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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SMALL PRICE TO PAY? - Years ago, a law firm leader told me that big firms shouldn't hesitate to raise associate salaries to stay competitive because the cost of doing so is a relative drop in the bucket for them. At the time, I thought maybe his necktie was too tight, but perhaps he was on to something. As Law.com's Andrew Maloney reports, most of the law firms that have publicly announced pay bumps in 2024 have profits per equity partner above $2 million a year and more than a billion dollars in gross revenue. The raises—an average of about $15,000 more for each associate—work out to something like an extra $60,000 cost for each partner, assuming the average leverage of an Am Law 100 firm is roughly four lawyers to one equity partner. "It's really not that large when you actually dive into it," said law firm consultant Brad Hildebrandt, of Hildebrandt Consulting, who added that the perceived impact of raises on client bills also tends to be overblown.

OVERPROMISED AND UNDERDELIVERED - Everybody loves a super enthusiastic CEO—especially plaintiffs lawyers, who are increasingly looking to pounce on unfulfilled business plans as evidence a company failed to disclose material business risks, Law.com's Chris O'Malley reports. Plaintiffs attorneys typically find fodder for these suits by perusing the transcripts of quarterly conference calls, where executives field questions from analysts, forcing them at times to go off-script. The risks may be even greater for companies led by hardcore entrepreneurs, "who just have a natural inclination to be rosily optimistic about what a business can do," said Mark Maddox, a securities attorney at Maddox Hargett & Caruso in Fishers, Indiana.

ON THE RADAR - Clifton L. Brinson and David R. Ortiz of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan have entered appearances for Advance Auto Parts, a supplier of after-market automotive components, its CEO and CFO in a pending securities class action. The case, filed Oct. 9 in North Carolina Eastern District Court by Roberts & Harris and Levi & Korsinsky, accuses the defendants of making false statements in relation to the company's business and prospects, which artificially inflated the price of AAP stock. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III, is 5:23-cv-00563, Suarez v. Advanced Auto Parts, Inc. 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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