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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

POLARIZED PATHS TO PROFITABILITY - Demand has risen across the industry. But the largest law firms are still charting a different course than their Second Hundred and midsize counterparts, Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports. Am Law 100 firms have reined in expenses and trimmed head count, reducing the number of associate full-time equivalents by 2.5% since the start of 2022, according to the latest Law Firm Financial Index from Thomson Reuters. Midsize firms, on the other hand, have increased head count and gotten extra aggressive on billing rates, while Second Hundred firms have sought a middle ground, the report stated. "The large law industry's segments have faced similar problems to one another, from the decline in transactional demand, to fading utilization and rising expenses. To adapt, firms have utilized a spectrum of strategies: Midsize firms have sought to bolster revenue, while Am Law 100 firms have tried to cut down expenses and improve efficiency, with the Second Hundred attempting to find a Goldilocks zone between the two," the report said.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTION - We've talked a lot in this space about how professional staff at law firms are often treated like second-class citizens, particularly in Big Law. But at least one firm appears to making an effort to recognize the contributions of folks other than practicing attorneys. In search of the next generation of leaders in its IT, development, client value, innovation, marketing, business development and finance departments, Norton Rose Fulbright has tapped 26 high-achieving nonmanagers from the firm's U.S. offices for a senior-level mentorship academy in Houston this month. "If you grow your revenue and the number of lawyers you have at the firm, in order to support those lawyers you also have to have a very robust business services group to do that," U.S. managing partner Jeff Cody told Law.com's Dan Roe. "We're investing in our people and our business infrastructure so we can better serve our partners and our clients."

ON THE RADAR - Twitter and X. Corp. were slapped with an employment class action Aug. 8 in California Northern District Court over alleged FMLA violations. The suit, filed by Lichten & Liss-Riordan, contends that employees who took FMLA leave or who recently returned from leave were disproportionately impacted by the mass layoff of Twitter employees following Elon Musk's purchase of the social media platform in late Oct. 2022. The suit also pursues sex, race and age discrimination claims. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 3:23-cv-04016, Weinberg et al v. Twitter, Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.