New Jersey Pulse


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    NJ Seeks $195M Fee Award In $2.5B DuPont PFAS Case

    New Jersey asked a Garden State federal judge this week to approve $195 million in attorney fees to its special counsel team of four firms whose six years of litigation work resulted in two landmark settlements that serve to clean up some of the state's most contaminated sites.

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    High Billers At McKool Smith To Pocket Extra Bonus Money

    McKool Smith is the latest BigLaw firm to announce extra cash for attorneys who went above and beyond with billable hours in 2025, according to an internal memo obtained by Law360 Pulse.

  • 2nd Circ. Reinstates Ex-Exec's $4M Bridgegate Fees Suit

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday revived claims from former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive William E. Baroni Jr. seeking $4 million in legal fees over his Bridgegate criminal case, saying the trial court was wrong to find that the Port Authority had sovereign immunity.

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    The Top In-House Hires Of November

    Elon Musk's xAI has a new but familiar general counsel, while several sports groups — including the New York Mets, PGA of America and the SEC college athletic conference — also brought on new legal leaders in November.

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    Sheppard Mullin To Offer Larger Bonuses To Busy Associates

    Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP associates who labored past 2,000 hours in 2025 can expect to see a little extra in their upcoming bonus checks, according to an internal memo obtained by Law360.

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    Chiesa Shahinian Brings On Former Rutgers Labor Counsel

    Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC has grown its employment law team with Rutgers University's former vice president for university labor relations and special counsel to the university president, the firm announced Tuesday.

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    Lowenstein Sandler Launches Digital Infrastructure Group

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP launched a new, cross-disciplinary practice group to represent data centers and other players in the digital infrastructure industry, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • DeCotiis Beats DQ Bid In NJ Turnpike Discrimination Suit

    A New Jersey state appellate panel on Tuesday rejected a bid to disqualify DeCotiis Fitzpatrick Cole & Giblin LLP from representing the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and two employees in a discrimination case filed by a medical facility and doctors who performed work for authority members.

  • NJ Comptroller Bill Debate Turns Into Fight Over AG's Record

    A New Jersey Senate committee hearing on Monday about a bill that would remove investigatory powers from the Office of the State Comptroller devolved into attacks on the state attorney general's record and accusations of "textbook" First Amendment violations.

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    Port Authority Chair Gets NJ Committee Nod For Another Term

    The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee voted to reappoint Kevin O'Toole, chair of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 2017, to another six-year term on the board of commissioners of the agency on Monday.

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    3rd Circ. Says Habba Barred From Serving As Acting US Atty

    President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer cannot serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Monday in a precedential opinion holding that her appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and undermined the constitutional safeguards of Senate confirmation.

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    State High Courts See Little Progress In Improving Diversity

    State supreme courts have seen minimal improvements in the racial and gender diversity of their jurists, as new justices have been disproportionately white and male, with even less progress made in seating justices with varied professional experiences, according to a recent report.

  • NJ AG, Comptroller Blast Bill To Strip Agency's Probe Powers

    New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is set to go before lawmakers on Dec. 1 to speak out against a proposed bill aimed removing investigatory powers from the Office of the State Comptroller after calling the proposal "outrageous" on social media.

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    Gov.-Elect Sherrill Taps Dozens Of Attys For Transition Teams

    New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill's recently announced transition teams feature a number of legal professionals from within New Jersey and outside the state working in a variety of roles as she prepares for her term to begin. 

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    Blank Rome's Reelected Leader Sees Values As Key To Growth

    As he prepares to begin a second four-year term as Blank Rome LLP's managing partner and chair, Grant Palmer said a commitment to longstanding values like teamwork and diversity have helped the firm navigate changes in the legal market since it launched in Philadelphia nearly 80 years ago.

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    Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

    U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

  • Ex-Media Exec Launches Counter Fees Bid In Severance Fight

    A former media executive is pushing back on Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP's demand for more than $500,000 in legal fees, arguing that a New Jersey federal court should instead award him more than $600,000 in fees because he is actually the prevailing party in a suit against his former employer over severance pay.

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    Democrats Seek Documents On Emil Bove's DOJ Tenure

    Senate Democrats are turning to public records requests to learn more about the controversial tenure of U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove while he served at the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that they're being "stonewalled" by the department.

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    Holtec Can Pursue Suit Over Alleged Scheme Involving Ex-GC

    Holtec International prevailed over motions to dismiss its lawsuit in New Jersey state court accusing its former general counsel and others of running an embezzlement scheme that cost the company over $700,000.

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    How GCs Are Turning Litigation Into Strategic Profit Tool

    For most general counsel, litigation has meant playing defense to guard their corporations against outside threats. In 2025, however, a growing number have been taking on roles as quarterbacks seeking to score large policy or financial victories for their companies.

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    Ex-IBM Unit GC Joins Telecom Somos In Deputy Role

    New Jersey-based telecommunications company Somos Inc. has added a vice president and deputy general counsel of corporate and legal affairs who previously worked in-house at IBM for over 15 years.

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    Weil Matches Year-End And Special Bonuses For Associates

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP on Tuesday joined a cadre of other firms in matching the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.  

  • Treasury Beats NJ Law Firm's Suit Over Access To Tax Return

    A federal judge in New Jersey on Monday dismissed a law firm's suit against the U.S. Treasury over unauthorized access to its tax returns, saying that Zemel Law LLC's complaint against the government includes only a "barebone assertion" and lacks the detail necessary to properly claim wrongful disclosure.

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    AY Strauss Expands Family Law Bench With NJ Atty Trio

    AY Strauss LLC announced Monday that it's expanding its family law practice with a trio of new attorneys joining from Starr Gern Davison & Rubin PC in New Jersey, building on recent growth in the firm's cannabis and immigration practices.

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    5 BigLaw Firms Match Prevailing Year-End, Special Bonuses

    BigLaw continues to dole out extra cash for attorneys just in time for the holidays, with five more firms matching the year-end and special bonuses previously announced by their peers.

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Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    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.

  • Series

    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.

  • COVID-19 Spurs Associates To Think Bigger — Like Partners Author Photo

    What is the firm's data on profit per partner? How do the rainmakers seal deals without pre-COVID-19 pricey dinners? Is the firm financially stable? These are the kinds of partner-level questions associates are now asking before choosing a new firm, which points to a major shift in the lateral landscape, say Kate Reder Sheikh and Rebecca Glatzer at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Guest Feature

    Mentorship Is Key To Fixing Drop-Off Of Women In Law Author Photo

    It falls to senior male attorneys to recognize the crisis female attorneys face as the pandemic amplifies an already unequal system and to offer their knowledge, experience and counsel to build a better future for women in law, says James Meadows at Culhane Meadows.

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