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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SCHOOL SURGE – Back in May, it seemed that the national law school applicant pool was yet another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the number of people seeking to go to law school this fall has rebounded in recent weeks to match last year's figure, Karen Sloan reports. The introduction in May of the online LSAT-Flex and a wave of college graduates reassessing their current employment prospects means that law schools admissions offices are having an unusually busy summer. But last-minute deferrals from students afraid to return to campus or unhappy with online coursework could still shake up the admissions picture.

LAYOFFS LOOMING – Don't exhale just yet. Experts predict that the legal profession may be heading into another wave of pandemic-induced layoffs in the third quarter of 2020, Samantha Stokes reports. The austerity measures law firms took in the spring—which included layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs—were reactionary cost-cutting measures in the early days of COVID-19. Now law firm leaders are contemplating a lengthy economic downturn and are starting to think through how to adjust their budgets in response. A handful of large firms have already cut jobs in the first weeks of the third quarter. Still,  high demand in bankruptcy, finance, regulatory, and class-action employment litigation could blunt the need for widespread layoffs and pay cuts.

MASKED JURORS? – Defense attorneys for an asbestos manufacturer facing trial in California have raised a red flag over jurors wearing masks during voir dire, Amanda Bronstad reports. Masks conceal the "appearance, demeanor and reactions" of potential jurors and their use runs afoul of the California Code of Civil Procedure, argue lawyers for defendant Fryer-Knowles Inc. The petition asks the California Supreme Court to implement standards for jury selection across the state, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has mandated masks in all public indoor spaces. The high court denied the petition, but lawyers say similar issues are going to crop up as states slowly resume in-person trials.

 

EDITOR'S PICKS

Big Law Rushed to Sue Over ICE's Policy for International Students During COVID. Now Trump Officials Are Dropping It.

Amy Cooper Is a Victim and Feminist. Who Knew?

 Why Nationwide Injunctions Survived Another US Supreme Court Term

 Jones Day Looks to Dislodge Equal Pay Claims in $200M Lawsuit

 Ghislaine Maxwell Denied Bail Ahead of July 2021 Trial Over Alleged Role in Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Ring

 Hogan Lovells' Katyal, Others to Prosecute Officers Charged in Floyd Death

 

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

DIVERSITY GOALS – Clifford Chance has announced new diversity targets for its global lawyer ranks covering ethnicity, gender and sexuality, Hannah Roberts reports. By 2025, the firm aims to have a global partnership that is 3% LGBT+ and it wants women to comprise at least 40% of global partners by 2030, up from the current 20%. In both the U.S. and the U.K., Clifford Chance wants its new partner ranks to be 15% minority by 2025, with that being at least 30% for senior associates and senior business professionals.

WHAT YOU SAID

"For GCs, right now, I think the toughest part is that we're being thrust into every decision. I think that because of the fact that so much of what we are facing we have not faced before. Most of the things happening right now have a legal aspect to them."

— Tim Hirsch, general counsel of New York-based fashion company CaaStle, on how his job has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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