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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

PRESSURE'S RISING - This section's called "What We're Watching" for a reason: we're on the lookout not just for full-blown trends, but for inklings of what might one day become a full-blown trend. Case in point: three of McDermott Will & Emery's longtime IP partners have relocated to distributed firm Rimon P.C., citing their new firm's greater flexibility on rates. "Basically, the biggest issue is our rates were too high to do patent prosecution," one of the partners, Tomoki Tanida told Law.com's Justin Henry. Does this mean we're going to see more of these Big Law defections in 2024? If history is any indication, it seems like a good bet, particularly since, as we noted in this space recently, rate hikes are not likely to decelerate any time soon.

REGULATORS MOUNT UP! - The European Union is setting the standards in many areas of regulation, spurring U.S. regulators to try to get ahead on issues such as artificial intelligence, former agency and division heads told Law.com's Maydeen Merino. "There's a natural competition among regulators to try to be the first," said Maneesha Mithal, a Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati partner who led the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection for more than a decade. "In the privacy and consumer protection area, there's absolutely competition among regulators to try to be the most innovative, to try to be the most splashy [and] to try to stay on trends," she added.

ON THE RADAR - Stardust Power Inc., an American manufacturer of battery-grade lithium products, is going public through a SPAC merger with Global Partner Acquisition Corp. II. As a result of the merger, Stardust Power will be listed on the Nasdaq with a post-transaction equity value of approximately $490 million. The transaction, announced Nov. 21, is expected to close during the first half of 2024. Greenwich, Connecticut-based Stardust Power was represented by Norton Rose Fulbright. The blank check company is advised by a Kirkland & Ellis team including corporate partners Lauren Colasacco and Jennifer Gasser. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.  

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