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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TALENT SHOWS - With Big Law throwing Mr. Krabs-level piles of money at top talent, in-house recruiting right now is challenging to say the least. Challenging—but not impossible. As Law.com's Trudy Knockless reports, there are plenty of optimistic GCs out there who believe high-caliber, eligible candidates exist. You just need to know where to look for them and what to offer when you find them. But it's not just blind faith—several legal department leaders have seen real results recently. Bath & Body Works GC Michael Wu, who has added 15 people to his legal department since joining the company last year, told Knockless he was able to overcome the perceived shortage for privacy lawyers, for instance, by reconnecting with a lawyer he'd previously met through the Asian-American Bar Association. "I think a lot of times, through word of mouth in your network, you're able to find some amazing candidates," he said. Aliya Haider, GC of software-development platform Beacon, agreed there's an abundance of appealing candidates. Finding them, she said, requires a willingness to think less conventionally about who might be a good fit while also ensuring the workplace is inclusive and accepting. "I think being broad-minded about who can do the job, leveraging colleagues' networks in addition to your own and offering a space to be one's authentic self are all key differentiators," she said.

ACQUISITIONS - Speaking of hiring: if you happen to be an accomplished dealmaker, Big Law is ready to negotiate. As Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports, large law firms are investing heavily this year in corporate and merger practices by swiping lateral talent from rivals. Several big firms announced key corporate hires just this week, including Hogan Lovells, Latham & Watkins, Proskauer Rose and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Despite a slow down in some deal work earlier this year, M&A lawyers are expecting demand to keep up, bolstering the need for partner expertise in transactional work. Bill Curtin, global head of M&A for Hogan Lovells, told Maloney the firm has been hiring dealmakers because clients are saying, "We can't just grow organically. We have to move through M&A to keep pace with our neighbors and our competitors." And the "incredible locomotive" that is M&A has continued on a torrid pace through much of the COVID-19 pandemic, Curtin added. "A year or two ago, I wouldn't talk about regulatory intervention or geopolitical uncertainty. I'd talk about COVID. But even COVID couldn't thwart it," Curtin said. "I think if we talk at Christmastime, M&A will prevail. The propulsion of M&A is such that even with geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory intervention, M&A will steam ahead."

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - David R. Broderdorf of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius has entered an appearance for Southwest Airlines in a pending lawsuit regarding the employment status of flight instructors. The complaint, filed Jan. 7 in Texas Northern District Court by Wick Phillips Gould & Martin and attorney William R. Wilder on behalf of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, objects to the airline's classification of 12 full-time flight instructors as pilots subject to the same rates of pay and working conditions. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Ada Brown, is 3:22-cv-00046, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association v. Southwest Airlines Co. Read the complaint on Law.com Radar and check out the most recent edition of Law.com's Who Got the Work?℠ column to find out which law firms and lawyers are being brought in to handle key cases and close major deals for their clients.

BAD SEEDS - Leading seed suppliers including Corteva Agriscience, AgReliant Genetics and Winfield Solutions sued the operators of a shuttered ethanol plant Tuesday in Nebraska District Court for millions of dollars in damages arising from improper disposal of waste and bioproducts. The lawsuit accuses AltEn LLC, Mead Cattle Company and Green Disposal Mead of failing to properly manage byproducts from the ethanol manufacturing process resulting in environmental violations and waste water discharge. The lawsuit was filed by Crowell & Moring; Dorsey & Whitney; Barnes & Thornburg and Woods | Aitken LLP. Attorneys have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 8:22-cv-00070, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. et al v. AltEn, LLC et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

EVERSHEDS' NEW EXEC - Eversheds Sutherland's international operation has elected London real estate head Bruce Dear as its next chair, Law.com International's Varsha Patel reports. Dear is set to take up the role at the firm's non-U.S. business from May 1, according to a firm announcement on Tuesday. He takes over from Pamela Thompson who was appointed in 2017 and did not stand for reelection, owing to her retirement at the end of her term. Dear has been at the firm since 2003 and was first appointed to the newly-created leadership role of strategic head of London real estate in 2010. Notable deals he has worked on include leading the Eversheds team advising Facebook on its London HQ move in 2018.

WHAT YOU SAID

"The District Court is clearly bent on vengeance, not justice. At a minimum, these facts justify appellants turning to this court in the first instance for a fair shake."