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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
PRO BONO REBOUND? – Industry watchers predict that pro bono hours will bounce back in 2022 with a focus on political and national events. In 2020, COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd helped spur pro bono work, and this year, the war in Ukraine, the Midterm elections and the overturning of Roe v. Wade could similarly supercharge pro bono participation, Andrew Maloney reports. More office returns could also pump up peer pressure to sign on to pro bono matters, especially as people become less preoccupied with the pandemic, some experts say. "I think firms will be able to focus on pro bono issues important to them. Even though Omicron says otherwise, in their minds the pandemic is over in some regards, and now they're figuring out the rest of their lives," said Jeffrey Lowe, of recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa.
GC PAY BUMP – Compensation for legal chiefs at Fortune 1000 companies has once again increased after a dip during the peak of the pandemic. The highest paid in-house leader is Alan Braverman of The Walt Disney Co. Braverman earned $8.8 million in total cash compensation before he retired in late 2021, Phillip Bantz reports. The 2022 General Counsel Compensation Report from ALM Intelligence also shows that the number of women general counsel within the top 20 highest cash compensation earners dropped by nearly half. Katherine Loanzon, managing director at Kinney Recruiting in New York, said the pandemic might have been a factor, because a lot of female executives had to "come to terms with balancing the family versus their professional responsibilities."
YOU'VE BEEN BLOCKCHAINED – The blockchain is decentralizing every industry, including legal, according to some experts. In the last month, a New York Supreme Court and a U.K. high court have introduced the use of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, to serve court papers. Unlike serving papers in person, using an NFT to drop the papers directly into digital wallets removes the need for third-party verification, Isha Marathe reports. Richard Grungo, attorney and founder of Grungo Colarulo, said "Not only will the use of NFTs in the legal world catch on more broadly, they will revolutionize the law."
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EDITOR'S PICKS
Newly Elected AAJ President to Prioritize Legal Tech Education and DE&I
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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