Law Firms Divided on Rate Increases: The Morning Minute
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June 02, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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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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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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