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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

THAT'S WHY THEY PAY YOU THE BIG BUCKS? - Plenty of tut-tutting has been directed at law firms recently for using associate salary hikes and bonuses to paper over the fact that their young lawyers are stressed, anxious and on the brink of burnout. Turns out, as Law.com's Justin Henry reports, the associates themselves are hip to this as well, with a number of respondents to the American Lawyer's 2021 Midlevel Associates Survey complaining that money is too often serving as a superficial stand-in for measures that would actually improve their well-being. What's way more surprising than that, however, is the counterargument we've seen cropping up here and there from some young attorneys, which basically boils down to: "Hey, we're lawyers—we don't get to have lives." Ru Bhatt, a partner in the associate practice group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, recently noted to Law.com's Dylan Jackson that "with the deal flow and how busy things are, associates understand the work-life balance isn't something they may ever achieve in a service industry."  And, as Law.com's Henry reports, some of the Midlevel Associate Survey respondents expressed a similar sense of resignation/acceptance. One midlevel associate at Morgan Lewis, for example, said she views her role as one defined by client service at all hours. As long as clients have demanding time requirements, the associate said, "it's just sort of the nature of the beast."

THE MORE YOU KNOW… - The rise of remote work has caused many law firms to second-guess the need for certain functions within their organizations. Knowledge management, however, is not one of those functions. In fact, as Law.com's Victoria Hudgins reports, the pandemic has provided the perfect platform for KM professionals to demonstrate their value. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index released earlier this month showed that law firms' KM spending increased 5% in Q2 of 2021 compared to the same time last year. "The pandemic presented, I think, a unique opportunity for knowledge management professionals to get their work in front of attorneys and to have attorneys' undivided attention because they needed a better way to work during a global pandemic," Fisher Phillips director of knowledge management innovation Jennifer Mendez told Hudgins. This audition of sorts has put KM pros in high demand, which is great for them but not quite so great for firms looking to hire for these roles. "In this climate, trying to get talent is really, really difficult," said Fox Rothschild chief knowledge and innovation officer Catherine Monte.

DAMAGED DEVICES? - Delta Air Lines and Kuehne + Nagal were sued Tuesday in Massachusetts District Court for allegedly damaging a shipment of medical device parts. The lawsuit was brought by Holbrook & Murphy on behalf of Zurich American Insurance as subrogee of Viant Services. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 1:21-cv-11426, Zurich American Insurance Co. v. Delta Air Lines, Inc et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.  

EDITOR'S PICKS

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

OFFICIAL OFFICE OPENING -  McDermott, Will & Emery has launched in Singapore after gaining approval from local authorities, Law.com International's Meganne Tillay reports. The firm had touted a Singapore launch back in March, after its exit from the Asia Pacific region last year in June when it closed its China office. Following approval from the Singaporean Ministry of Law, the firm officially opens its new office in the Raffles Place area at the heart of Singapore's business district. Singapore now leads the firm's Asia practice. The firm is also planning to open an office in Tokyo.

WHAT YOU SAID

"Try to embrace long-term thinking, and don't fixate on short-term challenges. A hard six-month stretch is such a short period in a 40-year career."