partner Moves Author Photo

    Outside counsel’s lateral career moves can create uncertainty and disruption for companies, but if managed strategically, in-house legal teams can leverage partner mobility for more complete service, better pricing and stronger relationships with their law firms, says Theodore Edelman at GCE Advisors.

  • The Augmented Lawyer: Countering 4 AI Efficiency Myths Author Photo

    Perceived efficiency gains from artificial intelligence can create unsustainable workload expectations for in-house legal departments, so general counsel must proactively educate executives, reframe assumptions and tie legal judgment to business outcomes, say Karineh Khachatourian at KXT Law and Catie Cambridge at Docsum.

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    Notes From A Partner-In-Charge On Lateral Hiring Strategy Author Photo

    In regional recruiting, firms that stand out to laterals can articulate a clear vision that connects local insight with global opportunity, demonstrate a culture that is lived rather than stated, and offer genuine room for growth, says Jason Novak, leader of Norton Rose's San Francisco office.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Team Up With Marketing Author Photo

    There are several ways attorneys can engage with resources already at their fingertips in the form of their in-house law firm marketing departments, which can help you gain some visibility, earn kudos and build a solid book of business, say Ada Kase and Liz Lindley at Jaffe PR.

  • Biz Dev Impostor Syndrome May Actually Be Good Judgment Author Photo

    Attributing lawyers’ sense of unease with business development to self-doubt or weakness may misidentify an important source of discomfort — a keen intuition that an ask isn’t yet appropriate for the relationship — and lead to advice that ultimately backfires, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Ask A Mentor: How Can I Handle Unproductive Feedback? Author Photo

    Maggie Potter at Segal McCambridge offers advice for associates who receive unproductive criticism from superiors and tips for gently pushing back with an eye to growth and efficiency.

  • How To Prep As Private Equity Starts Investing In Law Firms Author Photo

    Law firms eyeing legal services organization models, which allow outside capital to support nonlegal business functions while preserving lawyer ownership, can prepare for the expansion of private equity investment in the area by balancing commercial objectives and compliance imperatives, say attorneys at Rivkin Radler.

  • What Legal Leaders Can Learn From Marine Corps Principles Author Photo

    The small-unit leadership principles that are foundational to the U.S. Marine Corps experience — from tight feedback loops to top-down tactfulness — offer a blueprint for addressing leadership gaps that persist in the legal profession, says Edet Nsemo at Tucker Ellis.

  • Venture Capital Practices Can Improve Law Firm Lateral Hiring Author Photo

    As law firms pursue increasingly ambitious growth goals in a competitive market for talent, they should consider supplementing traditional lateral hiring due diligence with practices inspired by the venture capitalist framework, says Henry O’Connor at Jones Walker.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2026 Author Photo

    After a pivotal year for the legal industry, lawyers and their clients face an evolving litigation finance landscape in 2026 that will be shaped by developments ranging from new policies governing patent lawsuits to the reemergence of appellate monetization funding, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

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    Biz Development Tip Of The Month: Think Like A Waiter Author Photo

    To convert casually interested restaurant patrons into satisfied, repeat customers, a good waiter relies on four service-oriented habits that proactive attorneys can borrow to cultivate lasting client relationships, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.

  • 6 Strategies To Set Up New CCOs For Success Author Photo

    As demand for chief compliance officers rises among a growing range of complex issues, organizations looking to hire and retain top-notch CCOs can adopt a series of strategies including defining success metrics and allowing the CCO to build a team, says Cara Bain at Major Lindsey.

  • Making Legal Cents: How Firms Can Navigate 2026 Trends Author Photo

    From the adoption of artificial intelligence infrastructure to increasing client attrition, a number of trends will likely define the legal industry in 2026, and law firms will need to strategically lean into these shifts to gain a competitive advantage, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

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    Notes From A Partner-In-Charge On Integrating Lateral Talent Author Photo

    When done thoughtfully through three strategies, bringing laterals into the fold can propel growth and create significant business opportunities that enhance the law firm's cultural fabric, says James Sullivan, leader of Alston & Bird's New York office.

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