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California Pulse
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Lateral Hiring Finished 2025 Strong Despite Q4 Dip
Large U.S. law firms capped 2025 with higher lateral hiring totals than the year before, despite a late-year slowdown, as demand for partners and counsel remained strong, new information from legal data company Firm Prospects LLC shows.
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Long-Time Stanford U. General Counsel To Retire In August
Stanford University is searching for a new general counsel after long-time legal chief Debra Zumwalt announced this week that she will retire in August after serving five university presidents and dealing with several school scandals.
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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors
The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.
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Legal Chiefs Shift Work From Firms Amid 'Threshold Moment'
Nearly all the chief legal officers and general counsel who participated in a recent survey said they plan to move more law firm work in-house or to alternative providers within the next two years as increasing outside counsel rates, artificial intelligence and ongoing efficiency pressure factor into how they distribute work, according to a report published Wednesday.
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Crowell Lands Buchalter Practice Group Co-Chair In Calif.
Crowell & Moring LLP announced Thursday that it has added the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's white collar and government investigations practice to bolster its capacity to handle healthcare fraud and other cases.
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Ex-Teacher Turned GC On How She's Grown Into Partner Role
When general counsel Deborah Carrillo was recently named a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, she had traveled a long way from being the middle school math teacher who aspired to use the law to right the inequities of public school systems.
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Ogletree's New Data Chief Hopes AI Use Becomes Widespread
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC recently promoted Timothy Fox to the newly created role of chief data and artificial intelligence officer. Here, Fox spoke with Law360 Pulse about what he wants to accomplish in the role and his hopes for widespread generative AI adoption in the legal industry.
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Judge Questions If Workers' Attys Can Handle AI Bias Class
A California federal judge called out the attorneys for a proposed class of workers who accused human resources software company Workday of using biased artificial intelligence to screen out job applicants, saying Wednesday that evidence indicated they'd been "asleep at the wheel."
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Ex-Mozilla CLO Returns To Search Engine As Business Chief
Tech company Mozilla has welcomed back its former top in-house attorney to serve the company in an expanded role.
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Calif. Bill Would Ban AI From Replacing Arbitrators' Analysis
A bill introduced in the California state Senate seeks to regulate attorneys' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide, including banning lawyers from entering private client information into public AI systems and prohibiting arbitrators from utilizing AI in decision-making.
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Wilson Sonsini Creates Defense Tech Team, Hires Google Atty
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC announced Wednesday that it is launching a defense tech industry group with the hire of a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who most recently worked as an enterprise account executive for Google Public Sector's national defense business.
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Coblentz Patch Hires New COO As CEO Prepares To Retire
A longtime business executive at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has joined San Francisco's Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP as chief operating officer, taking over responsibilities from its outgoing CEO, who is preparing to retire this year.
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GCs Uneasy, Wary Of Litigation Amid Tight Budgets In 2026
Cybersecurity risks keep escalating and employment disputes remain a challenge while general counsel also face changing enforcement priorities and tightening budgets, according to a survey released Wednesday.
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Rapidly Expanding Clark Hill Names Chief Growth Officer
Following several years of growth via lateral hires and combinations, Clark Hill PLC has tapped the former co-leader of its litigation practice group to take on the new role of chief growth officer, the firm announced Wednesday.
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USC Gould Law School, Akerman Launch Law+AI Initiative
Akerman LLP is teaming with the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law to launch a Law+AI Initiative to help in developing the standards and regulatory path for full-scale artificial intelligence adoption across fields and industries.
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Ogletree, Littler, Norton Rose Announce New Innovation Roles
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Littler Mendelson PC and Norton Rose Fulbright have all announced new innovation appointments and hires this week.
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Chipotle Replaces Legal Chief Amid Leadership Moves
Chipotle Mexican Grill has promoted its chief human resources officer, announcing Monday that she is now also the restaurant chain's chief legal officer.
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Law Firms Bet Big On Tech Leadership In 2025
The latest wave of leadership moves shows law firms increasingly adding tech-savvy executives to drive innovation and transformation, as firms race to keep pace with emerging technologies, shifting client expectations and intensifying market pressures.
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Qdoba Restaurant Chain Taps Food Industry Veteran As CLO
Fast-casual restaurant chain Qdoba announced Monday that an industry veteran formerly with Krispy Kreme, KFC and Yum Brands will be its new chief legal officer.
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McGlinchey Stafford Closure Latest Casualty Of Mid-Law Pressures
Without any mass exodus of attorneys, the pending closure of New Orleans-based firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC stands apart from other firm shutdowns in recent years but still reflects the difficulties facing full service midsize firms amid rising pressures related to rates and compensation.
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Wilson Elser Promotes 41 Attorneys to Partnership
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP has named its partner class for 2026, promoting 41 attorneys and outdoing last year's class by seven attorneys, the firm announced Monday.
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Automotive Litigation Boutique Narain Maclear Opens In Calif.
The new year brings the opening of a California-based law firm, Narain Maclear LLP, an automotive litigation-focused boutique made up largely of lawyers and professional staff from LTL Attorneys LLP in Los Angeles.
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Skadden's Ex-Palo Alto Leader Named Aetherflux's COO, CLO
The former head of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Palo Alto office Joe Yaffe is now Aetherflux's chief operating officer and chief legal officer as the San Carlos, California, space-based solar power startup moves ahead with its "Galactic Brain" project to launch an artificial intelligence data center satellite in space, Aetherflux announced Friday.
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Netflix Wins Atty Fees In 'Orgasm Inc.' Defamation Case
A California state appellate court affirmed an award of attorney fees to Netflix Inc. after the streaming giant's anti-SLAPP victory in a defamation case over its documentary "Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste," saying the trial court had the authority to award fees despite the case being under appeal.
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Biz Owner's RICO Suit Says 5 Calif. Attys Helped Loot IT Co.
A business owner has filed a lawsuit accusing five attorneys from five different small California law firms of conspiring with his ex-business partner to steal assets from a company the two had jointly owned.