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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TIERS FOR FEARS - As profits have grown, the U.S.'s highest-earning law firms have begun worrying whether a single equity tier of partners can sustain such wide disparities in financial contribution. As Law.com's Justin Henry reports, that has their leaders now weighing the pros and cons of adopting a nonequity tier. Even Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, which has long maintained a single-tier  partnership, is considering a non-equity tier as early as 2024 in an effort to keeps its counsel-level attorneys from moving to competitors. "It is signaling further departure from single-tier lockstep that has traditionally been in place with many Wall Street firms," said recruiter Dan Binstock, a partner with search firm Garrison. "The more those profits rise, it gets harder for partners in certain practice areas to have practices at that size."

DWINDLING SUPPORT? - Earlier this year, partners said a lack of associate support to build their practice was the third most likely reason they'd leave a firm, just behind a lack of confidence in a firm's management or strategy and compensation, according to the 2023 Lateral Partner Satisfaction Survey from Major, Lindsey & Africa. At the same time, the top reason partners said they chose their new firm was its perceived ability to support and elevate their practice. Those concerns clearly aren't new, and yet, as Law.com's Jessie Yount reports, more recent observations from legal recruiters reveal that the number of partners falling into that third bucket may be growing as firms struggle to provide partners with adequate associate support.

ON THE RADAR - Ocean Spray Cranberries was named in a consumer class action Oct. 31 in California Northern District Court over the labeling of its cranberry juice as containing no preservatives. The suit, filed by Crosner Legal, alleges that the label of 'no preservatives' is fraudulent as the juice contains citric acid. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 4:23-cv-05627, Wright v. Ocean Spray Cranberries, 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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