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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

NO SURPRISES - GCs say that while firms often send bills in a timely manner, they will delay payment if a law firm sends them a surprise bill or higher bills than they expect because they're trying to ramp up collections to close out the year. As Law.com's Trudy Knockless reports, in-house leaders agree that if there's one thing they don't like, it's surprises. "No one ever likes it when you get that surprise, where you think the bill is going to be x based on the work that's been done or your prior experience and it comes in and it's 2x or 3x," said Elliot Mark, who recently spent more than seven years as general counsel of crisis-management software firm Everbridge. "That's a big problem," he continued. "And that's really where you need to make sure there's good alignment between what the firm thinks it's being asked to do and what the in-house counsel is asking them to do."

BIGGER IN TEXAS - The Lone Star State continues to have plenty of company in the form of law firms large and small. The Texas legal market was active in 2023, as out-of-state firms launched offices at a steady pace, and a range of firms switched up leaders, with younger partners often moving into top roles. As Law.com's Brenda Sapino Jeffreys reports, about half of the Am Law 200 has offices in Texas, a percentage that is creeping up with some of the new players in Houston, Dallas and Austin. While 2023 year-end financials aren't solidified yet, Texas was outperforming the rest of the U.S. legal industry during the first nine months of the year, according to a recent report from Citi's Global Wealth at Work Law Firm Group. Out-of-state firms may be taking notice. In fact, the 100 firms with the most lawyers in Texas grew by 8.9% as a whole in 2022, with many of the out-of-state firms and midsize firms adding to their lawyer head counts,

ON THE RADAR - Lionsgate has agreed to combine its studio business with Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp. and launch a separately traded public company called, Lionsgate Studios Corp. The transaction, announced Dec. 22, values Lionsgate at an enterprise value of approximately $4.6 billion. Santa Monica, California-based Lionsgate was represented by Dentons Canada and a Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz team led by corporate partner David E. Shapiro. The blank check company was advised by White & Case and Goodmans LLP. The White & Case team was led by partners Joel Rubinstein, Jonathan Rochwarger, Morton Pierce and Neeta Sahadev. Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal advisor to Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, in connection with their roles as co-placement agents. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.