Strong Financial Finish for Firms, Bigger Big Four, Fix for What Ails Ericsson: The Morning Minute
Here's the news you need to start your day.
December 11, 2019 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
BIG FINISH – After a slow start to the year, law firms progressively improved their financial performance, and are expected to grow revenue between 5.5% and 6.5% for all of 2019, Dan Packel reports. The latest report from Citi Private Bank and Hildebrandt Consulting indicates nearly the same rate of growth for 2020, despite some other industry leaders who predict a downturn next year. Still, on the whole, demand lagged behind 2018, growing at 0.9% over the first nine months of the year.
IN PERSON - Michael Horowitz, the DOJ's inspector general, is set to testify today at the Senate Judiciary Committee about his long-awaited report, released Monday, assessing the run-up to the FBI's Russia investigation. Horowitz, a former Cadwalader partner, documented surveillance errors but concluded there was a legal foundation for the investigation. Attorney General William Barr has disavowed findings in the report, and his commentary has drawn its own criticism from former DOJ officials.
EASTWARD – As part of the trend of the Big Four offering legal services abroad, KPMG has expanded its legal services into China by launching an affiliated law firm in Shanghai. John Kang reports that the firm, called Shanghai SF Lawyers, has 13 legal professionals and comes less than a year after KPMG established an affiliated law firm, also called SF Lawyers, in Hong Kong. KPMG's Big Four rivals all have a presence in Hong Kong as well as Shanghai and Beijing.
ERRATUM – An item yesterday about the startup Legal Innovators incorrectly said it hired law clerks while they're in law school. Its clerks begin two-year stints after graduating from law school.
EDITOR'S PICKS
Drunk Partners, Pat Cipollone and Vanna White
LA Associate, Linklaters Crypto Expert Move Forward With 'Mommy Track' Suit Against MoFo
Ericsson Is Counting on Laurie Waddy to Fix Compliance Woes
In Suit Against Kilpatrick Townsend Partner Duo, Mystery Recruiter ID'd as James Wilson
The Top 10 Emerging Legal Tech Hot Spots: The Surprises and Debatable Omissions
After Posting 'OK To Be White' Fliers, Law Student Kicked Out of School
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
BABY TIME – Linklaters is set to allow any U.K. employee whose partner is having a baby, adopting a child or becoming a parent through surrogacy to take 12 weeks of fully paid leave, as it joins other law firms in broadening its parental policies. Krishnan Nair reports that the new policy will entitle all staff to the period of leave regardless of gender or gender identity.
WHAT YOU SAID
"Under exceedingly difficult circumstances and under intense public scrutiny, Gates has worked earnestly to provide the government with everything it has asked of him."
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Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
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