Inappropriate behaviour, crowdsourcing and ripping up the appraisal rulebook – the best of Legal Week over the last week
The best news, interviews and analysis from Legal Week and ALM over the last week
January 26, 2018 at 06:20 AM
3 minute read
Three months after the Harvey Weinstein scandal engulfed Hollywood, sexual harassment still tops the news agenda. With the legal profession as guilty as any other, growing numbers of firms are being drawn into the headlines.
Lawyers at Mishcon de Reya, BLP, Fried Frank and Kingsley Napley have found themselves embroiled in this week's scandal – the revelations of groping and inappropriate behaviour at the men-only Presidents Club Charity dinner.
While there are no insinuations that any of the four men were involved in the allegedly inappropriate events taking place at the dinner, their names were on the guestlist for the controversial evening, where sexual harassment was revealed by an undercover Financial Times reporter.
Meanwhile, at Dentons, a partner from legacy Scots firm Maclay Murray & Spens has been suspended in response to allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Far away from salacious stories and bad behaviour, a host of firms have been rethinking their strategy, putting people and technology very much at the centre of efforts.
Slaughter and May has overhauled its associate appraisal system, while DLA Piper – currently in the midst of voting for its new senior partner – has shaken up its billings targets (among many other measures) following a firmwide crowdsourcing initiative.
Here's the best of the rest of Legal Week during the last seven days:
- New tech, non-lawyer partners and global growth on CC agenda as Layton eyes radical change
- Partners predict rising revenues and more UK mergers amid buoyant business confidence
- Milbank continues London push with hire of Shearman high yield star
- Dealmaker: Freshfields Charles Hayes on making partner, rare breed cattle and texting legal advice Conflict concerns or a planned refocus? Mayer Brown London exits prompt strategy questions
- Carillions legal services arm faces fire sale as dozens of in-house lawyers brace for last paycheque
- What it takes to be a great modern litigator: seven top tips from lawyers and clients
- Eversheds Sutherland sets sights on integration and common culture in new strategic plan From AXA to PayPal, World Bank and Diageo: the female GCs transforming the legal world
- BLP-Bryan Cave merger vote delayed as firms face tax hit
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Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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