The Notice: News and Resources for Paralegals, Litigation Support & Docketing Professionals
The Notice
Now that we are moving deeper into the second quarter of the year, there's a renewed sense of optimism in the air. As the days get longer and the weather warms up, it's the perfect time to refresh your knowledge of current legal trends and stay ahead of the curve. That's why we've gathered the latest news and insights. We hope you enjoy this week's edition of The Notice.
In this issue, we'll cover Proskauer Rose conducting an investigation into an occurrence where their data was revealed on a cloud-based platform, The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that invoking the term "fail-safe" is not enough for judges to refuse certifying classes,?how evaluating Legal Tech boosts in-house efficiency, and more!
Also, ECFX is in the news!?In an article that underscores what they consider essential new legal technology,?Kristi Pallante?of?Rottenstreich Lieberman Farley LLP?explains the significance of ECFX Notice in the firm's everyday operations. More details below or see the full article?here.
Finally, join panelists?Michelle Garcia, Client & Budget Operations and Intake Manager at?Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP,?and?Dan O'Day, CEO & Co-Founder at?ECFX, on April 20th, as they share insight on the benefit the firm has experienced after transitioning from manual processes to Intelligent Automation with ECFX Notice to handle the large volume of ECF notices they receive in Federal District and Appellate & New York cases.
You can register?here, or read more about it below.
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~The Team at ECFX
Working in Large Law
A leaked list of "non-negotiable expectations" for junior associates at the law firm Paul Hastings is spurring debate as some call the demands "disgusting" and others counter that the job requirements "really shouldn't surprise anyone."
The list, which was part of an internal presentation created and delivered by an associate to junior colleagues, included expectations like being online 24/7, "no exceptions, no excuses," and likened associates to waiters or "a concierge at the Four Seasons" who will drop everything to cater to the client, "who comes first and is always right."?
"You're in the big leagues, which is a privilege, act like it," the slide reads.?
In a statement to Insider, the firm confirmed "the material was prepared by an associate," but noted, "the views expressed do not reflect the views of the firm or its partners."
Regardless of the view, the slide is shedding light on wider discourse on?burnout within the law industry, which has long been notorious for hefty workloads, especially among junior associates at large firms.
Proskauer Rose has said it is investigating an incident in which its data was exposed on a cloud-based platform, after information from its mergers and acquisitions practice was left on an unsecured cloud server for more than six months.?
“Our tech security team recently learned that an outside vendor that we retained to create an information portal on a third-party cloud-based storage platform had not properly secured it,” the statement said.
Proskauer said the data was exposed in a cyberattack, and it resolved the problem two weeks ago. The law firm did not identify the type of data that was exposed.
“Our IT security team immediately took steps to reconfigure the site and secure its data,” the statement said. “This is an ongoing investigation and we have been urgently working with in-house and third-party cybersecurity experts to confirm our current understanding of the facts.”
Proskauer said it would “communicate promptly with all affected parties as soon as we gain sufficient information to responsibly do so.”
News for 2022
The D.C. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals?ruled?on Tuesday that trial judges cannot refuse to certify classes simply by invoking the words “fail-safe,” in a break with at least four other appellate circuits that have explicitly barred fail-safe classes whose definition depends on the merits of the case.
The D.C. Circuit warned that the federal rule for class action procedure, Rule 23, already includes requirements that would preclude certification of almost every proposed fail-safe class.
"Enforcing the Rule's written requirements is greatly preferred to deploying a textually untethered and potentially disuniform criterion, the contours of which can vary from case to case,” wrote Judge Patricia Millett for a panel that also included Judges Sri Srinivasan and Harry Edwards.
The appellate court’s ruling, which came in a class action alleging that Hilton Worldwide Inc wrongfully denied pension benefits to certain employees or their beneficiaries, helpfully provided some examples of problematic fail-safe class definitions, including “shareholders whom Company X defrauded” and “all those discriminated against illegally.
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Read the full article?here
A coalition of national law firms has been chosen to lead more than 30 lawsuits against railway company Norfolk Southern over the February derailment of one of its freight trains in East Palestine, Ohio that caused hazardous chemicals to spill and catch fire.
U.S. District Judge Benita Yalonda Pearson in Youngstown, who is overseeing the litigation, on Wednesday?chose?New York-based Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy, Colorado-based Seth Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh Jardine and Delaware-based Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer as interim class counsel. They will be joined by Florida-based Michael Morgan of Morgan & Morgan as co-lead counsel.?
Pearson said the lawyers had already done "significant work" to identify and investigate potential claims and have the resources and experience in complex lawsuits necessary to support the 31 cases that have now been consolidated.
Residents and businesses in the lawsuits are seeking compensation for property damage, ongoing medical monitoring for the community, and punitive damages against the railroad company.
Technology and Legal Support
Bloomberg Law’s survey data shows positive developments in corporate legal departments’ use of metrics and formal evaluation processes to measure the true worth of their legal technology. But there is still room for improvement, particularly in organizations where there are no formal evaluation processes.
Taking the next step—from having metrics to following a formal process for evaluating legal tech—can help organizations unlock the full potential of their tech stack.
Results from Bloomberg Law’s?Legal Operations & Technology Survey 2023?indicate that most non-law-firm organizations are actively using one or more metrics to determine the value of their legal technology. In fact, only 6% of in-house lawyers responding to the survey said that their organization does not use any common metric. The most-used measurements are related to cost, feedback, and ease of use.
While metrics provide reliable information on certain aspects of legal tech, formal evaluation processes go further by allowing in-house teams to find weaknesses, strengths, and capabilities, as well as helping align the use of technology with department goals.?
Read the full article?here
In the past few months, Kristi Pallante, who formerly served as the director of litigation operations at Cohen Clair, has joined?Rottenstreich Lieberman Farley LLP, a recently established law firm. Notably, she brought with her a valuable asset from her previous workplace -?ECFX, a court filing management system that processes federal and state notices automatically.
During the onset of the pandemic, Pallante said the practice "went from being majority paper filing with the court to ... electronic filing for everything overnight."
This expanded use of electronic filing meant that most documents had to be downloaded, which Pallante said was "tedious," because they had to circulate documents around the firm. Inundated with this new electronic filing system, Pallante said the firm searched online message boards for solutions. With?ECFX, Pallante said downloading now takes less than a minute.
"That one's been a real game changer for us," Pallante said. "That program saves us tons of hours that I would say probably aren't billable."
Read the full article?here
Upcoming Webinar: From Chaos to Control: How ECFX Streamlines Your Legal Operations
The receipt of every electronic court filing (ECF) notice in a firm’s inbox marks the beginning of 5-20+ minutes of tedious work downloading, profiling, storing, and distributing court documents. When multiplied out by the thousands of ECF notices a national firm receives each month from jurisdictions and ECF services across the United States, the result is a relentless drain on staff time and resources.
Join panelists?Michelle Garcia, Client & Budget Operations and Intake Manager at?Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP,?and?Dan O'Day, CEO & Co-Founder at?ECFX, on April 20th, as they share insight on the benefit the firm has experienced after transitioning from manual processes to Intelligent Automation with ECFX Notice to handle the large volume of ECF notices they receive in Federal District and Appellate, & New York cases.
Also learn how ECFX Notice's powerful automation can help your firm gain: