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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

ACTUALLY, DON'T SHOW ME THE MONEY - Like my Eagles' baffling gameplan against the Buccaneers' blitz on Monday night, there are some things you simply can't unsee. And they will haunt you… trust me. As an equity partner with a financial stake in your firm and responsibilities to maintain it, you may feel entitled and compelled to take a peek at the spreadsheets to see exactly how your compensation stacks up against that of your colleagues. But, as Law.com's Justin Henry reports, some firms feel that would be a mistake and are taking steps to protect folks like you from yourselves. The advantages of a closed, or "black box," system—i.e. avoiding the infighting that might result from high paydays for rainmaking laterals—have been compelling enough for some firms to make a change. "It is so much easier to keep people happy when they can't see someone is making more than them even though they have more in originations," said Jeffrey Lowe, recounting the message he hears from firms with opaque compensation models.

COME TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW - Mergers are becoming increasingly common as a resolution for the succession-planning quandary at plaintiffs firms, which don't hire at anywhere near the clip defense firms do. Case in point, as Law.com's Amanda O'Brien reports: three sets of personal injury firms in Pennsylvania announced mergers going into effect at the start of 2024. In December 2023, McLaughlin & Lauricella announced it would close its doors to join Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig, while in January Anapol Weiss announced it had acquired Golomb Legal and Gay & Chacker went public with a merger with Ginsburg & Associates.  "A lot of this is generational," suggested Max Kennerly, who co-founded his own plaintiffs firm based in Philadelphia. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred an unprecedented court system shutdown, may have accelerated these generational shifts.

ON THE RADAR - AIG's National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh has retained McDowell Hetherington partner Kendall J. Burr to defend a pending insurance coverage lawsuit in connection with the Feb 3, 2023 derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio. The action, filed Nov. 28 in Texas Northern District Court by Haynes and Boone, centers on a complaint filed by third-party Norfolk Southern, which was targeted in multiple lawsuits over the accident, as well as a class action claiming damages against plaintiff Trinity Industries. The suit challenges National Union's refusal to indemnify Trinity in the suits, and seeks over $1.3 million. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, is 3:23-cv-02625, Trinity Industries Leasing Company v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh PA. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.  

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