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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

WHO YA GONNA CALL? - Some clients have reportedly taken to "ghosting" their outside counsel—meaning they simply stop sending them work without formally ending the relationship. No bad review. No opportunity to make things right. Not even a goodbye. While this phenomenon itself does not appear to be widespread, it does highlight a widely-held misconception among law firm partners: that if one of their clients is dissatisfied, they'll hear about it before it's too late. The fact that in-house departments are culling their vendor lists is not surprising. But to end a business relationship without so much as an "I'm Sorry. I Can't. Don't Hate Me" Post-It note speaks volumes about the client's view of that relationship: that it's so damaged it's not even worth officially ending. Like it or not, that's on outside counsel as the service provider. As we explore in the latest Law.com Trendspotter column, clients are more willing than ever to leave a firm behind. Assuming you'll get a warning or a shot at redemption before that happens would be a mistake. If you're not regularly reaching out to your clients for feedback, now is the time to do it—while they're still answering your calls. I'm interested to hear from you: What should law firms be doing to strengthen their relationships with clients? Let me know at [email protected]. 

POST-PROFIT-PLUNGE PROPHECY - Well, that de-escalated quickly. After a few years of sky-high profits, PEP dropped by double digits through the first half of the year, and most firm leaders, in a recent survey, are now uncertain whether revenue can increase for the rest of the year, Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports. That represents a significant shift in sentiment, as more than half of survey respondents said they expected increases after the first quarter. More than halfway through 2022, law firms have seen profits per partner sink nearly 11%, the Wells Fargo Legal Specialty Group wrote in an analysis this week. Meanwhile, analysts from Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group wrote that the high-water mark for financial gains in 2021 along with the uncertainty created by inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, among other things, means it is "likely" many firms will see profitability decline overall this year. The cautious optimism about the legal market displayed by many firms earlier in the year has shifted, according to a recent survey of the 500 largest U.S. law firms by ALM Intelligence and LawVision. And it may color what law firms do in lateral hiring and in managing associate classes.

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Adam Gray, Mike Stenglein, and Mark A. McLennan from King & Spalding have stepped in as defense counsel to Plymouth Rock Energy LLC and Engie Power & Gas LLC in a pending breach-of-contract class action. The suit, which accuses the defendants of failing to disclose the variable charge pricing in consumer contracts, which have caused thousands of customers to pay more for their energy services than originally contracted, was filed June 21 in New York Eastern District Court by Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman and Steifman LLP. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Lashann Dearcy Hall, is 2:22-cv-03664, 300 West End Ave. Associates Corp. et al. v. Plymouth Rock Energy LLC. >> 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.

ON THE RADAR - Thompson Hine filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit Thursday in Ohio Southern District Court on behalf of Automobile Consumer Services and its CEO Tarry E. Shebesta. The suit brings claims against PureCars Technologies, which acquired in 2021 third party TruPayments, a company based on Shebesta's patent-pending fintech. PureCars is accused of reneging on conditions of equity purchase and employment agreements, then terminating Shebesta in order to deny him access to his technology and related financial rewards. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 1:22-cv-00476, Automobile Consumer Service Inc. et al v. PureCars Technologies LLC. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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