Lookzy: all your daily legal news in 0.1 billable hours. Litigation, deals, lateral moves and industry news; we cover it all. 

Welcome to Lookzy.  In today's Lookzy:

• The SEC strikes at crypto staking

• Gibson Dunn and Facebook get sanctioned for gaslighting

• Forbes worries CFIUS will strike down its sale

• Perkins increased its billable hour minimum 5 months into the year

LOOKZY POLL READER RESULTS

On Monday, we asked you to participate in two polls as part of a new regular series where we leverage Lookzy's unique readership to gain insight into the state of the legal industry.  

We asked two key questions:

• What will be 2023's biggest legal issue?

• When do you expect work will tick up this year?

Let's break down the results below. 

First, what will be 2023's biggest legal issue?

There was a clear winner: most Lookzy respondents believe that antitrust will be 2023's biggest legal issue.  This is likely already clear given the number of antitrust and FTC-related stories appear in Lookzy every morning, and the number of key strategic hires law firms are making in this space - even going so far as to open DC offices in certain cases.  

Respondents' reasoning was quite unambiguous:

Second, when do you expect work will tick up this year?

The leading answer here was even more unambiguous than with our first poll.  Over 75% of respondents are looking to Q2 2023 for work to tick up and their billables to match.  Only time will tell as to whether this outlook is optimistic or on the nose.

Miss your opportunity to participate in these polls?  More will be coming soon, and as always, we'll report back all results.  Participation and responses to all polls remain fully anonymous (even to us!).  

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ECON SNAPSHOT

The difference between special bonuses and layoffs

THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Kraken down.  Crypto exchange Payward Ventures Inc., aka Kraken, agreed to shutter its staking service and pay a $30 million fine to settle SEC charges that the staking service was an unregistered security.  The kicker?  The IRS is now seeking court approval to identify Kraken customers to ensure customers in Kraken's staking service are properly paying taxes on that staking income.  

NFL v. healthcare.  Ten retired NFL players including former Buffalo Bills running back Willis McGahee sued the NFL's benefits plan in Maryland federal court, alleging that the plan wrongfully denies disability claims through "disturbing pattern of erroneous and arbitrary benefits denials, bad faith contract misinterpretations, and other unscrupulous tactics".  

Gaslighting.  Facebook and its counsel, Gibson Dunn, must together pay $925,000 in sanctions due to their "unusually egregious and persistent" misconduct in gaslighting opponents and delaying discovery in an attempt to get a lower settlement amount in the multidistrict Cambridge Analytica litigation.  

737 MAX.  A Texas federal judge ruled that Boeing's January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement related to the 737 MAX crash cannot now be reopened or rejected, denying a legal bid by victims' families which caused Boeing to be arraigned last month.  

Rail wars.  After two recent rulings rejected most of rail company CSX Transportation Inc.'s antitrust claims against rival Norfolk Southern, CSX is seeking an appeal to the Fourth Circuit.  CSX claimed that Norfolk Southern is using its majority stake in a small jointly-owned railroad to block CSX's access.  At the District Court level, McGuireWoods represented CSX and Skadden represented Norfolk Southern.  

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

CFIUS fears.  Bankers for Forbes, the iconic media brand, are seeking to find additional US investors to participate in the proposed sale of Forbes to Shiv Khemka, an Indian billionaire whose fortune was amassed over decades living in Russia, due to concerns that CFIUS could block the deal.  Forbes owners are seeking to sell the company to Khemka and Silicon Valley VC GSV for approximately $800 million.  

Sumo deal.  Investment firm Francisco Partners agreed to acquire SaaS company Sumo Logic for $1.7 billion in cash and take the company private.  Wilson Sonsini is representing Sumo and Kirkland is representing Francisco Partners.  

Antitrust sidestep.  In an effort to overcome antitrust concerns over its proposed $13.1 billion acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange Inc., mortgage data vendor Black Knight Inc. is reportedly seeking to sell Empower, its loan origination software business.  ICE had previously received a FTC 'second request' regarding the proposed acquisition.  

Disney proxy.  Following Disney CEO Bob Iger's unveiled dramatic restructuring of Disney, activist investor Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management announced that he is ending his proxy fight with the company.  

Low bid.  A consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners submitted a final bid of $15.2 billion to acquire Toshiba, nearly $100 million lower than the current market value of the company.  JIP confirmed it had now secured over $10.6 billion in financing commitments for the potential buyout.  

BUSINESS OF THE FIRM

Lateral Moves: 

• Orrick hired partner Hagit Muriel Elul from Hughes Hubbard & Reed.

• White & Case hired partner Joel Cohen from Gibson Dunn.

Industry News: 

• Cyberattack.  Troutman Pepper's network was down after being hit by a cyberattack. With even voicemail down, attorneys were reportedly instructed to use personal emails if needed and OK with clients.

• Billable rug pull. Perkins Coie increased its annual billable hour minimum from 1950 to 2000 hours. Although this is small relative increase, the move prompted associate outcry because it applies to the current billable year, which for Perkins associates starts in October. Meeting the original 1950 hours minimum but missing the new 2000 hour minimum will result in associates only receiving half of a market bonus.

• Rebrand. St. Thomas University School of Law rebranded as the Benjamin L. Crump College of Law, naming the school after the prominent civil rights attorney who has represented many families of Black victims of violence, including those of Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor.

BOILERPLATE

Alright, back to billing.  That's all, folks!