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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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HUSH, HUSH - Baker McKenzie has put its equity partner compensation in a black box. Meghan Tribe reports that the 4,700-lawyer firm last summer in North America quietly moved to a closed system, which in general means that partner pay is determined by firm leaders and is not shared with anyone else at the firm. A closed system, said a recruiter, can give firms more flexibility in hiring laterals but can also lead to infighting, especially for those that previously operated under an open system.

U.S. SNOOZE? The U.S. News & World Report law school rankings are officially out. Guess what? Elite schools are still elite. Karen Sloan reports on the changes this year—mostly small, a few big.

TALC TALK - The alleged link between talc products and cancer—which has been the subject of trials ending in eight-figure verdicts in California, Missouri and New Jersey—is the main topic of a House Oversight Committee hearing scheduled today on Capitol Hill. The panel is expecting to hear from an epidemiologist, a public health policy executive and the plaintiff in a case that resulted in a $72 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson, whose baby powder has been the focus of much of the products liability cases. No J&J executive appears on the witness list for the hearing, at which Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, is set to preside.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Longtime Munger Tolles Leader Sandra Seville-Jones Dies at 58

Try It. You'll Like It: The Go-To Law Schools Discussion

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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ADJUSTMENT - Herbert Smith Freehills has closed its office in South Korea as the law firm prepares to change its Seoul office registration before Brexit, John Kang reports. Under the new registration, the firm will be designated as Australia-based. Korean law says that only law firms with headquarters in countries that have a live free trade agreement with Korea can set up offices in Seoul. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, British firms' Seoul offices may no longer be covered by the EU-Korea agreement.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“The biggest surprise is perhaps the tax implications. I've had to hire a really good accountant.”

— NNEDI IFUDU NWEKE, PARTNER AT AKIN GUMP IN WASHINGTON, D.C., ON HOW HER LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE MAKING PARTNER LAST YEAR.

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