Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up. 

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

GREAT DIVIDE – Sure, it's good to be global. As Dan Packel reports, the world's 200 highest-grossing law firms had a record year in 2018, increasing their collective revenue by nearly 8%. But an examination of the Global Second Hundred—those firms ranked 101 through 200—shows that the large gap between the two tiers only continued to expand, according to Law.com affiliate The American Lawyer. Of the Global 200's total revenue, $31.9 billion came from the Second Hundred, exceeding the previous year's tally by 6.5%. At the same time, the 100 top-grossing firms in the world grew their earnings 8.1% to $114.2 billion. The upshot? The Global 100 earned more than three-and-a-half times as much as their counterparts in the Second Hundred last year.

MORE TROUBLES – Lawyers at Wigdor LLP, the same firm that represented DLA Piper partner Vanina Guerrero in raising sexual assault allegations about ex-partner Louis Lehot in Silicon Valley, have lodged a complaint with the EEOC on behalf of an unnamed former HR manager at the firm. Ross Todd reports that she claims Lehot threatened her after she refused to fire an administrative assistant he wanted terminated. The former HR employee also claims that she was fired after she complained to firm management that she feared being near Lehot or left alone with him.

HOTEL BILLS – A three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit is set to hear arguments today on the House Oversight Committee's efforts to get financial documents on President Trump's Washington hotel. The lawsuit, initially filed in 2017 when the House was under GOP control, is seeking monthly reports that the property files with the General Services Administration, as well as information on the hotel's payments from foreign guests. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta last year dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the Democrats lacked standing to bring forward the case. The House Democrats, led by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, appealed that decision. Oral arguments are expected to feature Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim Mooppan, a former Jones Day partner, and Georgetown University Law Center's David Vladeck.

ARTIFICIAL INCREASE – Artificial intelligence use is spiking across industries, according to a recent survey, and is expected to translate to AI upticks in legal departments, Frank Ready reports. The results of RELX's 2019 tech report show that out of the 1,000 senior executives surveyed from industries such as health care, insurance, government and banking, 72% indicated they were using AI in their business practices, a noticeable gain over 48% in 2018.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Ex-Irell Managing Partner Ellisen Turner Jumps to Kirkland

Former Wynn Resorts General Counsel Accused of Approving Spy Operation

Meet the Law Firm Partnering With Amazon to Streamline IP

As a Startup Hurtles Toward IPO, When Should Outside Counsel Say No?

At More Than One-Third of the Am Law 100, Minority Partners Are Disproportionately Nonequity

Vance Agrees to Stay Enforcement of Grand Jury Subpoena for Trump Tax Docs, in Exchange for Expedited Review Process

5 Tips for Working With Men and More Career Insight from Women Lawyers

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

MONEY MATTERS – U.K.-based Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is planning to set up a "conduct committee" and introduce hefty financial penalties for partners who require a warning about their behavior, including sexual misconduct. Krishnan Nair reports that the firm's new conduct protocol means partners who are subject to an internal investigation that results in a final warning about their behavior would face an automatic fixed financial penalty of 20% of their profit share for a period of 12 months. The changes come as an ethics tribunal this month called for ex-partner Ryan Beckwith to pay a $305,000 penalty for inappropriate behavior, following a nine-day hearing into allegations of sexual misconduct.

WHAT YOU SAID

"Believe me, a lot of things keep me up at night. It's not like I'm Superwoman, or that I just work too hard to sleep, I've just never been a big sleeper, even when I was a kid."