Briefly

Thomson Reuters brings forward vision to redefine the future of professionals with content-driven AI technology

Lighthouse Launches New Managed Review Practice

McGuireWoods Advises Summit Park in Sale of Parkline to Trachte LLC

Weil Advises Providence Equity Partners and Heron UK Bidco on the Recommended Cash Offer for Hyve Group Plc

Clifford Chance advises Informa on acquisition of Winsight

Vertica by OpenText and Anritsu Sign New Deal for Next-Gen Architecture and 5G Network Capabilities

Simon Amies Expands Life Sciences Practice at Cooley in London

Nicole Giantonio joins Epiq as Chief Marketing Officer for Legal Solutions

Mitratech Announces Partnership with Leading CLM Provider, Agiloft

Onit Bolsters Portfolio of Legal Workflow Solutions

Weil Advises TPG in its $2.7B Acquisition of Angelo Gordon

Clifford Chance advises Alter Domus on its strategic acquisition of Solvas

Thomson Reuters introduces Cloud Audit Suite, the UK’s first fully cloud-based end-to-end audit software

Dayan Rosen Boosts Debt Finance, Private Equity Capabilities With McGuireWoods

Required Reading

Too busy to read it all? Try these books, blogs, webcasts, websites and other info resources curated by CCBJ especially for corporate counsel and legal ops professionals.

COLUMN: Unfiltered

Bloomberg Law columnist Vivia Chen can get a bit snarky, but when her snark barks, it can be a treat to read. Recently, she laid into her favorite target, Big Law, for the shabby treatment of their young talent as they dished out pink slips. “What’s startling is not that layoffs persist in Big Law,” Chen writes, “but the way some firms are discarding their talent like yesterday’s iPhones.” What really raised Chin’s ire were comments from firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, sugarcoating layoffs as routine “performancebased decisions” arising from attorney reviews “just like we do every year for all attorneys at all levels.” Twisting the shiv, Chen turns to a former K&E partner. “Big Law was eager to throw bodies at the burgeoning economy not long ago,” Steven Harper told Chen. “They were good enough to do the work once upon a time, but when the economy changed, they’re not.”

BLOG: My Shingle

Carolyn Elefant’s blog targets solos and smallfirm practitioners. That does not, however, mean she has nothing to benefit Big Law. This piece is a good example. Using the plummeting stock of Chegg, which provides study aids to high school and college students, she asks a question on every timekeeper’s mind: Will AI kill the billable hour? “When a tool like Casetext Co-Counsel can summarize the 50 cases cited in an opposing brief in 10 minutes rather than the 10 hours it might have taken an attorney, how do you bill for that?” she asks. “When a lawyer can push a button to generate discovery requests that respond to a complaint that an associate supplements with two hours of review, rather than the two days the project might have taken, how do you bill for that? And if in-house counsel can use AIpowered tools, how much use will they continue to have for large outside firms?

REPORT: AALL State of the Profession

This is the third time AALL has conducted its exhaustive survey of U.S. law librarians, which digs into the work of librarians in law firms and corporate legal departments, academia, and government. You can find info about all aspects of law libraries and librarians, including budgets, staffing, skills, workplaces and much more. Bob Ambrogi, legal tech superstar whose LawSites blog is an indispensable resource, points to the finding related to legal tech, particularly the “instrumental role law librarians play in innovation and technology adoption within their organizations.” Asked whether the library is involved in purchase decisions for technology and research products, fully 95% respond with a resounding YES! “As might be expected,” Ambrogi writes, “100% of firm/corporate librarians are responsible for overseeing research databases. Some 36% oversee their organizations’ knowledge management systems. Forty percent say they oversee other technology.”

Contributors

Thanks to the law firms, technology companies, alternative legal service providers, management consultants and other supporters of corporate law departments who share their insights and expertise through the CCBJ network. Your participation is appreciated.

Akin Gump Advises Pharmakon Advisors in its $275 Million Debt Facility with Reata Pharmaceuticals

Barnes & Thornburg Expands To Nashville, Bolstering National Healthcare And Capital Markets Practices

Top Environmental Enforcement Lawyer

Adam Sowatzka Joins McGuireWoods

Dan Haley is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Guild. He has decades of public and private company legal experience, and a track record for developing legal functions. Prior to Guild, he was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Sprinklr, following nearly seven years at athenahealth where he held various legal leadership roles, including General Counsel and Chief Legal and Administrative Officer. Dan holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Reach him at dan.haley@guild.com

Jon Miller is a CFA Charterholder, CFA ESG Investing Certified, and former board member for Solar Energy International. Jon oversees Nelnet’s $500 million solar tax equity portfolio and the company’s tax equity co-investor platform. He has held positions as capital markets advisor, tax equity consultant, investment manager, and debt underwriter. Over his career, Jon has transacted on over $2 billion of solar and wind projects for some of the nation’s largest developers and institutional investors. Reach him at jon.miller@nelnet.net

Angie Zimmern serves as McGuireWoods’ pro bono director, expanding the firm’s commitment to developing and sustaining pro bono programs that have been recognized nationally for innovation and impact. In addition to her leadership roles with the firm, Angie practiced law in the area of business and securities litigation. She had a broad litigation practice, with particular emphasis on financial services and class action litigation, and she advised clients on matters involving business and consumer credit disputes. Reach her at azimmern@mcguirewoods.com

Epiq Expands Support for Global Business Transformation Solutions and Workplace Transformation in Canada

Weil Advises on Financing of Five Arrows’ Acquisition of a Majority Stake in n2y

Thomson Reuters Takes Occupancy of New Downtown Toronto Centre

Richard Starling and William Herrfeldt Bolster McGuireWoods’ Fund Formation Capabilities

Clifford Chance Announces Eight New Counsel Appointments in Asia Pacific

Matthew Smith Expands Global Fund Formation Practice at Cooley in Boston

Weil Advises on the Restructuring of Frigoglass Group

Fund Finance Partner

Corinne Musa Joins Akin Gump in New York