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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME - Sullivan & Cromwell is among the latest large firms to set an office return date, aiming to start bringing lawyers and staff back to its New York and D.C. offices July 6. "It's not a forced return date, but it's strongly encouraged," chair Joseph Shenker told Law.com's Christine Simmons. So… it's forced, right? No, Shenker said, emphasizing that no one will be penalized for not showing up July 6 if they're not comfortable. "We've been very clear to all the partners and to all the associates that no one should feel pressured to come in," Shenker said. But is July too soon to start bringing people back together? Not compared to Am Law 200 firm Adams and Reese, which, as Law.com's Dan Roe reports, began bailing on remote work in May—of last year. Initially, those who made a "reasonable request" to stay remote could do so. But as the months went on and COVID didn't appear to spread within the office, the firm began suggesting that people without medical exceptions join their colleagues in the office. There were some positive tests and one hospitalization among firm employees along the way, Adams and Reese managing partner Guilford "Gif" Thornton Jr. said, but noted that he doesn't think the virus was transmitted in the office.

OPEN HOUSE - With mounting work and stagnant hiring budgets, many in-house teams may be more open than ever to hiring graduates fresh out of law school rather than the more seasoned vets they're accustomed to, Law.com's Frank Ready reports. Great news for recent law grads! Well, except for those recent law grads who have little interest in working in-house, which, it turns out, could be a lot of them. "I want a job where I can work long hours and be rewarded for that [via] bonuses or time off. In my experience, this is more likely where my role is billable, though I don't know much about how this plays out in-house," Jason Wood, a second-year law student at Arizona State University, told Ready. But Jared Coseglia, founder and CEO of TRU Staffing Services, said that for those newly minted lawyers who aren't bent on Big Law, there are unique opportunities for professional growth in an in-house data privacy-related role. "It's the one part in corporate legal where you really have to interact with all parts of the business," he said. "And that creates all sorts of opportunities for building relationships that are cross-functional, developing credibility, getting visibility. And things like that are hard to do in a law firm."

EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE - Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy; and Knox Ricksen LLP hit Google with a data privacy class action Wednesday in California Northern District Court. The court action was brought on behalf of users who contend that Google monitors their online activity and sells the information to third parties. "Google promises its hundreds of millions of users that it 'will never sell any personal information to third parties' and 'you get to decide how your information is used.' These promises are false," the complaint says. "In fact, Google monitors its consumers' digital footprint, then makes billions of dollars by selling their sensitive personal information. While Google lulls its users into a false sense of privacy, it continually and surreptitiously broadcasts its users' sensitive personal information to third parties through its Real-Time Bidding (RTB) system." Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 5:21-cv-03360, Delahunty et al v. Google, LLC. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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