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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

GO BIG OR NO-GO  - When it comes to mergers, law firms this year are taking what industry observers (OK, just me) are calling the Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor approach: More power! As Law.com's Jessie Yount reports, large lateral groups and boutique tie-ups were all the rage last year, but more sizeable combinations were announced at least once a week in January, reflecting a common desire among law firm leaders for more transformational growth in one fell swoop. "We're seeing a lot of interest in mergers of magnitude because laterals and [lateral] groups tend to rarely result in net growth, or net growth that is satisfying to the overall strategy," said Kristin Stark, a law firm consultant and principal at Fairfax Associates. Kent Zimmermann, a legal management consultant at the Zeughauser Group, agreed that competitive pressures are leading more firms to consider more sizeable combinations. In fact, most firm leaders "feel as if they are treading water by trying to grow only with laterals…"

COSTLY MISTAKES - At this point, trying (and often failing) to fend off cyber incidents is just the cost of doing business. Unfortunately, as Law.com's Rhys Dipshan writes in this week's Law.com Barometer newsletter, the cost is going up. "It's likely that data breaches and data privacy mishaps will become even more costly in the months—and potentially years—ahead, as states and regulators continue to fill the void left by the lack of a federal data privacy law," Dipshan writes, noting that while the Bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last year, has arguably had more momentum behind it than any other federal data privacy effort in recent years, the midterm election in November 2022, along with opposition to the bill from California's House delegation, has slowed its momentum. To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.

ON THE RADAR - Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit against Blockfusion USA on Thursday in Delaware Court of Chancery. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of A. Searle Field, Evan Field and other plaintiffs, seeks to recover $772,675 in attorneys' fees pursuant to an Oct. 2022 arbitration. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2023-0127, In Re Delaware Rapid Arbitration of Blockfusion USA Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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