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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

DOUBLE SPACED - Don't put that Garfield coffee mug into storage just yet—the office isn't dead. While law firms still expect to use less office space going forward, according to recent legal industry reports, a solid segment of firms still plans to keep the same amount of space or even add space in the near future. Jenner & Block, for example, is essentially doubling its footprint in San Francisco with a new office that's set to open in the middle of next year, as well as opening a second office on the west side of Los Angeles in February. And, as Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports, more firms may be of a similar mind. "We expect to see firms continue to seek efficiencies in their use of space. That said, we see that with another year of a flexible work model under their belts, firms have a greater understanding of new working practices and have revised their approach to their space," the recently released 2024 Citi Hildebrand Client Advisory stated.

USE IT WISELY - A significant number of legal departments want their outside counsel to use generative artificial intelligence, and expect the technology to lead to better value for law firms' services, according to the 16th annual Law Department Operation Survey from the Blickstein Group and Deloitte. But before you entrust your entire practice to our robot overlords, be warned: Brad Blickstein, founder and principal of Blickstein Group and NewLaw Practice co-head at Baretz+Brunelle, told Law.com's Rhys Dipshan that this doesn't mean clients are giving their outside counsel free rein with genAI. "I wouldn't take that response as meaning that law departments are giving their firms license to use generative AI however they like and not without notifying them, and without making sure that they are using the tool properly and in compliance with how the law department wants them to," he said.

ON THE RADAR - Mark P. Gimbel and Jordan S. Joachim of Covington & Burling have stepped in to represent Peloton Interactive, the at-home fitness equipment and interactive media brand, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 27 in New York Eastern District Court by Bragar Eagel & Squire on behalf of Courtney Cooper and Abdo P. Faissal, accuses the defendants of failing to disclose that the seat posts for certain Peloton bikes were prone to break or otherwise detach during use, rendering bicycles unsafe for users, thus resulting in the likelihood of a recall of millions of bikes. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie, is 1:23-cv-07193, Cooper et al v. Boone 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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Recruiting and Retaining Talent: Advantages of a Two-Tier Partnership Structure By Miten Shah