Best Arizona Explosions Podcasts (2025)

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Every Law Firm Should Build Their Own AI, Yale Professor Says 12:28

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14m ago12:28

12:28

Law firms "have gold sitting on their hard drives," according to Yale Law School professor Scott Shapiro. Shapiro has enthusiastically embraced the use of generative AI in his classroom. He says firms should draw on the mountains of proprietary information at their fingertips to build their own tools. "If only they would train the large language mo…

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Data Center Explosion Hands Big Law Cross-Practice Opportunities 19:13

3d ago19:13

19:13

On today's episode of On The Merits we hear from three lawyers working in the white hot world of data center projects. Mike Rechtin and Justin Stolte are, respectively, real estate and energy partners with Latham & Watkins, and Michelle Kallen is an appellate and advocacy partner at Steptoe. "The latest number that I've seen is a $50 billion annual…

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Why Law Schools are Making a 'Big Mistake' in AI Era Admissions 12:17

6d ago12:17

12:17

The number of law students who graduated in the class of 2024 spiked compared to previous years. That worries Nikia Gray, the head of the National Association for Law Placement. "I think it's going to be a big mistake for law schools to continue to admit large law school class sizes," she said, "when we can predict with some pretty good certainty t…

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Trump's Law Firm Deals May Have Hurt Headcount: David Lat 14:49

8d ago14:49

14:49

It's still not clear what, if any, fallout the law firms that struck pro bono deals with President Donald Trump earlier this year will face. But analyzing attorney movements over the last six months provides one data point. On average, law firms that settled subsequently lost attorneys more attorneys than those who fought the president in court, ac…

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Wachtell Has Its Fingerprints All Over Delaware Law Changes 13:43

12d ago13:43

13:43

Delaware recently changed its corporate laws to make them more favorable to companies being sued by their shareholders and the mega-firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was deeply involved in that process. That's raising some eyebrows because Wachtell is also a go-to firm for companies in Delaware, often called the corporate capital of the world. La…

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King & Spalding 2,400 Hour Rule Is Just the Norm, Recruiter Says 13:09

15d ago13:09

13:09

A memo from law firm King & Spalding to its associates saying they need to log 2,400 "productive hours" a year surprised some in the legal world. But today's guest on our podcast, On The Merits, says it shouldn't have. It's always been the case that lawyers need to go beyond meeting their billable hours quotas and put in some non-billable hours in …

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Chicago Law Dean on AI: You Won't Be Able to Entirely Avoid It 15:24

20d ago15:24

15:24

Like most schools worried about academic integrity, the University of Chicago Law School used to discourage its first-year students from using generative AI but now it has crept into that first-year curriculum. Despite its overall inevitability, William Hubbard, a professor and deputy dean, says he's surprised by how often he has to encourage AI-sk…

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What's KPMG Up to With Its New Law Firm in Arizona? 13:02

25d ago13:02

13:02

The Big Four accounting firm KPMG has taken advantage of relaxed rules in Arizona to start a law firm there, but the company has broader ambitions outside of the state. KPMG says it doesn't want to compete with established players in the legal industry, but Big Law leaders are privately expressing concerns. That's according to Justin Henry, a Bloom…

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Big Law United to Save Lucrative White Collar Defense Work 15:34

27d ago15:34

15:34

The largest law firms in the country are fiercely competitive, so it's notable when nearly 40 of them agree to sign on to a legal brief. That's what happened in an appellate case that could have eroded the attorney-client privilege—and the firms' lucrative white collar defense practices. They breathed a collective sigh of relief earlier this month …

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Ex-Skadden Partner Talks Taking on Trump With New Solo Firm 14:07

30d ago14:07

14:07

Benjamin Klubes is a Big Law expat who just founded his own litigation-focused boutique firm—and he's not alone. Other former partners at larger law firms are now either moving to smaller litigation-only firms or, like Klubes, starting their own. In this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Klubes talks with Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay …

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Law Firms Look Like Enticing Targets for Outside Investors 11:27

1M ago11:27

11:27

If it wasn't already clear, it is now: well-capitalized investors want a piece of the US legal industry. The latest example of this trend came this week when the litigation funder Burford Capital announced that now, in addition to financing individual lawsuits, it also wants to buy minority stakes in entire law firms. This comes after the consultin…

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Why Do More Big Law Lawyers Want Off the Partner Track? 13:10

1M ago13:10

13:10

The allure of making partner doesn't hold the same appeal that it used to for many Big Law associates. Some of them are swallowing a pay cut to jump to a smaller firm. That's according to Major, Lindsey & Africa partner and recruiter Kate Reder Sheikh, who wrote about the trend for Bloomberg Law. She spoke to Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kokrda Kame…

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When a Law Firm's Tech Venture Goes South, the Lawsuits Fly 12:46

1M ago12:46

12:46

The law firm Norton Rose Fullbright thought it was taking a great leap forward when it brought on two partners and acquired the legal tech startup they co-founded, NMBL Technologies. Now, the firm and the startup are mired in a messy litigation battle against one another. On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Alex E…

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Did Associates Who Quit Over Trump Deals Burn Big Law Bridges? 14:31

1M ago14:31

14:31

A wave of associate lawyers resigned in protest from their Big Law jobs earlier this year after their firms struck controversial pro bono deals with the Trump administration. Do they have any regrets? According to Bloomberg Law reporters Justin Henry and Elleiana Green, not really. They spoke with several former associates who say they stand by the…

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Risky Bet on Figma Paid Off Huge for Silicon Valley Law Firm 11:15

2M ago11:15

11:15

Fenwick & West's decision to seek equity in one of its tech startup clients is now, with the benefit of hindsight, looking like a stroke of genius. Figma Inc. last week had a blockbuster IPO and Fenwick made money not only advising its client on going public, but also through the firm's ownership of almost 900,000 shares in the design and collabora…

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Why Susman Godfrey Lawyers Are Happy to Tackle Risky Litigation 16:30

2M ago16:30

16:30

Susman Godfrey has shown it's willing to take on high-risk, high-reward lawsuits with unconventional fee structures. Its leaders say this risk appetite is ingrained in the firm's culture. "When we vote to take a case, it is a case of the firm," Kalpana Srinivasan, a managing partner at the firm, said on our podcast, On The Merits. "You hear sometim…

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Milbank Fights Trump DOJ, Despite Law Firm's White House Deal 11:21

2M ago11:21

11:21

Neal Katyal and Gurbir Grewal, lawyers who command well over $2,000 an hour for their services, are slashing their rates to defend two New Jersey municipalities against a Justice Department lawsuit over their "sancutary city" policies. This on its own would be noteworthy, but what makes it even more interesting is that their law firm—Manhattan-base…

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DLA Piper Chief to Associates: Be Curious, Not 'Overly Partisan' 10:46

2M ago10:46

10:46

Junior lawyers can climb the ranks faster than ever before, according to DLA Piper leader Frank Ryan, but they also should think about checking their politics at the door. Associates "need to be mindful of over rotating into politics," Ryan, the firm's global co-chair, said in the latest edition of Bloomberg Law's On The Merits podcast. "We live in…

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Fired Davis Polk Lawyer on Why He Criticized Trump, Palantir 12:07

2M ago12:07

12:07

Former Davis Polk associate Ryan Powers started writing op-eds for local newspapers earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration's agenda. A few months later, the Wall Street firm he worked for fired him. Powers' story is one example of how some Big Law lawyers have had to make tough career choices since the president retook office. On th…

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Cahill’s Washer: ‘Rethinking Overall Strategy’ at Storied Firm 17:24

2M ago17:24

17:24

Herbert Washer pushed Wall Street's Cahill Gordon & Reindel to expand its business after taking the helm, but he doesn't see the century-old firm joining the ranks of Big Law's largest players. "For us, the key has been to pick areas where we can be top of the market," said Washer, who took over from as Cahill’s sole leader last year. "You don't wa…

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Law Firms Win When Shareholders Go to War With Their Companies 11:00

2M ago11:00

11:00

Activist shareholders can make things difficult for the companies they target. But they represent a significant source of revenue for the law firms that represent those companies—and their shareholders. Bloomberg Law reporters Drew Hutchinson and Andrew Ramonas recently dug through the data on which firms did the most work on shareholder fights in …

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Big Law Has a New M&A Top Dog—Can It Keep Kirkland at Bay? 10:34

3M ago10:34

10:34

Latham & Watkins took the perch as Big Law's leading M&A dealmaker in the first half of the year, surging past rival Kirkland & Ellis as things started to look up for firms whose fortunes are closely tied to corporate transactions. Many law firms were expecting a spike in M&A deals in the first quarter of this year, but that largely failed to mater…

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McDermott Chief Bets on 'Scale' With Schulte Merger 19:04

3M ago19:04

19:04

McDermott Will & Emery just put the finishing touches on a big merger with another firm, and on today's On The Merits podcast, we speak to the firm's chairman, Ira Coleman, about the firm's audacious goals, why he thinks it's important to listen to everyone in the organization, and the firm's bet on tech. "If you're going to put $30 million in AI t…

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What Does the Future of DEI Programming for Law Firms Look Like? 15:29

3M ago15:29

15:29

Since the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling, and especially since Donald Trump's anti-DEI campaign, many law firms have swiftly moved to alter or dismantle their programs promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI. So where does that leave people like Oyango Snell, a full-throated, unapologetic advocate of DEI in the legal industry?…

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Alternatives to Bar Exam Met With Dueling Relief and Skepticism 18:43

3M ago18:43

18:43

The bar exam is in a state of flux. A new "NexGen" test is about to debut, while several states now offer licenses to attorneys who haven't taken the exam at all. These bar exam alternatives, many of which originated as emergency pandemic measures, are proving successful in smaller states, like South Dakota and New Hampshire, and even some larger o…

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Foley & Lardner's CEO Doogal on the Beauty of Smaller Markets 17:46

3M ago17:46

17:46

Don't call it "flyover country." The firm Foley & Lardner has seen success opening offices in mid-tier cities such as Nashville, Raleigh, N.C., and Salt Lake City over the past four years. On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Roy Strom speaks with Foley's chairman and CEO, Daljit Doogal, about why he's taken his firm be…

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The Mysterious Forces Behind Anti Litigation Finance Ad Blitz 12:55

3M ago12:55

12:55

We don't know who is running ads on podcasts advocating for anti-litigation finance legislation. But, given how many enemies the practice has among conservatives and big business, the list of potential culprits is huge. Bloomberg Law reporter Emily R. Siegel wrote a story about these podcast ads, which call for restrictions on third parties who fun…

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Paul Weiss Post-Trump Deal Exits: Catastrophe or Set Back? 18:29

3M ago18:29

18:29

It's never a good look for a law firm to lose partners in bunches, and that's what's been happening at Paul Weiss in the past few weeks. Some of the firm's high-profile litigators have announced their departures, following the deal it struck with the Trump administration to avoid a punitive executive order. Ironically, the firm negotiated the White…

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Bondi's Loss May Not Be the End of Attacks on the Bar 14:45

4M ago14:45

14:45

Brad Bondi, a lawyer at Paul Hastings and brother of the current Attorney General, failed yesterday in his bid to become president of the DC bar association. But criticisms and attacks from conservatives on these legal groups, at both the state and national level, will likely continue. That's one of the takeaways from this week's episode of our pod…

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Karl Racine Breaks Down Latest Trends for State AG Practices 17:28

4M ago17:28

17:28

One would think that the Trump administration's pullback on enforcement across the federal government would mean fewer clients for attorneys to defend. But that would be overlooking another important law enforcer in our system: state attorneys general. Karl Racine and Jason Downs, both partners at the firm Hogan Lovells, are bolstering their practi…

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Some Summer Associates Are Unforgettable—But Not in a Good Way 14:18

4M ago14:18

14:18

Being a summer associate at a law firm can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be remembered; on the other hand, you don't want to be remembered for the wrong reasons. On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we hear from Kate Reder Sheikh, a partner in the associate practice group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, about the pitfalls that su…

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The Law Firm That's Defying Trump on DEI Recruitment 14:05

4M ago14:05

14:05

Dozens of law firms have sought to de-emphasize, or outright kill, their diversity initiatives since the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action decision—and especially since Donald Trump retook office this year and started issuing punitive executive orders that mention them. However, one firm is now doing the opposite. Susman Godfrey announced las…

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Cutting Deals With Trump: Some Law Firms Win, Others Lose 13:34

5M ago13:34

13:34

We're starting to see the impact of a string of deals reached over the last two months between President Donald Trump and top law firms. Some firms appear to be moving on—and even thriving—after pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services on causes backed by the White House to avoid punitive executive orders like those Trump has…

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Trump's War on Law Firms Puts In-House Counsel in Tough Spot 20:59

5M ago20:59

20:59

The Trump administration's attacks on law firms are having ripple effects on the general counsel whose companies employ those firms. Top attorneys at many large companies may be considering whether to switch the firms they use as outside counsel, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Brian Baxter. In some cases, GCs don't want to work with a firm tha…

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Trump's Law Firm Deals Now Clearer, but Still Far From Clear 15:44

5M ago15:44

15:44

Shortly after law firms started striking deals for free legal services with the White House, Bloomberg Law reporter Meghan Tribe appeared on our podcast, On The Merits, to talk about how much ambiguity there was around what the firms were agreeing to and how these agreements would be enforced. Now, Tribe and her colleague Brian Baxter have seen a c…

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100 Days of Uncertainty and Seismic Shifts in the Legal World 18:55

5M ago18:55

18:55

The legal industry is in a state of tremendous flux after just 100 days of the second Trump administration, with the biggest law firms in the country under attack and the Department of Justice's independence in question. Three Bloomberg Law reporters covering three different beats teamed up to write a story chronicling everything that's been happen…

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Trump's Attacks on Firms Scramble Law Students' Career Paths 13:05

5M ago13:05

13:05

Many students at elite law schools end up working in Big Law for at least a spell. The Trump administration's attacks on the industry, and deals with some of its top players, are making the choice of where to start their careers much more complicated. Students are stuck between two very uncertain options: go to a firm that struck a deal with the Wh…

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If Trump Keeps Defying Courts, What's the Endgame for Judges? 19:45

5M ago19:45

19:45

Judge James Boasberg began the process of holding Trump administration officials in contempt of court last week as he struggles to get them to follow his orders around the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members. That contempt process was halted a few days later by an appellate court, but Boasberg's actions raised questions about how it migh…

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Trump Orders Could Implode Law Firms With Frightening Speed 24:23

6M ago24:23

24:23

Like a run on a bank, law firms can quickly collapse if a few rainmakers pick up and take their books of business elsewhere—a vicious cycle that's hard to stop once it gets going. That's the takeaway from a law review article by Yale professor John Morley. He says a partner exodus can happen quickly because there's a huge financial incentive not to…

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Trump Gets Millions in Pro Bono Work, But Details Still Fuzzy 18:03

6M ago18:03

18:03

Law firms are striking deals with President Trump to avoid getting hit with a punitive executive order, and all of these deals include pledges of tens of millions of dollars in pro bono legal work. In this quickly changing landscape, it appears that the biggest law firm in the country, Kirkland & Ellis, is considering one of these commitments to th…

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Skadden Is Heading Down a 'Craven Path,' Associate Says 26:23

6M ago26:23

26:23

"I cannot imagine a worse deal than the one that Skadden came away with." That's the opinion of one of the law firm's own associates, Rachel Cohen. The Chicago-based finance lawyer has grabbed the spotlight by criticizing Skadden and Paul Weiss for reaching agreements with President Donald Trump as he targets Big Law through a series of executive o…

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Big Law Banker Sees ‘Mood Shift’ as Market Rebound Hopes Delayed 15:35

6M ago15:35

15:35

The US legal industry was already in a tough spot before President Donald Trump started attacking Big Law firms. Gloomy economic conditions and tariff-related uncertainty quickly tanked law firm leaders' expectations for a rebound that followed Trump's election. They're looking to stay off the president's target list in a wave of executive orders, …

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How Law Firms Singled Out by EEOC for DEI Practices Can Respond 18:17

6M ago18:17

18:17

President Donald Trump has targeted major law firms in his second term in unprecedented ways. He hit three Big Law firms with executive orders that pose potentially existential threats to those firms. Then on March 21, the Trump administration issued a broad memo targeting any lawyer who files “frivolous, unreasonable, and even vexatious litigation…

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M&A Activity Disappoints, But All's Not Lost for Deals Lawyers 19:35

6M ago19:35

19:35

After Donald Trump won the presidential election, dealmakers at corporations—and the Big Law lawyers that represent them—were optimistic about the prospects for increased corporate mergers and acquisitions. But the first two months of 2025 have fallen far short of expectations. Not only have deal tallies been lower than hoped, they are the lowest i…

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Trump's War on Big Law: 'No Firm Too Big to Be Attacked' 22:04

6M ago22:04

22:04

The White House has now hit several of the largest law firms in the world with directives that strip their attorneys of security clearances and order federal agencies to scrap contracts they hold with the firms' clients. Paul Weiss is the most recent target, but there's reason to believe it won't be the last. Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay s…

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Kirkland's Blackstone Connections Pay Off in Big Haul 13:03

7M ago13:03

13:03

Kirkland & Ellis, the world's largest law firm by revenue, brought in more than $100 million last year from just one of its clients: Blackstone Inc. That's more than double the amount Kirkland earned from the private equity giant in 2023. The dollar amount itself is eye-popping, but also notable is that we even know this information at all. Blackst…

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How the Anti-Bribery Law Pause Will Impact Companies and Big Law 20:44

7M ago20:44

20:44

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a mainstay of corporate culture for the last quarter-century, and has cost companies millions, sometimes even billions, of dollars in fines. And that’s before you start counting the lawyers’ fees. This law, used to prevent US businesses from engaging in bribery to win foreign business, has seen a major upt…

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'Dirt Lawyers' to Megadeals: How Houston Became Big Law Hot Spot 20:24

7M ago20:24

20:24

Houston's legal market wasn't always one of the most competitive arenas in Big Law. But today, 14 of the 15 largest law firms by revenue have an office in Space City. The market's growth has mirrored the explosion of the country's energy industry over the past decade or so. And the competition among law firms continues to evolve, as the biggest fir…

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Agency Lawyers on the Job Market Should Think Broadly in Search 21:11

7M ago21:11

21:11

The federal workforce has been hit with a wrecking ball since Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency started its campaign to fire and furlough federal employees. Meanwhile, law firms are seeing a flood of resumes from attorneys who have lost their jobs and from lawyers who want to leave behind the new instability of federal employment. How…

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How Sports Deals Became 'Sexy' at Leading Law Firms 15:10

7M ago15:10

15:10

The sports business is booming. You’ve probably seen the headlines. An NFL team sold for $6 billion, and private equity is pouring money into almost anything that involves a ball or a stick. For law firms, that means opportunity. More Big Law firms view the business of sports as a target for the types of megadeals that drive revenue. Naturally, the…