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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

RECORD LOW - The job market for law grads is tough enough right now, and then there's this: The percentage of would-be lawyers who passed California's February 2020 bar exam plummeted to a historic low of 26.8%. That's fewer than 3 in 10 of the 4,205 test takers, Cheryl Miller reports, and it's the lowest success rate recorded in California since at least 1951.

PLANS - Law firms are taking a variety of approaches to their summer associate programs disrupted by the pandemic. For example, some are shortening them to just two weeks while others are giving credit for nonprofit volunteer work. For a roundup of changes at specific law firms, go here.

NEW GROUND – Law firm Carlton Fields has launched a blockchain consultancy this week, Patrick Smith reports. SQrBlock Solutions is headed by the firm's recently acquired fintech practice co-chairman Huhnsik Chung. The wholly owned subsidiary is the first such blockchain venture by a law firm, Carlton Fields says.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Hold the Phone! The Supreme Court Is in (Virtual) Session

Robinhood Taps Former SEC Commissioner, Wilmer Partner to Be Chief Legal Officer

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

EXPANDING – Andersen Global has launched in Ukraine through an affiliation with local law firm Sayenko Kharenko. Eva von Schaper reports that the deal expands the tax and legal service company's reach in Eastern Europe, where it already has a presence in Poland, Hungary and Romania.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"In the current set up, it's more like facing nine pitchers, one after another."

— David Bowker, partner at Wilmer Hale, whose SCOTUS oral arguments were among the first to proceed by telephone. Under normal circumstances, he said SCOTUS oral arguments are more like "one versus nine" in a game of racquetball.

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