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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

REVERTING TO TYPE - You might assume that one of the silver linings of the pandemic has been a decrease in workplace sexual harassment, given that so many workplaces have been shuttered for the past year. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. As Law.com's Charles Toutant reports, incidents of unwelcome touching and physical contact seem to be declining, according to employment lawyers, but sexual harassment by electronic communications is seen as a growing problem. Working away from the office makes some harassers think the usual rules don't apply, some attorneys said. "The perpetrator of sexual harassment is emboldened now that they are unfettered by the four walls of the office environment," said Nina Pirrotti of Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti in New Haven, Connecticut. "Now that we're all working remotely, we are much less formal. That level of informality tends to embolden people to do or say things they would not normally do or say."

LIMITED DISTRIBUTION - A year in, the pandemic has made some attorneys long for a return to office life, while its made others curious about the prospect of taking their practice to a virtual platform for good. But, as Law.com's Dan Packel reports, leaders at these "distributed" firms say their model isn't a fit for everyone. They all agree that, in order to succeed in a firm like theirs, attorneys need to have their own books of business, comfort with technology and that rarest of traits in the legal profession: an appetite for risk. "Most attorneys are very good at identifying risk. But in assessing and assuming risk, attorneys are horrendous," Taylor English partner Chris Wilson said. "If you could come up with a test early on that would determine attorneys' ability to do this, I'd love that. People will tell you they can, but it isn't until the decision has to be made about going to join the firm or not join the firm. Then you figure out whether they can assume that risk."

NEGATIVE TEST? - Parsons Behle & Latimer filed a lawsuit yesterday in Utah District Court against the Summit County Health Department, the Park City School Board and other defendants over the Utah Department of Health's "Test to Stay" program, which allows schools to mandate the use of experimental COVID-19 testing on non-symptomatic minors. The complaint contends that the program, to which participation is a condition for receiving in-person public education, violates constitutionally protected rights of students and children. The suit was filed by two parents on behalf of their two minor children. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:21-cv-00148, McClure et al v. Saunders et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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