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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

LET'S NOT GET PHYSICAL - Once upon a time, when a law firm said it was establishing a "presence" in a city or region, it meant it was opening or acquiring a brick-and-mortar office, staffed with local attorneys. But in recent months, more and more law firms have begun to realize that expanding their reach doesn't necessarily have to mean growing their rent bill. In this week's Law.com Trendspotter column, we look at why traditional law firm leaders are increasingly coming around to a concept distributed law firm leaders have been hip to for a while now: you can add talent without adding physical office space. And, in fact, you can attract talent by substracting that real estate overhead.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? - Starting today, Law.com's Cheryl Miller reports, lawyers visiting Orange County, California, courthouses must comply with a novel new COVID-19 contact tracing program that will collect their names and contact information when they enter a courtroom. Orange County Superior Court Presiding Judge Kirk Nakamura issued an administrative order late last week mandating that lawyers scan QR, or quick response, codes posted outside each courtroom with their cellphones. Lawyers without a QR scanner will be asked instead to fill out a web-based form that questions what courthouse they visited, when and what agency or law firm they work for. "This will ensure that if a positive case of COVID-19 is detected in an individual present at a court proceeding at the Orange County Superior Court, the court will be able to identify, inform, and support the other individuals who may have been exposed to the individual diagnosed with COVID-19," the order said.

BIASED BAILOUT? - Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt shareholder Amanda Gamblin has stepped in to represent the Black United Fund of Oregon and The Contingent in a class action that challenges an Oregon grant program established to help Black individuals and business owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The suit, filed October 29 in Oregon District Court by Benbrook Law Group, Mitchell Law, and Murphy & Buchal, contends that program's consideration of race is unconstitutional. A Snell & Wilmer team is representing the Oregon Department of Administrative Services in 3:20-cv-01866, Great Northern Resources, Inc. v. Coba et al. Stay up on the latest litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

EDITOR'S PICKS

'Business as Usual Doesn't Work': Inside Big Law's Reckoning on Race