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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

EVERYBODY HURTS - A rising tide lifts all boats, but a falling tide leaves everybody high and dry. As M&A practices in Big Law take a breather this year, other law firm groups are slowing down too, Law.com's Patrick Smith reports. Areas such as tax, employee benefits and executive compensation, antitrust and other ancillary practices are all feeling the effects. That generally means fewer billed hours in these ancillary practices; less resources budgeted for the groups for the rest of the year; more time these lawyers spend in seminars, conferences and other non-billable activities; and fewer lawyers hired in the groups, according to law firm leaders and recruiters. Three Am Law 100 firm leaders, who declined to be named, said the effects of a corporate slowdown are already being felt. "Corporate is off, tax is off, they are all off," one leader said. "That is typical [when corporate is down]. And from what I hear from other firms, they are off as well. Everything that ties into deal x work is off." The law firm leader said this was expected, and the firm budgeted 100 fewer hours per corporate attorney this year compared with last and put some reserves in their budget for this year. "Corporate activity is definitely having an impact [on other practices]," said the firm leader.

START YOUR ENGINES - If a dearth of deal work has slowed your practice down, maybe it's time to shift gears. As digital transformation hits the transportation industry, Big Law attorneys are racing to the intersection of automation and the automotive sector, Law.com's Jessie Yount reports. Though driverless technology remains nascent and few states have adopted legal frameworks to test vehicles on the road, lawyers are optimistic that advancements in technology, coupled with more understanding from regulators, will fuel demand for legal expertise. "We're at an inflection point now where we'll see more [state] frameworks around use and commercial operations of vehicles and rules of the road," said Peter Stockburger, the co-leader of Dentons' autonomous vehicles practice. "That is where there are challenges and opportunities." Likewise, Baker & Hostetler "is eager to serve emerging technology companies and industries, which are the future," said Melody Drummond Hansen, who was the leader of O'Melveny & Myers' automated and connected vehicles industry group prior to her move to Baker & Hostetler last month. And amid rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, sensors, chips and data storage, the autonomous vehicles sector is set to "be transformative," she said. "I see it as the internet boom and the industrial revolution combined," Drummond Hansen said.

ON THE RADAR - Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and other social media platforms, was hit with a false advertising class action Friday in Illinois Southern District Court. The lawsuit accuses Meta of understating the amount of false and duplicate social media accounts on its platforms while overstating the amount of monthly active users in order to sell more digital advertising. The complaint was brought by Goldenberg Heller & Antognoli and Margulis Gelfand LLC on behalf of website and mobile apps that compete with Facebook for ad spend. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 3:22-cv-01455, Metroplex Communications Inc. v. Meta Platforms Inc.  Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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