The 'Culture Clash' Between GCs and Legal Tech Salespeople: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
September 15, 2021 at 06:00 AM
5 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
THE BUSINESS CASE AGAINST BURNOUT - The combination of boundary-less remote work and white-hot demand across a number of practice areas has many associates on the brink of billable-driven burnout. But there is a silver lining: some firms have taken notice not just of how productive their attorneys have been working from home, but how efficient they've been as well. And those firms have also begun to realize that happier, healthier attorneys might just be more valuable than a couple hundred extra billable hours each year. As we examine in this week's Law.com Trendspotter column, the result could be a shift in the conversation around billables—one focused less on the quantity of hours being logged and more on the quality of the work being done. In other words, firms are beginning to realize that burning out their best and brightest is bad for business. I'm interested to hear what you think: Are high billable hour requirements ultimately leading to diminishing returns when it comes to client service? Let me know at [email protected].
NOT BUYING IT - As we noted in this space a few weeks back, some in-house lawyers are up in arms about what they view as "aggressive" and "demeaning" sales pitches from legal tech providers, with at least one suggesting clients could band together to "blacklist" the worst offenders. In the interest of fairness, however, sales folks should have an opportunity to respond. Their rebuttal? "That's the sales biz, baby!" OK, maybe not in so many words. But what they did say is that the legal industry's reaction to being sold to is unique. "What's happening is simply a little bit of a culture clash between the very normal and expected and traditional ways that software is sold in every other industry," Raj Goyle, CEO of legal spend analytics platform Bodhala, told Law.com's Frank Ready. Zach Abramowitz, founder of Killer Whale Strategies, said he recently saw that dynamic play out with a GC he knows: "She said that after the [sales] call she felt like she had been deposed. From my perspective, they had asked her the questions that you normally would ask if you were the sales rep at a software company. But I think that lawyers want to be sold to as lawyers."
TIK'D OFF - Warner Media, HBO, SNL co-head writer Michael Che and other defendants were hit with a copyright lawsuit Tuesday in New York Southern District Court. The case, filed by the Parness Law Firm on behalf of TikToker Kelly Manno, alleges that the "homegrrl" skit in Che's HBO series "That Damn Michael Che" infringes on Manno's copyrighted TikTok skits "HomeGirl Hotline." Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 1:21-cv-07666, Manno v. Campbell et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
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EDITOR'S PICKS
|- Prosecutors Play Secret Recording of Ex-Willkie Co-Chairman Gordan Caplan in College Admission Bribery Trial By Avalon Zoppo
- Cooley in Chicago, Jenner in LA: Firms Continue Committing to Office Space in Big Markets By Andrew Maloney
- 'Why Are We Here?' J&J Lawyer Asks Jury as Augusta Talc Trial Opens By Katheryn Tucker
- Past Kavanaugh Criticism Fuels Republican Attacks on Biden 9th Circuit Nominee By Jacqueline Thomsen
- US Judge Temporarily Blocks NY Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers Claiming Religious Exemption By Tom McParland
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
(MIL)BANKING ON HONG KONG - At a time when some global firms appear to have put hiring in Hong Kong on hold, Milbank is growing in the region, Law.com International's Jessica Seah reports. The firm's expansion in the city is part of an Asia strategy revamp that began seven years ago—a strategy that appears to be paying off. In recent years, more and more international firms have downsized and retreated from Hong Kong, largely due to the notoriously hyper-competitive market—particularly for China-related deals. But thanks to its unusual strategy, Milbank's Hong Kong office, which focuses on the wider Asia region, is thriving. "The idea was to broaden out the practices within the Hong Kong office, ensure that we had a size that was relevant for the Asia and Hong Kong market," said James Grandolfo, Milbank's Hong Kong managing partner. "We were really looking to find practice areas that were going to be profitable in Asia but were also going to fit what Milbank's best at. The idea was that we have thriving partners who cover M&A and the financing aspects of M&A deals on the leveraged finance side so that it becomes a really nice add-on to give us full capability in those businesses."
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WHAT YOU SAID
"Remember, it's called the 'practice' of law for a reason."
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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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