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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

DUE FOR A RAISE - Inflation, the economy and pandemic-era obstacles remain at the forefront of firm leaders' minds. As Law.com's Jessie Yount reports, chief among a long list of concerns are billing rate increases as clients tighten their belts. How much are they willing to budget on legal spend when the future seems so hazy at the moment? The unpredictability means firms are having to balance several considerations. California-based Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, another Am Law 200 firm, raised rates by more than 3% in 2022 and around 3% in 2023, as part of an ongoing effort to revise its rates strategy. On the one hand, "one of the things that has made us successful is that we offer reasonable rates for high-quality lawyers," said Jim Baca, the managing partner of Atkinson Andelson. Still, while being mindful of the challenging economic environment for clients, "it makes sense from a business standpoint to raise rates in an inflationary environment," Baca said.

OVER-THE-COUNTER OPIOIDS? - It's considered by some lawyers to be the next round of opioid litigation—only this product liability wave is centered on an unregulated alkaloid called Kratom. Said to produce similar effects to morphine or heroin, the partial opioid has proved to be both addictive and lethal, sparking a string of wrongful-death claims in multiple states. As Law.com's Cedra Mayfield reports, litigators are challenging defendants' failures to disclose "highly addictive and deadly" nature of substance. And recently, bicoastal plaintiffs firm mctlaw secured a few key victories, including a federal $4.6 million damages award in connection to the 2021 Kratom overdose death of a West Palm Beach nurse and a negligence ruling in a separate case in Washington.

ON THE RADAR - New York Convention Center Operation Corp., which operates the Javits Center in Manhattan, sued the World Council for Youth and Diplomacy for breach of contract on May 31 in New York Supreme Court for New York County. The suit, over allegedly unpaid invoices for hosting a special event, was brought by Bond Schoeneck & King. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 652627/2023, New York Convention Center Operation Corp. v. World Council for Youth and Diplomacy Inc. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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