|

|

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

'TIS THE SEASON? - The pandemic pushed the official OCI season from August 2020 to January 2021 and, as Law.com's Dan Roe reports, made the process more cutthroat than ever, with firms flouting the rules and reaching out to candidates early. While that has always been the case to a certain extent, this year the competition appears to be particularly intense, with one legal recruiter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, telling Roe he knows of at least one Am Law 100 firm that offered candidates signing bonuses if they committed prior to January 1. The good news, however, is that there's also heightened competition for diverse hires, which is forcing firms to find innovative ways to expand their pipelines.

LET IT RIDE - We told you yesterday that law firms' traditional aversion to risk is likely keeping many of them from investing in legal tech startups. They simply don't like to gamble. But as the haunted hayride that was 2020 made clear, you can plan all you want but you never know what horrors wait around the corner. As Perkins Coie managing partner Bill Malley told Law.com's Dylan Jackson: law firms this year will have to place a series of "bets" that will touch nearly every aspect of their operations, from real estate and remote work to staffing levels and vaccine requirements. How the industry will handle making decisions with imperfect information remains to be seen, but Malley said it really doesn't have a choice but to adapt. "You kind of need to make a bet," he said. "You can't wait to see how the world is going to change so you're deciding now."

LITIGATION DRIVER - Uber spent a lot of time and money last year fighting efforts in California to have it reclassify its drivers as employees. But now it's going to have to take that fight from the Golden State to the Sunshine State as well. The company was slapped with an employment class action Wednesday in Florida Southern District Court over its classification of drivers as independent contractors. The case, brought by Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, makes claims pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Florida Minimum Wage Act. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

|

EDITOR'S PICKS

NCBE Unveils Online Bar Exam Option for July 2021 By Karen Sloan

The Careerist: Some Black Partners Aren't Waiting for the GC to Call By Vivia Chen It's Not Data, 'It's History': How to Change the Mindset Toward AI in Modern Law By Zach Warren In Second Attempt to Resolve Roundup Claims, Bayer Announces $2B Class Deal By Amanda Bronstad

Baker Botts' Supreme Court Practice Head Leaves to Start Boutique Firm By P.J. D'Annunzio

|

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

LAW OF THE LAND - Locke Lord's recent decision to shutter its Hong Kong office brought the number of Am Law 100 firms that exited the market in 2020 to three. As Law.com International's Anna Zhang wrote in a column last May, finding the right practice and committing to it with the right people was key to succeeding in a competitive market such as Hong Kong's. But now, Zhang writes in her latest column, there was an important part of the equation that wasn't quite discussed in her earlier piece: local law. As Zhang writes: "Despite all the challenges it presents, local law is still seen as a testament to a firm's commitment across Asia."

|

WHAT YOU SAID

"We need lawyers and paralegals and assistants and staffers to understand that—while the target may not look like you—if you break democracy, you break it for everyone."