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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

CULTURE SHOCK - Midsize law firms have long touted their "midsize-ness" as an advantage, contrasting their collegial cultures with Big Law's cutthroat climate. But, as Law.com's Lizzy McLellan and David Gialanella write in a recent article for ALM's Mid-Market Report, no matter how good the vibes may be, a crisis will really test a firm's mettle—especially if that crisis causes a cash crunch. So can morale remain high when funds are tight and stress is rising? And, if so, is that enough? As Michael Stein, head of Pashman Stein Walder Hayden in Hackensack, New Jersey, noted, the firms—especially midsize firms— "that have the strongest sense of culture and community" tend to fare best, but the "reservoir of goodwill" can run dry. "If you have a bad year, if the culture is strong … you weather that storm," he said. "If you have five bad years, I don't care how good your culture is." For a free trial subscription to the Mid-Market Report, click here.

GOING LOCAL - When the global pandemic suddenly turned lawyers' (and everyone else's) lives upside down, it quickly became a apparent why every law firm needs a strong leader—or, more accurately, strong leaders. As Law.com's Justin Henry reports, the uncertainty, stress and confusion that set in with the arrival of COVID-19 reinforced for many firms that having localized leadership, rather than a decentralized management model, can be incredibly helpful. "What the pandemic brought home was that the office managing partners actually depend on communication among each other," said Mark Stewart, chairman of Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr, which, until hiring one earlier this month, had not had a Philadelphia managing partner in a decade. "There was a sense that communication needed to be unified and we needed someone who can focus on the local needs of the city."

HEY GOOGLE, FIND ME A LAWYER - Google has turned to a legal team from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider to defend the antitrust lawsuit filed against the company in December by 10 states. The suit, pending in Texas Eastern District Court, accuses Google of monopolizing the market for online advertising through anticompetitive conduct and an unlawful agreement with Facebook. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan, is 4:20-cv-00957, The State Of Texas, et al v. Google, LLC. Stay up on the latest deals with the new Law.com Radar.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Sotomayor Denies Bid for Injunction From New York Families Seeking Relief From Vaccine Mandate By Jane Wester

Jurors Begin Virtual Deliberations in First Remote Patent Jury Trial By Scott Graham

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

WORTH A SHOT? - Governments can sue vaccine producers over delivery and distribution delays—but they probably won't, litigation and health sciences lawyers told Law.com International's Anne Bagamery. Italy, Poland and the European Union have brandished legal threats against vaccine producers over Europe's sluggish rollout, but attorneys said those threats are unlikely to lead to action. Instead, they're designed to put pressure on the producers and, potentially, help governments save face as their vaccination programs continue to drag. "Litigation takes a long time," said Sylvie Gallage-Alwis, a partner at Signature Litigation in Paris. "For most governments, it will not be seen as a good resource allocation."

WHAT YOU SAID

"You can measure performance and people in your organization when the skies are blue and the sun is shining, but you get a much better sense of the health of an organization when it's under pressure and stress and its people are under pressure and stress, and I can tell you our folks did incredibly well."