California Pulse


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    Sony Pictures Elevates Atty Who Led CBS Litigation

    Sony Pictures Entertainment has promoted one of its in-house attorneys, who recently drove the litigation behind the settlement with CBS regarding the syndicated distribution of "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune," to executive vice president of global litigation, the entertainment giant exclusively told Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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    Cozen O'Connor Brings On Ex-Federal Prosecutor In LA

    Cozen O'Connor is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a former assistant U.S. attorney as a member in its Los Angeles area offices.

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    LA Judge Faces Ethics Probe Over 'Bizarre' Comments

    California's judicial ethics watchdog announced Tuesday it is looking into misconduct allegations against a Los Angeles judge whose "extreme and bizarre" comments led a state appeals court to reverse a $10 million sexual harassment verdict.

  • Lyft's 'Priority Pickup' Service Fails to Deliver, Suit Says

    Lyft tells passengers they can get a faster pickup for a premium price but frequently fails to deliver on that promise, a customer says in a proposed consumer class action filed Tuesday in California federal court.

  • Willkie Accused Of Aiding $735M Fraud In Buyout Deal

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP on Tuesday was accused of aiding a $735 million fraud carried out by an investment manager to secure financing for a 2023 take-private transaction involving Franchise Group Inc., which was then used to pay off the manager's personal debts.

  • Orrick Expands IP Team With Cadwalader, Kirkland Litigators

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has beefed up its intellectual property litigation team with three new partners experienced in counseling technology and life sciences clients, adding two former Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP litigators in New York and a former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner in Los Angeles.

  • Plaintiffs Atty Who Disclosed Uber MDL Docs On 'Thin Ice'

    A California federal magistrate judge warned plaintiffs attorney Bret Stanley of Johnson Law Group during a hearing Tuesday that he's on "thin ice" after Uber argued he should be sanctioned for allegedly repeatedly using discovery in multidistrict litigation over sexual assault liability to litigate other cases against Uber.

  • Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 48 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, achieving milestones such as high-profile litigation wins at the U.S. Supreme Court and 11-figure merger deals.

  • 9th Circ. Revives Malpractice Suit Against Bankruptcy Atty

    The Ninth Circuit Tuesday reinstated a California woman's malpractice lawsuit against her bankruptcy attorney, but said the bankruptcy court needs to significantly narrow the permission to sue it granted to the debtor.

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    Stranch Jennings Opens In Calif. With Bleichmar Fonti Team

    Nashville-based firm Stranch Jennings & Garvey PLLC has launched an office in Oakland, California, with a nine-attorney team from another plaintiffs' class action firm, Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP.

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    Massumi & Consoli Lands M&A Pro In Los Angeles

    Massumi & Consoli LLP announced Monday that it has added an attorney who previously operated his own talent management business for athletes and also spent time at Paul Hastings LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP to enhance its capacity to handle mergers and acquisitions.

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    Womble Bond's Consumer Finance Team Eyes Growth

    Womble Bond Dickinson has added a 36-person consumer financial services team from McGlinchey Stafford PLLC led by Cleveland partner Mark Edelman. Law360 Pulse talked with Edelman about why his team made the move.

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    Private Equity Eyes Legal Field As Alternative Paths Open Up

    This could be the year that private equity finally cracks the ramparts of the U.S. legal sector, as the rise of alternative business structure programs and managed services organizations chip away at the long-standing ban on nonlawyer ownership of law firms.

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    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2025, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • Littler Adds Epstein Becker Employment Litigator In Calif.

    Littler Mendelson PC announced that an attorney from Epstein Becker Green is joining its Century City, California, office as a shareholder, bringing a wealth of experience in employment law. 

  • Calif. Atty Wins Fee Appeal In Dispute With Ex-Firm

    A California appellate panel on Thursday approved an attorney fee award for a lawyer in dispute with his former firm but also denied that attorney's attempt to get attorney fees for a post-arbitration hearing.

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    Boutiques Loomed Large In Latest Bonus Season

    Sometimes referred to as the BigLaw bonus scale, year-end associate bonuses of more than $100,000 have included prestigious boutique law firms in recent years, with a notable outpouring of large bonuses among such firms in 2025, an analysis of data compiled by Law360 Pulse shows.

  • Law360 Pulse Spotlight On Mid-Law Work

    Kellogg Hansen's handling of an antitrust suit against Google and Choate's work on a $215 million acquisition of a medical device maker lead this edition of Law360 Pulse's Spotlight on Mid-Law Work, recapping the top matters for Mid-Law firms from Jan. 2 to 16.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Sher Tremonte LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Second Circuit upheld a ruling requiring Getty Images to pay out nearly $88 million to investors who said they were blocked from purchasing shares in the company once it became public.

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    Do's And Don'ts For How To Handle That Year-End Bonus

    While associates' bank accounts may be flush after the recent round of year-end bonuses at many of the country's top firms, whether the money leads to additional benefits or problems hinges on how attorneys handle the influx of cash, financial experts tell Law360 Pulse.

  • Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry had another action-packed week with more lateral moves, leadership changes and C-suite promotions. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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    Warren Kash Rebrands After Partner Departure

    Technology litigation firm Warren Kash Warren LLP announced Thursday that it is changing its name to Warren LLP following the departure of Jen Kash, who has joined California-based Bunsow De Mory LLP.

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    Womble Bond Expands With 36-Person McGlinchey Team

    Womble Bond Dickinson announced Friday it has added a 36-member consumer financial services team from the shuttering McGlinchey Stafford PLLC and is opening two new offices in Albany, New York, and Cleveland.

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    Dykema Adds Former Assistant US Attorney In Los Angeles

    Dykema Gossett PLLC is growing its litigation team, bringing in a former assistant U.S. attorney as senior counsel in its Los Angeles office.

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    Jenner Atty And Ex-Newsom Aide O'Leary Heads To OpenAI

    Jenner & Block LLP public policy partner Ann O'Leary, who previously worked as chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has joined OpenAI in the newly created role of vice president of global policy, according to an announcement this week.

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Expert Analysis

  • Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers Author Photo

    Every lawyer can begin incorporating aspects of software development in their day-to-day practice with little to no changes in their existing tools or workflow, and legal organizations that take steps to encourage this exploration of programming can transform into tech incubators, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll Author Photo

    As junior associates increasingly report burnout, work-life conflict and loneliness during the pandemic, law firms should take tangible actions to reduce the stigma around seeking help, and to model desired well-being behaviors from the top down, say Stacey Whiteley at the New York State Bar Association and Robin Belleau at Kirkland.

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    Ask A Mentor: Should My Law Firm Take On An Apprentice? Author Photo

    Mentoring a law student who is preparing for the bar exam without attending law school is an arduous process that is not for everyone, but there are also several benefits for law firms hosting apprenticeship programs, says Jessica Jackson, the lawyer guiding Kim Kardashian West's legal education.

  • The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation Author Photo

    As clients increasingly want law firms to serve as innovation platforms, firms must understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach — the key is a nimble innovation function focused on listening and knowledge sharing, says Mark Brennan at Hogan Lovells.

  • The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms Author Photo

    In addition to establishing their brand from scratch, women who start their own law firms must overcome inherent bias against female lawyers and convince prospective clients to put aside big-firm preferences, says Joel Stern at the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.

  • The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey Author Photo

    Jane Jeong at Cooley shares how grueling BigLaw schedules and her own perfectionism emotionally bankrupted her, and why attorneys struggling with burnout should consider making small changes to everyday habits.

  • Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors Author Photo

    Black Americans make up a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated population but are underrepresented among elected prosecutors, so the legal community — from law schools to prosecutor offices — must commit to addressing these disappointing demographics, says Erika Gilliam-Booker at the National Black Prosecutors Association.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload? Author Photo

    Young lawyers overwhelmed with a crushing workload must tackle the problem on two fronts — learning how to say no, and understanding how to break down projects into manageable parts, says Jay Harrington at Harrington Communications.

  • A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms Author Photo

    Law firms could combine industrial organizational psychology and machine learning to study prospective hires' analytical thinking, stress response and similar attributes — which could lead to recruiting from a more diverse candidate pool, say Ali Shahidi and Bess Sully at Sheppard Mullin.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments? Author Photo

    In the first installment of Law360 Pulse's career advice guest column, Meela Gill at Weil offers insights on how associates can ask for meaningful work opportunities at their firms without sounding like they are begging. 

  • Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap Author Photo

    In order to improve access to justice for those who cannot afford a lawyer, states should consider regulatory innovations, such as allowing new forms of law firm ownership and permitting nonlawyers to provide certain legal services, says Patricia Lee Refo, president of the American Bar Association.

  • How Attys Can Guard Against Rising Settle-And-Sue Claims Author Photo

    Certain precautions can help lawyers avoid post-settlement malpractice claims and create a solid evidentiary defense, as settle-and-sue lawsuits rise amid pandemic-induced dispute settlements, say Bethany Kristovich and Jeremy Beecher at Munger Tolles.

  • What I Learned As A Virtual Summer Associate Author Photo

    It is necessary in a virtual law firm summer program to think twice about asking questions you may be able to answer on your own, but this independence and other aspects of a remote internship may help to instill habits that would be useful for future full-time associates, says law student Kelley Sheehan, who interned at Patterson & Sheridan this summer.

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