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The 2025 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard law firms are balancing business strength with social responsibility, global reach with local impact, and the ability to lead complex matters while meeting clients' evolving needs. Law360 caught up with firm leaders from this year’s Leaderboard to discuss what success looks like, and how they are positioning their firms for the future.
Check out the Law360 Pulse Leaderboard to see which firms are leaders in all-around excellence this year.
What makes a law firm stand out in a crowded field of top-tier competitors? What does it take to be a well-rounded firm? Presenting the 2025 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard — showcasing the firms that demonstrate excellence on measures of prestige, responsible business practices, and the reach of their legal work.
The top 100 firms on Law360's 2025 Practice Footprint ranking have left a clear mark across federal district courts. Our interactive map shows where each firm has appeared in district court cases over the past three years — revealing the breadth of each firm's national reach.
These 100 firms stand out for their impressive litigation footprints and transactions work. See who's leading the pack across four categories: variety of cases, range of jurisdictions, closing large merger and acquisition deals, and handling registered offerings.
Steptoe LLP has hired an AI governance, compliance and regulatory expert who spent decades in C-suite leadership roles with IBM and Northrop Grumman and most recently helped found a legal technology company with a Steptoe partner who joined last month.
Less than two years after taking the position, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.'s top lawyer has "agreed" to leave the company this week, according to a securities filings Friday.
The PGA Tour's chief legal officer will have an expanded role after the organization's chief executive office announced leadership changes.
Management-side employment law firm Ogletree Deakins announced Monday that a Houston-based shareholder has returned to the firm after serving for more than a year as assistant general counsel to David Weekley Homes.
Fannie Mae announced that it has elevated its deputy general counsel to acting general counsel, after the previous attorney to hold the position decided to move on from the post.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has tapped its executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer to serve as president and chief executive officer starting Jan. 1 after the current leader retires at the end of 2025.
This was another action-packed week for the legal industry as one BigLaw firm elected a new managing partner and other shops expanded their rosters. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.
The former senior vice president and general counsel for business consulting and services company Prolific has returned to private practice at K&L Gates LLP in Nashville.
After penalizing over half a dozen Wells Fargo executives, including the bank's former general counsel, regulators have settled their fake accounts case against its risk officer with no fine and no penalty.
An attorney who ignored a show cause order earlier this summer after his co-counsel included a fake case citation in a filing for their then-client, a former in-house attorney for Workday Inc., told a San Francisco federal judge Thursday that his failure to respond was a "mistake," in response to a renewed show cause order.
Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission has selected its general counsel to take over as executive director of the agency tasked with handling claims of judicial misconduct in the state.
The Association of Corporate Counsel this week held its multiday annual conference in Philadelphia, where legal industry professionals networked with their peers and learned about pressing issues facing in-house counsel — from grappling with the best ways to use artificial intelligence to complying with changing federal regulations and orders.
Microsoft's vice chair and president, Brad Smith, who leads a team of roughly 2,000 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals across the globe, saw his compensation rise to nearly $28.3 million last fiscal year, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Texas-based chief legal officer of global consumer products company Helen of Troy is stepping down next month after more than a decade of service, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Avanos Medical Inc., a Georgia-based medical device company, is eliminating its general counsel role as part of an organizational restructuring and will pay its current GC over $1.4 million in severance, a Thursday U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows.
California-based legal artificial intelligence startup Eudia announced Thursday the acquisition of alternative legal services provider Out-House, as well as its founder and attorney Lynden Renwick.
It's a good thing she's an endurance runner. In a little over a year as chief legal and administrative officer of WW International Inc., better known as WeightWatchers, a very busy Jacquie Cooke has helped navigate the company through a bankruptcy reorganization as well as guide it through the changing protocol to sell weight loss drugs.
The Hertz Corp. announced Wednesday that it has tapped Homebound's Chief Legal Officer Piero Bussani to become the car rental behemoth's executive vice president and CLO, effective next Monday, filling in the role left open earlier this year by Katherine Martin, who moved to Lennar Corp.
Employment for the class of 2024 reached near-record levels, but graduates from underrepresented backgrounds were less likely to secure attorney positions or judicial clerkships, according to newly released data from the National Association for Law Placement.
A New York attorney has been cautioned that, in most cases, it is unethical to act as a relator in a qui tam False Claims Act suit against his former client, with new guidance warning against using information gained during representation to later bring such claims against former clients.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can I Successfully Switch Practices?
Associates who pivot into new practice areas may find that along with the excitement of a fresh start comes some apprehension, but certain proactive steps can help tame anxiety and ensure attorneys successfully adapt to unfamiliar subjects, novel internal processes and different client deliverables, say Susan Berson and Hassan Shaikh at Mintz.
Amid demands from clients and prospective hires for greater sustainability efforts, law firms should think beyond reusable mugs and create programs that incorporate clear leadership structures, emission tracking and reduction goals, and frameworks for reporting results, says Gayatri Joshi at the Law Firm Sustainability Network.
Associates may hesitate to take on the added commitment of pro bono matters, but such work has tangible skill-building benefits, so firms should consider compensation and leadership strategies to encourage participation, says Rasmeet Chahil at Lowenstein Sandler.
The pandemic has likely exacerbated the prevalence of problem drinking in the legal profession, making it critical for lawyers and educators to address alcohol abuse and the associated stigma through issue-specific education, supportive assistance and alcohol-free professional events, says Erica Grigg at the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program.
Opinion
Lawyers Have Duty To Push For Immigration Court Reform
Attorneys must use their collective voice to urge federal lawmakers to create an Article I immigration court outside executive branch control, helping address the conflicts of interest, political influence and lack of adjudication consistency that prevent migrants from achieving true justice, say Elia Diaz-Yaeger and Carlos Bollar at the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Can 1st-Year Attys Manage Remote Work?
First-year associates can have a hard time building relationships with colleagues, setting boundaries and prioritizing work-life balance in a remote work environment, so they must be sure to lean on their firms' support systems and practice good time management, say Jenny Lee and Christopher Fernandez at Kirkland.
Attorney team leaders have a duty to attend to the mental well-being of their subordinates with intention, thought and candor — starting with ensuring their own mental health is in order, says Liam Montgomery at Williams & Connolly.
As law firms begin planning next year's summer associate events, they should carefully examine how choice of venue, activity, theme, attendees and formality can create feelings of exclusion for minority associates, and consider changing the status quo to create multiculturally inclusive events, says Sharon Jones at Jones Diversity.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Negotiate Long-Term Flex Work?
Though the pandemic has shown the value of remote work, many firms are still reluctant to embrace flexible working arrangements when offices reopen, so attorneys should use several negotiating tactics to secure a long-term remote or hybrid work setup that also protects their potential for career advancement, says Elaine Spector at Harrity & Harrity.
Instead of spending an entire semester on 19th century hunting rights, I wish law schools would facilitate honest discussions about what it’s like to navigate life as an attorney, woman and mother, and offer lessons on business marketing that transcend golf outings and social mixers, says Daphne Delvaux at Gruenberg Law.
Female lawyers belonging to minority groups continue to be paid less and promoted less than their male counterparts, so law firms and corporate legal departments must stop treating women as a monolithic group and create initiatives that address the unique barriers women of color face, say Daphne Turpin Forbes at Microsoft and Linda Chanow at the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession.
Opinion
We Need More Professional Diversity In The Federal Judiciary
With the current overrepresentation of former corporate lawyers on the federal bench, the Biden administration must prioritize professional diversity in judicial nominations and consider lawyers who have represented workers, consumers and patients, says Navan Ward, president of the American Association for Justice.
Series
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Retire Without Creating Chaos?
Retired attorney Vernon Winters explains how lawyers can thoughtfully transition into retirement while protecting their firms’ interests and allaying clients' fears, with varying approaches that turn on the nature of one's practice, client relationships and law firm management.
Narges Kakalia at Mintz recounts her journey from litigation partner to director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the firm, explaining how the challenges she faced as a female lawyer of color shaped her transition and why attorneys’ unique skill sets make them well suited for diversity leadership roles.
Navigating the legal world as an Asian American lawyer comes with unique challenges — from cultural stereotypes to a perceived lack of leadership skills — but finding good mentors and treating mentorship as a two-way street can help junior lawyers overcome some of the hurdles and excel, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.