High-Growth Law Firms May Be Getting a Remote-Work Boost: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
July 21, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
LAW FIRM DEMAND(S) - The push by Big Law firms to mandate more time in the office isn't only a logistical issue about where lawyers are working and billing hours. As Law.com's Christine Simmons writes in the latest Law.com Barometer newsletter, it's a sign that, amid lowered law firm demand and some continued alarms of a potential recession, firm leaders are attempting to take the power back. The talent war appears to be simmering down and law firm management has regained leverage, which some are using to make demands without fear of serious consequences from the associate ranks. "Yes, some lawyers will leave those law firms that are increasingly mandating more time in the office," Simmons writes. "But as long as demand remains depressed, especially in transactional work and big deals, there's less work to go around and the 'war for bodies' is over, other elite firms will have leverage to make office attendance mandates." And hey, why not, right? Well…
NICE FIRMS FINISH FIRST? - … a new study suggests high-growth law firms aren't just better than their peers at generating revenue and profits, they also generally invest more in their people, and at the same time, might be getting a boost from remote work. "Dynamic" firms—those that had the highest compounded annual growth rates in profits per lawyer and revenue per lawyer over the last decade—increased overhead costs associated with personnel while shrinking occupancy costs in the age of remote work, analysts for Thomson Reuters noted in their 2023 Dynamic Law Firms Report. Michelle Fivel, co-founder of the legal recruiting firm Hatch Henderson Fivel, told Law.com's Andrew Maloney that while RTO policies themselves aren't always the deciding factor for lawyers on the move, they do speak to other aspects of firm culture, including how they approach benefits and flexibility—things that also separate dynamic and static firms.
ON THE RADAR - LTRAC LLC d/b/a ProspectNow, a real estate data and analytics company, filed a lawsuit against former owner and employee Steven Wayne on Thursday in Idaho District Court over a contract dispute. The suit, filed by Stoel Rives and Jones Day, arises from a dispute over the term 'revenue' for purposes of calculating a bonus and seeks a declaration that the company did not generate sufficient revenue to trigger the bonus. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 1:23-cv-00336, LTRAC LLC v. Wayne. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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