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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TRAIN(ED) IN VAIN? - Law firms learned a hard lesson following the Great Recession when they looked around and realized all those layoffs resulted in a lost generation of qualified mid-level associates in practices like real estate. Well, this time around, most firms have avoided widespread layoffs, but firm leaders and in-house counsel are still beginning wonder if they have at least three years' worth of undertrained associates thanks to the pandemic. So what now? "Concern over the development of pandemic-era talent will likely lead to a heavy reliance on firm talent professionals to get associates up to speed now that we are back in the office part of the time," Gina Passarella writes in this week's Law.com Barometer newsletter. "Firms will likely put a major emphasis on training programs and do so publicly to ensure clients know the efforts they are taking to develop young lawyers. There will also likely be an increased push to ensure associates are back in the office, and that partners are there to help train them." To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.

SCHOOLS VS. SOCIAL - Social media companies have seen a handful of suits from school districts seeking to recover from social media companies for harming teenagers' mental health. Two suits in Washington state and one in New Jersey have been filed by school districts against operators of social media platforms. But, as Law.com's Charles Toutant reports, the public nuisance cause of action could be a sticking point in the school district litigation. "It's my position that it's unlikely that the school districts have standing to claim the harms that are really attributed to the students' personal lives," said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. "One way of thinking about it is school districts ought not to be filing these lawsuits because they aren't the right parties in interest."

ON THE RADAR - The Delaware Examining Board of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers was sued Thursday in Delaware Court of Chancery. The court action was filed by Burr & Forman and Cross & Simon on behalf of an orthopedic surgeon and a physical therapist who allege that the board violates federal and state law by blocking physical therapists from being employed by physician-owned practices and providing services to patients of their employers. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2023-0235, Kathy Callaway, PT, CHT vs Delaware Examining Board of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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