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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

CALM BEFORE THE STORM? Court watchers expect the COVID-19 pandemic to spur a surge of litigation, but at the moment, the nation's federal courts appear to be in a slump. The volume of new commercial suits filed during the four weeks following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic is 22% lower than the same period last year, according to an analysis by data editor Ben Hancock. You can examine the trends by region and by practice area with interactive data visuals from Law.com's Legal Radar.

BUSY – Capitol Hill lobbying doesn't seem to be suffering from the COVID-19 slowdown. As Patrick Smith reports, with the exception of Squire Patton Boggs, Big Law lobbying practices that cracked the top 10 by revenue last quarter each saw an uptick from the same period last year. For the two revenue leaders, the year-over-year gains were substantial: 31% for Akin Gump, which pulled in $12.6 million, and 25% for Brownstein Hyatt.

TOO HIGH – Price-gouging lawsuits are looming. Not only have AGs in Connecticut, Florida and elsewhere said they're coming after retailers that artificially escalate prices on COVID-19-related supplies, but Amazon already finds itself in hot water. Lawyers at Hagens Berman have filed suit, claiming that the company and third-party sellers on its website violated a California law prohibiting price hikes of more than 10% on certain essential goods during a declared emergency.