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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

BEEFING UP – Amid the greater scrutiny of foreign influence in the U.S., the FBI is taking an expanded role in efforts to ensure lawyers, lobbyists and political consultants are fully revealing their advocacy for government clients, C. Ryan Barber reports. This year, FBI personnel began joining DOJ officials in inspections authorized under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a move observers say gives more "teeth" to the decades-old law requiring the disclosure of lobbying and other influence work for foreign governments.

HIGH AND LOWS – It was a roller-coaster year for some of the key players in the litigation funding industry, which is said to have $9.5 billion in assets dedicated toward U.S. investments, according to the latest 2019 numbers. Dan Packel reports that despite litigation funding moving into the legal industry mainstream, many firms still have growing pains, including Burford Capital, which saw its stock tumble after it was hammered by a short-selling campaign.

DOWNTIME – This time of year, senior partners and firm leaders should commit to enabling true time off—starting with their own, write Quarles & Brady chair Kimberly Leach Johnson and recovery advocate Lisa Smith. As part of Law.com's Minds Over Matters project, the authors urges firm leaders to forgo monitoring email around the clock on days off and, instead, set an example for younger attorneys by truly disconnecting from work when they're off. And when others are on vacation, they should resist the temptation to call or email them.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Debevoise Sticks With Lockstep Partner Pay After Compensation Review

7th Circ. Refuses Wisconsin's Effort to Intervene in Abortion Challenge

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

LAUNCHED – Former Hausfeld managing partner Christoper Rother has established a litigation funding firm in Manheim, Germany. Eva von Schaper reports that Rother joined Hausfeld in 2016 when the U.S. firm set up a Berlin office in an effort to bundle thousands of consumer claims against Volkswagen in its emissions scandal. Rother's litigation funder Profin is backed by a triple-digit million euro sum provided by an unnamed private equity firm.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"We're starting, as women, to make a mark and find leadership roles."

—  Eden Doniger, general counsel and chief compliance officer at BitPay, on the increasing number of women moving into executive positions at tech companies.

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