Why Big Law's Posting Prodigious Partner Profits | The Key to In-House Succession Planning | McDonald's Sued by Black Franchisee for Discrimination: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
February 17, 2021 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
MEGA MARGINS - By now, there have been plenty of consultancy reports detailing how law firms were able to slash their way to huge profit growth and salvage their 2020 fiscal years. But actually seeing what that profit growth looks like on a firm-by-firm basis is still liable to make you spit out your Folgers. As Law.com's Dan Packel reports, a number of U.S. law firms posted equity partner profit boosts that were double the rate of their revenue growth, according to an early analysis of nearly half the names from last year's Am Law 200 rankings. And while pandemic-induced cost-cutting was surely a major driver of those increases, it's also worth noting that in both the Am Law 50, and in the Second Hundred, a notable number of firms saw the size of their nonequity partnership tier expand by a significant amount over the past year.
GET YOUR IN-HOUSE IN ORDER - As Law.com's Christine Simmons wrote in a recent edition of the Barometer newsletter, clients are increasingly taking note of their outside counsel's succession plans—or lack thereof. But training the next generation of leadership can be a fraught proposition for some in-house legal departments as well. Turns out, the key to succession planning is to have—you guessed it—an actual plan. As Law.com's Dan Clark reports, a general counsel could identify his or her successor by expanding the role of associate or deputy in-house counsel. But for the succession plan to be a success, the process of preparing that person to take the reins must be deliberate and consistent "Succession planning happens every day, just by enabling those around you to continue to develop skills," said Brian Salmo, the GC of LMI Aerospace in St. Louis, who was recruited from Polsinelli by then-LMI GC Renee Skonier specifically to be groomed as her successor.
DISENFRANCHIZED - McDonald's was hit with a civil rights lawsuit Tuesday in Ohio Northern District Court. The lawsuit, filed by Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway, centers on allegations of racial discrimination and retaliation against a Black franchisee. "In addition to redlining Black franchisees into largely low-volume stores in impoverished communities, McDonald's has consistently discriminated against Black franchisees," the complaint, filed on behalf of plaintiff Herbert Washington, alleges. "Black owners average around $700,000 less in annual sales per store than White owners. This is not a coincidence. Nor is it because Black franchisees are comparatively worse at running businesses. The precipitous decline in Black franchisees and persistent disparity in cash flow are the direct and proximate result of McDonald's ongoing policies of racially disparate treatment." Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 4:21-cv-00367, Washington v. McDonald's USA LLC et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
|
EDITOR'S PICKS
Law.com Trendspotter: Big Law Doesn't Have a Pipeline Problem. It Has an Elitism Problem. By Zack Needles Another Lawyer Leaves Big Tech for Big Law as Biden Promises to Ratchet Up Regulation By Dylan Jackson Young Lawyers Are Drowning in Debt. They Want the ABA to Help. By Karen Sloan How I Made Partner: 'Be Consistent. It Will Build Trust and Your Reputation,' Advises Davis Polk & Wardwell's Natasha Tsiouris By Tasha Norman Federal Judge Scorches Philadelphia DA's Office Over Procedure for Freeing Innocent Man By Katheryn Tucker|
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
BRUSSELS OR BUST - Brussels has plenty of lucrative antitrust work to offer, but it's a tough nut to crack for outside law firms. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was undeterred, however. In fact, as Law.com International's Linda A. Thompson reports, the firm, which plans to open in the city later this year, viewed entry into the Brussels market as a post-Brexit necessity. If the firm wanted to continue advising clients on EU regulatory matters, it didn't really have an alternative—to practice and represent firms before the European Union institutions, their lawyers would need to be EU qualified. "We needed to be present on the continent and Brussels was the obvious choice," said Bill Dougherty, chairman of the firm's executive committee.
|
WHAT YOU SAID
"What they're doing is they're chilling my client's Sixth Amendment right to counsel. They are violating the Constitution they claim to uphold. I'm not going to stay around with a group chilling the right to counsel when it's an unpopular person."
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 AllFrozen-Potato Producers Face Profiteering Allegations in Surge of Antitrust Class Actions
3 minute readHighest-Earning Partners May Be Looking to Cash In on Early Retirement
5 minute readFatal Shooting of CEO Sets Off Scramble to Reassess Executive Security
5 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1The Boom Continues: These Firms All Opened New Florida Offices in 2024
- 2Conn. Appeals Court Slices $150 Million in Statutory Damages From Judgment Owed by Alex Jones
- 3Boies Schiller Flexner Adds Antitrust, Intellectual Property Partners
- 4Is AI Worth the Risks in Criminal Justice System?
- 5Goldberg Segalla Launches in Wilmington
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