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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

HOW TO LOSE A LAWYER IN 3 DAYS - At this point, law firm leaders' insistence on forcing people back into the office against their will is starting to seem a lot like Clark Griswold refusing to turn the car around on the way to Walley World after Aunt Edna dies. As Law.com's Dan Roe reports, the American Lawyer posted a survey last week asking Big Law attorneys to describe their firm's return-to-office policy and reflect on how they felt about it. With 65 firms represented in our survey, roughly 60% of respondents said their firms were asking for three days per week of in-office work. A strong majority of those lawyers indicated that they wanted more flexibility from their firms, with an even split between lawyers who wanted full remote work and those who would be comfortable with one to two days per week of mandated attendance. Most of the lawyers who said that they were already talking to recruiters about firms with more flexibility came from the three-day group. A White & Case associate summed up the prevailing mood: "If they try to get me back in the office[,] I will 100% leave." Maybe they don't know about the free bagels in the break room?

BIDEN TIME - With Republicans expected to take back the U.S. Senate in this fall's midterm elections, the Biden administration has just over six months to fulfill its promise to fill and diversify the nation's judicial branch, Law.com's Brad Kutner reports. The president has already confirmed a record number of judges, more in his first year and a half compared to previous presidents going as far back as Ronald Reagan. But the clock is ticking. "They might lose that majority so there's a sense of urgency," said CATO Institute Research Fellow Thomas Berry, pointing to Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's vague comments on the future of Biden nominations if the GOP retakes the Senate. Biden's team, and Democrats on the Senate judiciary Committee, are acutely aware of the issue, and to that end they've held nomination hearings almost every other week the Senate has been in session. Continuing that trend will be key to the president's success. "All their nominations might have to happen before midterms, given it's become harder and harder to get any judges confirmed when the Senate is controlled by the opposite party," he added.

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Meghan C. Killian of Duane Morris has entered an appearance for Verizon Communications in a pending patent infringement lawsuit over the company's sale of cellphones with a "Driving Mode" feature. The case was filed March 31 in California Northern District Court by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy and the Law Office of Paul W. Reidl on behalf of TJTM Technologies LLC, developer of an app that allows users to block calls, messages, and other notifications while driving. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, is 4:22-cv-02081, TJTM Technologies, LLC v. Verizon Communications, Inc.  >> Read the filing 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.

PAY OVER PATIENTS? - Two medical doctors and the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana filed a civil rights lawsuit Thursday in Mississippi Southern District Court accusing the federal government of devaluing patient wellbeing by financially rewarding doctors who pursue "anti-racism" initiatives. The suit was also brought by Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith and Consovoy McCarthy PLLC. The complaint centers on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent updates to Medicare's merit-based incentive payment system, intended to encourage health care providers to acknowledge systemic racism in connection with rates they may be reimbursed for services. The case is 1:22-cv-00113, Colville et al v. Becerra et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com.   

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