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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

COLLEGE CHAOS – It's fair to say that general counsel at colleges and universities aren't getting a ton of sleep these days. Dan Clark reports that top attorneys at campuses that plan to resume in-person classes in the fall have been tasked with figuring out how to protect students and employees from spreading COVID-19 while also mitigating their university's risk. That means looking over everything from cleaning protocols to dorm housing contracts. College lawyers are also facing a slew of class actions brought by students who want tuition refunds for the spring semester, arguing that their online classes were inferior.

A FRESH TRY – Magic Circle firms have historically had a tough time breaking into the U.S. market when it comes to top-tier mergers and acquisitions. But Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has caught the attention of industry insiders with a spree of ambitious lateral hiring in recent months, Christine Simmons reports. The firm has invested heavily in talent to compete with U.S. firms, bringing on lawyers from Cleary Gottlieb, Wilke Farr, Davis Polk, Sidley Austin and other major domestic players. But it's too early to tell whether the push will yield the desired results. Plenty of other firms have crossed the pond with the same goal, only to retreat when their expansion plans fell short of expectations.

ZOOM BOMBED – We've heard plenty about so-called "Zoom bombers" disrupting online classes and company meetings in the era of COVID-19, so perhaps it was just a matter of time before a court proceeding also fell victim to unwanted virtual visitors. As Raychel Lean reports, an online hearing in Florida was disrupted Friday when a hacker began streaming porn. The two-minute ordeal started off with bursts of music before things turned graphic. It ended when a judicial assistant canceled the meeting and started a new one. A judge in Leon County was hearing arguments in a lawsuit challenging a local mask requirement.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Businesses Want Outside Counsel to Be More Tech Savvy. What Does That Mean?

Justices' Rejection of Trump's Absolute Immunity Claim Should Apply in Civil Defamation Suit, Roberta Kaplan Argues

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

HOMEBOUND - International megafirm Dentons is shuttering two of its regional U.K. offices and those attorneys and employees will permanently work from home,  Meganne Tillay reports. The firm announced on Friday that the shift to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic prompted it to rethink the need to retain its offices in Aberdeen and Watford, which are in Scotland and northwest of London, respectively. A dozen people are based out of Denton's Aberdeen office, while 54 are in Watford. When necessary, they will be able to work out of nearby offices in Edinburgh and Milton Keynes.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"The reality of this situation is that parents without child care have fewer hours available for work. It's just that simple. What is avoidable, to some extent, is the anxiety around that fact."

— Kate Reder Sheikh, a managing director in the associate practice group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, on how law firms can better support associates balancing work and childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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