Wake Up Call: Law Schools ‘Panic’ Over New ICE Rule on Online Classes

In today’s column, Weil, already advising J. Crew, is now advising Brooks Brothers in the latest big Covid-caused retail bankruptcy; two Black former Big Law attorneys are heading a U.K. consultancy that advises law firms and banks on how to improve diversity; Baker Mckenzie launched a global task force to improve racial and ethnic diversity across the firm; Coinbase recruited a Facebook in-house leader as its new chief legal officer; law firms offering ALSP-style advanced data analysis and consulting services aren’t really competing with those tech-based providers, a report says; Merck hired a pharmaceutical in-house veteran as top lawyer for a planned spinoff.

• Leading off, the Trump’s administration’s abrupt change to visa guidelines, which could oust international students from the country if their schools offer only online classes, is causing consternation at law schools that were planning to go all-virtual in the fall because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Those schools are grappling with how to keep their foreign students, an important source of revenue, a report says. (Law.com)

• Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are seeking a court order to stop the U.S. from enforcing the policy. (Bloomberg News via BLAW) The University of California also said it plans to sue over the policy. (Politico)

• At least 45 major U.S. law firms received $210 million to $425 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, aimed at helping small businesses preserve jobs. Bloomberg Law’s Roy Strom wondered how much cash equity partners would have had to come up with, each, to give their firms the same amount of cushion against the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. (BLAW)

• Some legal professionals said they were surprised and embarrassed that several elite law firms, whose partners rake in millions per year, got money from the PPP, a forgivable loan program that was supposed to avoid mass lay-offs. But others said that, given the crisis the industry is facing, the firms’ managers had an obligation to partners to take the available cash. (Business Insider)

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which is already advising J.Crew on its Covid-era retail bankruptcy, is now representing another sartorial chain, Brooks Brothers, on its Chapter 11 proceedings. (American Lawyer) (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

• Law firms, many still remote working, are still employing law students, but mainly having them work on legal matters from their homes. (The National Jurist)

• As law firms cut staff and associates because of Covid-19, Australia-listed litigation finance company Omni Bridgeway Ltd. said its profit outlook is taking off, and it’s adding staff in the U.S., Canada, and Asia to meet demand. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

• Legal defenders criticized as unnecessarily dangerous state judiciary decision to require in-person appearances in New York City courtrooms starting next week. (Daily News)

• Law firms Fisher Phillips and Barnes & Thornburg are using trackers to monitor a wave of Covid-19 employer vs. employee lawsuits. (Claims Journal)

• The founders of Medina Orthwein LLP, a San Francisco-area, LGBTQ-owned, plaintiff-side employment and civil rights firm, say that one of their biggest challenges during the pandemic is communicating with their LGBTQ clients facing dangerous conditions in prisons. (Bay Area Reporter)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Two Black former Big Law attorneys are now at London-based Howlett Brown managing the consultancy’s work providing major law firms and banks with practical solutions to boost diversity. The advisory specializes in internal investigations, and “culture and people consulting solutions.” (Law.com International)

• A Reuters investigation into judicial misconduct in the U.S. includes a searchable database of state and local judges who resigned, retired, or who were publicly disciplined after getting accused of misconduct. (Reuters)

• The U.K. government paid nearly 12 million pounds (about $15.2 million) to outside law firms and attorneys in the first five months of 2020, a report says. (The Lawyer)

• Baker McKenzie said it launched a new global task force to improve race and ethnic diversity across its 77 offices in 46 countries. (Baker McKenzie)

• New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered the Black Lives Matter Foundation, which she says has no connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, to cease soliciting donations in the state. (New York Law Journal)

• A new program from global law firm network Lex Mundi aims to help in-house counsel directly access local law firms in foreign jurisdictions. (Corporate Counsel)

• With its financial problems mounting, U.K. law firm DWF may have ruined law firm listings for everyone, this report says. (Law.com International)

Laterals, Moves

• Bracewell poached the former Houston managing partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Vincent E. Morgan, a corporate insurance recovery litigator who joins the firm as a partner. (Bracewell)

• Mintz said communications law attorneys Scott Thompson and Daniel Reing joined the firm’s TechComm section as members in Washington, arriving from Davis Wright Tremaine, where they were partners. It said Thompson will chair the section’s communications infrastructure litigation practice. (Mintz.com)

• Six attorneys in Holland & Knight’s Anchorage office jumped to Pacific Northwest regional firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt’s natural resources, Native American, and Alaska native law practices. Robert Misulich joins as business shareholder, while Matt Singer, Christopher Slottee, and Howard Trickey join as litigation shareholders. Lee Baxter and Peter Scully join as of counsel. (Schwabe.com)

In-house

• Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc. raided Facebook Inc. for one of its top in-house lawyers, hiring deputy GC Paul Grewal to serve as its new chief legal officer. (BLAW)

• Pharmaceutical group Merck hired veteran industry in-house leader Deborah H. Telman as general counsel for Organon & Co, its planned spinoff of its women’s health, legacy brands and biosimilars businesses. According to her LinkedIn, Chicago-based Telman, a former Winston & Strawn partner, has had top in-house roles at The Boeing Company, Abbott, Johnson Controls, and she arrives most recently from Sorrento Therapeutics, where she was senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. (Businesswire.com)

Technology

• Law firms including Allen & Overy, Baker McKenzie, Reed Smith and Hogan Lovells are adding flexible staffing, advanced data analytics, and other services similar to those offered by alternative legal service providers. But the firms are not really competing with ALSPs because they’re building their new projects on technology and resources offered by those companies, this report says. (Legaltech News)

• Offshore firm Appleby Global says its new data protection guide aims to offer an overview of privacy and cyber security regimes in eight of the world’s leading offshore jurisdictions. (ApplebyGlobal.com)

• E-discovery software provider Ipro acquired tech company NetGovern, known for its information governance and compliance software. (PR Newswire)

Legal Education

• To make room for distancing, Delaware moved its bar exam to fairgrounds. (Law.com)