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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

DIGITAL RAIN - Social media's primary use is for people to yell at each other about Congress and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But recently it's also emerged as a rainmaking tool for enterprising young attorneys. Of course, as we've previously mentioned in this space, new ways of doing old things don't tend to sit well with law firm leaders. As a result, the rise of social media use in the professional context has led to a rise in tension at many firms. But marketers and active social media users told Law.com's Max Mitchell that the future is increasingly digital, and attorneys and firm leaders will need to begin honing their policies and practices if they want to avoid headaches down the road. "The most successful attorneys out there on social media are putting themselves out there as knowledgeable attorneys, as wise attorneys, but also as human beings. That scares law firms terribly," said Wayne Pollock, a lawyer and founder of legal marketing firm Law Firm Editorial Service.

WHAT WORKS? - The days of law firms' experimental spending and jumping on the latest tech trends are gone—at least for now. As Law.com's Stephanie Wilkins reports, increasing economic pressures and the fear of an impending recession will have a significant impact on which tools firms select, what they expect of them and how they use them. "You saw kind of a burst of investment into the broader industry over the last few years. … All of these firms ran all of these experiments and new projects," says Wang. That's no longer the case. "I think you're going to see people doubling down on the [technology] that's working and then eliminating some of the stuff that's not connecting or that can't show ROI," he adds.

ON THE RADAR - Tesla and certain executives including Elon Musk were slapped with a securities class action Monday in California Northern District Court in connection with the company's 2014 launch of the Tesla Autopilot system. The complaint, brought by Pomerantz LLP, accuses the defendants of 'significantly' overstating the viability and safety of the vehicle feature, increasing the company's risk of governmental scrutiny, regulatory enforcement and reputational harm. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 3:23-cv-00869, Lamontagne v. Tesla, Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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