The accounting giants have been quietly changing strategy in recent years with potentially big consequences for law firms. Here, all of the Big Four's U.K. legal heads discuss their aims.

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"We will never look to recruit laterals for the sake of reporting growth," chair Brad Brian said. "We will always rigorously adhere to our signature recruiting strategy."

In law firm hiring, "there's a lot of lying about what exactly people are getting into," one general counsel observed.

Luke McCloud's argument in Concepcion v. United States raises an issue under the 2018 First Step Act, a law that gives thousands of non-violent offenders an opportunity to earn an early release from prison or a reduced sentence.

Banks are offering less transactional work and increasingly being dictated to on which law firms to use, meaning banking panels no longer offer the same riches for law firms.

"Neither Wax's tenure nor the freedom of expression Penn promises to its faculty are subject to public approval," said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Corporate legal departments are arguably in a much better position than law firms to offer young lawyers hands-on experience, personally fulfilling and professionally challenging work and, yes, maybe even something resembling work-life balance.

Nearly 50 lawsuits allege Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson made false statements about the safety of their cow's milk-based infant formula, which studies have found caused a gastrointestinal inflammation called necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, in premature babies.

In this week's episode, Law.com business of law reporter Dylan Jackson interviews Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan founder John Quinn about the firm's recent announcement that it will permanently allow all of its U.S. lawyers to work remotely as much as they wish.

Judge Jimmie Reyna seems to be holding the cards as the Federal Circuit hears arguments that echo Oracle v. Google

"That [Angela Davis photo] reminds me just to continue to be a badass Black woman that does not get intimidated by anything," said Tremaine L. Hemans of the Hemans Law Group.

The year started with Portland, Oregon's ban on the use of facial recognition technology by private entities in places of "public" accommodation. It concluded with the rendering of important appellate decisions on the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. In the middle, was the continued flurry of litigation, class action settlements, and legislative activity.

Plaintiffs firms are looking at new strategies for adapting to litigation delays as COVID-19 variants lead to slowdowns for civil proceedings.

"The best thing you can do for others as you ascend the mountain is make sure that you are carrying others with you along the way."

Microsoft revealed in a statement Thursday that it had contracted the firm, saying Arent Fox is "experienced in these matters and has not previously been involved in representing Microsoft in employment matters, nor has it done a significant amount of work for the company in the past."

"If you're doing everything through your house, the concerns that somebody is going to walk in your office and see all this stuff on some different letterhead aren't there, right?" said Memphis attorney Brian S. Faughnan.

Avenatti was initially allowed to stay out of jail pending trial, but a federal judge in California revoked his bond in January 2020 over new alleged financial crimes, leading to 94 days of solitary confinement.

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Some law firm leaders fear inflation could lead to multiple interest rate increases, potentially throttling M&A deals.