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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

ALL IN AN HOUR'S WORK - Yesterday, we told you about how Big Law rate hikes were not only failing to make up for decreased productivity and realization rates,  but were also potentially causing clients to shift some of their work to lower-cost firms. So just how much are large firms charging these days? As Law.com's Dan Roe reports, recent bankruptcy filings show that Big Law rates are nearing $2,600 hourly for top partners. To be sure, the most in-demand lawyers at the top firms are always going to command major money and, at that level, most clients will happily pay. But the data does speak to how rate increases have accelerated in recent years. For example, going into 2021, leading bankruptcy firms announced single-digit rate increases: 3% for Kirkland, 8% for Latham, and 5% for Paul Weiss. Over the following three years, however, annual rate increases at Kirkland, Latham and Paul Weiss averaged 9%, 11% and 11%, respectively.

DOUBLING DOWN ON DEI - Last year's SCOTUS ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education and efforts by conservative groups to challenge the legality of diversity programs have not had the chilling effect some might have expected. That's according to the "Inclusion, Equity and Diversity C-suite Survey Report," released Wednesday by Littler Mendelson, which surveyed more than 320 senior executives. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said their organizations had expanded their DEI commitments and level of activity over the past year, even as 59% said the backlash against such programs has increased since June's high-court ruling. Ninety-one percent of respondents said the ruling had not lessened their prioritization of DEI, while 69% said the ruling had not changed their DEI approach in any way. "We're seeing many employers maintain—or even double down on—their commitment to IE&D, even as backlash spikes," Jeanine Conley Daves, a Littler office managing shareholder, told Law.com's Trudy Knockless.

ON THE RADAR - Attorneys from Latham & Watkins and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have stepped in to defend Andreessen Horowitz, a California-based private equity firm, and Paradigm Operations LP, respectively, in a pending securities class action. The action, filed Dec. 17 in California Northern District Court by Gerstein Harrow LLP and Fairmark Partners, accuses the defendants of selling unregistered securities in the form of digital assets called LDO tokens. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, is 3:23-cv-06492, Samuels v. Lido Dao 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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