Legal Departments Snatching Back Work From Law Firms: The Morning Minute
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October 30, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
DIY - Legal departments are ramping up efforts to control costs by bringing more work in-house, shifting work to smaller firms, and leaning more on technology, including AI, a new report from the Association of Corporate Counsel and Everlaw shows. As Law.com's Trudy Knockless reports, of the 373 U.S. in-house legal professionals who responded to the survey, 66% cited bringing more work in-house as the No. 1 strategy for controlling legal costs. Additionally, 82% said the primary benefit of bringing more work in-house is to lower total costs. But the respondents also pointed to other benefits: 54% believe value is increased when internal expertise is leveraged, while 51% believe it improves cost predictability.
POLICY QUESTIONS - As the Ohio Supreme Court mulls whether insurers have a duty to indemnify Sherwin-Williams Co., after the paint maker and others were held liable in a $409 million public nuisance case over lead paint, attorneys on both sides have warned of the potential broader implications of the forthcoming decision, Law.com's Allison Dunn reports. McCarter & English partner Sherilyn Pastor, counsel to amicus curiae manufacturers in the case, said her clients "are concerned about whether manufacturers will receive the tort liability insurance coverage that they paid substantial premium for and that they expected." Meanwhile, Plunkett Cooney partner Patrick E. Winters, counsel to insurance industry amicus curiae, argued that, if the Ohio justices fail to enforce the policy language, "it would create excessive uncertainty about the effect of widely used policy language that insurers rely on as fixed and limiting."
ON THE RADAR - Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Sullivan & Cromwell have stepped in as defense counsel to eBay in a pending environmental lawsuit. The case, filed Sept. 27 in New York Eastern District Court by the federal government, accuses eBay of violating three environmental acts, including the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Orelia E. Merchant, is 1:23-cv-07173, United States of America v. EBay, Inc. 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
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
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