Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

DIVERSIFIED APPROACH  –  In last week's Law.com Trendspotter column, we looked at how a lack of creativity has hampered law firms' efforts to make real and lasting improvements to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. But one upside to the increased focus on how law firms are getting diversity wrong is the increased flow of ideas regarding how to get it right. In this week's Trendspotter, we take a look at some of the suggested methods for improving recruitment and retention of minority attorneys, as well as increasing diversity among firms' partnership ranks.

LEADING ROLES  – There are a heck of a lot of short-term concerns keeping law firms occupied at the moment, so it's worth noting that there are still firms out there keeping the longview in mind by expanding their C-suite staffs. As Dan Packel reports, when Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner last week announced a new chief transformation officer, it became at least the third Am Law 200 firm in the span of a week to add a C-suite role designed to oversee strategy, client relations or growth. "There are some firms that are thinking about what they're going to see on the other side of the hill," said consultant Deborah Farone of Farone Advisors. "I think the recession and the pandemic have been an accelerant to things that were already on people's minds."

WATCHING THE WATCHERS –  Glenn D. Pomerantz and Jonathan H. Blavin of Munger, Tolles & Olson have stepped in to defend NBCUniversal Media LLC in a pending privacy class action. The suit, filed August 27 in Rhode Island District Court by McIntyre Tate LLP, Hedin Hall, and Bursor & Fisher, alleges that NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast, unlawfully discloses customer viewing information to third-party data brokers. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge William E. Smith. Stay up to date on major litigation nationwide with Law.com's Legal Radar.

EDITOR'S PICKS