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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SHOTS ALL AROUND? -  Davis Wright Tremaine was the first—and, so far, only—Am Law firm to publicly say it would mandate vaccination for attorneys who want to return to the office. And now it's looking like they may not have much company. As Law.com's Dylan Jackson reports, few Am Law 200 firms appear to be following Davis Wright's lead as the legal industry gears up for an expected return to in-person work by the second half of the year. Fish & Richardson, McGuireWoods, Stoel Rives and Shook Hardy have all said they will likely not require proof of vaccination as a condition to returning to their offices. Firms such as Proskauer Rose and Debevoise & Plimpton, meanwhile, have yet to decide. The trend tracks with a recent study by Gartner, which surveyed 236 human resources, legal, compliance and privacy leaders in December 2020 and January 2021, and found that only 8% of respondents said they will require their employees to get a COVID vaccines, though roughly 71% said they would "encourage" vaccination.

POWER STRUGGLE - Lawyers in Texas and elsewhere are gearing up for a fight in court over damages stemming from power outages that blanketed the Lone Star State during February's epic winter storm, Law.com's Amanda Bronstad reports. But suing electrical utilities can be tough sledding. For one thing, the lawsuits allege that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the independent system operator for 26 million Texas residents who make up 90% of the state's electric load, is liable for failing to winterize equipment after past storms. But, as Heather Payne, associate professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey, noted, ERCOT does not own the power plants. Nor does it control the weather. "There isn't any claim in Texas, at least that I have heard being made, that ERCOT's actions caused the weather. The weather caused the outages," Payne said.

OWE NO - A former client sued Minnesota law firm Morrison Sund yesterday in Pennsylvania Eastern District Court for abuse of process. Henry Stursberg, the owner of a Philadelphia mortgage brokerage and financial consulting firm, contends that the law firm wrongfully filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against him to gain leverage in a fee dispute. "By using the 'hammer' of an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding as a debt collection device as to a disputed two party account, Morrison Sund used legal process against the Plaintiff for a purpose for which the process was not designed," the complaint alleges. Stursberg is represented by Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer. Counsel have not yet appeared for Morrison Sund. The case is 2:21-cv-00825, Stursberg v. Morrison Sund PLLC. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

BOUTIQUE'S BACK, ALRIGHT  - Law.com International's Krishnan Nair is tracking a new trend in the U.K. and Europe: lawyers at the peak of their powers cutting away from their lucrative careers in elite private practices to start their own boutiques. The most high profile of these moves came at the start of February when a 38-strong Paris-headquarted arbitration team left Shearman & Sterling. But that was the continuation of a wider trend over the last 12 months, especially in the disputes world. One partner working at a boutique explained the growing appeal of such ventures, which he said are no longer reserved only for partners in the twilight of their careers. "It's the autonomy you just don't get in traditional practices," he said. "Boutiques are looking like an increasingly charming and fruitful way out of stiff politicized private practices."

WHAT YOU SAID

"I would tell an associate who wants to make partner that they should view the partnership as something to join, not just something to achieve."