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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TOO MUCH INFORMATION? - Last week, in this space, we told you that using data analytics in talent acquisition and retention is becoming more common among law firms. But, as Law.com's Patrick Smith reports, the so-called "Moneyball" approach still hasn't gone mainstream. A number of industry-watchers said the existing partner-first culture of most firms is hindering progress in adopting analytics, as is a general lack of expertise in statistical analysis at law firms. It certainly wouldn't be the first time the legal industry politely declined to follow sound business advice—but is that really all that's going on here? Not necessarily. Keith Wetmore, former managing partner at Morrison & Foerster and current managing director for the San Francisco office of legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, said he hasn't seen enough proof of ROI to endorse the use of data analytics as real weapon in the talent war. "You have to come back to measurability," he said. For instance, "If you demonstrate you have a 20% higher success rate on your law school recruits by posing four questions in every interview and assessing those answers, you would probably get buy-in." But, he added, "success and failure are not binary."

TEST CASES - The insurance industry is built on calculated risk. Needless to say, most insurers' calculations did not factor in a global pandemic coming out of the clear blue sky and sticking around to cause mayhem for nearly two years and counting. As a result, litigation over COVID-related coverage denials remains red hot—and it's not just business interruption battles. As Law.com's Aleeza Furman reports, out-of-network providers of COVID-19 testing are increasingly suing insurance companies for declining to provide reimbursement. The suits allege, among other counts, violations of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Last Wednesday, Southern District of Texas Judge Nelva Ramos denied in part a motion to dismiss filed by a group of insurance providers. Ramos found that, contrary to the defendant's arguments, the plaintiffs had "an implied private right of action to enforce the provisions of the FFCRA and CARES Act reimbursement requirement." The decision is "huge for every provider in the country," said Ebadullah Khan, chief legal officer for the plaintiff, which operates as 24 Hour Covid.

MASKED MARGINS? - Retail mortgage lender LoanDepot and its top executives were slapped with a derivative shareholder complaint Friday in California Central District Court. The suit, filed by Bragar Eagel & Squire and Hynes & Hernandez on behalf of Haydon Modglin, accuses the defendants of failing to disclose to investors that sales margins had declined substantially when LoanDepot went public in February of 2021. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:22-cv-00462, Modglin v. Hsieh et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

CLUE DILIGENCE - A few weeks after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses' supply chains around the world, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders announced that the EU's executive body wanted to introduce an ambitious new corporate due diligence bill. The new rules, he explained, would be modeled after the UN's guiding principles on business and human rights and would require large EU-based companies to ensure that human rights and environmental issues are respected throughout their supply chains. Almost two years later, as ESG concerns sweep through the corporate and legal world, it is still unclear exactly where this orientation will take businesses. But, as Law.com International's Linda A. Thompson reports, similar bills introduced by individual EU member countries likely hint at what to expect from the EU measure.

WHAT YOU SAID

"We need to start reaching students in grade school, like when we were all asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'"

— Shawntal Mallory, executive director of the Nebraska Legal Diversity Council, on the new organization's approach to improving the pipeline into the legal industry.