Firms Look to Improve Development for Business Pros: The Morning Minute
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June 05, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
DEVELOPING DEVELOPMENT - The past few years have been full of surprises for the legal industry—and the shocks keep coming. For example, law firms recently made the stunning discovery that they employ a significant number of people who aren't attorneys. And they actually do, like, important stuff! As Law.com's Justin Henry reports, this realization has now led to an effort by some firms to raise the profile of professional nontimekeeping staff and focus more on their professional development than they traditionally did. And this effort is a component of a broader cultural shift at many law firms, which have sought to eliminate the term "nonlawyer" from the institutional vocabulary and have sacrificed equity partner profits for competitive compensation packages for business managers.
TROUBLE KEEPING TIME - While billable hours remain low at transactional practices across the Am Law 100, associates are feeling the pressure to get their hours up as "performance-related" cuts threaten to end their employment. But, as Law.com's Dan Roe reports, this raises an important question: how much agency do associates actually have over their billables? Asked in a recent American Lawyer survey what they would change about the legal profession to benefit their mental health, just as many associates seemed to lament their inability to bill a full day as the number who are grinding under a pile of work. "Billable hour targets are not within your control, completely unpredictable schedules," said one Clifford Chance associate, while a Clyde & Co. associate said the profession needed "less pressure on non-partner lawyers to meet fee and time targets they have no control over."
ON THE RADAR - Figs Inc., a medical apparel company, and current and former officers and executives were hit with a shareholder derivative action on Friday in California Central District Court. The complaint, filed by Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, alleges that the defendants misled investors regarding the company's ability to respond to customer demand and manage inventory, leading to sharp stock declines. The suit further alleges that company insiders sold significant amounts of stock while in possession of nonpublic information. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:23-cv-04353, McMurtrie v. Hasson et al. 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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