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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

BIG BOUTIQUE BONUSES -  A handful of elite boutiques are once again offering above-market bonuses, as top-paying big firms largely adhere to the scale set by Baker McKenzie in November, Law.com's Jessie Yount reports. This year, litigation-heavy firms reported stronger demand as the pandemic-induced backlog of court cases began to unwind and new trial matters poured in. Firm leaders at top trial firms expect a similar or busier landscape for litigation in 2023 even as the threat of a recession looms. Twenty-twenty-three will be another "off the charts" year at Washington, D.C.-based litigation boutique Wilkinson Stekloff, according to founding partner Beth Wilkinson, who confirmed the firm is giving 150% above-market bonuses for each class year. The firm's year-end bonuses begin at $22,500 for the class of 2022 and top out at $172,000 for the class of 2015 and beyond. The firm consistently beats the market because "we see the outsized contributions our associates make to our firm and our clients," Wilkinson said. "We ask a lot of them. They deserve to be rewarded with opportunities and bonuses that reflect how grateful we are to them."

LOADED QUESTION - In a ruling that could have national implications, New Jersey's attorney general has gotten a green light to investigate whether Smith & Wesson's marketing practices violate the state's Consumer Fraud Act, Law.com's Charles Toutant reports. Smith & Wesson can't seek to quash the state's subpoena in federal court because it litigated the same points in a case in the Superior Court of New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin ruled Tuesday. The state demanded Smith & Wesson produce a wide range of documents related to its products, but the company claimed that the investigation violates its constitutional rights. New Jersey's request for documents from Smith & Wesson is being closely watched.  New York Times columnist Andrew Sorkin, writing about New Jersey's efforts to investigate Smith & Wesson's marketing practices, called New Jersey's subpoena "a Trojan horse to expose publicly, for the first time, the inner workings of the gun industry." Sorkin said that "[i]n business and policy circles, and within the gun industry itself, the case is seen as the country's most consequential legal battle over the future of gun control."

ON THE RADAR - Viking Therapeutics filed a trade secrets lawsuit against Ascletis BioScience and other defendants on Thursday in California Southern District Court. The suit, brought by Paul Hastings, alleges that the defendants received info about the plaintiff's thyroid drug candidate under a confidential disclosure agreement, then developed a competing drug in violation of the agreement. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 3:22-cv-02062, Viking Therapeutics Inc. v. Ascletis BioScience Co. Ltd. et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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