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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

AND THE WINNER IS – High-profile, high-impact and high-stakes. Those are the kinds of cases Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher took on in 2019, making it Litigation Department of the Year from Law.com affiliate The American Lawyer. As David Bario reports, the firm's litigation team, which includes Ted Boutrous and Ted Olson, comprises more than 200 partners and accounts for more than half the firm's revenue. But the distinguishing factors this year were its handling of cases with massive financial stakes, major unsettled legal questions and a nexus to big, national issues—from the First Amendment to antitrust, data privacy, climate change, immigration, and the gig economy.

CRYSTAL BALL – What are your clients focused on for 2020? Law.com affiliate Corporate Counsel asked in-house leaders for their predictions about the legal industry for 2020. Among them: a push by the Big Four into the U.S.; consolidation of Big Law into Mega Law; more GCs at the executive table; and more legal tech.

TAKING SIDES – The U.S. Supreme Court has begun hearing from conservative and religious groups backing Louisiana's effort to implement a rule restricting which doctors in the state are allowed to perform abortions. Former federal appeals judge Kenneth Starr has appeared as an advocate on the amicus brief for the Thomas More Society. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri and a former Roberts clerk, also has filed a brief supporting Louisiana. Earlier, more than a dozen friend-of-the-court briefs—including one from female lawyers, professors and law students—urged the justices not to set barriers for women seeking access to reproductive services. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case, June Medical Services v. Gee, in early March.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Better Bar Scores, Big Donations, ABA Crackdown: Legal Education in 2019

Trump's Court Tab: All the Major Losses, and a Few Big Wins

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

MOVES – This year proved to be a slightly quieter year for stand-out partner hires in London than 2018, Rose Walker reports. But the market still saw a number of veteran partners leaving Magic Circle firms for U.S. firms, and more common were moves between U.S. rivals and international firms, including exits from Latham, Morrison & Foerster and from DLA Piper to Mayer Brown. One of the biggest moves came at the start of the year when Kirkland & Ellis continued picking off Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity talent, with the key hire of Adrian McGuire.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"The business model of law starves innovation."

—  Chas Rampenthal general counsel, at LegalZoom.com, commenting on how traditional law firms are facing competition from alternative legal service providers.

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