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How To Make Partner In A Small Firm

By Daniel Connolly

There's no one-size-fits-all method for making partner in a small law firm, and many smaller firms don't have any formal partnership selection process. But if associates attract clients to the firm and show themselves to be "good citizens" of the business, they can boost their chances of promotion, small firm lawyers told Law360 Pulse.

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    California Pulse

    Paul Weiss Stuns Legal Industry With Trump DEI Deal

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's decision to strike a deal with the Trump administration to defuse an executive order targeting the firm has drawn criticism across the legal industry and highlights the challenges preventing BigLaw firms from taking collective action against the White House.

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    Courts

    DOJ Seeks To DQ Judge From Perkins Coie's Exec Order Suit

    The U.S. Department of Justice moved Friday to disqualify the D.C. federal judge presiding over Perkins Coie LLP's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its political representation.

  • white man speaks in front of a microphone at a congressional hearing

    Daily Litigation

    Wright Says Defamation Suit Did Not Violate Anti-SLAPP Law

    Onetime Federal Trade Commission member and law professor Joshua Wright, who recently dropped a $108 million defamation suit against two attorneys who accused him of sexual misconduct, is now fighting a sanctions bid brought by one of the women, arguing it hinges on "selective — and largely misleading — presentation of evidence."

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    DC Pulse

    Skadden Atty Quits Over Lack Of Response To Trump Orders

    An associate for Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP who led an effort pushing for BigLaw to rally behind firms targeted by President Donald Trump's executive orders has publicly resigned in a firmwide email after Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP struck a deal with the administration to get one such order rescinded. 

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    California Pulse

    Littler Selects Longtime Calif. Litigator To Lead Fresno Shop

    Labor and employment firm Littler Mendelson PC has tapped a longtime litigator to be the new head of its office in Fresno, California.

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    In-House

    Corning's CLO Saw Comp Top $7.4M Last Year

    The top attorney for Corning Inc. saw his compensation continue to rise last year, jumping from $5.7 million in 2023 to $7.4 million in 2024, according to a recent securities filing.

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    California Pulse

    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP, Grant & Eisenhofer PA and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a D.C. federal judge upheld a $612.4 million jury verdict against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

  • portrait of a smiling white woman wearing a suit

    Daily Litigation

    Armstrong Teasdale Adds Ex-DLA Piper Atty In NY

    An intellectual property attorney with expertise in the life sciences and consumer electronics industries has moved her practice to Armstrong Teasdale's Manhattan office after three years at DLA Piper.

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    Daily Litigation

    New Ohio Gordon Rees Partner Feels Born For Healthcare Law

    As the child of a surgeon father and a mother who worked as an intensive care unit nurse, Megan Bosak grew up with the understanding that her dad hated lawyers.

  • California Pulse

    Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry began spring with another action-packed week as President Donald Trump continued to eye BigLaw diversity programs and firms expanded their presence and headcounts worldwide. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

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