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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

THE DAYS HAVE GOTTEN LONGER - By now, saying law firms are going to have a hard time recreating 2020′s profit margins in 2021 is like saying clients would like to spend less on outside counsel—it's absolutely true but it's not exactly news. As many industry observers have noted, austerity measures like staff cuts and travel reductions, which helped bolster PEP for many firms last year, are not really repeatable. But a tidbit in this story from Law.com's Brenda Sapino Jeffreys on the Am Law 100 stuck out as being particularly interesting because there hasn't been nearly as much discussion about it. Paula Alvary, a principal at consultant Hoffman Alvary in Newton, Massachusetts, observed that, in addition to decent demand and reduced overhead, firms also benefitted last year from the fact that lawyers working remotely in a pandemic environment didn't take as much vacation or spend time traveling for work. "All of these things translated into many lawyers simply working a little bit more every week—and that had a huge impact on earnings," Alvary said. That, of course, raises the question: as attorneys and staff battle burnout and fatigue this year, some firms begin bringing people back to the office and travel starts to resume, will that level of productivity prove to be just another one hit wonder of 2020?

WHO'S BEHIND YOU? - Litigation funding arrangements would be an open book in New Jersey's federal courts under a proposed change to the local civil rules, Law.com's Charles Toutant reports. Lawyers who get financial assistance from nonparties for legal fees and expenses would be required under the proposed rule to disclose the funder's name and address, whether the funder's approval is needed for litigation or settlement decisions, and what terms and conditions apply to such approvals. Unsurprisingly, the litigation funding industry is not psyched. "The proposed rule is an overbroad answer to a problem that simply doesn't exist. A variety of current litigation disclosure rules already meet the public's needs and serve its interests," said Shannon Campagna, executive director of the International Legal Finance Association. But independent observers have also expressed concern. Anthony Sebok, a law professor at Cardozo Law School in New York who studies litigation funding, said that, in his opinion, "the actual motivation for these rules is not about judicial independence, it's to make it easy for the adverse party to know whether or not there's funding, and then to launch all sorts of satellite motions to throw sand in the gears of litigation."

THAT'S A LOT OF BREAD - Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit Friday in California Northern District Court on behalf of Bay Bread, an artisan bakery chain acquired in 2012 by Starbucks. The suit targets Lemonade Restaurant Group in connection with the restaurant's assumption of four leases that are now subject to rent payment disputes. Bay Bread alleges in its complaint that it has suffered damages in excess of $892,000. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 3:21-cv-02979, Bay Bread, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company et al v. Lemonade Restaurant Group, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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