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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

STOCKING UP – If the lateral market were a Costco, contracts and bankruptcy lawyers would be the Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer. OK, bad comparison—but what we're trying to say is that they're in high demand thanks to COVID-19. As Patrick Smith reports, Paul Weiss, O'Melveny & Myers, Faegre Drinker and Ropes & Gray have all added restructuring and bankruptcy lawyers in the past week, gearing up for a boom in work as the American economy reopens. Meanwhile, Samantha Stokes reports that Jenner & Block has brought on David Robbins from Crowell & Moring to co-chair its government contracts practice with an eye toward helping government contractors at all levels recover from stay-at-home orders and terminated contracts.

JOB SECURITY  - Speaking of high demand, while corporate legal departments have not been immune to COVID-19-related cuts, in-house lawyers with a data privacy or cybersecurity background remain highly sought-after—and, as Victoria Hudgins reports, in short supply. Even as all companies' risk expands with the enactment of new privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), lawyers with the expertise to navigate those regulations remain relatively rare, recruiters and industry observers say.

TRYING TO QUIT – R.J. Reynolds is in court this morning seeking to stamp out more than $100 million in payments it's currently on the hook for related to cigarette brands Salem, Winston, Kool and Maverick. The tobacco giant is arguing to the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal that it shouldn't be responsible for the payments because its parent company sold those brands in 2015 to a company that wasn't part of a crucial 1997 settlement. That settlement saw a group of cigarette-makers agree to pay the state $11.3 billion over 25 years in exchange for relief from liability and health costs. ALM's Raychel Lean will be covering today's hearing so check back later for updates.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Why I Resist Casual Friday and Other Thoughts on Diversity and Inclusion: A Black Partner's Perspective

Is Money the Reason Asian Americans Are Rejecting Legal Careers?

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

LISTICUFFS  - Tensions between the U.S. and China continue to revolve heavily around aggressive listmaking. Last week in this space, we told you about how the U.S. has undertaken efforts to chill Chinese IPOs by delisting companies that refuse to let the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board review their financial statements. Now, Vincent Chow reports that China is preparing to release an "unreliable entity list" that would subject named U.S. companies to investigations, market restrictions and even civil, administrative and criminal liability. The Chinese list is largely seen as retaliation for the U.S. expanding its own "Entity List," which effectively barred U.S. companies from doing business with China-based Huawei.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"What you've got is a metamorphosis, and the judges and juries want to see women and minorities in charge."

|— Janine Pollack, who, along with Regina Calcaterra, launched women-owned plaintiffs firm Calcaterra Pollack in New York City last month, describing how and why the makeup of the plaintiffs bar is changing. 

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