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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

PRO ANTITRUST PROS -  Antitrust lawyers should be pleased to know that there's plenty of fair competition for their services in the legal marketplace right now—[pause for laughter]—As Law.com's Bruce Love reports, law firms are getting paid millions by Big Tech companies to fight antitrust legislation and litigation and those firms are stocking up on both senior and junior talent to keep up with all the work. "We're seeing huge demand for antitrust talent coming from the government," said Lauren Drake, a Washington, D.C.-based legal recruiter with Macrae. "We've recently placed a number of senior people out of the [Federal Trade Commission]." But competition is fierce, as firms face a dearth of attorneys with antitrust expertise and are having to fight off not just each other but corporate legal departments and the government for the talent that is available.

IPO OR NO? - The legal tech industry is jazzed about LegalZoom's recent public debut on the Nasdaq Global Market—but, as Law.com's Frank Ready reports, you probably shouldn't count on seeing too many more companies in that space going the IPO route. As Zach Abramowitz of Killer Whale Strategies noted to Ready, LegalZoom is, in some ways, a one-of-a-kind company. "It is true lawyer replacement work and it is built for the ordinary consumer. … The value proposition is, 'Don't use an expensive lawyer, use this product.' How many legal technology companies can say that?" he said. Manuel Sanchez, founder and CEO of Enloya—an online platform that connects clients and attorneys—had a similar take: "LegalZoom follows a particular business model—that emphasizes DIY-type legal solutions—that may not be comparable to other marketplaces that focus on other types of legal solutions." Nevertheless, Sanchez said he was "thrilled" to read about LegalZoom's IPO.  "It means alternative legal service providers also have plenty of room to grow and co-exist despite the existence of traditional law firms. The pie is continuously growing as legal services become more democratized," he told Ready.

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH - Metal recycler Schnitzer Steel Industries was sued Wednesday in California Northern District Court over alleged environmental violations impacting communities in West Oakland. The suit was brought by Venable and Keker, Van Nest & Peters on behalf of Athletic Investment Group, an investment consortium that is seeking approvals to build a Major League Baseball park near the defendant's metal shredding facility. The suit contends that Schnitzer is in violation of the federal Clean Air Act and California regulations. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 4:21-cv-05246, Athletics Investment Group, LLC v. Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

…AND WE'RE BACK -  A year after ending its China alliance, McDermott Will & Emery is back in Asia, this time with a Singapore office, Law.com International's Jessica Seah reports. The firm just received a Foreign Law Practice license from the Singaporean government this week and recently hired former King & Spalding partner Merrick White. White and London partner Ignatius Hwang both specialize in projects work, one of the focuses of McDermott's Singapore office, alongside governmental investigations and international arbitration, capital markets and private equity transactions, and private client and tax practices. The Singapore offerings will integrate and align more effectively with McDermott's key sector and practice offerings globally, and create stronger diversification, all of which the firm's now shuttered offices in Shanghai and Seoul lacked. "When we pulled out of Shanghai, by no means was it a reflection of our commitment to that region, we were always very bullish on Asia," said Michael Poulos, Chicago partner and McDermott's head of strategy. "The issue was more where can you have what makes a more complete and diversified offering. The more we thought about it, the more conversations we had, it became clear and transparent to us that Singapore was the place to do it."

WHAT YOU SAID

"To truly know someone's competence to practice law, shouldn't a test focus on the abilities that count?"