“In the latest episode of The Jabot podcast, I speak with Lindsay Cameron, author of the new thriller, Just One Look. The action in the book takes place against a backdrop of the most boring of legal work document review and the juxtaposition really works to heighten the stakes. I chat with Lindsay,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Her law degree as a great tool that opens up a lot of doors and opportunities. We also chat about her pivot to writing from her career in law. We discuss Lindsay’s process of writing her second novel and how different it is from the process of her first book. Lindsay also shares her advice for lawyers and legal professionals who are looking to.”

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“COVID-19’s Delta variant has really changed what the legal landscape will look like this fall. Dozens of large law firms were hoping for a safe reopening of their offices, but now their proposed restart dates are being pushed back and vaccine mandates are on the table at firms across the country to stop,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Some firms have taken longer than others to make a move on the vaccination front. It was just last week that Dentons, the world’s largest law firm,` decided to announce a mandatory vaccination policy for all U.S. employees. Now, it looks like another Biglaw heavyweight has officially opted in for vaccination for all employees.”

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“Yesterday, Fenwick announced they’re opening a new Washington office, their sixth in the U.S., and that location will a focus on the antitrust and trade needs of their clients. At the office’s launch, partners Thomas Ensign formerly of Freshfields and Melissa Duffy formerly of Dechert will be joining,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom earlier this month. Ensign works with technology and life sciences clients and works on pre-merger notification requirements in U.S. and international jurisdictions. Duffy’s practice focuses on international trade matters, including those related to trade controls and national security requirements for.”

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“According to a Wells Fargo Private Bank survey, associates at the 50 largest firms are on pace to bill how many hours this year — a notable increase over last year’s billables?” reports Kathryn Rubinoin Above the Law.

“Revenue grew 16.5% in the first six months of the year at the 50 largest U.S. law firms compared to the same period in 2020, the survey showed. Net income rose 38% at the firms compared with last year. The firms’ associates are on pace to bill 1,817 hours on average this year; up nearly 10% from 1,652 hours a year ago, Joe Mendola, managing director in Wells Fargo’s legal specialty group, said in an interview.”

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“Given the overlap between accounting and law services, it makes sense for the Big 4 to get in on the legal services action. We’ve always called the Big 4 the Walmart of professional services firms, but you can’t find a law practice at any of them in the U.S. The closest you would find is Deloitte’s new,” reports Jason Bramwell in Going Concern.

“Which works with in house legal offices to streamline functions that track client contracts, invoices, eDiscovery, and other core functions, according to Bloomberg Law. EY’s legal managed services unit also focuses on helping large and medium-sized in-house legal departments streamline and automate their legal services,”

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“Law firms continue to reverse course and change their plans when it comes to the reopening of their offices across thanks to the emergence of the COVID-19’s Delta variant. Vaccination mandates now seem to be the way of the future, and one by one, law firms are joining in to protect their employees,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law.

“The latest firm to issue a vaccine requirement is Greenberg Traurig, the first Florida based Biglaw firm to announce such a measure. With Florida continuing to set COVID-19 case records and state government staunchly against mask mandates and other rational restrictions and safety measures, it’s no wonder that GT announced this new policy.”

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“As Above the Law has written many times in the past, compensation for Biglaw counsel is a bit of a crapshoot. At some firms, counsel watch senior associates blow by them in total compensation. While other firms reward special counsel with the top bonus tier, or provide some kind of off grid,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above the Law.

“The newly merged Troutman Pepper decided not to leave its senior folks hanging. The firm previously announced special bonuses and raises for associates. Their most recent announcement focuses on the compensation of senior attorneys and counsel. Because 2021 is so unusual at least as far as attorney compensation goes Troutman.”

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“Law firm Boies Schiller Flexner will require attorneys and staff going into its U.S. offices to be fully vaccinated, effective Tuesday. The vaccine requirement also applies to vendors entering any of the firm’s 10 offices, a firm spokeswoman told Bloomberg Law. Boies Schiller will ask unvaccinated,” reports Chris Opfer in Bloomberg Law.

“The implementation of this vaccine requirement is critical to safeguarding the health of the lawyers, staff and families in our Boies Schiller Flexner community, the firm spokeswoman said via email. Our number one priority throughout the pandemic has been the overall safety and wellbeing of our people and that consideration.”

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“Attrition is a top concern across Big Law and I found last week that its spike cuts evenly across a group of 10 of the most prestigious firms and the 10 best places to work, as ranked by Vault. But the prestigious firms are hiring a lot more associates this year than the best places to work, I wrote. Underneath that top line data, one prestigious firm bucked the trend Cravath, Swaine Moore,” reports Roy Strom in their Bloomberg Law.

“The Wall Street firm placed No. 1 in the Vault prestige rankings this year and last. But that hasn’t made it immune to associate attrition. In fact, associate departures at Cravath are on pace this year to rise to their highest levels since at least 2017, according to data from Decipher, which provides due diligence for Big Law hires, and Firm Prospects, which tracks law firm rosters. Cravath had seen 68 associates depart this year through Monday, the data show.”

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“Fennemore, the fastest growing Biglaw firm in the country, added nationally renowned Denver litigation firm Reilly LLP to its roster. The group of accomplished trial lawyers, led by Dan Reilly, has a long history of success on complex trustee and fiduciary litigation including securing a $106 million,” reports Abbi Whitaker in Nevada Business.

“Reilly served as lead counsel defending the trust and estate plan of the former Denver Bronco’s owner. Recently the trial court dismissed the claims holding the trust valid and enforceable and that the trustees had full and complete authority to administer it as written. Reilly also has always had a deep commitment to pro bono work and proudly.”

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“I speak with Stacey Breen, Managing Director at Major Lindsay & Africa, about the twists and turns of her career that led her to her role at MLA, and the motivation behind their recent Return to Office Survey. We discuss the most surprising results of the survey, including generational differences.” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Additionally, we talk about some of the challenges women faced during COVID and what the industry can do to fix them as we return to the office. The Jabot podcast is an offshoot of the Above the Law brand focused on the challenges women, people of color, and other diverse populations face in the legal industry.”

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“August is nearly upon is, and that means we’re getting closer and closer not just to the end of the summer, but the date when lawyers at many firms are expected to return to the office in person.  Some firms are going forward with a hybrid model, meaning that employee time will be split between the office,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Weil Gotshal is one of those firms. As noted in a memo sent to all employees in May, the firm’s New York, Boston, D.C. Miami, Dallas, and Houston offices opened at 100 percent capacity in June with the Silicon Valley office opening at 100 percent capacity on June 15th, the firm will be fully back to business on September 7.”

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“After years locked in a conservatorship, Britney Spears has a new lawyer and an opportunity to get out of the arrangement that see says leaves her with a meager stipend and involuntarily stuck on birth control. Mathew Rosengart, a former Souter clerk from the justice’s days,” reports Joe Patrice in Above the Law.

“New Hampshire bench, represents Britney in the fight now and just filed a 120-page petition to remove her father as sole conservator. The petition alleges Jamie Spears paid himself $16,000 a month more than Britney is allowed to make and took percentages from Britney’s deals as if he were a manager or agent, despite performing.”

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“When a business suffers a cyber incident, a myriad of legal and regulatory implications follow. To handle such an incident effectively and legally. The current cyber threat landscape is incredibly active given the rush to remote work as a result of the pandemic,” reports Heather Bearfield, Frank Rudewicz and David Sun in Boston Business Journal.

“A significant increase in security incidents has occurred. Meanwhile, hackers both individuals and nation states recognize this and continue to exploit weaknesses in cybersecurity systems and practices. A recent global study conducted by Ponemon Institute and IBM Security noted the average cost of a data breach in the U.S.”

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“Poor Eric Grossman. It must be awfully hard for a humble lawyer to be suddenly catapulted to world fame. One minute he was simply the hardworking chief legal officer of Morgan Stanley, then overnight he was anointed the dinosaur of Wall Street,” reports Vivia Chen in Bloomberg Law.

“As first reported by Bloomberg Law, Grossman recently issued an edict of sorts that law firms stop the remote work nonsense and return full time to the office—tout de suite! If firms fail to do so, he intimated that they might lose the mighty bank as a client. In a July 15 email memo to outside counsel he writes: “We choose to hire you all because of the quality of your lawyers and the product they deliver. I strongly believe that firms that return to the office will have a significant performance advantage over those that do not.”

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“One by one, Biglaw firms have announced plans to return to the office, but not many have announced that all associates must be vaccinated. The majority of firms have strongly encouraged vaccination, but firms that are outright mandating vaccination seem to be few and far between. Today, we have news on a firm that’s not only requiring vaccination, but also has a relatively flexible remote work policy as well,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“This past Friday, Clifford Chance announced an agile working policy for its American offices, with a return to office-based working to start on September 13. That plan involves up to two remote days each week for both attorneys and business professionals (and time spent with clients outside the office will be considered time in the office). Once or twice a month, all employees will be expected to be in the office on specific days for specific events. The firm’s plan is relatively simple so that employees can “reap the benefits without heavy bureaucracy.” That’s a nice change of pace from what we’ve seen at most firms.”

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“Every Biglaw firm hell, most employers, regardless of industry is trying to figure out exactly what post COVID work looks like. Because, while remote work got us through, it’s unclear exactly how much of that will be in our future. One Biglaw partner has taken to sending pleas to attorneys asking them,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“Charles Chuck Palmer is the managing partner of Troutman Pepper’s Atlanta office. And he’d really, Really like folks to be back in the office. He links it to building the firm’s culture, and assures everyone that associates are MORE than just billing machines. We talk a lot about our firm’s culture about how we like each other and care.”

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“One of Wall Street’s top paid lawyers is telling his outside law firms to put an end to remote work and force their attorneys back to the office. Eric Grossman, chief legal officer at Morgan Stanley, sent a memo Thursday to law firms and legal service providers encouraging them to improve client service by having lawyers and employees return to the office, according to a company official. Grossman’s memo suggested that those continuing to operate remotely risk their relationship with the financial services giant,” reports Brian Baxter in BloomBerg Law.

“Grossman declined to comment on his missive, which comes as Big Law grapples with updating remote work policies stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Morgan Stanley has asked its own employees to plan on returning to the office by Labor Day. In a Thursday earnings call with analysts, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said the best mentoring comes from watching others in the workplace.”

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“Besides the pandemic itself, perhaps no topic has dominated recent conversation among white-collar professionals like working from home. The upsides. The downsides. How long it will last. Whether the nature of work has changed forever. Everyone has an opinion and a preference,” reports Lateral Link in their Above The Law.

“For most of 2020 and early 2021, the remote work debate didn’t have much immediate practical implication. Like it or not, Biglaw attorneys were mainly working from home. But now that offices are reopening, lawyers face a choice either accept whatever new policy their firm is adopting or look to move to a firm that better aligns.”

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“If you’re an associate who’s got a major case of the Mondays, there’s nothing that’ll boost your motivation like an announcement that not only will your firm be raising salaries across the board for all associates but it will also be doling out special bonuses for some Kasowitz Benson Torres had,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Having taken out a PPP loan one which the firm has not yet disclosed if it’s been forgiven, but finished up the year with $219,396,000 gross revenue, landing it in 142nd place in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking. The firm is just now getting around to joining peer firms for special bonuses and commensurate salary increases.”

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