Wake Up Call: Ex-Big Law Partner Beats Sex Misconduct Rap

In today’s column, the U.S. Supreme Court Monday is set to hear arguments on a controversial federal anti-hacking law; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal problems could “potentially” bog down the DOJ’s antitrust suit against Google; a new special report considers some of the pandemic’s likely lasting impacts on law firms’ business, culture, and management.

• Leading off, the U.K.’s highest appeals court threw out a misconduct finding against former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ryan Beckwith, ruling that his “inappropriate sexual activity” with an associate did not breach professional rules, among other things because it was ”deemed consensual,” a report says. The high court struck down the 35,000 pound ($46,608) fine and 200,000 pounds ($266,380) court costs that Solicitors Disciplinary Tribune had ordered Beckwith to pay. (Global Legal Post)
• According to another report, from February, Beckwith, a restructuring and insolvency partner, had denied allegations that he had sexual activity with an “exceptionally drunk” junior lawyer, against her will, after a day of pub-crawling. (RollonFriday.com)
• American Lawyer published a special report on what law firms will likely look like after the Covid-19 pandemic is finally over. In particular, it looks at the “adjustments” the pandemic forced on firms, and which of those adjustments are likely to stick around post-Covid. (American Lawyer)
• For example, during the pandemic, law firm leaders had to adapt to keep their workforce connected. (American Lawyer) But at the same time, remote work made some staff positions no longer necessary, which led to layoffs in the profession. And that restructuring will likely continue after the pandemic, this report says. (American Lawyer)
• The pandemic has also prevented law firms from using in-person events, client dinners, and in-office review sessions to hook up with clients and drum-up business. As firms switched to remote work, many found that virtual events, increased collaboration between practice areas, boosted content generation and sales development training for attorneys let them meet or beat their pandemic-altered financial goals in 2020. Now many of those changes look like they’re going to take root, this report says. (American Lawyer)
• Listed U.K. law firm Gateley said in a trading update that it expects its revenue for the six months to the end of October at least 50 million pounds ($66.77 million), compared with slightly less than 52 million pound in the same period last year. The firm said that, thanks to cost-cutting measures early in the pandemic, it expects to post adjusted pre-tax profit of at least 7 million pounds for the period, up from 6.6 million pounds last year, and it has a net cash position of almost 10 million pounds. (Global Legal Post)
• Almost two-thirds of Irish law firms in a recent survey said their revenue declined this year, while 60 per cent say they are concerned about maintaining profitability in the future, a new report says. (Irish Times)
• The Community Justice Fund, a U.K. initiative that says it’s supporters include elite British law firms and the Ministry of Justice, among others, said it awarded 11,536,308 pounds ($15,389,934) in its first round of funding to help 178 not-for-profit legal advice organizations across the U.K. deal with the impacts of Covid-19. (Access to Justice Foundation)

Biden Transition, Election Litigation

• A Pennsylvania federal appeals court rejected President Trump’s challenge to Pennsylvania results in the presidential election, in which his campaign was seeking to undo the state’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state. The decision Friday potentially tees the case up for the U.S. Supreme Court. (BLAW)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• The legal industry continues to lag behind other professional services when it comes to diversity and inclusion, a new survey says. (BLAW)
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s recent legal problems could have an impact on the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust suit against Google, as Paxton’s office has been leading an investigation, in cooperation with the DOJ and with a coalition of state attorneys general, into Google’s advertising business. The FBI is said to be looking into allegations by eight former assistants to Paxton that he illegally used his office to interfere with an FBI investigation into a campaign donor. (WSJ)
• Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine next week starts a one-year term as president of the National Association of Attorneys General, a nonpartisan coalition representing every U.S. state, the District and five territories. Racine, an elected Democrat, plans to focus his term on fighting hate crimes and extremism across the United States. (WaPo)
• San Francisco-based Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani opened an office in Buffalo, it’s fourth office in New York, to serve its clients in the upstate region. It said Donald Derrico is the office’s managing partner. (GRSM.com)
• A North Carolina attorney and two other people were federally charged in a bank fraud conspiracy. (Associated Press via The Coastland Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Winston & Strawn added McDermott Will & Emery senior counsel H. Guy Collier in Washington, bulking up the firm’s health care expertise at a time when the pandemic is spurring change in the field. Collier, who’d spent around 30 years at McDermott, represents nonprofit health care systems, public companies, and academic medical centers in a wide range of transactions. He formerly served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the General Counsel. (BLAW)
• Former Morrison & Foerster corporate partner Oriel Solomon has taken a job as legal chief at National Resilience Inc., a startup seeking to transform the way drugs are manufactured in the U.S. in the aftermath of the pandemic. Solomon, who was co-chair of MoFo’s emerging companies and venture capital practice, joined the company during the summer. (BLAW)

Technology

• The U.S. Supreme Court today is set to hear oral arguments in a case that has implications for cybersecurity research, and other situations where computer access is in question. The case, Van Buren v. United States, considers whether people who misuse their authorized access can be held liable as hackers under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (BLAW)

Legal Education

• Texas A&M University School of Law is improving its success at placing its graduates at big Texas law firms. Texas Law Journal)