HEARTBREAK HOTELING - Sure, office-sharing may seem like an apt way for law firms to get the most out of their square footage while accommodating new workplace habits. But, to some firm leaders, the adoption of "hoteling" equals a concession that the dream of getting everyone back to the office and partying like it's 2019 is officially dead—and that's a tough pill to swallow. "It's a big cultural shift," Tom Fulcher, vice chair, head of legal tenant practice group at property agent Savills told Law.com's Justin Henry. "One attorney said, 'It's like you gave up.' After all efforts to bring people back into the office, you can hotel. Yes, it saves your money, but what is the effect on the firm long term?"
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT - In the legal industry, perhaps the only word with a looser definition than "flexibility" is "emergency." Asked what about their workplaces negatively affected their mental health, half the attorneys who responded to the American Lawyer's 2023 Mental Health Survey said client demands. In individual responses, Big Law attorneys at all levels made a distinction between legitimate emergencies and clients' technology-enabled propensity to expect instant responses to mundane questions at all hours of the day, night or weekend. But, as Law.com's Dan Roe and Trudy Knockless report, both clients and law firm leadership can play a role in eliminating artificial emergencies. In-house counsel say communication and mutual respect can help prevent frequent fire drills, while law firm attorneys say relationship partners should push back on unreasonable requests.
ON THE RADAR - UPS was hit with a personal injury lawsuit Sept. 6 in Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for Bucks County. The lawsuit, for claims centered on a motor vehicle collision, was brought by Weltman Weinberg & Reis on behalf of Allstate. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2023-05352, Allstate Insurance Company v. United Parcel Service. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
