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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

WHO'S NEXT? As the kickoff to Big Law bonus season, Milbank says its first-year associates are taking home a $15,000 year-end bonus while senior associates receive up to a $100,000 bonus. Dylan Jackson reports that the bonuses match the same pay scale announced by Cravath in November of last year.

LESS IS MORE – Is a four-day workweek viable for law firms? One Florida shop thinks it is. As Dylan Jackson reports, Benenati Law kicked off 2019 by shortening the week of its 24-employee firm to four days. Shorter workweeks are getting another look following news that Microsoft reported a 40% increase in productivity after the company instituted the abbreviated week in a pilot project. Walter Benenati, who regards the move as one of the best decisions of his life, says he's seen positive results from the new schedule.

COUNTER ATTACK – Alan Dershowitz has filed counterclaims for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against a Jeffrey Epstein accuser who has alleged she was forced to have sex with the now-retired Harvard law professor. Tom McParland reports that the counterclaim was filed late Thursday in the Manhattan federal court in litigation begun by Virginia Giuffre, who claims Dershowitz aimed to damage her credibility by calling her, among other things, a "serial liar" and "prostitute." Dershowitz' counterclaim said the allegations were part of a "broader conspiracy" between Giuffre and her lawyers to "subvert the judicial process" in order to drum up private settlements.

MORE TROUBLE - A third woman who worked in DLA Piper's Silicon Valley office has come forward with accusations of improper conduct by the firm and Louis Lehot, the Silicon Valley rainmaker who recently left DLA Piper amid sexual assault allegations brought by a junior partner. Dan Packel reports that administrative assistant Andrea Ivan, who is 65, says she believes Lehot pushed one of the firm's HR employees to terminate her because of her age and that she was replaced by a woman who, according to a co-worker, was "young and hot."

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EDITOR'S PICKS

As Antitrust Probe Unfolds, CoreLogic Hires New Chief Legal Officer

Microsoft Unveils New Information Governance Tools as Regulatory Demands Grow

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

STARTUP BUCKS – Australian legal startup Lawpath has raised $3 million in what it said is one of the largest funding rounds for legaltech in Australian history. Christopher Niesche reports that funds will be used to further develop new products, increase marketing and expand the business in Australia and into Asia. Founded in Sydney in 2014, Lawpath targets small and medium-sized businesses with an online legal services platform. U.S.-based LegalZoom is among Lawpath's investors.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"We are witnessing a chief executive who criticizes virtually every judicial decision that doesn't go his way and denigrates judges who rule against him, sometimes in very personal terms."

—  Paul Friedman, senior U.S. District judge in D.C., commenting on President Trump while delivering the annual Judge Thomas A. Flannery Lecture in Washington.

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