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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

UNDERLEVERAGED - Just as attorneys are not adhering to office attendance policies, law firm staff are not coming in for the full number of mandated days a week, Law.com's Patrick Smith reports. And, believe it not, the arrangement that's been wildly successful for more than two years now continues to be working just fine. "[I]t doesn't seem to be affecting performance," according to one Am Law 100 business professional, referring to their own firm and others. "I think leaders are struggling to find the right balance." But what about the culture?!?! Won't somebody please think of the culture?!?! Actually, several Am Law 100 business professionals who manage teams said that many of their staff are not currently coming in and they are fine with that, with one even saying they were coaching some team members on how to make a strong case to continue to work remotely more often than the firm has asked. "If client needs are being met, why rock the boat and demand staff return to the office," said Jamy Sullivan, executive director at staffing giant Robert Half and head of its legal division. "Is there a good reason presented to make the change and demand more time in the office?  [Firms need to] evaluate if collaboration or business is impacted—and if not, why change now? Change should be with purpose, and I surmise they [law firms] don't have the purpose or the reason to impose the RTO policies."

PROFIT 'PLUNGE' - Lax office attendance may not be impacting firms' bottom lines, but plenty of other factors might. According to a new analysis of legal industry performance, stifling expenses and a slowdown in transactional work during the first quarter could sink profit growth for the rest of the year. The Law Firm Financial Index (previously the Peer Monitor Index) published Monday stated that while "many market fundamentals remain strong"—a three-year high in Q1 demand growth (2.7%), positive rates and productivity—the quarterly composite score of law firm profitability declined for the third straight time, to 46, its lowest point since 2009. "Indeed, 2022 is setting some odd precedents, and indications are that we likely have not seen the last of these complex shifts," the report stated. "If these trends continue unabated, law firm profitability growth could mirror the index's downward plunge." Along with inflation, which is currently outpacing the 5% billing rate growth in the industry, a 5.7% decline in M&A and a relatively cool 2.2% increase in corporate work, firm profitability is on "shaky" footing, Bill Josten, strategic content manager for Thomson Reuters, which produced the financial index report, told Law.com's Andrew Maloney.

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Kasey E. Koballa of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton has entered an appearance for Lenovo Group, the popular laptop manufacturer and parent company of Motorola, in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed March 21 in North Carolina Eastern District Court by Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan on behalf of Shamrock Innovations, asserts two patents related to serial data transfers. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan, is 5:22-cv-00102, Shamrock Innovations, LLC v. Lenovo (United States), 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.