Dec 31, 2024 View in Browser

Law.com

Morning Minute

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This is Andrew Denney in New York.Tributes for former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100, have been coming in from lawyers from around the country. The 39th president of the United States was himself not an attorney—nevertheless, Carter’s commitment to peaceful negotiation and public service served as a guiding light for many of the attorneys of that generation.

 

What We're Watching

LITIGATION: Media coverage of the 2024 presidential election cycle has wrapped up, but claims tied to Fox News coverage of the election four years prior are still open, with the Court of Chancery denying a motion to dismiss filed by the network's parent corporation, Ellen Bardash reports. Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster wrote that shareholder plaintiffs had shown Rupert Murdoch's potential liability in the case prevented him from considering litigation independently.

 

REGIONAL: Can a company trademark a color? U-Haul International’s top rival believes so. U-Haul has filed an infringement suit against California-based Public Storage, arguing that the competitor used fraudulent information to claim it has an exclusive right to use the color orange. Michelle Morgante has the story.

 

CORPORATE: Carly Anderson’s departure from Boeing leads a roundup of in-house counsel moves. Chris O’Malley reports that Anderson is the second attorney to depart from the embattled aerospace giant in recent months.

 

BUSINESS OF LAW: Several big firms announced leadership changes in 2024, and the pace of leadership adjustments throughout Big Law is expected to stay robust in 2025. Firms are looking for law firm leaders now with a different set of skills, Jon Campisi reports—and they aren’t just relying on leaders with a “long and deep success in law practice as leadership criteria,” says Kirsten Keegan Vasquez of Major, Lindsey & Africa.

 

LEGAL TECH: Absent a federal law, the patchwork of state data privacy laws grew significantly this year. Still, many won’t feel their impact until 2025, when eight of them take effect throughout the year. Ella Sherman looks at what these laws cover, when they’ll come online next year, and how they differ from one another.

 

INTERNATIONAL: Clifford Chance's highest paid partner took home £6.01 million in the financial year to April 2024, Habiba Cullen-Jafar reports. It’s a sign of the times in the U.K. legal scene—partner pay at top firms remains highly competitive as ultra-profitable U.S.-headquartered law firms poach highly-rated partners from elite U.K. firms.

 

Editor's Picks

 

Lessons in Mediation & Negotiation: Attorneys' Reflections on Jimmy Carter
By Lisa Willis
Read more

Legal Issues to Watch in the US Appeals Courts in 2025
By Avalon Zoppo
Read more

Foreign-Company Lobbyists Would Need to Register Under Proposed DOJ Regulation
By Dan Novak
Read more

Recent FTC Cases Against Auto Dealers Suggest Regulators Are Keeping Foot on Accelerator
By Chris O’Malley
Read more

Southwest Airlines Faces $100M Class Action Over Pay Periods
By Lisa Willis
Read more

 

On The Radar

ON THE RADAR: Instagram and Meta Platforms sued Hartford Casualty, Sentinel Insurance and other defendants on Dec. 30 in California Northern District Court. The suit pertains to thousands of underlying product liability lawsuits alleging that social media platforms cause anxiety, depression and other issues; the complaint alleges that while California law prohibits insurers from litigating their duty to defend when coverage depends on facts to be litigated in the underlying action, Hartford and Sentinel wrongfully filed an action in Delaware alleging they have no duty to defend the product liability suits because the suits are purportedly based on the social media platforms' 'intentional' conduct. The complaint was filed by Covington & Burling. The case is Instagram LLC v. Hartford Casualty Insurance Company, 4:24-cv-09500.

 

What You Said

“When you consider the amount of money saved versus the amount of bad press you get and the general low morale of the workforce that you depend on, it becomes a very difficult situation. And I'm not surprised each time this happens that firms then go back and reconsider, and then come back and present the matching bonus.”

 

—Jeffrey Lowe, a Washington, D.C.-based recruiter for Center Peak, on the motivations for firms to reconsider their decisions on bonuses.

 

Production Notes

The Morning Minute is produced by Alaina Lancaster and supported by Law.com's global news team.

 

Have a tip? Contact us!

 

Christine Simmons - Law Firms

Michael Riccardi and Samantha Joseph - Litigation

Greg Andrews - In-House

Sarah Tincher-Numbers - Law Schools

Rhys Dipshan - Legal Tech

Lisa Shuchman - International

Steve Lash - Regulatory

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