By the Numbers: 9 Firms, Lawyers Became Legal Targets in 2022 |
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Kirkland, Dechert, Dentons, Polsinelli—all found themselves this year in the uncomfortable position of being named as defendants in litigation rather than being the party that initiates legal action. Bloomberg Law’s Sam Skolnik recaps some of the year’s most notable cases in which law firms or lawyers were sued in civil actions or faced criminal prosecution. Some of the litigation stemmed from internal matters. Jones Day, for instance, argued earlier this month that two married former firm associates who alleged paternity discrimination hadn’t sufficiently proved their case to warrant a trial. Other cases stemmed from international intrigue. In October, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and an Iranian American aviation executive claimed Dechert and one of its partners, Neil Gerrard, participated in a “hack and dump scheme” to reveal damaging documents. Dentons ran into courtroom trouble over its organizational model. Last month the mega-firm lost what may have been its final effort to overturn a $32.3 million legal malpractice judgment in a case with implications for firms that use the Swiss verein structure. Read More
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This newsletter won’t publish Monday, Jan. 2 due to the holiday. We’ll resume our regular weekday publication schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 3. |
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Winston & Strawn and Dechert reaped the benefits of a nearly 17% increase in the NBA players’ union’s legal spending, most of which was for labor-related issues. Read More |
A dispute between Dentons US LLP and ex-partner Jinshu “John” Zhang over a $35 million fee was properly ordered to be heard by an arbitrator in New York, a state appeals court ruled on Thursday. Read More |
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Expanded pay transparency laws in California and Washington state take effect Jan. 1, adding steam to a growing movement to regulate the way companies set and advertise salary ranges across the country. Read More |
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Multinational companies will face a growing burden of sustainability reporting over the next few years, largely from new European standards rather than the UN-backed rules announced with much fanfare a year ago. Read More |
New Yorkers will be allowed to fix their own digital devices made by companies like Apple Inc. and Samsung or get them fixed in a local repair shop starting next year, under first-in-the-nation legislation signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). Read More |
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In 2022 the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been pushing appeals courts to take on broader interpretations of protections for workers facing alleged workplace discrimination. Read More |
Lawyers who settled a class action against Humana Inc. and health care analytics company Cotiviti Inc. over a privacy breach should recover a little less than the $300,000 in attorneys’ fees they asked for, according to a US District Court for the Middle District of Florida report and recommendation. Read More |
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Bahamian authorities took control of $3.5 billion worth of digital assets at FTX Digital Markets shortly after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection based on information provided by founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a statement on Dec. 29. Read More |
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Wake Up Call: Shearman Said to Backtrack on Market-Scale Bonuses |
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Shearman & Sterling earlier this year told US associates it was matching the Baker McKenzie standard for year-end bonuses. Now, the firm is telling associates in some practices that they’re not getting any bonus because they didn’t meet an hourly requirement, a legal blogger reports. Greenberg Traurig lawyers who dropped Ye after his anti-semitic rants can’t find the rap star, who was formerly known as Kanye West, to tell him they don’t work for him anymore. The Chicago Bears are reportedly considering NCAA Big Ten Conference commissioner Kevin Warren, a former Big Law attorney who’s had top legal roles at other National Football League teams, as candidate to be its next CEO. Read these and other legal industry news stories in today’s Wake Up Call. Read More |
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Opinion Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put geopolitical risk front of mind for corporate leaders. And whether they make cars or smartphones, companies are reassessing their reliance on China. That could see deglobalization determine M&A priorities. Read More |
Hogan Lovells is advising Internet Mobile Communications Limited, a marketplace platform used by mobile telecoms operators to trade wholesale routing capacity, on its go-public merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Read More |
Canada’s merger court ruled in favor of Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. in a key antitrust case, clearing one of the final hurdles to the union of two of the nation’s largest telecommunications firms. Read More |
Toshiba Corp.’s preferred bidder won’t secure letters of commitment from banks by year-end, casting yet more uncertainty over a deal as disagreements over lending terms persist after months of negotiations. Read More |
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Four law firms advised in an Apollo Global Management unit’s offering of $1.8 billion of bonds backed by music copyrights in Concord Music Royalties’ first securitization. Read More |
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ANALYSIS: Are Boom Times Ahead for Litigation Finance? |
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Litigation finance carved out a place for itself in the US legal market in 2022 and will continue to grow over the next year, legal analyst Annie Pavia writes. Signs of Growth: Three-quarters of litigation funders who participated in Bloomberg Law’s 2022 Litigation Finance Survey said their business has increased since this time last year. That indicates the industry is growing despite an economic downturn. Get Ready: Signs point to more, not less, deal disclosure in the future. While funders and lawyers don’t see eye to eye on mandatory disclosure, survey results show that disclosure of funding arrangements is becoming more common. Read More
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Perspectives from Legal Practitioners, Law Professors and Other Thought Leaders
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The Federal Trade Commission seems poised to regulate hidden fees in services from a range of industries, joining state attorneys general and the CFPB to act on behalf of consumers, Troutman Pepper attorneys say. They advise companies to take steps now to avoid being targeted by regulators. Read More |
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AmerisourceBergen Corp. was sued by the US for allegedly contributing to the opioid epidemic by failing to report suspicious orders for controlled substances since 2014. Read More |
While the US Supreme Court in 2022 trimmed executive authority over broad-reaching climate regulation, legal bodies around the world ruled in favor of plaintiffs looking to hold industry and officials accountable for greenhouse gas mitigation. Read More |
The Ohio Supreme Court Thursday ruled that state agencies aren’t owed any deference by courts, breaking from US Supreme Court precedent in a ruling that will benefit industry challenges to state regulation. Read More |
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Lowe’s Home Centers LLC and older workers leading a class lawsuit alleging age bias in the retailer’s decision to end commission-like payments to sales associates agreed to a $400,000 settlement. Read More |
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The union representing Starbucks workers is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s order requiring it to turn over internal communications it says will “irrevocably damage” organizing efforts by revealing confidential strategies. Read More |
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Jackson Leaves Her Mark in Historic Year for US Supreme Court |
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Ketanji Brown Jackson made history in 2022 as the first Black woman US Supreme Court justice. Fast Start: It often takes new members time to settle in, but Jackson did so quickly as an active and substantive questioner in EPA, voting rights, and affirmative action cases. “She has a distinct voice already from the bench in her kind of mode as questioner, so I’m actually expecting to see a pretty distinct voice on the page when we begin to see merits opinions coming from her,” said Cardozo School of Law professor Kate Shaw. First Dissent: As a member of the court’s minority wing, it’s not surprising that Jackson’s first written opinion was a dissent. She wrote separately to disagree with the majority’s decision not to review the standard for evaluating certain evidence claims on appeal in an Ohio murder case. Read More |
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US Supreme Court Slow on Opinions with Big Cases Ahead |
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The Supreme Court expects a blockbuster February calendar that includes arguments in challenges to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan and liability protections for social media platforms. The court’s 2023 agenda is busy in part because of a slow start to the term. Kimberly Robinson and Madison Alder discuss the arguments the court has already heard and the big decisions expected on the latest episode of our “Cases and Controversies” podcast. Plus, the hosts weigh in on “the perfect storm” of ethical questions around the Supreme Court and possible fallout to watch for in the new year.
Listen and subscribe to Cases and Controversies on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Megaphone, or Audible. |
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President Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion government funding bill that includes $47 billion in additional aid for Ukraine in a victory for Democrats who feared that Republicans who will have control of the House in January could force deeper spending cuts and block assistance to Kyiv. Read More |
For the vast majority of the world’s wealthiest people, 2022 was a year to forget. Read More |
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