COVID Kills Merger Momentum; More Furloughs May Be Final; Hiring in Your Own Backyard (Literally): The Morning Minute
Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up. WHAT WE'RE WATCHING MERGER BADNESS - While people are social distancing,…
July 02, 2020 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.
|
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
MERGER BADNESS - While people are social distancing, law firms are also staying far away from each other. As David Thomas reports, two separate surveys this week—one from Altman Weil and the other from Fairfax Associates—made clear that COVID-19 has ground merger mania to a halt, with no movement visible on the horizon. Both reports found merger activity was down for the first half of 2020, with Fairfax also noting that the only merger set to be completed in Q3 was between Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton. That tie-up became official yesterday, but only after a number of pandemic-related challenges, including a delayed start date and pay cuts by both legacy firms. Still, both Altman Weil and Fairfax said law firms have not nixed mergers from their strategic plans altogether, they've just put a pin in the idea until the economy regains some stability.
LEFT BEHIND - With the pandemic's timeline still uncertain and remote work being managed successfully in many instances, law firm leaders are turning their focus from maintaining cash flow to salvaging their year-end balance sheets, consultants say. The unfortunate result, Patrick Smith reports, is that some temporary staff furloughs may become permanent layoffs, as has already happened at Katten Muchin Rosenman. "There has been a growth in the need for efficiency, which can create redundancy," said Irwin Kishner, executive chairman at Herrick, Feinstein. "And that will be felt in the mail rooms, in the physical plant and on the assistants. I suspect there isn't a law firm out there that hasn't tried to take advantage of those efficiencies."
LOUNGE CHAIRS AND LATERALS - Staff layoffs loom at some law firms, but that doesn't mean lateral hiring is necessarily off the table. In fact, at some firms, it's very much on the table—right over there by the pool, the one with the umbrella. As Dan Packel reports, firm leaders in certain regions have resumed interviewing candidates in person, face-to-six-foot-away-face. In the last several weeks, for example, Lowenstein Sandler managing partner Gary Wingens has started inviting potential new partners for poolside chats in his Livingston, New Jersey, backyard. "They stay far away, and we take the masks off," Wingens said. Meanwhile, even in areas of the country where meetings remain strictly on-screen only, firms that feel financially stable are on the hunt for hires whose value will outlast the pandemic.
|
EDITOR'S PICKS
Watch the Video: Texas Judge Caught on Camera Stealing Political Opponent's Sign By Angela Morris Cuomo Signs Bill Strengthening Protections Against Evictions During COVID-19 By Ryan Tarinelli
'Failure Is Striking': Trump-Tapped Judge Throws Out Administration's Asylum Restriction By Jacqueline Thomsen
Parents of Parkland School Shooting Victim Can Sue Security Guard for Negligence, Florida Court Rules By Raychel Lean
Ahdoot & Wolfson, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy Will Lead Zoom Privacy Class Action By Alaina Lancaster
|
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
UP DOWN UNDER - Australia's large law firms are on track for another strong year, with earnings increasing despite the COVID-19-shaped crater in the global economy. Christopher Niesche reports that benchmarking data on revenue, hours worked and demand collected by Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor reveals that average fees worked for April and May this year were up a combined 5.4% compared with the previous year. For the 11 months to the end of May, fees worked—a proxy for revenue—was up 8.1%.
|
WHAT YOU SAID
"We see a clear tension between optimism for a more inclusive and equitable workplace and skepticism that companies and business leaders will actually take the necessary steps to address disparities at the organizational level."
|— Lorraine Hariton , president and CEO of Catalyst, noting that while a new survey by the nonprofit found that seven in 10 employees believe COVID-19 will stimulate gender equity in the workplace, fewer than 41% of employees believe their workplaces are "fully committed to—and already taking steps to create—an inclusive workplace."➤➤ Sign up here to receive the Morning Minute straight to your inbox.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllGeorgia Poll Workers Seek 'Severe Sanctions' and Contempt Order Against Rudy Giuliani Over Noncompliance
State Court Considers If Physician Can Be Held Liable for Lack of Tests, Treatment
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1'No Finer Work': New York City Council Confirms Next Corporation Counsel
- 2Here’s What Litigators Want For Christmas
- 3Reported Refusal to Officiate Gay Wedding Prompts Review by NY Judicial Misconduct Watchdog
- 4Frozen-Potato Producers Face Profiteering Allegations in Surge of Antitrust Class Actions
- 5CooperSurgical Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss
Who Got The Work
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.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250