California Pulse


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    Semiconductor Co. AMD Paid GC Nearly $16.9M In '24

    Semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s legal chief made nearly $16.9 million in her first year with the company, including a $2 million sign-on bonus, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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    Debevoise Atty Goes In-House As TPG's Legal Chief

    Global asset manager TPG announced Monday that it has hired Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner Jennifer Chu to take over as its chief legal officer and general counsel, saying her deep "experience, leadership expertise and judgment" are an ideal match for the rapidly expanding firm.

  • Ex-Avenatti Clients Resolve Fight Over Seized Honda Jet

    Two of Michael Avenatti's former clients have settled their dispute over ownership interest and an insurance policy covering a $4.4 million Honda jet that the disgraced attorney allegedly purchased with stolen client funds, according to a notice filed in California federal court.

  • Wayne Gretzky Suing Co-Investor For Malicious Prosecution

    NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife filed a lawsuit in California state court against a co-investor in a failed weight-loss business, whom he alleges lodged a meritless suit against him in 2022 to "score a quick payday" after accusing him of contributing to the demise of the company.

  • Judge Ikuta's Sr. Status Plans Give Trump 9th Circ. Opening

    U.S. Circuit Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta of the Ninth Circuit will be taking semi-retired status upon appointment of her successor, a court representative confirmed to Law360 on Monday.

  • X Corp. Says Dismissal, Sanctions Go Together In Bonus Suit

    A former X Corp. senior director of compensation engaged in "vexatious conduct" that should not allow him to drop his suit claiming unpaid bonuses without sanctions, the social media platform told a California federal judge.

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    20 Law Firms Face EEOC Demands For DEI Employment Info

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has written to 20 law firms seeking information about their diversity, equity and inclusion-related employment practices, the agency announced Monday.

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    Sheppard Mullin's CIO Jumps To Lewis Brisbois In Calif.

    Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP's longtime chief information officer has left to take the same role at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, the latter firm announced Monday.

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    Mitchell Silberberg Adds Greenberg Glusker IP Trio In LA

    Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP announced Monday that a three-attorney team of entertainment intellectual property attorneys from the Los Angeles-based Greenberg Glusker LLP have joined the firm.

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    How Public Companies Are Changing Their DEI Disclosures

    So far in 2025, public companies appear to be adjusting to new legal and regulatory pressures surrounding diversity issues, with some jettisoning all mention of DEI in their disclosures and others maintaining broad commitments to equity in their operations, according to a study released on Monday.

  • Vorys Releases Labor-Focused AI Tool For Its Attys, HR Pros

    Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP announced Monday the launch of an in-house agentic artificial intelligence product designed to help its attorneys and human resources professionals answer questions regarding federal, state and local employment laws.

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    Ogletree Adds Ex-Aleshire & Wynder Practice Leader

    Labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC announced Monday that it has hired the former leader of Aleshire & Wynder LLP's Oakland, California, office and employment litigation practice to ramp up its efforts to serve public-sector clients and others.

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    Clearway Energy GC's Compensation Rose To $1.4M In '24

    Compensation for the New Jersey-based general counsel of San Francisco-headquartered Clearway Energy climbed to about $1.4 million in 2024, according to a recent proxy statement.

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    Littler Elects 6 New Members To Board Of Directors

    Littler Mendelson PC has elected six new members to its 19-member, 2025 board of directors, the management-side employment and labor law firm announced Monday.

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    New State Courts Org. President On Its 'Vitally Important' Role

    Elizabeth Clement, chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and the incoming president of the National Center for State Courts, joined Law360 Pulse for a conversation about her new role in maintaining the functioning and independence of state court systems around the country.

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    Lewis Brisbois Adds Goldberg Segalla Litigation Quartet In SF

    Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP announced Friday that it has added a four-attorney team in San Francisco from Goldberg Segalla LLP to bolster its efforts to advise clients in products liability, toxic torts and other matters.

  • Fintech Platform Names New GC Amid Probe And Shakeup

    Linqto Capital, a fintech investment platform, announced Friday that it had hired a new general counsel who joins as the company is undergoing major leadership changes and an internal investigation into previous business operations.

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    McDermott Adds Cooley's Former Private Client Group Leader

    A veteran attorney who previously served as the private client department head at Cooley LLP has returned to private practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP in California.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    White & Case LLP, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Fish & Richardson PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit handed Apple a significant victory in a dispute that might have led to a ban on imports of its smartwatches.

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    Skadden Tech Veteran Preps For AI's Planetary Revolution

    Kenton King helped open Skadden's Silicon Valley offices some 25 years ago and has lived and breathed tech for a majority of his career, so he's no stranger to so-called disruptors in the sector. But he said game-changers like artificial intelligence come along only once or twice in a lifetime.

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    Recruiter Reflects On Law's Pay, Culture Changes

    Drawing from his four decades in the legal industry, including as a BigLaw litigator and more recently as a legal recruiter, Major Lindsey & Africa managing director Ronald Wood says a number of competing factors in the industry today are driving major shifts in the market.

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    Paul Hastings' New Music Practice Chair On Evolving Industry

    Sidney Fohrman doesn't fear artificial intelligence, or even think that it could pose as a reaper for the world of music that he serves as the new head of Paul Hastings LLP's music industry practice.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    Attorneys had another action-packed week as data revealed law firm hiring practices and the legal industry continued to respond to President Donald Trump's policies. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    Morgan Lewis Bringing SF Office To Pyramid Skyscraper

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP will leave its longtime home in San Francisco's Embarcadero in early 2026 to move into the Transamerica Pyramid.

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    Seyfarth Forms Tech Tools Partnership With CodeX

    Seyfarth Shaw LLP has become the latest law firm to partner with Stanford University's CodeX, the BigLaw firm announced Thursday.

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Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Use Social Media Responsibly? Author Photo

    Leah Kelman at Herrick Feinstein discusses the importance of reasoned judgment and thoughtful process when it comes to newly admitted attorneys' social media use.

  • Yada, Yada, Yada: The Magic Of 3 In Legal Writing Author Photo

    Attorneys should take a cue from U.S. Supreme Court justices and boil their arguments down to three points in their legal briefs and oral advocacy, as the number three is significant in the way we process information, says Diana Simon at University of Arizona.

  • How Firms Can Stop Playing Whack-A-Mole With Data Security Author Photo

    In order to achieve a robust client data protection posture, law firms should focus on adopting a risk-based approach to security, which can be done by assessing gaps, using that data to gain leadership buy-in for the needed changes, and adopting a dynamic and layered approach, says John Smith at Conversant Group.

  • 5 Life Lessons From Making Partner As A Solo Parent Author Photo

    Laranda Walker at Susman Godfrey, who was raising two small children and working her way to partner when she suddenly lost her husband, shares what fighting to keep her career on track taught her about accepting help, balancing work and family, and discovering new reserves of inner strength.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Turn Deferral To My Advantage? Author Photo

    Diana Leiden at Winston & Strawn discusses how first-year associates whose law firm start dates have been deferred can use the downtime to hone their skills, help their communities, and focus on returning to BigLaw with valuable contacts and out-of-the-box insights.

  • Resume Gaps Are No Longer Kryptonite To Your Legal Career Author Photo

    Female attorneys and others who pause their careers for a few years will find that gaps in work history are increasingly acceptable among legal employers, meaning with some networking, retraining and a few other strategies, lawyers can successfully reenter the workforce, says Jill Backer at Ave Maria School of Law.

  • Law Firm Guardrails For Responsible Generative AI Use Author Photo

    ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools pose significant risks to the integrity of legal work, but the key for law firms is not to ban these tools, but to implement them responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, say Natalie Pierce and Stephanie Goutos at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Opinion

    We Must Continue DEI Efforts Despite High Court Headwinds Author Photo

    Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down affirmative action in higher education, law firms and their clients must keep up the legal industry’s recent momentum advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the profession in order to help achieve a just and prosperous society for all, says Angela Winfield at the Law School Admission Council.

  • Law Firms Cannot Ignore Attorneys' Personal Cybersecurity Author Photo

    Law firms that fail to consider their attorneys' online habits away from work are not using their best efforts to protect client information and are simplifying the job of plaintiffs attorneys in the case of a breach, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy and Protection.

  • Why Writing CLE Should Be Mandatory For Lawyers Author Photo

    Though effective writing is foundational to law, no state requires attorneys to take continuing legal education in this skill — something that must change if today's attorneys are to have the communication abilities they need to fulfill their professional and ethical duties to their clients, colleagues and courts, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona.

  • How To Find Your Inner Calm When Client Obligations Pile Up Author Photo

    In the most stressful times for attorneys, when several transactions for different partners and clients peak at the same time and the phone won’t stop buzzing, incremental lifestyle changes can truly make a difference, says Lindsey Hughes at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Support Gen Z Attorneys? Author Photo

    Meredith Beuchaw at Lowenstein Sandler discusses how senior attorneys can assist the newest generation of attorneys by championing their pursuit of a healthy work-life balance and providing the hands-on mentorship opportunities they missed out on during the pandemic.

  • Law Firm Cybersecurity Should Not Get Lost In The Cloud Author Photo

    A recent data leak at Proskauer via a cloud data storage platform demonstrates key reasons why law firms must pay attention to data safeguarding, including the increasing frequency of cloud-based data breaches and the consequences of breaking client confidentiality, says Robert Kraczek at One Identity.

  • Advice For Summer Associates Uneasy About Offer Prospects Author Photo

    There are a few communication tips that law students in summer associate programs should consider to put themselves in the best possible position to receive an offer, and firms can also take steps to support those to whom they are unable to make an offer, says Amy Mattock at Georgetown University Law Center.

  • How Law Firms Can Cautiously Wield AI To Streamline Tasks Author Photo

    Many attorneys are going to use artificial intelligence tools whether law firms like it or not, so firms should educate them on AI's benefits, limits and practical uses, such as drafting legal documents, to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving legal market, say Thomas Schultz and Eden Bernstein at Kellogg Hansen.

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