Your Clients Don't Think You're as Innovative as You Do | Reaping the Rewards of Repping the Ultra-Rich | SPAC Deal Sparks to Breach-of-Contract Lawsuit: The Morning Minute
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May 10, 2021 at 06:00 AM
5 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
INNOVATION INTERPRETATION - Clients want their law firms to be innovative and law firms want clients to view them as innovative. A match made in heaven, right? Problem is, as Law.com's Zach Warren writes in the most recent Barometer newsletter, legal departments and outside counsel have very different definitions of "innovation." "For law firms, innovation means servicing clients in a new and unique way, leading to new practice areas, legal business services units, and even tech products that help them stand out from their peers," Warren writes. "But that may not be what corporate legal departments are looking for—they want cheaper and faster, at a maintained high quality, even if it's not necessarily a revolutionary idea or tool. Corporate legal departments want results, not differentiation." To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.
CRAZY RICH CLIENTS- Turns out you can make boatloads of money helping people who have boatloads of money figure out what to do with their boatloads of money. Many large law firms have ditched their trusts and estates capabilities in recent decades, but that may have been a miscalculation on their part. As Law.com's Dan Packel reports, the involvement of several elite law firms, including Paul Weiss and Munger Tolles, in the pending divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates demonstrates the renewed value of being able to cater to the needs of high-net-worth individuals. Plus, even if T&E isn't necessarily a major revenue driver on its own, it can feed other practices. For example, Reed Smith trusts and estates partner Cheryl Hader said that her roughly 400 to 500 clients generate work that ultimately gets spread across the firm and to more deeply leveraged practices in particular. "The firms that don't have trusts and estates departments are missing out on a great opportunity to bring in more business," she said.
SPAC PAYBACK? - Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani filed a $4 million breach-of-contract lawsuit Friday in New York Southern District Court on behalf of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company. The suit pursues claims against Shift Technologies Inc., an automotive e-commerce platform, in connection with its 2020 merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The suit contends that Shift engaged Stifel to help raise capital and now owes Stifel fees based on the SPAC transaction under the terms of an engagement letter. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 1:21-cv-04135, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. v. Shift Technologies, Inc. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
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EDITOR'S PICKS
Leave of Absence: A Business of Law Editor's Story of Postpartum Depression in Unprecedented Times
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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