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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

FLEXING ON FLEXIBILITY - In the past few weeks, both Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Davis Polk & Wardwell have increased their office attendance mandate to four days per week, moves that associates and partners who desire more flexibility had feared throughout the spring as cooling talent markets and lower demand put power back in the hands of law firm leaders. Why are firms doing this? Well, mostly just because they can. "One reason why firms are doing this right now is they're holding power over associates," Michelle Fivel, recruiter and co-founder of Hatch Henderson Fivel, told Law.com's Patrick Smith and Dan Roe. "The market is not dead but it's not the same frenzied pace where associates could make quick moves en masse, so I think firms are using that to their advantage." However, unlike associate salaries, return-to-office policies don't appear likely to move in lockstep.

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS -  Law firms that employ data scientists—a minority in the market—are often far ahead of others in understanding fast-evolving technology and developing custom tech solutions. But for such law firms, eliciting those innovations and capabilities isn't as simple as providing their data scientists with a laundry list of items to get through. You gotta let 'em cook. As Law.com's Rhys Dipshan reports, many realize these experts need time and space to flourish, and by extension, create long-term value. Letting data scientists work on personal passion projects, which often means exploring new ideas and learning new skills and technologies, can be essential. Of course, all of this is done with an eye towards benefiting the firm. "They're not developing rockets," says Husch Blackwell's CIO Blake Rooney. "They're doing things that are adjacent to the work that we're doing."

ON THE RADAR - Blaze Pizza filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Blaze BBQ on Friday in California Northern District Court. The suit, brought by Morgan Lewis & Bockius, accuses the defendant of unlawfully using the 'Blaze' mark for Mediterranean restaurants in Northern California. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 3:23-cv-02851, Blaze Pizza LLC v. Blaze BBQ Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

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