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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

AT HOME - Lawyers' relatively swift and effective transition to working remotely full-time has some firms rethinking the huge overhead they've traditionally paid for brick-and-mortar offices. Samantha Stokes reports that even as the trend in recent years has been for law firms to cut back on square footage, the COVID-19 crisis may accelerate that strategy.

SUED - JPMorgan Chase Bank and two of its largest clients, Ruth's Chris and cloud platform company Phunware, face allegations in a new class action that they profited off the $349 billion loan program for COVID-19 relief by shutting out small businesses. Amanda Bronstad reports that the lawsuit, filed Friday by Chicago plaintiffs attorney Jay Edelson, comes one day after Ruth's Chris announced that it would return $20 million received as part of the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package passed last month.

OPENED – Pandemic be damned, Armstrong Teasdale has launched a Salt Lake City office, with plans to tap into growing as a hub for technology. Patrick Smith reports that the St. Louis-based Am Law 200 firm has two new partners to lead the effort, former Snell & Wilmer partner Michael Gehret and former boutique firm founder Brennan Moss. Several Big Law firms, including Dorsey & Whitney and Barnes & Thornburg, have recently decided to invest in Utah's largest city.

EDITOR'S PICKS

The Coronavirus Takes Hold of the Legal Industry: An Infographic Tracking the Crisis

How Boeing Is Combining Its Legal and Compliance Departments

Banner Year to Total Bummer: What's Ahead for the Am Law 100

As Law Firms Change Their Pension Plans, Will Retiring Partners Shoulder the Risk?

Missouri Appeals Court Weighs J&J's Bid to Reverse $4.7B Talc Verdict

Uber Has Trouble Shaking Defunct Competitor's Monopoly Claims

 

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

MONEY – Publicly-listed DWF and its lender have agreed to an extension of the U.K. law firm's current revolving credit facilities, as well as an easing of requirements to allow the firm to take on more debt to help it cope with market turmoil fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Krishnan Nair reports that the law firm has agreed to extend its current arrangements with its bank with a secondary revolving credit facility of  about $18.5 million, in place for 18 months. This move adds to the firm's existing $98.8 million facility, and provides it with access to working capital facilities of $151 million.

WHAT YOU SAID

"We understand that this is a terrible time to graduate from law school."

— Ralph Gants, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in a letter to the state's law deans saying that Massachusetts will administer its own online bar exam if it's unsafe to give the traditional test now scheduled for September.

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