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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

OWN THE MARKET -  Back in September, John Stewart (not that one… John with an "h"… the Florida Bar Association's immediate past president) made a prediction. He told Law.com's Dylan Jackson that, if Florida were to follow Utah and Arizona in loosening its law firm ownership rules, the move would "change the marketplace on a national scale." We may now get the chance to see if this prophecy comes true. Stewart is heading up the Special Committee to Improve the Delivery of Legal Services, which was formed by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady for the express purpose of examining how the legal needs of Florida's lower- and middle-income residents, as well as its small businesses, could be better served by the state's legal industry. As Law.com's Dan Packel reports, the 10-member committee proposed earlier this week that the state Supreme Court authorize what it called a "Law Practice Innovation Laboratory," which would allow new legal businesses and existing law firms to experiment with new business models. The committee also recommended a change to state ethics rules that would allow all firms, including those that don't enter the laboratory, to offer minority ownership stakes to nonlawyers whose work supports the mission of the law firm.

TIME IS (EVEN MORE) MONEY -  In 2020, hourly rates for outside counsel not only increased, but increased more than they had in previous years, Law.com's Hugo Guzman reports. The 2021 Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report, released yesterday by LexisNexis CounselLink, found that partner hourly rates in 2020 were 3.5% higher than 2019 rates, on average. That jump is slightly bigger than the 3.3% increase in partner hourly rates from 2018 to 2019, a finding the report's author, Kris Satkunas, said surprised her. "Everybody, myself included, thought that when we'd look at 2020, we'd see some changes," Satkunas said. "In fact, hourly rates increased, even a little more than the year before. I think, perhaps, that's a good thing." But Satkunas also noted that rates are typically locked in at the start of the year, so the pandemic's potential impact on rates might not be truly felt until this year. Meanwhile, the report found that AFAs are continuing to grow on clients, though Satkunas was skeptical that they would ever come close to dethroning the almighty billable hour. "I know there's been a gradual movement away from using hourly rates, but we're never gonna see 50% of the market being billed under AFAs," she said.

COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY? - The first rule of Trump Reagan Club is you get permission to use the name "Reagan." At least that's according to a new trademark infringement and cyberpiracy lawsuit filed by The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute against Political Media Inc. and Constitutional Rights PAC on Wednesday in California Central District Court. The suit, brought by Norton Rose Fulbright, centers on the defendants' promotion of the so-called Trump Reagan Club and its registration of related domain names combining the ex-presidents' names. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:21-cv-05327, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute v. Political Media, Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

INJECTION SITES - The fact that lawyers in some parts of Germany were given priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine early has been a topic of debate in the country. Now, as Law.com International's James Carstensen reports, law firms in Germany, including elite firms like Noerr and Clifford Chance, have been encouraging their lawyers and staff to get vaccinated and are offering them on-site COVID shots, sometimes with the use of private doctors. In the case of these two firms, doses are not, however, privately purchased and are instead allocated by local authorities, a person close to the matter said. According to Noerr spokesperson Peter Herkenhoff, the firm "started supporting our staff with the [organization] of vaccinations about four weeks before [vaccination] restrictions were completely removed". The firm has now started rolling out its vaccination campaign across its six German offices. Sources told Carstensen that several other law firms are running similar programs.

WHAT YOU SAID

"It bothers me that I have to explain the worst thing I did from 20 years ago every time I wanted to be admitted. At some point I just want to be recognized as a lawyer."