Associate Pay Raises Escalate GC Fears of Billing Rate Hikes: The Morning Minute
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November 13, 2023 at 06:00 AM
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
'GRAVE' CONCERNS - It's the most wonderful time of the year! You know, the time when law firms start raising associate pay and everybody freaks out? As Law.com's Andrew Maloney and Chris O'Malley report, Milbank's opening salvo on associate pay—raising each salary by $10,000—has many clients and analysts expressing confusion or unease about whether pay raises across the market could result in even higher rate increases, in a year where average billing rates already rose by record levels, and businesses have already seen "across-the-board" expense increases. "In the long run," said Andrew Woods, general counsel at PubMatic, "continued increases in hourly rates are growing far faster than our outside counsel budgets and are just not sustainable for clients to bear… In a sense, these firms are digging their own graves."
RETURN TO SENDER? - After more than 170 law firms urged law school deans in an open letter to condemn and prevent incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus earlier this month, the schools' reaction has ranged from silence to confusion. As Law.com's Dan Roe and Christine Charnosky report, a handful of law school deans said their schools were already committed to protecting students from hate speech and acts of harassment and violence. Some deans, however, were unclear on the goal of the letter, which closed by asking the law schools to open up a "respectful dialogue" with law firms on the issue. No school officially reported to Law.com that it was contacted by any law firm to discuss the letter further. However, sources at law firms confirmed discussions are ongoing between some T14 schools and law firms.
ON THE RADAR - Attorneys from Kirkland & Ellis have entered appearances for private jet charter company Wheels Up Experience Inc., its CEO, CFO and members of its board of directors in a pending shareholder derivative action. The complaint, filed Sept. 12 in New York Eastern District Court by the Brown Law Firm and Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman on behalf of Philip Irminger, accuses the defendants of failing to implement adequate internal controls resulting in the filing of adverse information regarding the company's business prospects and operations. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nina R. Morrison, is 1:23-cv-06777, Irminger v. Dichter 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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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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