Wake Up Call: Covid Slows Lateral Market but ‘Unicorns’ Still in Demand

In today’s column, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced remote-working lawyers to get creative in ways to stay in touch with clients; Asian American enrollment in law school fell 28% in the decade through 2019, a study says; a $2.4 million fee win by a Florida plaintiffs lawyer is inspiring other lawyers battling tobacco giants; at least two law schools have started virtual programs to replace Big Law summer associate programs canceled or curtailed because of the virus; Twitter upped the ante in its labeling fight with President Trump.

• Leading off, legal recruiters say lateral partner moves between law firms are way down as the Covid-19 pandemic saddles law firms and partners with financial and logistical worries. The firms still in the market for laterals are mainly interested in “Covid unicorns,” that is partners with practices in bankruptcy and restructuring, or health care, a recruiter says. Another says partners practicing in private equity or data privacy are also getting interest. Firms facing cash crunches are only interested in groups of partners, which can generate their own revenue, observes another. (American Lawyer)

• U.K. Big Law firm Pinsent Masons is implementing a back-to-office plan that includes staggered work hours and breaks for employees, but it’s still emphasizing a work-from-home scheme to deal with the pandemic, a report says. (The Lawyer)

• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS said it has started a phased reopening of its resolution centers, based on local government regulations and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. (JAMSadr.com)

• Some lawyers forced to work from home by the pandemic are coming up with clever ways to maintain their relationships with clients, or get requests for proposals. Peloton rides, virtual beer tastings, and discussions about bouncy castles, are helping maintain contact, this article says. (BusinessInsider.com)

• In-house legal and tax departments plan to ask their outside law firms to handle litigation and other disputes spawned by the Covid-19 pandemic, but they’re also asking firms to cut their rates, a report says. (International Tax Review)

• With Covid-19 battering the global economy, management-side worklaw firm Littler Mendelson launched a tool it said aims to help employers make critical workforce restructuring decisions—furloughs, layoffs, etc.—to protect their businesses. (Littler.com)

• The federal court covering Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, is not likely to hold criminal jury trials until next year, a judge said. (BLAW)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A Florida plaintiffs lawyer who won $2.4 million in fees in a battle with tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds said he’s getting calls from plaintiffs attorneys inspired to push for fees in their own tobacco cases. (Daily Business Review)

• As China voted to crack down on Hong Kong, the city’s Law Society voted in an election that could determine how aggressive the 12,000-member group takes its stance on key issues. (South China Morning Post)

• Rap star Ice Cube’s Big3 Basketball league is suing its former law firm, Quinn Emanuel, in New York state court, accusing the firm of “spying” for Qatar’s business interests. (BLAW)

• Women have made scant progress since 2017 in winning the coveted role leading court arguments in New York State, a new state bar report says. (BLAW)

• A former Miami Heat associate general counsel who says she was fired for requesting maternity leave failed to get out of an arbitration agreement she signed when she was hired. The Heat is represented by Greenberg Traurig. (Corporate Counsel)

• On the subject of arbitration, half of the 123 attorneys polled in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s latest annual international arbitration survey said they’ve experienced an “obviously wrong ruling.” But the responding lawyers—including in-house counsel, arbitrators, external lawyers, expert witnesses, academics, and litigation funders—diverged widely on the issue of whether appeals for international arbitration should be possible, depending who they worked for. (BCLPLaw.com)

Laterals, Moves

• Longtime Cooley California corporate attorney Frank Rahmani jumped to Sidley Austin to be a Palo Alto-based partner in the 2,000-lawyer firm’s corporate and global life sciences practices. (BLAW)

• Morrison & Foerster hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity and M&A lawyer Omar Pringle in New York. Pringle follows former Freshfields U.S. deal leader Mitchell Presser, who arrived at MoFo earlier this year. (BLAW)

In-house

• After online pet food retailer Chewy Inc.'s big IPO last year, its legal chief, Susan Helrick, got a massive $30.34 million pay package, mainly in stock awards. A former Securities and Exchange Commission staff attorney, she’s had several in-house roles at financial services companies and spent time as an associate at Skadden Arps. (BLAW)

• Data integrity company Precisely, formed recently by Syncsort’s acquisition of Pitney Bowes’ software and data business, hired veteran tech in-house leader Craig Zajac as its senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary based in Boston. Zajac was most recently top lawyer at ClickSoftware, Inc., which was bought last year by Salesforce.com, Inc. (Businesswire)

• Sony/ATV Music Publishing promoted in-house leader Peter Brodsky to general counsel and executive vice president, business affairs. Brodsky’s previous title at the company was executive VP for business and legal affairs. He’s was earlier in-house at BMG Music Publishing and spent five years as an associate at White & Case. (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)

Technology

• Twitter, Inc. today slapped a warning on a President Trump tweet threatening looters in Minneapolis, warning that it “glorified violence.” Twitter’s action comes after the president yesterday signed an executive order that aims to limit liability protections for social-media companies, in retaliation for labels Twitter put on previous tweets he made. (Bloomberg News)

Legal Education

• With major law firms curtailing or canceling their summer associate programs, at least two law schools have launched summer programs designed to fill the gap. New York Law School is partnering with Venable for one such program, and the University of Illinois at Chicago John Marshall Law School is holding one. (Law.com)

• Law school enrollment by Asian Americans fell 28% from 2011 to 2019, outpacing declines since the Great Recession for all other ethnic groups, according to an American Bar Foundation-sponsored study. (Courthousenews.com)

• A Rutgers Law School student on top of her classes worked 12-hour night shifts as a nurse at a New York City hospital to help during the Covid-19 crisis. She graduated last week and hopes to work as a medical malpractice defense attorney. (NewJersey.com)