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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

HISTORIC HEADWINDS - As noted legal analyst Peter Brady once put it: "When it's time to change/Don't fight the tide/Go along for the ride." After nearly three years of monumental transformation in Big Law, the real upheaval is just getting started. The first few weeks of 2023 have given a preview of what's to come this year–from big mergers of equal size, group lateral moves, layoffs and rainmaker moves. As Law.com's Christine Simmons writes in this week's Law.com Barometer newsletter, the unrest and reorganization within the Am Law 200, at a time of lower demand and economic trouble, will accelerate, especially when law firms' revenue and profits per partner from 2022 are reported. And by the end of the year, those firms and their partnership ranks may look quite different. To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.

RED WAVE (OF LITIGATION) -  After four years of Democrat-led investigations, you might be tempted to assume House Republicans will now look to pump the brakes on government oversight. But in today's political atmosphere, turnabout is fair play, which is why many D.C. lawyers are intrigued, and even bracing for a new wave of litigation, as the GOP assumes control of the House. Matt Herrington, investigations partner at Paul Hastings, told Law.com's Brad Kutner that "conventional wisdom" around Democrats being better at, or more organized for, investigations than Republicans may be tested this term. He suggested the House GOP has spent their time in the minority beefing up their committees with "highly sophisticated and highly skilled" staff in anticipation of their new authority. Where Democrats trained the focus of high-profile hearings on ex-President Donald Trump, and the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Republicans are seen as likely to use their newly won power to launch probes into President Joe Biden, federal agencies and big business allies who have fallen out of the GOP's favor.

ON THE RADAR - Visa was hit with a shareholder petition Thursday in Delaware Court of Chancery over its relationship with MindGeek, which operates Pornhub and other adult entertainment sites. The petitioner seeks to inspect Visa's books and records, arguing that Visa facilitates unlawful trafficking of child pornography by offering payment processing services to MindGeek. The suit was brought by Grant & Eisenhofer. The case is 2023-0059, Operating Engineers Construction Industry and Miscellaneous Pension Fund v. Visa Inc. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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