Wake Up Call: Leasing Plunges as Law Firms Rethink Offices Post-Covid

In today’s column, Troutman Sanders announced a voluntary leave plan for staff; a court said Jones Day has to face some gender bias claims filed by women lawyers who used to work at the firm; the CEO of contract-review company Luminance is leaving to run the managed legal services unit at a Big Four accounting firm; Willkie expanded its M&A practice in Houston, poaching the managing partner of McGuireWoods’ office in that city; the first online LSAT got underway this week with a few hitches but apparently okay.

• Leading off, real estate professionals say Big Law firms have drastically slowed their leasing transactions, as relocation plans get set aside because of the pandemic and remote working changes needs. As firms mull how much of their workforce to bring back in as they re-open offices, the pros say they expect long-term changes, as firms redesign their spaces to avoid spreading the coronavirus and some staff continue to work at home. (American Lawyer)

• Troutman Sanders announced a voluntary leave program for staff across all of its offices in a cost-cutting move. The firm is heading for a for a July 1 merger with Pepper Hamilton which already slashed associate pay by 20%. (Above the Law)

• The far smaller Philadelphia firm Pond Lehocky is laying off nearly 30% of its 264 employees. (Philadelphia Business Journal)

• About a week after France ended its Covid-19 “confinement” and began easing other restrictions, law firms in Paris are slowly re-opening their offices, but remote working is still preferred when possible. (Law.com International)

• As the biggest law firms cut pay and struggle to reopen during the the pandemic, virtual firm FisherBroyles, whose partners mainly work at home, has hired four partners in the U.K. from Davis Polk, DLA Piper, and Seyfarth Shaw. (BLAW)

• Restaurant and food and beverage practice groups rarely get much glory at law firms, but right now they’re in high demand by clients in an industry hit by billions of dollars of losses and millions of layoffs. (BLAW)

• Attorney marketing firm Martindale-Avvo said its survey of 200-plus practicing attorneys found that 81% of their law firms have seen revenue declines during the Covid-19 crisis, with over a quarter of those firms reporting revenues down by over half. The company didn’t immediately provide a link to the report or identify whom it surveyed or their firm names. (PRNewswire.com)

• The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Colleen McMahon, said she has set no date for restoring in-person court operations, and any reopening of the court would be “very gradual.” (New York Law Journal)

• With U.S. states starting to lift shut-down orders, Florida-headquartered Akerman has launched a return-to-work resource guide to help businesses bring back employees as they resume regular operations. (Akerman.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Jones Day has to face a “black box” and gender bias lawsuit filed by women who are former associates at the firm, although the federal judge in the case dismissed some claims. Sanford Heisler Sharp is representing the women. (National Law Journal)

• Detroit-based Honigman can’t get a $1.3 million reduction on local income taxes from 2010 to 2014 for services rendered to clients outside of the Motor City, the state’s high court ruled. The decision hits firms’ ability to source work to lower their income tax. (BLAW)

• DLA Piper is outsourcing some back-office operations to a consulting company, the latest Big Law firm to make that move. (American Lawyer)

• New York-based Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle voluntarily dismissed its suit against artificial and business intelligence provider Elutions Inc. for allegedly failing to pay more than 1 million pounds ($1,350,000) for tax, litigation, and corporate work. (BLAW)

• Wigdor filed a Wall Street #MeToo suit on behalf of a woman accusing her former employer, hedge fund Advent Capital, and male superiors of sexual harassment and retaliation. Faegre Drinker is listed representing Advent, this report says. (New York Law Journal)

• Above the Law did an audio interview with Keith Lee, founder of online lawyer forum LawyerSmack and the blog Associate’s Mind, and recently chief marketing officer at Case status. (AbovetheLaw.com)

Laterals, Moves

• The London-based CEO of legal AI company Luminance, Emily Foges, is leaving to join Deloitte Legal, where’s she’ll lead the managed legal services arm. (Artificial Lawyer) (TheLawyer.com)

• New York-founded Willkie Farr & Gallagher continued its active year for laterals, grabbing the head of McGuireWoods’ Houston office, energy M&A specialist Jay Hughes, as a partner in its mergers and acquisitions practice. (BLAW)

• In another energy hire, Jenner & Block added former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission attorney Jennifer Amerkhail as a partner in Washington. She arrives most recently from electric energy utility Entergy Corporation, where she was assistant general counsel for the company’s FERC legal group. Jenner & Block energy practice co-chair Suedeen Kelly, a former FERC commissioner, worked with Amerkhail at the agency. (Jenner.com)

• Davis Wright Tremaine hired Ballard Spahr fintech veteran Chris Ford as a partner in its Washington office. (BLAW)

• Carlton Fields’s Hartford office added its third attorney for the year, getting real estate attorney Patricia DeLeo, who joins from her own firm. (CarltonFields.com)

In-house

• Former general counsel at media giant Hearst Communications Inc., Jonathan E. Thackeray, died at age 83. (CTPost.com)

• Libra Association, the controversial cryptocurrency consortium that includes Facebook Inc., Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and 24 other members, hired finance in-house veteran Robert Werner as its first-ever general counsel. Werner is a former head of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. He also previously worked at bank group HSBC. (BLAW)

• The first in-house legal chief at ad tech platform The Trade Desk Inc., Vivian Yang, plans to step down once the company finds her replacement. Yang, a former Latham & Watkin attorney, helped the company go public shortly after arriving in 2016. (BLAW)

• New York Life Insurance Co. promoted deputy general counsel Natalie Lamarque to general counsel and senior vice president. She’ll continue to report to chief legal officer and executive vice president Sheila Davidson. (Corporate Counsel)

Technology

• Zoom Video Communications Inc. investors accusing the company of hiding flaws with its software encryption had their would-be class cases consolidated in California federal district court. Cooley is representing Zoom, while Pomerantz and others are representing the investors. (BLAW)

Legal Education

• The online Law School Admission Test developed because of the Covid-19 pandemic started Monday and seems to be doing okay, apart from a few snags. This week about 10,000 prospective law school candidates are set to take the test, dubbed “Flex.” (Law.com)

• A 19-year-old law school grad from a family of young overachievers is getting ready to take the Alabama Bar Exam. (WFSA.com)