ABA report on remote work, DOJ official returns to Jenner & Block, the price of PACER, Judge tosses Sidney Powell's lawsuit
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?? Good morning from the Legal File!?On the docket today: Younger lawyers prefer working remotely to working from the office, a new ABA report found. DOJ’s former associate deputy attorney general returns to Jenner & Block. The Congressional Budget Office says the U.S. judiciary will need more money to make PACER database available free of charge. A judge in Washington, D.C., threw out Sidney Powell's claims that Dominion Voting Systems abused the legal system by bringing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against her. Let’s get into it!
As the pandemic recedes and legal employers weigh long-term policies for in-office work, a new American Bar Association report released Wednesday outlined the premium that younger lawyers place on being able to work from home.
The survey found that 44% of lawyers who have practiced for 10 years or less would leave their job for another one that provides a greater opportunity to work remotely. Only 13% of lawyers practicing for 41 years or longer reported they would do so.
To keep younger lawyers, employers should consider adopting hybrid policies that offer flexibility to maintain lawyer engagement with the firm and foster "a culture in which a lawyer's decision to work remotely does not derail their career," the authors wrote.
Law firms have taken different approaches to returning to office mandates, with some requiring lawyers and staff to work in person on several specific days of the week. Some firms are allowing employees to choose whether to go in at all. Some law firms are even opting for office relocations to accommodate a new balance of in-office versus remote work than they have in the previous two years.
Emily Loeb, who was most recently the associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Justice Department, has returned to Jenner & Block to lead its congressional investigations practice, the law firm said Thursday.
Loeb has worked on issues relating to Congress, including preparing nominees and department officials to testify before lawmakers.
Loeb said she always planned to leave the Justice Department at this time and that she wanted to return to Jenner because of the roster of former government officials who also work there.
Loeb, who will also co-lead Jenner's government controversies practice, joined the firm in 2016 before leaving for the Biden administration in 2021. She was among the lawyers who represented the Justice Department before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in relation to Former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Jenner also recruited a House of Representatives lawyer who defended the Jan. 6 committee to its government controversies practice in August.
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The Congressional Budget Office in a report said the federal judiciary will need more money to make up for the elimination of costly fees the public pays to download court filings from its electronic PACER record system if a bill in the U.S. Senate becomes law.
Currently, PACER users are charged $0.10 per page to download documents up to a $3 cap, which does not cover transcripts.
The CBO said the Senate bill to make PACER free would add $77 million to the deficit, noting that modernizing PACER could slash operational costs long-term.
The Senate Judiciary Committee in December advanced the bipartisan bill to the full Senate for its consideration, but it has lingered, and the federal judiciary has raised concerns about the impact it would have on its funding.
The total cost for a new system would amount to $260 million through 2032, the CBO said.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday dismissed conservative lawyer Sidney Powell’s claims that Dominion Voting Systems abused the legal system by bringing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against her.
Dominion had sued Powell in January 2021, alleging she falsely claimed the voting machine company rigged the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump. Powell countersued last year, claiming Dominion filed the lawsuit "to punish and make an example" of her.
Filing a lawsuit alone is not an "abuse of process" as Powell asserted, Nichols said.
Nichols last year rejected efforts by Powell and fellow Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell to dismiss Dominion's defamation claims. Dominion also brought a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News for falsely reporting the voting machine company’s role in the 2020 elections in order to boost its ratings.?
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