Young Lawyers Want More Out of Work: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
February 02, 2022 at 06:00 AM
5 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
WORK, IN PROGRESS - You're exhausted, you're stressed and you just can't seem to unplug. Luckily, there's a solution to your work-life balance problem: just start thinking of work as part of your life. Balance achieved! Feel better? No? OK, moving on… How about this? There may be an upside to the increasing expectation that lawyers keep on a-lawyerin' all the livelong day: firms are beginning to understand that the tradeoff in that arrangement has to be more than just a paycheck. As Law.com's Jessie Yount reports, increased associate churn is causing firms to pour more resources into training and mentorship programs in the hope of providing greater value to their youngest lawyers. Firms that aren't fulfilling the desires of the youngest generation of attorneys are seeing lawyers leave "earlier and faster," said Jacob Canter, a litigation associate at Crowell & Moring. "They are more willing to go to a firm for a payday because whatever firm culture was keeping people around before simply isn't there anymore."
CLASS WARS - For a while there, it looked like COVID-19 tuition refund litigation wasn't going to make the grade. But after flunking out of district court, a handful of students have gone down the hall to the appellate courts—and those cases are now being closely watched by the higher education community, Law.com's Avalon Zoppo reports. Many of the lawsuits, alleging universities breached contracts by shifting to virtual classes while charging in-person prices, were dismissed by district court judges, though results have been mixed. Claims that survived tended to be those seeking compensation for specific fees, such as student activities promised but not delivered during campus closures, according to observers. And while no circuit courts have issued decisions on the matters yet, recent oral arguments hint that the idea schools overcharged for remote learning has weight with some judges, said Stetson University Law School professor Peter Lake. "If you would have called me a month ago, I probably would have said the general trend is unmistakable, the tuition cases are dying … and the exception would be where there was a very specific promise to a particular class of people to deliver something," Lake said. "It may well be that the circuit upholds the dismissals … but I'm sensing there could be change."
WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Paul A. Wilhelm of Clark Hill has entered an appearance for Chaac Pizza Midwest and Luis Ibarguengoytia in a pending class action over alleged wage-and-hour violations. The case was filed Dec. 10 in Kentucky Eastern District Court by Biller & Kimble on behalf of individuals employed by defendants as Pizza Hut delivery drivers. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge William O'Bertelsman, is 2:21-cv-00163, Howard et al v. Chaac Pizza Midwest, LLC et al. Read the complaint on Law.com Radar and check out the most recent edition of Law.com's Who Got the Work?℠ column to find out which law firms and lawyers are being brought in to handle key cases and close major deals for their clients.
WAX TRACKS AND U.S. TAX - Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie and Jenner & Block filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Colorado District Court on behalf of Greenberg Traurig LLP. The court action takes aim at Tijs Verwest, also known as Tiësto, who is an internationally successful Dutch DJ and musical artist. The complaint seeks declaratory judgment that Greenberg Traurig is not liable to Verwest for legal malpractice concerning the reimbursement of tax payments. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 1:22-cv-00286, Greenberg Traurig v. Verwest. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
EDITOR'S PICKS
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS - Job hopping among young lawyers is not just an American thing. More than half of young attorneys surveyed by the International Bar Association's Young Lawyers' Committee are likely to consider leaving their current jobs within the next five years, Law.com International's Hannah Walker reports. Of the 3,000 lawyers aged 40 and under surveyed, 54% said they were either highly or somewhat likely to move to a new workplace by 2027. In addition, 33% of respondents wanted to switch to a different area of the legal profession within that time period, while 20% are considering quitting the legal profession altogether by then, the survey found. Why? More than 70% of survey respondents under 25 said a major concern about their current roles was a lack of work-life balance, amid an extended busy period for the industry. Industry culture was also a particular pressure point for young lawyers. 43% of female respondents said that "a failure to address toxic workplace cultures" was a concern, with the figure standing at 27% among male respondents.
WHAT YOU SAID
"At big law firms, a lot of times there's a practice of having associates do all of the grunt work. She likes to encourage partners, saying, 'If you have associates with a big hand in this case, I welcome giving them the opportunity to argue this.' I think the world of her."
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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.
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