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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

LIVE CULTURES - Many law firm leaders have warned that a failure to get back into the office ASAP could permanently erode the professional culture that was in place pre-pandemic. But, as Law.com's Lizzy McLellan writes in this week's Barometer newsletter, it's probably about time to accept the fact that your post-pandemic culture is going to look a lot different after a year-and-a-half that was by turns traumatic and illuminating. Not to mention the fact those halcyon days before the March 2020 lockdowns took hold probably weren't quite as idyllic as memory serves. The secret's now out that people can be productive working remotely, that law firm hierarchies are often inequitable and that burnout is very real. With all of that in mind, firms should be prepared to reopen their office doors to attorneys and staff who may have markedly different priorities and perspectives than they did just 18 months ago. "Leaders who lack an accurate sense of their firm's culture, or who are clinging to a culture with which people no longer identify, will likely see those people walk out the door," McLellan writes. "Those who create an inclusive environment shaped by people throughout the organization will see greater investment from talent at all levels." To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.

DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT DOLLARS - OK, we have good news and bad news and then, since it's Friday, a little bit more good news: After slashing overhead costs associated with travel and in-person events last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, law firms dramatically increased spending on marketing and business development in the first half of 2021 (yay!). But legal industry observers say it's still significantly below pre-pandemic levels (boo!). Still, while it's unclear when allocations to marketing and business development will come back to full strength, one silver lining of the pandemic is that it's forced more firms to get creative with the dollars they have spent, shifting their investments to developing an online brand strategy to capitalize on the booming demand for legal services (yay again!). "In the absence of being able to go to conferences and put on presentations in person, these firms are realizing we need to get our digital marketing house in order," said Jason Lisi, CEO of Philadelphia-based digital marketing firm Legal Internet Solutions Incorporated, told Law.com's Justin Henry. "It's making them be dragged, kicking and screaming into the present day because the other, more traditional ways of business development that have been tried and true for 100 years were not available."

MAJOR MERCK MERGER - Merck has agreed to acquire Acceleron Pharma Inc. for an approximate equity value of $11.5 billion. The transaction, announced Sept. 30, is expected to close later this year. Kenilworth, New Jersey-based Merck is advised by Covington & Burling and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The Covington & Burling team includes partners Catherine Dargan, Michael Riella and Emily Leonard. The Gibson Dunn team includes partners Stephen Weissman, Attila Borsos and Ali Nikpay. Acceleron, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was represented by Ropes & Gray. A Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom team including partners Marie Gibson and Graham Robinson counseled Centerview Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities in their role as financial advisers to Acceleron. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

DEFUNDED? - Fees for class action lawyers and litigation funders could be limited to a total of 30% of any payout under proposed new Australian laws introduced Thursday, Law.com International's Christopher Niesche reports. The proposal, which has yet to be passed by Parliament, is designed to give courts more power to oversee the distribution of class action proceeds between the litigation funder and plaintiffs, the government said in a statement. The proposed new laws would establish a rebuttable presumption that a return to the general members of a class action litigation funding scheme of less than 70% of their gross proceeds is not fair and reasonable. Plaintiffs firms and lit funders, as you might imagine, are not in favor. "This isn't reform, it's sabotage," Andrew Watson, the spokesperson for plaintiff law firm body Class Actions Australia, said in a statement. John Walker, chair of the Association of Litigation Funders of Australia said in a statement that the "effect of this legislation will be to make many class actions unviable and therefore to limit the number of actions filed." He added: "That suits the business lobby but leaves consumers and retail shareholders [defenseless] in the face of corporate wrongdoing. It is easy to conclude that is actually the Government's intention."

WHAT YOU SAID

"It was a failure on my part to comply with the rule regarding disqualification. I sincerely regret that."