Category: News Feeds

The replacement of the Trump Administration by the Biden Administration will bring changes to countless areas of American life, including the legal sector. Here are a few practice areas that we at Lateral Link expect to heat up over the next few years. (Thanks to my colleague Gloria Sandrino, who previously shared her thoughts on this topic with Law360, for her help in putting this list together.)

1. White-collar, investigations, and enforcement work. White-collar prosecutions fell to a record low under President Donald Trump. Over the past two years, I’ve spoken to numerous white-collar and investigations lawyers who have had to turn to civil and commercial litigation to keep themselves busy. Law firm hiring out of government also slowed significantly; with firms struggling to keep their current white-collar lawyers busy, their appetite for former prosecutors dropped significantly.

Many industry observers expect this to change under the Biden Administration. We’ve been meeting with firms right now to discuss their talent needs for the year, and many of them expect a significant increase in SEC, DOJ, and congressional investigations. Widely reported fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program and other pandemic relief efforts is already starting to generate work, and with the change to a Democratic administration, also look for an increase in traditional white-collar work, such as Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations and prosecutions.

2. Banking and financial regulation. Related to the anticipated uptick in white-collar expect, expect an increase in banking and financial regulatory work as well. In particular, look for the new administration to reinvigorate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — and create work for lawyers and law firms that specialize in consumer finance regulatory matters.

3. Environmental. Even though he has been in office for just a few weeks, President Biden has already made clear that protecting the environment will be a priority for his administration, with an especially strong focus on addressing the climate change crisis. According to this overview from Hogan Lovells, look for the Biden Administration to “seek to undo many of the deregulatory actions of the Trump administration… [and] to strengthen environmental protections by adopting new standards, revising existing standards, and increasing enforcement.” The upshot: more work for environmental lawyers, especially those who advise companies trying to keep up with the new standards and to respond to investigations and enforcement actions.

4. Labor and employment. As noted in this analysis by Littler Mendelson, the close divide in the House of Representatives will limit President Biden’s ability to enact much of his agenda. But we can still expect significant changes, including changes that can be made through administrative action.

If it’s passed by Congress, President Biden’s proposed COVID-19 stimulus plan includes a number of L&E-related provisions, including extension of unemployment insurance benefits, renewal of emergency paid sick and family medical leave mandates from prior coronavirus relief packages, authorization of OSHA to develop a national COVID-19 protection standard, and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 nationwide. Companies will need legal help to respond to any number of these changes.

5. Private equity and venture capital. On the transactional side, private equity and venture capital should continue to be active areas, but with a shift in emphasis to focus on the healthcare and environmental sectors. Investment in the healthcare and life sciences space should remain robust, as the nation continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its after effects, and investment in the environmental space could see a boost from President Biden’s plan to invest $2 trillion in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, which would be a boon for the cleantech startup ecosystem. This will also generate lots of work for project finance lawyers, especially those who focus on cleantech and renewable energy.

These are just some of the sectors that could see significant growth over the next few years. Others include state attorneys general, antitrust, and healthcare practices. A change in administration often means changes in the law, and changes in the law are good news for lawyers and law firms.

If you’re thinking about what you can do with your career to take advantage of these developments, please feel free to reach out to me or any of my colleagues to explore your options. This is an exciting time — not just for the country, but for lawyers and the legal profession — and you don’t want to miss out on any opportunities

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Here at Lateral Link, we also have some exciting news of our own for the new year: promotions.

“I am pleased to announce a few promotions for 2021,” said Michael Allen, our founder and CEO. “And as several of these colleagues are approaching fifteen years with Lateral Link, I am grateful and proud to work alongside them in what we can all say has been a rewarding career.”

MANAGING PRINCIPALS

Ryan Belville (Vanderbilt University School Of Law, J.D., 2002), now in his 14th year at Lateral Link, will remain Managing Principal. Based in New York, Ryan manages our East Coast offices and sits on the Executive Committee. He specializes in moving high-profile partners and groups into positions with elite law firms throughout the United States.

Scott Hodes (University of Florida, College of Law, J.D., 2001) is entering his 12th year with Lateral Link, where he oversees associate, counsel, and partner-level attorney placements at AmLaw 200 firms and top regional firms. Scott is based in the Southeast region and a member of the Executive Committee.

Gloria Noh Cannon (Loyola Law School, J.D., 1994) has now been with Lateral Link for 12 years. She oversees the California region and focuses on the placement of partners, counsel, and associates at law firms and companies. Prior to her promotion, Gloria was a Principal in our Los Angeles office. She sits on the Executive Committee and serves as our Chief Cultural Officer.

PRINCIPALS

Wendy Boone Jaikaran (Thurgood Marshall School Of Law, J.D., 2005) is now in her sixth year with Lateral Link.  Based in the Houston office, Wendy oversees our associate placements and client services in Texas. Prior to her promotion, Wendy was a Managing Director.

PARTNER AND GROUP PLACEMENTS — TEAM LEADERS

Gloria Sandrino (Harvard Law School, J.D., 1984), is entering her sixth year as a Principal. Gloria will remain and continue to focus exclusively on partner and group placements nationwide. Gloria also sits on the Executive Committee.

Jon Kahn (Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1990), is a Principal based in our New York office. After joining Lateral Link in 2019, Jon was promoted to Principal in 2020. Jon will focus on partner and group placements nationwide.

Ryan Belville (Vanderbilt University School Of Law, J.D., 2002), in addition to being Managing Principal of our East Coast offices and sitting on the Executive Committee, will specialize in placing partners and groups nationwide.

Congratulations to all!

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Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. This post is by David Lat, a managing director in the New York office, where he focuses on placing top associates, partners and partner groups into preeminent law firms around the country.

Prior to joining Lateral Link, David founded and served as managing editor of Above the Law. Prior to launching Above the Law, he worked as a federal prosecutor, a litigation associate at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz in New York, and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. David is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@laterallink.com.

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Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices worldwide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click here to find out more about us.

We’ve covered our share of the Conway family as the internal drama spilled over into a fight for the soul of the Republican Party, if not the country. But we’ve mostly avoided the topic of Claudia Conway, the social media influencer whose clashes with her mother — and a bizarre topless image allegation that brought the New Jersey police into the matter — have garnered more than a few headlines. That’s because, despite her voluntary entry to the world of influencing, we’ve more or less taken the stance that she’s 16 and doesn’t need to be dragged into the fights her dad wages against her mom’s old boss, former social media influencer Donald Trump.

But since this is a bit of good news for the Biglaw scion we figured it’s all right to turn the ATL spotlight on her.

On Sunday, Claudia will be appearing on American Idol to audition for a golden ticket as part of the show’s season premiere.

“I know that half the world sees me as a joke because of my parents and whatever bulls—. I’m just a 16-year-old with passions, and you know, trying to figure out the future. This is a really good opportunity. A really f—ing cool opportunity that I went with immediately, because if “American Idol” reaches out to you, you don’t say no,” she said.

While we’re all excited for Claudia, we have a personal stake in this too. Hopefully, the broadcast will feature a cameo from the high-stakes litigator in the inevitable soft-ball hype video before her performance.

Get excited, everyone!

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

“What good is first class if my brothers can’t sit? / That’s my next mission, that’s why I can’t quit / Just like LeBron, get my brothers more chips.” — J. Cole

This week, I had the opportunity to host a Clubhouse room with Chevazz Brown, TSU Thurgood Marshall School of Law alum, Jackson Walker partner, and DiversePro founder.

It’s been fantastic witnessing the number of attorneys joining Clubhouse every week. Meanwhile, some of us Texas attorneys are still struggling with Zoom. In any case, I’m prepared to move forward.

Several years ago, Brown noticed there was a dynamic market for connecting people in underrepresented, diverse, and military communities to lawyers from their respective communities who can understand and relate to them.

Three weeks ago, Brown launched DiversePro: a new, online community-focused directory that helps individual and business clients find lawyers with specific cultural, linguistic, and experiential competencies. DiversePro features 100,000+ lawyers around the U.S. in 67 practice areas and 270 specialties, including, specifically: women lawyers, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and lawyers who are military veterans and active duty. With this community tool, clients can choose from a wide selection of lawyers with diverse cultures, languages, and life experiences whose unique perspectives and skills can enhance legal services and improve outcomes.

During our Clubhouse chat, it became quite evident how much Brown cares about this market and how much time, capital, and sweat equity he has invested in this platform. I believe Brown has discovered a strong product-market fit for his community-focused directory. And I hope after learning a bit more about DiversePro, you will create or claim your profile!

Without further ado, here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation:

Renwei Chung (RC): I enjoyed our Clubhouse chat and noticed that most the room was filled by your network. Why did you join Clubhouse and what are your thoughts on how networking affects one’s career success?

Chevazz Brown (CB): A colleague learned of DiversePro and recommended Clubhouse as a way for me to share it with others. She invited me to join. Glad I did! It’s a great platform to learn from people outside your usual circles.

As for networking, if done right, it can positively affect one’s career. For me, my approach simply has been to make friends genuinely and without agenda. I’m enriched by those friendships, and those relationships have helped make my professional life meaningful.

RC: You mentioned a number of affinity groups during our conversation. Are there any particular programs that influenced you?

CB: I’m influenced by all of the great programming presented by those groups. But I’m most influenced by the leadership of those groups. In Houston, we formed the Coalition of Houston Diverse Bar Associations, consisting of:

• Asian American Bar Association of Houston
• Hispanic Bar Association of Houston
• Houston Lawyers Association
• Korean American Bar Association of Texas
• Mexican American Bar Association of Houston
• Middle Eastern Bar Association of Texas
• South Asian Bar Association of Houston

The Coalition amplifies our collective voice and the great work each group is doing individually to advance their community and diversity.

One significant initiative is to help bring greater diversity to our judiciary, particularly at the federal level in Houston — the most diverse metropolitan region in America. Our judiciary is most effective in satisfying the legal needs of the community when it reflects the community it serves.

RC: Why did you launch DiversePro?

CB: I saw a problem: Consumers in underrepresented and diverse communities lack dedicated tools and resources to efficiently find cultural, linguistic, and experiential competence that they want and need in lawyers.

So I created a community tool: an online lawyer directory that helps those communities, along with the military and business communities, find lawyers who truly get them or their customers because of a shared or specific culture, language, or life experience. Featured are women lawyers, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and lawyers who are veterans or active duty military.

RC: What type of research did you do, what surprised you, and what does success look like for DiversePro this year?

CB: I first researched how to start a business and what pitfalls to avoid. I then did research to validate the idea, consisting of market and platform validation. Very interesting. I learned:

• Technology has changed legal consumer behavior
• Legal consumers today are unpredictable, informed, connected, and picky
• They prefer self-help and research before contacting a lawyer
• 42% go online to research how to solve the legal issues themselves
• Of those who go online for self-help, over half also are researching lawyers online
• Overall, 31% of legal consumers research lawyers online
• There is significant room and demand for a platform like DiversePro
• Legal consumers view cultural, linguistic, and experiential competence as an enhancer

DiversePro’s first year will be a success if people are using the platform. In my analytic logs, I hope to see users conducting searches (e.g., immigration and Korean), using the “Message” or “Phone” feature (to contact lawyers), and using the “Share” feature (to share a lawyer’s profile with someone).

I also hope to see featured lawyers across the U.S. coming to DiversePro in droves to CLAIM OR CREATE their profile and sharing with the world what makes them and their community special.

I also hope to secure strategic partnerships with legal departments, like Coca-Cola, who may benefit from DiversePro as one of the many ways it finds diverse outside counsel talent in furtherance of its awesome diversity goals.

I want the success or failure of DiversePro to be tied directly to the success or failure of the communities it was designed to help. If I can do that, DiversePro will be a smashing success.

RC: What have you learned about yourself throughout the entrepreneur journey and during this COVID-19 era?

CB: I learned (or was reminded) of a couple things. First, I’m fortunate. I’m fortunate to be healthy and gainfully employed. So many folks are hurting right now. My heart goes out to them.

Second, I’ve got what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur –- the grit, the creativity, the problem-solving skills, the passion, and the support of friends and family.

RC: What made you want to initially enter the legal profession?

CB: Initially, tbh, Bobby Donnell -– the main character on the hit TV show The Practice. Loved him. His life as a trial lawyer piqued my interest. But, of course, I then did my research and got encouragement from a friend’s dad who was a lawyer in the Army JAG Corp. I sensed that the legal profession could open so many doors. I was sold. And I was right.

RC: What advice do you have for others who want to become partners at their respective law firms?

CB: Believe you can. Produce high-quality work product and exercise good judgment and work ethic. Do what is right. Be responsive and sensitive to the demands of your internal and external clients. Be proactive and creative in adding value to your firm. Network, i.e., make friends. Pursue leadership. And be nice.

RC: We covered Coca-Cola’s GC Bradley Grayton’s letter establishing new outside counsel guidelines for its U.S.-based firms. What are your thoughts on this?

CB: Love it. Kudos to Mr. Grayton and Coca-Cola for demonstrating leadership, resolve, and character. I hope it inspires other legal consumers to take similar steps to help move the needle.

There is an economic solution to lack of diversity and lack of professional equality in our profession. What Coca-Cola, DiversePro, and others are doing advances the economic solution.

RC: We touched a bit about the importance of mental health care in the legal industry. Can you share your thoughts about this with our audience?

CB: It’s difficult sometimes to accept that mental health applies to you. It applies to everyone. Our profession is hard. And it can take a toll. Be mindful of the need for balance, meaningful breaks, and professional help or help generally. I regret not being mindful of those things earlier in my career.

Take care of yourselves.

RC: Thank you for your time today, is there anything else you would like to share with the ATL audience?

CB: Thanks for reading. Please share DiversePro with your family, friends, and networks. And if you are a woman lawyer, lawyer of color, LGBTQ+ lawyer, lawyer with a disability, or lawyer who is a veteran or active duty military — please CLAIM OR CREATE your profile on DiversePro today.

Lastly, feel free to learn more on:

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Chevazz Brown for taking the time to share his story with our audience. We look forward to following his successes and wish him continued achievements in his career.

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Where were you when the masses combined forces online to “meme” hedge funds out of billions of dollars? If you’ve been remotely tuned into the cultural conversation the past few weeks, you’re aware that Reddit drove the price of GameStop shares halfway to the moon. If you somehow don’t know what I’m talking about, grab your popcorn and read one of the many, many explainers available online. Once you’re caught up, let’s discuss what GameStop could portend for the coming years in the legal system.

Like A Horde of Locusts With Brokerage Accounts

I see the GameStop story as primarily one about what happens when we combine broadening public access to a service with unexpectedly effective coordination of the public’s attention. The New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792, but it wasn’t until internet access became ubiquitous in the mid-90s that everyday Americans started to have the ability to meaningfully engage in the stock market. While early pioneers such as E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade are still around, they remained largely desktop-based platforms.

At the epicenter of the GameStop mania is a company called Robinhood. Robinhood is designed to be a visually appealing, phone-based experience, incorporating ease-of-use for newbies and robust analytics for the wonkier set. Rather than charging for trades like most other brokers, it lets users trade stocks and options without any fees, instead following the Facebook model of monetizing users’ data. The formula is a hit. As the pandemic kept young adults home, leaving them with ample free time and disposable income, Robinhood experienced massive userbase growth. Stock trading had become available to the masses on an entirely new scale.

What no one expected to happen was for those millions of new investors to all start working together. The stock market generally works on the assumption that its participants are “rational actors” making independent decisions. But GameStop has shown us how malleable that decision-making process can be. A few trusted names on an influential subreddit posted a strong argument that GameStop was ripe for a short squeeze. The newly empowered Robinhood investors bought that analysis, and then bought the stock itself en masse. They materially moved the market, hedge funds took billions in losses, and the retail investors celebrated their new riches.

But that was not the end of the story. As I write this piece, GameStop’s stock price is predictably coming back down to earth, and many of the retail investors who jumped in on the upward spike are now facing significant losses. Robinhood is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly preventing users from continuing to drive GameStop’s share price higher. Even with millions of new players, the basic game of the stock market remains unchanged. Some investors win and some lose. What’s fundamentally changed, however, is the number of everyday people involved, and the recognition of the massive power those folks can have if they work together.

What It Means For Us

I and many others have written about the unconscionable difficulty many individuals have with getting access to legal representation, or even basic justice. Lawyers are expensive, and many people can’t scrape together the funds for an hour of legal consultation, much less a retainer for full representation of their rights. This has been a long-standing, endemic problem in our industry, and it’s one we’re only just now starting to make concerted efforts to address. Some states, including Arizona and Utah, have begun experimenting with alternative forms of legal representation designed to get more innovation and legal services into the system, in hopes of creating new, more affordable models of legal assistance.

Although increasing access to the legal system is a good thing, we need to plan for the unexpected ways those everyday people can spontaneously coordinate their actions and place unimaginable stress on our systems. Specifically, what happens when the Robinhood of legal services comes along, and filing a lawsuit becomes a trivial task that can be accomplished during a bathroom break? Because that app may already be here.

The Horde Hits The Courthouse

Imagine that an influential Redditor posts an argument that ABC Corp. has caused millions of individuals some tiny degree of legally compensable harm. In the old days, getting that harm addressed would have required a team of class-action attorneys to gamble their time and resources on a single large lawsuit, which ABC Corp. could have defended with its own team of lawyers and eventually settled. But say the Redditor who posts their analysis also posts a link to the DoNotPay app, which I’ve profiled previously, and notes how simple it can be to file a small claims lawsuit against ABC Corp. if you just pull your local court’s forms off the app. The DoNotPay concept itself is groundbreaking, so much so that famed Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel jumped on board. But what happens when, instead of one unwieldly class-action case in a single court, hundreds of thousands of small claims cases can be filed in a few days across the nation against a single defendant?

At first glance, one could argue this would be a David-and-Goliath moment, another opportunity for the traditionally powerless to flex their collective muscle. And it may well be for people who’ve suffered genuine harm that would previously go without redress. But the answer may not be that simple –– particularly if an unscrupulous or misguided Redditor targets a business with a meritless theory or claim. Many of our lower court systems are already taxed to their limits and couldn’t handle thousands of new cases flooding in over a week or two. Many defendants, for that matter, would be bankrupted just trying to review and answer the cases filed against them, much less substantively litigate them. But those costs are only huge for the institutional actors. The retail-level litigant gets to join in the fun of taking down an internet villain for the low cost of a small claims filing fee and process server.

Whether it’s stock trading or advocating for one’s legal rights, increasing access for the everyday user is going to be an overall gain for society. The internet’s fundamental strengths are its ability to facilitate the exchange of ideas, help people do things they couldn’t previously do, and coordinate efforts in new ways. If you’ve got a great idea for a project, you can pitch it and get funding on Kickstarter. If you want to support a worthy cause, you can launch a GoFundMe page. Individuals have incredible power when they work together toward common goals, and the internet makes that easier than it’s ever been in human history.

What we need to prepare for as an industry is when that massive strength comes to bear on us or is used in unexpected ways.

The experiments in increasing public access to the legal system should without question continue and be vigorously pursued. There is little doubt much good will come from it. But post-GameStop, we must stop to think through the unintended uses of that newfound power to make sure we account for it in a way that is a benefit to all of society and fulfills the objectives of regulatory reform.

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James Goodnow is the CEO and managing partner of NLJ 250 firm Fennemore Craig. At age 36, he became the youngest known chief executive of a large law firm in the U.S. He holds his JD from Harvard Law School and dual business management certificates from MIT. He’s currently attending the Cambridge University Judge Business School (U.K.), where he’s working toward a master’s degree in entrepreneurship. James is the co-author of Motivating Millennials, which hit number one on Amazon in the business management new release category. As a practitioner, he and his colleagues created and run a tech-based plaintiffs’ practice and business model. You can connect with James on Twitter (@JamesGoodnow) or by emailing him at James@JamesGoodnow.com.

Elon Musk is famously prickly when regulatory authorities have the temerity to tell him what he can and can’t do, and isn’t shy about making his unhappiness quite clear. So we’re sure, in the wake of this fiery little hiccup, he’ll be equally blunt and forthright in the face of authoritarian impertinence towards his towering and unquestionable genius, yes?

We’ve made it to Friday, so it’s time to take stock of where we are. With an impeachment trial and the wholesale restaffing of the Department of Justice, it’s pretty clear what quote lords over a week of fast-paced legal news.

I’m here live, I’m not a cat.

It looks like the phenomenon of lawyers who are definitely not cats has spread to Florida. A quick perusal of the attorney profiles at Losey PLLC turned up a new lawyer for the firm.

OK, I’m curious. I hope that’s not an instinct that might get one into trouble….

I.M. is a cat is a human who does human work and advises human companies and human investors in early stage, venture capital, private equity, and M&A (meow and agitate) transactions. He also serves as day-to-day corporate counsel on a variety of governance and other matters, having worked with many companies throughout the U.S. and across a wide range of industries, with a focus on fisheries, aquaculture, and controlled substances (commonly known as “cat nip”).

Sounds legit. Are there puns? You bet there are puns:

He graduated summa purr laude from the University of Nowhere’s Kitten College of Law, and served as the editor of the Paw Review, receiving accolades for his seminal work Tort Consequences of Clawing and Scratching, 60 Kit. P. Rev. 1184 (2008).

Nice. Check out the whole profile for some more tidbits, including I.M.’s favorite football teams… you’ll never guess.

Good of Losey PLLC to have a sense of humor and take some time out of their busy days to do some kitten around.

Earlier: Lawyer Tells Judge ‘I’m Not A Cat’ In The Best Zoom Court Mishap Yet

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

* A Florida lawyer who became famous dressing up as the “grim reaper” on beaches to warn about COVID-19 may face discipline for an appeal he filed. Hope he didn’t wear the “grim reaper” outfit to court… [ABC News]

* Megan Markle won a lawsuit against a company that published portions of a private letter she wrote to her father. [Harper’s Bazaar]

* Check out this group of Harvard Law grads who are trying to eliminate harassments and discrimination in the legal profession. [New York Times]

* Bruce Springsteen has hired a New Jersey legal eagle to defend himself in a DWI case. [New York Post]

* Since Above the Law hasn’t had a “Lawyerly Lairs” segment in a while, just wanted to relate that a lawyer just bought a multi-million-dollar waterfront mansion in Jupiter, California. Check out the sweet digs in the article. [Real Deal]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

While you’re busy watching the House impeachment managers do their business in the second Trump impeachment, can you name ANY of the House managers in the nation’s first presidential impeachment?

Hint: There were two from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and one each from Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois.

See the answer on the next page.

The State Bar of California disciplinary system deserves scrutiny: does it drop the hammer on more small-firm lawyers and solos than larger-firm lawyers? Does it drop the hammer on minority lawyers more than majority lawyers? The answer to both questions is yes, and I am not the only one who thinks that. It’s all well and good for the State Bar to encourage people to become lawyers, but drop-kicking them once they passed the bar is not so helpful as discipline can range from private reproval to disbarment.

One of the things (among many) that has griped attorneys here in California (and I would guess elsewhere as well) is the apparent predilection of the disciplinary system to go after solo and small practitioners, leaving attorneys in Biglaw and other large firms to go scot-free when they violate the State Bar Act or the Rules of Professional Conduct. Solos and small firm lawyers are pretty much left to their own devices once in the grip of the disciplinary system. There is the sense that discipline falls unfairly on these lawyers, who may also be members of minority groups. That perception and the reality both must change if equality is to be more than just words.

In the effort to show that the State Bar really cares about racial equality, that it is more than just words and gold stars on a report card, identification of “disproportionate discipline” has prompted the Board of Trustees to direct “staff to develop, implement, and evaluate several reforms that address findings related to the disproportionate discipline imposed in particular on Black male attorneys.”

After a case has wended its way through the trial and reviewing bodies of the State Bar Court, the California Supreme Court has the final say on discipline matters. Now pending is the Harper on Discipline case, in which the Court has granted Harper’s petition for review of the discipline imposed. The discipline arose out of a reported event of an overdraft on Harper’s client trust account.

The Court has remanded the case to the State Bar Hearing Department for “further evidentiary hearings to determine whether the State Bar’s facially neutral disciplinary practices at issue, including but not limited to the weight given to petitioner’s previous discipline for reportable bank matters, had the effect of discriminating against Harper on the basis of race.”

Further, the Court’s order requires that the “State Bar must determine whether Harper was disciplined more harshly than any other similarly situated white male attorney.” Harper will be allowed to obtain all of the data in two recent studies that the State Bar commissioned.

One is the Farkas study, conducted by Professor George Farkas of the University of California, Irvine, which looked at racial disparities in attorney discipline. The Farkas study found significant differences between discipline rates of Black male and white male attorneys. The study also showed the sole practitioners are more likely to be disciplined than attorneys in larger firms. I am not surprised by that; are you?

After the State Bar trustees reviewed the Farkas report, they commissioned Professor Christopher Robertson of Boston University to evaluate the Farkas report and make recommendations, which he did. Among the recommendations: archive five years of prior complaints. Given the disproportionate number of complaints filed against Black male attorneys, the issue becomes whether “priors” affect decisions on whether to file charges. Another recommendation: creation of a support system to help attorneys at higher risk of future complaints. That system could include both intervention and outreach programs. No attorney welcomes an encounter with the disciplinary system.

The State Bar has created an Ad Hoc Commission on Lawyer Discipline. The Commission, whose members were recently announced, is composed of a variety of lawyers in different practices and representing diverse groups. It will be responsible for reviewing changes already made in the discipline system and suggesting further changes, if necessary, for public protection.

However, the State Bar has reopened the application process for selecting members of the Commission to “seek representation on the commission of groups found to be most disproportionately impacted by the discipline system.” As stated on the State Bar’s website, “the goal of the commission will be to broadly examine the attorney discipline and work to create a fairer, more effective system for attorneys and the public alike.” I was not surprised by the application reopening because when I looked at the current members appointed to the Commission, I thought minority representation was insufficient.

Right now, there are two events running on parallel tracks: the Ad Hoc Commission on Lawyer Discipline and the remand to the State Bar Court to hold evidentiary hearings on whether Harper’s discipline was race-based discrimination.

Given the time that agencies can take on these issues, it’s anyone’s guess as to when either or both will be completed, what the results will show, what steps, if any, the State Bar will take in response, and what the Supreme Court will decide about Harper’s discipline.

Meanwhile, several public interest law firms have filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Superior Court for issues arising out of the pandemic and how the Court is managing them or not. Two court interpreters in the Stanley Mosk courthouse in downtown Los Angeles have died of COVID-19. The court is not requiring temperature checks to enter courthouses, not monitoring how many people can enter an elevator at the same time, not ensuring the masking requirement, but it is continuing with evictions and traffic matters.

To be fair, there’s no playbook for how to manage courts during a pandemic, but there will be many post-mortems about what courts should have and could have done differently. I hope there will be lessons learned during this time of limited, or no, access to justice.

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Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.