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The American Lawyer documents the increasing trend of older lawyers reaching mandatory retirement age deciding to switch firms rather than “go gently into that good golf condominium.” Baby boomer attorneys are increasingly likely to work past the traditional ages of 60 or 65 and ALM data indicates that 6 percent of all Am Law 200 partners are 65 years old or more.

Inheritance counselor meeting with senior woman

Read more at The American Lawyer (login required).

With the recent opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, law firms are seeing opportunities in the island nation that lies just 90 miles south of Florida.

Sea, Landscape, Beach

The American Lawyer recently reported on Akerman’s four-person Cuba practice based in Miami. The group is led by a Cuban-American real estate lawyer who has developed relationships with government officials in Cuba since 2003 when he negotiated the first sale of Florida cattle to the country in over 40 years.

“In the past four weeks, Akerman has been inundated with inquiries from potential clients who wish to do business in Cuba, according to Pedro Freyre, who chairs the firm’s international practice and is also part of the Cuba team.”

The American Lawyer also mentioned that Holland & Knight has been inundated with questions about doing business in Cuba from new and existing clients. A corporate and securities partner at Greenberg Traurig notes that Mexican and Colombian companies are also interested because previously they were afraid of jeopardizing their American relationships by working in Cuba.

 

2013 witnessed a record 88 law firm mergers, and the market shows no signs of slowing with law firms announcing 22 more mergers during the first three months of 2014.  While some mergers are certainly driven by strategic factors, as The Washington Post notes HERE,

Lawyers discussing contract or business agreement at law firm

“Law firms have been turning to consolidation as the demand for legal services is largely flat… Merging is one way firms can still show growth…”

In the latest March 2014 issue, Chicago Lawyer checks in on the state of ‘midsize’ law. Drawing from the recent success of some of our clients, including Much Shelist and Ungaretti & Harris, the author finds much to be optimistic about in the middle of the market. Please find the article available here.

Chicago Lawyer Volume 37

Chicago scored another big win for its growing startup/technology sector with the announcement of the city’s selection for a $320 Million Digital Manufacturing Institute. This latest development has many of our corporate attorney candidates buzzing with excitement. For more information, see here.

Financial graphs, glowing lines and diagram on digital screen. Trading market and economic concept.

Many observers believe Chicago’s startup and technology scene has reached a critical mass, enjoying a timely alignment of talent, capital and political will alongside an emerging infrastructure of incubators and accelerators. Moreover, its not just insiders – Silicon Valley is starting to recognize that something important is afoot in the Midwest as well.

Headshot Howard Tullman

Chicago’s startup and technology community has just taken a major step forward with the announcement that Howard Tullman, well-connected entrepreneur extraordinaire, will be taking the reigns at 1871. We expect this growing startup and technology scene to create exciting new opportunities for Chicago transactional attorneys and the local legal community at large.

Robin Sparkman has an interesting take on the state of affairs for the Am Law 200. In particular, she underscores the impressive run over the past 5 years as an indication that things are more optimistic than previously thought. Accordingly, as client needs accelerate, we see continued demand at both the partner and associate levels.

The American Lawyer logo

To read the article, please click HERE.

While many commentators believe that the current slowdown in legal hiring represents a potential ‘new normal,’ at least one observer argues that we’re on the precipice of boom times, driven in part by the rise of third-party litigation financing. As Bradley Borden of Brooklyn Law School notes in his recent article for The Huffington Post:

Making decisions with CEO and investors about future plans

In short, TPLF will transform the legal profession…. The demand for legal services will inevitably turn to favor attorneys. When that happens, the lack of attorneys in the pipeline will create a substantial shortage of qualified attorneys. For law firms to meet the new demand for legal services, they will have to aggressively recruit… creating a market reversal of epic proportions.In fact, the legal services market, which has been a buyer’s market for the last several years, will quickly become a seller’s market.

For more, please find his article here.

Mitchell Roth, Chair of the Management Committee of Chicago-based Much Shelist, recently wrote an insightful article for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin regarding midsized firms’ competitive advantage in the current legal market.  Click here to view the article.

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin