Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

COLLECT 'EM ALL - With legal industry revenue and demand perking up and expense pressure easing over the last quarter, law firms might expect to see mid-single-digit revenue gains and "modest" profit growth on average by the end of the year, according to a new analysis. Of course, by any analysis, if you want to realize those gains, you gotta collect first. "At the moment, it looks like that's how things are hitting," Gretta Rusanow, head of advisory services for Citi's law firm group, told Law.com's Andrew Maloney. "This could be a decent year if firms are able to speed up collections from now through year-end. So, that's the big 'if.'"

HIGHER VOLUME - Nothing keeps lawyers busy like chaos and confusion—and nobody whips up chaos and confusion quite like the current U.S. Supreme Court. As Law.com's Abigail Adcox reports, the justices' decision to strike down affirmative action in college admissions has been a boon to some law firms' higher education and discrimination practices, which have been advising colleges and universities on many new matters since the ruling. Neal Katyal, a partner at Hogan Lovells, who is co-leading a task force comprised of roughly 10 attorneys from various practices that the firm set up following the SCOTUS decision, said about one-third of his time has been spent with matters related to the court's decision since the end of June, adding that it has taken up a "huge number of hours."

ON THE RADAR - Willkie Farr & Gallagher partners Alexander L. Cheney, Charles D. Cording and Todd G. Cosenza have entered appearances for current Wells Fargo director Steven D. Black, John D. Baker II and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The complaint, filed Oct. 5 in California Northern District Court by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, arises from the defendants' alleged failure to comply with consumer protection laws and oversee Wells Fargo's compliance with consent orders it entered into with regulators. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar, is 4:23-cv-05112, Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado v. Baker et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS