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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

MERGER OUTLOOK – The same factors that motivated law firms to merge this year are likely to be in play in 2020, even as a potential recession looms larger. David Thomas reports that firms will continue to face pressure to consolidate from clients looking to reduce their rosters of go-to law firms. They are also expected to see rising technology costs as well as competition from alternative service providers.

IMPACT – The D.C. Circuit is set to hear today from House and DOJ lawyers about what effect the impeachment of President Trump has on two disputes: one over a subpoena seeking the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn, and another over Mueller grand jury materials. The D.C. Circuit panels hearing the two cases have ordered responses from the lawyers. Arguments in both matters are scheduled for Jan. 3.

PERSPECTIVE – To understand where legal technology is going, it helps to know where it's been. Law.com legal technology editor Rhys Dipshan queries a number of legal pros—an in-house lawyer, a law firm partner, an e-discovery expert, a legal department consultant, and the founder of an alternative legal services provider—to get their perspectives on the biggest developments in legal tech over the past decade.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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Johnson & Johnson Gets Second Talc Defense Win in a Week

Gibson Dunn, DoorDash's Ties to New Mass Arbitration Protocol Can Be Explored, Judge Says

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

U.S. INVASION -  Watch out U.K lawyers: The Americans are coming. As part of an analysis by Law.com affiliate Legal Week, Simon Lock reports that in 2019, U.S-based firms in the U.K hired twice as many partners from other U.S. law firms as they did from U.K. ones. But that doesn't mean local firms in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were immune to the growing American market presence. Of the 11 partners the Magic Circle lost this year, 10 moved to U.S-based firms.

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WHAT YOU SAID

 "The most important thing is that we are ultimately successful."

—  Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, on being noncommittal to the California AG's plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the legality of the ACA. Last week, an appeals court ruled that the ACA's individual mandate is unconstitutional, though it did not extend its judgment to the entire law.

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