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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

MOVING BACK TO EARTH - At this point, the phrase "apples to oranges" is an insufficient caveat when comparing 2022 data to 2021 data. It's more like "apples to beach balls"—which is why the double-digit year-over-year drop in lateral moves should be taken with a whole mine full of salt. It's important to remember (as if you could forget) that 2021 saw record levels of corporate transactions, driving the level of demand for legal talent to equally unprecedented heights. As a result, October and November's 14% contraction in partner-level lateral movement and 25% contraction in associate lateral movement look stark because they represent a downturn from a period of lateral movement in 2021 that firms had, quite literally, never seen before, explained Michael Ellenhorn, founder and CEO of investigative intelligence firm Decipher, which provided the data. So which laterals are most in demand at the moment? Law.com's Justin Henry has the details.

FOOL DISCLOSURE - Sure, 2022 could potentially go down as the "Year of" a lot of things. But for many lawyers, it will live in infamy as the Year of Damaging Data Disclosures, from the calculated (see: the Dobbs decision) to the extremely uncalculated (see: the Alex Jones e-discovery faux pas; see also: the Jan. 6 emails). Needless to say, while workplaces have embraced technology, expedited further by the pandemic years, whether staff education and legal practices have kept up is another matter. If nothing else, the startling disclosures from 2022 have brought the issue of data access controls and methods of protection front and center. Shawn Tuma, a partner at Spencer Fane, told Law.com's Isha Marathe that if the series of unplanned data disclosures have taught the community anything, it's that "[w]e can't really protect everything." "We can try, but the odds are pretty good that there are going to be vulnerabilities somewhere," Tuma said. "So, we should try to protect the whole data environment, but then use a layered approach by asking: 'Where is our most sensitive data? What's our most risky data?' The data is the risk."

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner Alan Schoenfeld has entered an appearance for Tesla in a pending consumer class action in connection with the marketing of the company's advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) a/k/a "full self-driving capability." The complaint, filed Oct. 5 in New York Eastern District Court by Reese LLP, contends that Tesla deceives and misleads consumers regarding the full capabilities of the company's ADAS technology. According to the suit, Tesla's ADAS feature has been surpassed by 'numerous automaker competitors' and it has yet to produce adequate 'full self-driving' technology as it allegedly pushes 'updates' to a handful of consumers who are left with testing the beta software on public roadways and encounter a 'myriad' of problems. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner, is 2:22-cv-05976, Nachman v. Tesla, Inc. et al. >> Read the filing 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.

ON THE RADAR - Weber Inc., a provider of outdoor cooking products, has agreed to be taken private by investment funds managed by BDT Capital Partners for an enterprise value of $3.7 billion. The transaction, announced Dec. 12, is expected to close in the first half of 2023. Chicago-based BDT Capital was advised by a Cravath, Swaine & Moore team led by partners Aaron Gruber and David Perkins. Weber, which is based in Palatine, Illinois, was represented by a Davis Polk & Wardwell team led by partner Marc O. Williams. Sullivan & Cromwell counseled the special committee of the Weber board of directors. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar. 

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