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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

THE PRICE IS WRONG – We're probably never going to see a survey in which GCs declare that they're over the moon about their legal spend, but the fact that 73% of respondents to a recent poll said they believe they're overspending on outside counsel may be an indication that tensions between law firms and their clients are rising. This is especially so considering the survey, administered by In The House and LegalBillReview.com, was taken before COVID-19 hit, Dan Clark reports. It's probably safe to assume the global pandemic that plunged the economy into an unexpected and indefinite downturn has not made law firm invoices easier to swallow.

VOW REVENGE – The global pandemic effectively shut down the wedding industry this spring. But venue operators who refused to issue refunds for cancelled ceremonies and receptions may still find themselves plenty busy this season—defending against litigation. Angela Morris reports that a number of lawsuits (or, in the case, lawtuxedos) have been filed by either couples or their parents claiming they were improperly denied refunds of their deposits following nixed nuptials. This wedding litigation is part of a larger national trend in which breach-of-contract lawsuits and class actions have been filed against everything from airlines and concert promoters to children's dance studios and food caterers over COVID-19 cancellations.

BANK ON IT? – Financial regulatory work in the U.S. has been slower in recent years, thanks in part to the Trump administration pumping the brakes on enforcement. But could an uptick be imminent? As Samantha Stokes reports, partners representing banks say the current economic turmoil and various credit and loan programs created during the pandemic—plus the outcome of the next presidential election—could give their practice a nice push.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Exclusive: eBay General Counsel Addresses 'Deeply Troubling' Cyberstalking Allegations

Study Finds Minority Women Less Satisfied in Law School

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

ANOTHER BITE (OR TWO) AT THE APPLE – Even tech giants have tough days. The European Commission said yesterday that it opened not one but two new competition investigations into Apple—one over whether conditions imposed by the company's online App Store on outside app developers were anticompetitive and another over whether the company is infringing competition in mobile payment systems by imposing conditions on the use of Apple Pay. Anne Bagamery reports that, according to competition lawyers, these probes signal a shift in regulatory focus away from market dominance and toward a company's role as a "gatekeeper" to market access.

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WHAT YOU SAID

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"I can't name a black man I know, and most of the black men I know are lawyers or bankers or judges, who hasn't been harassed or hassled. "

|— Lisa Gilford , a Sidley Austin partner who has spent years assisting the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. with its advocacy and fundraising for police reform, describing how police brutality is "a ubiquitous problem that cuts across" all African Americans.

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