The Legal Industry Inches Toward a Health Care Service Model; COVID-19's Still a Catalyst for Law Firm Cuts; A 'Titanic' Lawsuit Over Reputational Damage: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
September 03, 2020 at 06:00 AM
5 minute read
Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
LEANING INTO LEANING OUT – Many firms have reversed pandemic-induced austerity measures in recent weeks, but that doesn't mean cuts aren't still coming. As Dan Packel reports, legal industry watchers anticipate more law firms will follow in the recent footsteps of Davis Wright Tremaine, Baker McKenzie and Venable, using the pandemic as an opportunity to tighten up their operations. "For years, many firms have succeeded in spite of themselves," Zeughauser Group consultant Kent Zimmermann said. "At a time like this when the economy is choppy and uncertain, it's a little bit like when the tide goes out and you start to see the rocks better. An environment like this lays bear the inefficiencies and weakness firms have that in a strong economy are covered up."
HEALTHY COMPETITION – As we noted yesterday, Arizona is now firmly on the cutting edge of the legal industry thanks to its recent decision to allow nonlawyers to share fees with lawyers and hold equity stakes in law firms. But there is another aspect of the reforms that could have reverberations nationwide: the state has allowed for the creation of Legal Paraprofessionals, known as LPs, which will be able to practice as affiliate members of the state bar and be subject to the same ethical and rules considerations as attorneys. As Patrick Smith reports, the idea is for LPs—who will be limited to handling what most firms would consider commodity work such as administrative and family law, debt collection and landlord-tenant disputes—to provide a lower cost alternative to those seeking legitimate legal representation. But while the measure is right now largely aimed at providing greater access to justice for the poor, it will be interesting to see whether/how law firms and their competitors in the accounting/consulting space find ways to utilize LPs. Considering that multiple in-house counsel at ALM's Legalweek 2020 event this past February expressed a desire for the legal industry to move toward more of a health care service model, the concept of what is essentially legal's answer to the nurse-practitioner is sure to pique corporate clients' interest.
I'LL NEVER LET GO – "Titanic" broke a box office record when it was released 23 years ago, but that doesn't mean director James Cameron and two major movie studios haven't suffered "substantial hardship and costs" at the hands of a Florida man who claims the iconic film was based on his life story (presumably aside from the death-by-hypothermia part). With the help of attorneys from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, plaintiffs Cameron, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Cameron's production company Lightstorm Entertainment sued Stephen Cummings on Wednesday in California Central District Court over Cummings' "fanciful and delusional" copyright claims related to the blockbuster. Attorneys have not yet appeared for the defendant. Read the full complaint and stay up to date on major litigation nationwide with Law.com's Legal Radar.
EDITOR'S PICKS
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
© 2025 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 All
'None of Us Like It': How Expedited Summer Associate Recruiting Affects Law Students and the Firms Hiring Them

After Shutting USAID, Trump Eyes Department of Education, CFPB

'A Shock to the System’: Some Government Attorneys Are Forced Out, While Others Weigh Job Options
7 minute read
GOP Now Holds FTC Gavel, but Dems Signal They'll Be a Rowdy Minority
6 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Munger, Gibson Dunn Billed $63 Million to Snap in 2024
- 2January Petitions Press High Court on Guns, Birth Certificate Sex Classifications
- 3'A Waste of Your Time': Practice Tips From Judges in the Oakland Federal Courthouse
- 4Judge Extends Tom Girardi's Time in Prison Medical Facility to Feb. 20
- 5Supreme Court Denies Trump's Request to Pause Pending Environmental Cases
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
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