The lower range of attorney tiers saw larger rate hikes in 2024 than more experienced attorneys in the same tier, an analysis of 2024 rate increases amid 14 Am Law 200 firms shows. Paralegals and litigation support specialists exhibited a similar trend.
Paul Weiss announced the promotion of 34 new partners, nearly tripling the size of its class after announcing that it would roll out a non-equity partner tier. Steptoe meanwhile announced a revamped associate compensation system with three full-time billable-hour tracks.
On December 6, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, mandating ByteDance to divest TikTok U.S. The court deemed ownership a national security risk due to potential Chinese government interference. TikTok’s arguments against the Act’s constitutionality were rejected, affirming the law’s necessity.
The number of applicants to law school jumped 25% and applications to law schools went up a whopping 35% compared to 2023, according to Law School Admission Council figures. The surge was driven by multiple factors including the election and LSAT changes.
Multiple Am Law 100 firms, as well as midsize and regional law firms, have de-equitized partners in recent months in what is widely described as “sound financial management of the firm“.
Starting February 2, 2025, AI literacy is required under the EU AI Act. If your company uses AI system outputs in the EU or your company is providing AI systems there, now’s the time to prepare.
After launching an AI program in 2017 focused on cloud migration, the firm has entered the second phase of its AI program, centered on generative AI and a larger internal team.
Jasmine Singh, a veteran legal executive with experience at Pinterest, Patreon, and Binti, has been named General Counsel at Ironclad, a leading CLM platform.
Law firms are taking a variety of approaches to relieve the internal tension that comes from releasing partner pay data, including releasing numbers in bands or obscuring a partner's pay numbers for at least the first handful of years they're in the partnership.
A new study by IDC predicts continued growth in the use of generative AI by legal professionals, with 69% of study respondents reporting they expect their use to increase over the next two years.
New partner class sizes shrunk by an average of 4% among 22 Am Law 100 firms that made announcements by late November. The trend continues the decline that began in 2023 after firms promoted large class sizes in 2022.
