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EYEING THE EXITS - Turns out there's a bit of a difference between not being able to leave your firm and actually wanting to stay. When Major, Lindsey & Africa surveyed around 300 Big Law associates about what their law firms were doing to retain them and what firms could do better, one in four respondents said they planned to leave within the year, while three out of five associates felt their firms weren't actively trying to retain them. Although a tough hiring market in some practices has stalled lateral movement, temporarily aiding retention, MLA associate recruiter and report co-author Kate Reder Sheikh told Law.com's Dan Roe that Big Law shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security.

STOP COLLABORATING AND LISTEN - In some industries, competing companies have been working together to develop best practices and common standards related to ESG issues. Sounds pretty innocuous right? Wrong, antitrust lawyers say. As Law.com's Chris O'Malley reports, federal and state regulators are signaling they're stepping up scrutiny over whether these arrangements constitute collusion and thus violate antitrust laws. Attorneys say companies could find themselves in hot water even for arm's-length collaborations through industry trade associations. Leslie John, leader of Ballard Spahr's antitrust and competition group, said the new climate involving ESG is having a chilling effect on cross-company communications within industries.

ON THE RADAR - Exxon Mobil has agreed to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for an all-stock consideration of approximately $59.5 billion. The transaction, announced Oct. 11, is expected to close in the first half of 2024. Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil was advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell partners Shanu Bajaj, Jennifer Conway, Louis Goldberg, David Schnabel and Oliver Smith. Pioneer Natural Resources, which is also based in Irving, Texas, was represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The Gibson Dunn team was led by partners Jeffrey Chapman and Tull Florey. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson guided Goldman Sachs Group, acting as financial advisor to Pioneer. The Fried Frank team was led by partners Philip Richter and Roy Tannenbaum. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.