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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO NOW? - Should law firms send lawyers to meet with clients that aren't mandating COVID-19 vaccines, when the law firm itself has required them for personnel? That's the latest in the very, very, very long line of perplexing questions that have arisen for law firms over the past year-and-a-half. Michael Hammer, CEO of Dickinson Wright, told Law.com's Patrick Smith that his firm has been giving consideration to this very issue recently. "This is especially important to people who have small kids," he said, adding that, for now, his firm is holding off on a travel restriction or additional safety measures for those who travel to client sites that don't mandate vaccines. But, like everything else in the pandemic, that could shift quickly. "If it evolves that travel is a real risk and they are not only going to be affected but also potentially spread the virus, we would have to consider it," Hammer said. Mary K Young, a veteran legal consultant at Zeughauser Group, said law firms in most major cities are requiring vaccinations and posited that it's likely clients in those cities are as well. But, she added, not every client is located in a major city, and not every major city has a robust vaccination rate. "There are certain cities in the southern United States where they never really closed down and sort of pretended like the virus doesn't exist. Those could be problematic," Young said.

IS REMOTE REASONABLE? - A former Morgan, Lewis & Bockius staff member sued the global law firm last week alleging that management refused her request to work from home after she suffered a stroke, despite mandating remote work for all employees a few months later during the pandemic. The lawyers for plaintiff Claire Young said the case raises questions about the legal obligations of employers to provide reasonable accommodations for Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act-protected groups in the era of COVID-19. Attorney Scott Pollins of Pollins Law, who is co-counsel for Young with David Koller of Koller Law, told Law.com's Justin Henry that their client's case is about "her desire to work through her challenging medical issues and how her employer thwarted her efforts to do so." Pollins said the case will also explore whether "remote work was just as much of a reasonable accommodation before the COVID-19 pandemic as it is now."

SUSPICIOUS STOCK SALES? - Fitness giant Peloton Interactive and certain officers and directors were hit with a shareholder derivative action Friday in New York Eastern District Court over the company's response to safety issues with its Tread+ device. The suit, brought by Weisslaw LLP, contends that Peloton insiders sold over 2 million shares of Peloton stock in the period before the safety incidents leading to the recall of the company's treadmills became public. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 1:21-cv-04583, Genack.v. Foley. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

KISS AND SAY GOODBYE -  Allen & Overy London real estate finance partner Paul Flanagan has resigned from the firm after a video of him kissing and intimately touching a junior female colleague circulated over the summer, Law.com International's Rose Walker reports. A person familiar with the matter said the woman is a junior female member of staff at the firm. Legal blog Roll on Friday was the first to share the video publicly. According to one person with knowledge of the situation, when A&O management became aware of the video earlier in the summer they emailed all staff to acknowledge it and to state the behavior it depicted was unacceptable. A spokesperson for A&O said on Friday: "The video depicts inappropriate workplace conduct which is not in line with our Code of Conduct. The matter has been investigated and addressed in line with the firm's internal processes." Flanagan did not respond to requests for comment.

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WHAT YOU SAID

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