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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TRUMP RESPONDS – Less than a week after the U.S Supreme Court ruled that President Trump must comply with a New York state grand jury subpoena for his tax returns, the president's legal team said it's planning to file an amended complaint seeking to limit the request, Jane Wester reports. According to the legal team, the complaint may include arguments that the subpoena is too broad, that it is motivated by bad faith, that is meant to manipulate the president's policy decisions, or that it would impede his constitutional duties. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which has until August 3 to respond to the president's amended complaint, argued that the proposed arguments have previously been rejected by Senior U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who presided over the case last fall.

CASH CRUNCH CONTINUES – If law firm salaries and staffing levels are any indication, a global economic recovery is still some time away. Meganne Tillay reports that two firms, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) and Jones Day, are prolonging their cost cutting measures as the COVID-19 pandemic shows little signs of abating. BCLP is closing their small Beijing presence, while laying off around 40 employees in their London office. It's also continuing salary cuts, though at a reduced rate, for anyone making over $40,000. Meanwhile, Jones Day is following in several other firms' footsteps by reducing salaries for its newly-qualified lawyers in London.

WAITING AROUND – Incoming law firm associates typically head off to their new jobs in August and September. But this year, hundreds of recent law graduates are still awaiting word on when their new gigs will begin, Karen Sloan reports. According to a new survey from the National Association for Law Placement, half of law firm offices have yet to announce start dates for their incoming associates. And among those that have, 62% aren't bringing in their fresh crop of associates until January 2021. The majority of firms that have delayed start dates are providing stipends to tide associates over. But questions surrounding  if and when incoming associates will be able to take the bar exam, coupled with uncertainty over demand for legal services in the coming months, have prompted many firms to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Louisiana Is The First State to Cancel Planned Online Bar Exam

In-House Finance Lawyer Joins Crypto Investment Firm BlockFi as General Counsel

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

PRIVATE EQUITY PULLBACK – Don't bank on private equity clients getting you through the recession. Hannah Roberts reports on a new study that found that most private equity firms in the U.S. and UK are expecting to pull back on their legal spend. There are numerous reasons for the cuts, including, among other factors, declining M&A activity and a desire for increased transparency with legal billing. In fact, many private equity firms said they've been surprised by their legal bills. But almost none leveraged technology to track and analyze legal spend, instead using more manual tools like Microsoft Excel.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"I absolutely think that this is going to help us transform the way we think about our space planning and the way we think about our real estate commitment."

— J.Y. Miller, the managing partner of The Link, a new virtual office space launched by Husch Blackwell. The Link comprises 50 lawyers and staff from eight brick-and-mortar offices, most of whom come from a team working on nationwide toxic tort cases.

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