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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

COVID TESTING - As if the bar exam wasn't nerve-wracking enough before. Karen Sloan reports that Mississippi is plowing forth with its plan to administer its July bar exam, but test-takers should probably bring an extra writing utensil—to sign a waiver indemnifying the state Board of Bar Admissions and the state Supreme Court from liability should they contract COVID-19 during the two-day exam. While the board said there is a "strong desire" among test-takers and the state's two law schools to hold the exam ASAP, some legal academics are criticizing the waivers, saying they illustrate precisely what's wrong with holding in-person bar exams during a pandemic.

SHOW EVERYONE THE MONEY – Dylan Jackson and David Thomas report that, according to several sources close to the firm, Boies Schiller Flexner is changing its associate bonus structure from a formula system to a "market-rate" system that pays associates based on seniority instead of billable hours. In a statement, co-managing partner Nick Gravante confirmed that the firm is adopting a new associate compensation system, but didn't elaborate much beyond that. Sources, however, said the change is an effort to bring more transparency to the firm, which has experienced a recent exodus of partners in part because of its previously murky pay policy.

WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DROP IT? - U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington faces a deadline today to explain to the D.C. Circuit why he decided to scrutinize DOJ's move to drop the prosecution of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn contends Sullivan had no authority to appoint amicus counsel rather simply sign off on a dismissal of the false-statements case. But, as C. Ryan Barber reports, Sullivan's coming with some firepower: 24 former federal judges filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Friday backing the judge. The dispute, however it shakes out, could have ramifications beyond Flynn's case, as it tees up questions about how much power judges have when overseeing criminal prosecutions.

 

EDITOR'S PICKS

McDonald's Negotiating to Resolve Lawsuit Over COVID-19 Employee Protections

Times Are Tough! A Shame-Free Guide to Surviving Career Disruption

How the Mansfield Rule for In-House Counsel Is Faring Under COVID-19

In New Stance, DOJ Asks Justices to Shield Domestic Companies From 'Alien Tort' Liability

Yuuup!: 'Storage Wars' Star David Hester Just Lost His Court Battle With Public Storage

 

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

COME ON IN – Anne Bagamery reports that Hogan Lovells is encouraging its Paris-based staff to return to the office and, as the firm's Paris managing partner put it, "get used to coming back to work in the physical premises." The firm, which has 300 people in its Paris office including 150 lawyers, will be "fully open" on June 2, office leader Xenia Legendre said, with social distancing and hygiene precautions in place.

WHAT YOU SAID

"The accusations being made here that insurance companies are being nasty, nasty jerks has been made for decades and made inaccurately."

— James Lynch, chief actuary and senior vice president of research and education at the Insurance Information Institute, taking aim at the plaintiffs bar's assertions that insurers are exploiting COVID-related court delays.

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