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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

CHALLENGER – Retired Baker McKenzie partner Creighton Meland Jr. is the named plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging a California law that requires corporations to include women on their boards of directors. Cheryl Miller reports that the former banking and finance partner in the firm's Chicago office, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, argues that the new law "is not only deeply patronizing to women, it is also plainly unconstitutional."

HILL ON THE HILL - Fiona Hill, a former top Russia adviser, is set to testify today in the House presidential impeachment inquiry. Hill is represented by a team from Boies Schiller Flexner, including Samuel Ungar and Lee Wolosky. Additionally, investigators will hear from State Department official David Holmes, represented by a team from Davis Polk that includes Ken Wainstein, Paul Nathanson and Katherine Swan.

SAVING FACE? Will soon-to-be graduates of Washington and Lee get the option to remove the George Washington and Robert E. Lee's faces from their diplomas? As Karen Sloan reports, several hundred current law students and law school alumni are pushing the university through a petition to let students make the choice. The current diploma design has pictures of the two men flanking the university name at the top of the document. According to the petition, the ability to receive a degree without those pictures will create a more "inclusive" atmosphere. Washington was a slave owner and Lee led the Confederate Army before serving as president of the Virginia university after the Civil War.

FINTECH FINDINGS - The global financial technology market appears to be booming, especially in China, which saw a surge in investment in the third quarter after falling into a slump earlier this year. But, as Phillip Bantz reports, the market is cooler in the U.S., where fintech funding has fallen to an 11-quarter low, according to the latest global fintech report from data firm CB Insights.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Amid Buyers' Market, Litigation Funders Find Traction With Smaller Firms

How a Smart Lawyer Eats Before and After a Workout

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

BACK HOME – Thirteen tax lawyers who worked until February at France's largest law firm Fidal have left the Big Four firm KPMG to return to Fidal. Hannah Langworth reports that behind the about-face is an ongoing legal tussle between the two organizations that stems from the original mass departure, when 144 lawyers, including 26 partners, left Fidal earlier this year to join KPMG. The departures from Fidal marked one of the largest law firm raids in recent years and prompted Fidal to take legal action against KPMG.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani."

—  Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, testifying during the House presidential impeachment inquiry that top administration officials did not want the former New York City mayor involved in dealings with Ukraine.

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