Optimism About Profitability Declines Among Law Firm Leaders: The Morning Minute
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October 05, 2023 at 06:00 AM
3 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
PROFIT PROBLEMS - Law firm leaders, operations heads and pricing chiefs are less optimistic about year-end profits than they were around this time last year, according to a new survey by LawVision and BigHand. And far more firms are reporting declines in profit growth of 10% or more compared to 2022, according to the survey. That means, as Law.com's Dan Roe reports, the squeeze is on to extract as much profit from the 2023 fiscal year as possible. Law firms are increasingly emphasizing billing hygiene, profitability training and utilization levels to compensate.
MACHINE LEARNING - Much of the training for use of generative AI is either too general, inapplicable to legal professionals or too technical. But what if there was genAI training that was juuuust right? As Law.com's Justin Henry reports, 10 Am Law 200 firms and one Global 200 firm have signed on to test-pilot and influence SkillBurst Interactive's vendor-agnostic genAI training program. Anusia Gillespie, chief strategy and growth officer at SkillBurst, said that, as the creators of genAI tools, vendors are "instrumental," but "there needs to be a neutral third-party content that is delivered internally so the people feel it's a firm initiative, not a specific product training," she said.
ON THE RADAR - Warburg Pincus has agreed to place an investment in Everise, an outsourcing services provider, valuing the company at around $1 billion. The transaction, announced Oct. 3, is expected to close by the end of 2023. Singapore-based Everise was represented by a Kirkland & Ellis team led by corporate partners Adam Clifford, Srinivas Kaushik, Kartik Khanna and Adarsh Varghese. Everise is also backed by Brookfield Asset Management. Warburg Pincus, based in New York, was represented by a Latham & Watkins team jointly led by partners Amy Beckingham, Alex Kelly and Shaun Hartley. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with 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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