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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

BIG MONEY – A federal judge has approved an estimated $245 million in fees and costs to lawyers leading the MDL over Pinnacle hip implants, of which more than 75% will go to the five firms in charge of allocating the award, Amanda Bronstad reports. Lawyers on the fee committee are: Mark Lanier at The Lanier Law Firm who is set to receive $77.2 million after winning billions of dollars in verdicts against DePuy Orthopaedics, a unit of Johnson & Johnson;  Larry Boyd, at Fisher, Boyd, Johnson & Huguenard, who is expected to get $17.2 million; Richard Arsenault, at Neblett, Beard & Arsenault, who is set to receive $47.9 million; Jayne Conroy at Simmons Hanly Conroy in New York, who is allocated $32.1 million, along with $11.4 million to the firm's predecessor; and Steve Harrison at Harrison Davis Steakley Morrison Jones, who is expected to receive nearly $2.7 million.

HOMEBOUND – Can Big Law work remotely? That's the question firm leaders are grappling with as the coronavirus spreads. David Thomas reports that a number of leaders say they're equipped and ready to have their lawyers and staff work from home for the short term. But working remotely for a long period of time poses a major test for an industry built on relationships. In the meantime, several law schools are shut and courts in several jurisdictions are devising emergency plans. Click here for full coverage on COVID-19's impact on the legal industry.

BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW – Led Zeppelin and its music labels are the winner of copyright decision over the song "Stairway to Heaven." Scott Graham reports that besides the estate of a songwriter ending up on the losing side of the case, the en banc ruling from the Ninth Circuit also tossed out a 2002 precedent written by former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who's now relying on it as a private practitioner in other cases. Monday's ruling rejected the so-called inverse-ratio rule, which is an interesting concept if you take the time to look it up, counselor.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Behind a General Counsel's Sudden Exit: Strip Clubs and Drinking With a Deputy

Cancellations, Crisis Planning and Clorox: COVID-19 Strikes Legal Community

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

GROWING – Since the merger in 2016 that created the Anglo-Australian alternative legal service provider Lawyers on Demand, the company has grown to about 850 attorneys, Christopher Niesche reports. Its co-founder Ken Jagger says that the company, owned by management and private equity firm Bowmark Capital, posted revenue of $65.3 million in the last financial year. About 40% of LOD's workers are in 40% in Australia, with another 40% in the U.K. and the remaining 20% in other jurisdictions.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"[Firms] don't want to have the 'no mid-level associates crisis' they ran into after 2010."

— James Leipold, executive director of the National Association of Law Placement, on the balance that firms must strike in hiring enough, but not too many first-year associates.

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