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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TAKING A HIKE - If there's one practice area in which lawyers can still get away with charging $2,000 an hour right now, it's bankruptcy and restructuring. In fact, big firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Weil, Gotshal & Manges are doing just that. And even if rates increase again in the near term, some law firm and restructuring observers told Samantha Stokes they don't expect too much pushback from clients. But is another rate hike really on the horizon? That's debatable. Mark Medice, a law firm management consultant at LawVision who focuses on financial performance and data science, told Stokes that, based on how firms behaved during the Great Recession, he doesn't think there will be an annual adjustment to bankruptcy billing rates in 2020. But Lynn LoPucki, a restructuring law professor at UCLA Law, said there are few stakeholders in bankruptcy court that will keep rate increases in check: "If you're a debtor, you're not going to control the fees because you're spending other people's [the creditors'] money."

SPACE JAM - Law firms across the country are advancing arguments that the force majeure clauses in their clients' pre-COVID contracts contemplated a global pandemic. Meanwhile, several firms are making similar arguments about their own contracts—specifically their rent agreements. As Christine Simmons reports, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is suing its New York landlord, alleging it has refused to acknowledge the law firm's rights to rent abatement, leading to $8 million in damages. Meanwhile, Dylan Jackson reports that Jenner & Block has fired back in similar ongoing litigation with the landlord of its Chicago office space, urging a judge to keep in the court record a key affidavit that bolster's the firm's argument.

COME TOGETHER RIGHT NOW? - Are all COVID-19 business interruption claims created equal? That question was up for heated debate yesterday morning. As Amanda Bronstad reports, 15 lawyers from across the country sparred before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation over whether sprawling business interruption litigation should be consolidated. The all-day teleconference hearing addressed cases brought against StubHub over allegedly unrefunded tickets to canceled events, and numerous lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and other banks over the processing of PPP loans. Plaintiffs lawyers said keeping the suits separate would be "incredibly inefficient," while defense counsel called consolidation "a nightmare." But one thing they could all agree on? A decision needs to be made ASAP.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Ogletree Adds $10K Bonus for Associates Hitting 1,700 Hours This Year By Meredith Hobbs

Do General Counsels Need to Take More 'Me Time' to Be Stronger Leaders? By Phillip Bantz

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

LOCK IT IN - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer thought long and hard about moving from lockstep compensation to a model that would have accelerated the rise of high-performing junior partners. Ultimately, however, it decided to stay the course, Varsha Patel reports. In an interview with Law.com International in July managing partner Stephan Eilers said the firm is "happy and content" with the 2018 reforms to the lockstep and said: "We are not expecting further changes to our lockstep model."

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WHAT YOU SAID

"Stay in the majority; stay in control."

— Former U.S. Solicitor General and Federal Appellate Judge Kenneth Starr, describing SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts' voting behavior in the October 2019 term.

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