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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

HOMEWORK - There once was a time, not so long ago, that commuting to and from an office served as a sort of dividing line between one's home life and one's work life. But the pandemic welded those two lives together and it's going take a lot more than a train ride or a traffic jam to rebuild the boundaries between them. The success of remote work means the proverbial toothpaste is out of the tube (and probably the literal toothpaste too if you have little kids at home while you're on Zoom calls all day). As Law.com's Patrick Smith reports, firms are struggling to figure out how to bring burnt-out lawyers and staff back to the office while also giving them the flexibility to work remotely and also trying to reestablish some semblance of the work-life balance that has been obliterated over the past year. Barbara Duffy, president of West Coast firm Lane Powell, told Smith the "wear and tear" on her firm's workforce after a year-plus of remote work is apparent, but the potential draws of coming back to the office have been muted by the effects of the pandemic as well. "You have to shut your door in your office if you don't want to wear a mask," she said. "And the downtown areas where our offices are have been battered. They aren't so inviting right now."

DISCOVERING NEW PATHS - It's a good time to be good at e-discovery—and law firms are still a good home for new law school grads hoping to get into that line of work. But there are other avenues young lawyers can take to hone those skills and they're starting to open up more than ever before, Law.com's Frank Ready reports. Kenneth Rashbaum, an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University and a partner at Barton, told Ready that while students are still primarily targeting law firms as their employment destination, alternative legal service providers and in-house legal departments are beginning to emerge as contenders for that talent as well. Meanwhile, more established e-discovery professionals could also be looking towards consultancies, software companies and other sources of employment in a post-pandemic industry. One job-seeker, who preferred to remain anonymous due to their ongoing job hunt, said they've interviewed with a law firm, but it's not their first choice. Instead, the source would like to find work at a consultancy where they can problem-solve both individually and as part of a larger team. "I would love that kind of a feeling," they said.

COURTROOM ROW - The University of Connecticut was hit with a civil rights class action Wednesday in Connecticut District Court. The action, filed by Duffy Law and Larew Law, alleges that UConn failed to comply with Title IX by eliminating the women's rowing team. "Plaintiffs seek to prevent UConn from discriminating against them based on their gender by providing, when compared to male student athletes: an unequal opportunity to participate in varsity intercollegiate athletics; unequal treatment and benefits; and unequal athletic financial assistance," the complaint says. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 3:21-cv-00583, Mlynek et al v. University of Connecticut. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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