Big Law firms are taking advantage of a string of exits from the government, as expectations rise that DOJ and SEC enforcement actions will ramp up.

Phil Saunders assumes the role of CEO at Relativity today, just days after the company announced it would be phasing out Relativity Trace and laying off approximately 150 employees. No future layoffs are contemplated at this time.

Almost a year on from the changes and following the exit of corporate star Nick Rumsby, doubts have been raised over its success.

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In October and November, lateral partner moves dipped 14% and lateral associate moves dipped 25% from the same two months in 2021, according to data from Decipher. But how does the raw data compare to historical norms?

"One by one, we are holding every player in the addiction industry accountable and forcing them to turn over billions of dollars for treatment and prevention nationwide," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said.

Elon Musk plans to testify in a Jan. 17 jury trial in which Tesla shareholders allege his 2018 statements on Twitter about going private were fraudulent.

The state's money wasn't used for business purposes; rather, the AG's office claims the defendants spent $52,000 in charges at casinos, $46,000 in Venmo cash transfers, $7,400 at a furniture store in California and more than $3,000 in charges for UberEats.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref of the Eastern District of Washington announced the convictions of three individuals for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funding that resulted from investigations by the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force.

The proposal seeks to "clarify" the range of damages available to plaintiffs in federal civil suits that claim emotional harm under federal civil rights laws.

In a case of first impression, the Court of Appeals of Maryland determined that the phrase "definite proof" in the state's Workers' Compensation Act applies to the quality of evidence a claimant must submit as part of their burden of production.

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined a mattress store more than $66,000 for multiple workplace safety violations, including willfully exposing employees to serious injury or death from potential traffic accidents, the office announced last week.

A challenging economic environment will enable law firm leaders "to be more forthright in directing people back to the office," industry analysts said. "We have already seen signs of this."

One year ago, the jury reached a verdict against the white supremacists that organized the racist, deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. The war on white supremacy must continue on all fronts: in politics, on the airwaves and social media, and in the courts.

"The hearing committee properly considered Diviacchi's open contempt for the legal system and the disciplinary system, and particularly his baseless accusation, made publicly and maintained on the internet, that his suspension was based on 'bigotry,' merely because a committee member was absent for part of the proceedings. Indeed, that contempt remains evident in his memorandum before this court," the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's per curiam opinion said.

This year has seen some momentous examples of inadvertent data disclosures. Observers point out that, while many leaks are preventable, protecting data is not as easy as you might think, and it's only getting harder.

The new gift is intended to establish an endowment that permanently funds an initiative created in 2019 at Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law.

The University of Virginia School of Law is the last of the T14 law schools to announce that it will no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report education rankings, joining 11 other T14s (and 15 law schools in total) who have also pulled out.

Office drama can be a big problem for law firms. Whether it is showing up as office gossip, the partner who is terrible to their associates and staff, two people who just cannot seem to get along, or a revolving door of lawyers or staff, drama can be distracting, hamper productivity, and reduce billable hours.

Rather than layoffs, law firms could weigh redeploying personnel toward contingency litigation, argues Burford Capital's David Perla.