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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

PRICES HAVEN'T PEAKED - Law firms implemented some of the highest billing rate increases in recent memory in 2023. And, as Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports, law firms are likely to push through similar increases in 2024 amid rising expenses and lingering regret among some firms that feel they didn't go far enough this year. The rate increases will vary depending on law firm segments, survey pool, and other nuances. But multiple analysts this month have suggested the average standard rate increase in 2024 could be between 6% and 8%.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN - Speaking of raising rates, legal departments say they want more price predictability from law firm and that, when it comes to things like costs and processes, their outside counsel rarely lets them in on what's happening. That's according to a new study from the Association of Corporate Counsel and the litigation platform Everlaw. Of the 373 U.S. in-house legal professionals participating in the survey, just 4% said they were extremely satisfied with law firms' transparency into costs and 7% were extremely satisfied with transparency into law firms' processes, Law.com's Hugo Guzman reports.

ON THE RADAR - Jennifer Del Medico of Jones Day has entered an appearance for certain Verizon executives in a pending securities lawsuit. The suit, filed Oct. 12 in New Jersey District Court by Lifshitz Law on behalf of Andrew Jankowski, contends that certain executives failed to disclose that the company did not adequately protect its workers from exposure to dangerous levels of lead as a result of handling Verizon-owned cables. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch, is 3:23-cv-21123, Jankowski v. Verizon Communications, Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar 


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EDITOR'S PICKS

As Stroock Plans Its End, Wind-Down Committee to Examine Liabilities

By Patrick Smith

Burns & Levinson Partner Files Age Discrimination Suit, Firm Maintains Demotion Due to 'Poor Performance as a Practice Chair'

By Allison Dunn