What you need to know
PREP WORK
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Every silver lining has its cloud. For all the time artificial intelligence saves automating manual tasks like contract management, it can be a laborious and fastidious tool to set up in the first place. International law firm Gowling WLG learned that lesson when a client wanted it to determine exactly what was in mountains of contracts it had amassed, Rhys Dipshan reports. That firm and others are grappling with technology that often requires a significant amount of specific data and a long period of hands-on care before it can function independently. Ultimately, it’s worth it, but it’s not without some teachable moments.
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LOWERING THE BAR
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The ACLU and the Pacific Legal Foundation are among a coalition attacking the requirement that lawyers be admitted to the California Bar in order to appear in federal courts in Northern California. As Cheryl Miller reports, the groups claim in a petition that the rule makes little sense given the Northern District court operates under and largely deals with federal law. The groups also point to the difficulty of passing the California Bar, and the cost of maintaining a bar license there.
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KERRY ON
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Karen “Kerry” Abrams is in a sweet spot. As the incoming dean at Duke Law School, she’ll be leading an elite institution located in the Triangle tech hotbed. Currently a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, she’ll replace current Duke Law dean David Levi in July, Karen Sloan reports. One of Abrams’ main goals is to incorporate entrepreneurship and technology—including data security and data privacy—into Duke’s law curriculum. Says Abrams, “I think law schools in general have been a little behind to catch up to that.” Uh, yeah.
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DOWN TIME
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Law firm economics explained in two charts: ALI senior analyst Nicholas Bruch put together data snapshots that show 1) how revenue growth has sputtered for the AmLaw 100 and Second Hundred since the Great Recession and 2) the surge in the number of firms reporting revenue declines.
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CHAIN GANG
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Cooley fintech partner and bitcoin-and-blockchain evangelist Marco Santori is joining bitcoin wallet startup Blockchain as its chief legal officer. Santori, who heads Cooley’s fintech practice, will also take the title of president at Blockchain as he assumes what he said would be business and legal duties. And as Stephanie Forshee reports, Santori also plans to remain active as a policy advocate and all-around cheerleader for ledger technology as well as new coins. “Token sales can help to unlock value on the same order of magnitude as the internet did and I’m going to remain a part of that,” he said.
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While you were sleeping
BREAKING AWAY
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As many as 15 lawyers from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Germany, including three senior partners, are decamping to establish a public law boutique with offices in Berlin and Duesseldorf. James Booth reports that the senior partners—Berlin public affairs head Wolf Spieth, Duesseldorf environment and regulatory partner Herbert Posser and Berlin disputes partner Benedikt Wolfers—will be joined by counsel Burkard Wollenschlager and principal associate Niclas Hellermann, along with between five and 10 more associates from their practice groups. The new firm does not yet have a name.
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