Coronavirus: Law360 – The Week In Review
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Law Firm Layoffs May Pick Up Speed This Fall
More law firms will likely follow suit after Baker McKenzie announced both layoffs and pay increases this week, with firms moving away from the pandemic stopgap measure of pay reductions as the year wanes and instead making strategic cuts to areas that are no longer needed, busy or profitable, experts say.
Coronavirus: How Law Firms Are Handling The Downturn
UPDATED September 4, 2020, 1:36 PM EDT | The spreading coronavirus pandemic has upended the legal industry, forcing firms to cut salaries, lay off attorneys and make changes to summer associate programs. Here is a roundup of how law firms are responding.
Skadden, Nixon Peabody Latest To Trim Staff Amid COVID-19
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Nixon Peabody LLP are the latest firms to lay off staff, the two firms confirmed Thursday, joining several other BigLaw firms that have trimmed their workforces as the coronavirus continues to take its toll on the legal industry.
Baker McKenzie To Cut North American Jobs As Virus Persists
Baker McKenzie is cutting lawyers and staff in its North American offices as it looks to reduce its budget amid the business slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the global firm confirmed Tuesday.
Kelley Drye Unwinds Some COVID-19 Pay Cuts
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP has joined the ranks of law firms rolling back some of the austerity measures enacted earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying Thursday that it will begin partially restoring salary adjustments for affected attorneys and staff.
Goldberg Segalla Restores Partner Draws, Senior Leader Pay
Goldberg Segalla announced Monday that it has restored partner draws and senior administrative leaders’ salaries to pre-pandemic levels, making it the latest firm to roll back its COVID-19 cuts.
Reed Smith Extends Remote Work Through January
Reed Smith LLP will let its U.S. employees continue to work from home through January, it announced Monday, joining a growing number of firms in prolonging flexible work options due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Schulte Roth Extends Remote Work Through End Of 2020
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP will keep its attorneys working remotely at least through the end of the year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the firm confirmed on Tuesday.
COURT AND BAR EXAM ADJUSTMENTS
Coronavirus: The Latest Court Closures And Restrictions
UPDATED Sept. 4, 2020, 12:11 PM EDT | As courts across the country take measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures. Here is a roundup of changes.
Coronavirus: The Latest EU Court Closures And Restrictions
UPDATED September 3, 2020, 4:46 PM GMT | As courts across the region take measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures. Here is a roundup of changes.
Brooklyn Court Closed After Positive COVID-19 Tests
The chief judge for the Eastern District of New York shut down the main Brooklyn courthouse Thursday evening after court officers tested positive for COVID-19, sources confirmed to Law360 on Friday morning.
Del. Courts Maintain Pandemic Rules But Plan For Easing
Delaware’s chief justice on Friday ordered pandemic-related courthouse and court activity restrictions kept in place for another 30 days, but also said the state will seek to resume jury trials and relax other measures in October — provided the spread of the disease remains under control.
Texas Courts Want In-Person Jury Trials Limited Until 2021
Texas state courts should keep in place restrictions on in-person jury trials until at least the end of the year, the state Supreme Court heard Monday in a report detailing lessons learned from 20 jury trials held in the Lone Star State since the start of the pandemic.
Georgia Plans To Resume Jury Trials, Grand Juries In October
Georgia will likely resume jury trials in October once courts develop and submit plans to the state for in-person proceedings amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton said Monday.
Pittsburgh Courts Extend Coronavirus Emergency Until 2021
Courts in Pennsylvania’s Fifth Judicial District, which includes Pittsburgh, will extend their COVID-19 emergency through the end of 2020 and won’t resume civil or criminal jury trials for the time being, according to a court order issued Monday.
Hawaii Braces For In-Person Bar Exam As Virus Cases Soar
As states around the country navigate the question of how — or whether — to hold a bar exam during the coronavirus pandemic, Hawaii is set to go ahead with its in-person exam next week despite a climbing infection rate and widespread concern about the risks of the event.
College Board Says Botched Exam Claims Must Be Arbitrated
The College Entrance Examination Board has urged a California federal judge to send to arbitration a proposed class action alleging its online Advanced Placement exams, administered remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, were filled with technical glitches, saying students signed arbitration agreements.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR ATTORNEYS
Coronavirus Litigation: The Week In Review
Travelers dodged a downtown Los Angeles restaurant’s bid for coverage of claims stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump campaign urged a Pennsylvania federal court to adjust its order halting a challenge to the state’s use of drop boxes for collecting mail-in votes the same week the state’s highest court agreed to consider the protocols.
Coronavirus Regulations: A State-By-State Week In Review
New Jersey again dominated COVID-19 pandemic headlines over the past week as officials cleared the way for indoor, albeit limited, restaurant dining statewide and open alcohol consumption in Atlantic City just in time for Labor Day weekend.
CDC Announces Eviction Moratorium Through End Of Year
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a nationwide eviction moratorium Tuesday through the end of the year, following a directive from President Donald Trump last month to consider such a ban in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Atty-Parents Won’t See Billable Hour Relief As School Starts
Attorneys with children may be working late into the night and turning to tutoring and backup child care programs offered by firms to care for their kids as the school year begins virtually for most, but despite calls from some lawyers for flexibility on billable hours there’s no expectation that BigLaw will reduce productivity requirements any time soon.
Treasurer Says ABA Must Escape Budget Cuts ‘Treadmill’
The American Bar Association’s fiscal year ended Monday, and while the organization’s final results are not yet available, a report on the first three quarters of the year points to some harsh realities for the organization as it faces the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trial For Fired King & Spalding Atty Delayed Until 2021
A Manhattan federal judge on Monday scrapped a plan to hold a 2020 jury trial for David Joffe, the former King & Spalding LLP associate who claims the firm unlawfully fired him for raising ethics concerns, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
NY Feds’ Last-Ditch Bid To Delay Criminal Bench Trial Fails
A New York federal judge refused a last ditch bid by prosecutors to delay a criminal bench trial of a former Securities and Exchange Commission staffer accused of pilfering information about a pending investigation into a private equity firm before he left to join the company.
7th Circ. Keeps Illinois’ COVID-19 Quarantine Order Afloat
The Seventh Circuit on Thursday refused to block Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive order, which the state’s Republican Party had argued impermissibly gives leeway to religious gatherings, ruling that the speech that accompanies religious exercise has a privileged position under the First Amendment.
NYC Restaurant Sues State And City For $2B Over Dining Ban
A New York City restaurant is suing Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo in state court for $2 billion over “unfair” COVID-19 dining restrictions, which it says have kept hundreds of restaurants’ premises shuttered while allowing eateries in nearby counties to serve customers indoors.
Calif. Jury Told No Pets In Zoom Asbestos Trial Deliberations
A California judge sent a jury into a Zoom “breakout room” on Tuesday to begin deliberations in an asbestos trial against Honeywell and other defendants, but warned jurors that they must be alone as they deliberate remotely and “cannot be engaged in any other tasks, including caring for your pets.”
USPTO Wades Into Flood Of ‘COVID’ Trademark Applications
Six months into the pandemic, a huge number of trademark applications have been filed for “COVID” and “coronavirus” — and examining attorneys at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have recently started to wade through them.
EXPERT ANALYSIS
AGs In A Pandemic: Healey Talks Mass. Worker Safety
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey explains how her office is responding to workplace safety concerns and ensuring businesses are following health directives during the pandemic, despite such enforcement being outside her office’s traditional portfolio.
COVID-19 Claims May Survive Insurers’ Physical Loss Defense
Although Texas federal and Michigan state courts recently sided with insurers that denied COVID-19 business interruption coverage because policyholders did not suffer a physical loss, efforts to present the argument as a silver bullet to COVID-19 claims are likely premature, say Mark Packman and Jason Rubinstein at Gilbert.
How NY Businesses Should Approach COVID-19 Waivers
Until New York or the federal government passes legislation expressly addressing COVID-19 waivers, New York businesses and institutions should require signed liability waivers from patrons, while understanding the numerous limitations on enforceability, say Russell Yankwitt and Dina Hamerman at Yankwitt.
Preparing For A CMBS Litigation Wave Amid COVID-19
James Murphy and Daniel Payne at Murphy & McGonigle outline the types of commercial mortgage-backed securities lawsuits that may comprise a pandemic-induced litigation uptick, and offer recommendations on how commercial real estate market participants can prepare for the increased risk.
