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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

NO BIG DEAL? - M&A is down, but the firms leaning heavily into corporate work have not been publicly sounding any alarms. While there have been some layoffs reported, for the most part, the firms have stuck with what they have talent-wise and are still closing some large deals and a few SPACs, while maintaining a decent volume of private equity work.  But, as Law.com's Patrick Smith reports, the reality of 2022 is that things aren't completely peachy. Banks are lowering their fee estimates based on lack of work and announcing layoffs. Pandemic-era discounts on legal fees are still in play, knocking down profitability. Major corporations are announcing hiring freezes and/or layoffs. Finally, the more data that comes in on M&A performance thus far in 2022, the more clear it is that the slowdown is more than a speed bump for Big Law's perpetual charge forward.  As one Am Law 10 firm partner put it, many firms that lean heavily into corporate work are doing some "recalibrating" of their personnel, ushering out underperforming partners and taking a closer look at associate hours and even the willingness of attorneys to be in the office when looking at who should stay and who, perhaps, should go.

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION - With news that EY is making good on its promise to ditch its audit business, the likelihood has dramatically increased that it will deepen its legal services offerings and compete toe-to-toe with law firms, Law.com's Bruce Love reports. Senior leaders in Big Law are split on what this means for the competitive landscape, and just how much of a threat are EY and its ilk. EY raised the idea in May, and by early September the accounting firm confirmed it was moving ahead with a worldwide partner vote to spin off its advisory services—which includes its legal services—from its audit business. Dentons global CEO Joe Andrew said there is "no question" that by potentially separating legal services from its auditing business, EY would "have an easier road" to market against law firms. Andrew believes the Big Four's biggest asset when it comes to entering legal services is their track record and prowess breaking down business problems to their component parts, identifying and building technological solutions to those problems, and selling them as a service. But  Philip West, a tax partner and former chair of Steptoe & Johnson, has already gone head-to-head with the Big Four for decades and said he believes "law firms are equipped to deal with the competition." While he said there are "some excellent practitioners" at the Big Four, there are also a lot of other practitioners who "don't necessarily have the experience or knowledge in the areas that clients are needing."

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ -Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and OMERS Infrastructure have agreed to sell each of their respective 33.33% indirect stakes in Chicago skyway toll operator Skyway Concession Co. to Atlas Arteria Ltd. for an equity value of approximately $2 billion. The transaction, announced Sept. 12, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed. Canada Pension Plan is represented by a Latham & Watkins team led by Houston-based partner Justin Stolte. Counsel information for Atlas Arteria was not immediately available. >> 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.