Law Firm Closures, Associate Raises Underscore Market Dichotomy: The Morning Minute
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November 17, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
MARKET MISMATCH - Everything was going according to plan. Millbank raised associate pay, clients and anonymous Big Law leaders had commenced their finger-wagging—all that was left was to wait for competitors to start trying to match Millbank or one-up each other. Only, so far, that hasn't happened (read more about why from Andrew Maloney under "Editor's Picks" below). But, as Law.com's Christine Simmons writes in this week's Barometer newsletter, it probably shouldn't be totally surprising. After all, this year has not been going gangbusters for everyone. Sure, some law firms have momentum, but others are closing, shrinking or struggling just to stay on pace with the market. To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.
PARTIAL PARTNERS - Have you ever looked at your firm's equity and nonequity tiers and wondered, "Why can't I have a little of both?" If you're the type of person who opts for the vanilla-chocolate twist when ordering soft serve, you might be interested in "hybrid" partnership. As Law.com's Justin Henry reports, hybrid partnership status—in which partners receive some portion of their income in the form of equity and the other as a fixed salary—isn't really new to the industry, but it's become a popular solution for firms with lofty bars of entry to their equity tiers. The goal is to ease the transition into equity partnerships, allowing partners to grow the share of their income coming from equity, and to maximize profits per equity partner. It's also "done for morale and to hold onto that talent," said California-based partner recruiter Avis Caravello.
ON THE RADAR - George S. Canellos, Jed M. Schwartz and Nicole Valente from Milbank have entered appearances for Edgio Inc., formerly known as Limelight Networks, a digital content solutions company, and members of its board of directors in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Aug. 23 in New York Eastern District Court by Weiss Law on behalf of Joel Rosenfeld, accuses the company of overstating revenue by erroneously accounting for certain customer transactions as 'sales' rather than 'financing leases.' The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano, is 1:23-cv-06323, Rosenfeld v. Amaral et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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EDITOR'S PICKS
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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.
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