Reddit just sued Australia over its new law that bans anyone under 16 from using social media platforms, even though the company already started blocking young users this week. The case landed in Australia's High Court and argues the blanket ban is way too broad, messes with adult privacy and free speech, and does not actually help kids like the government claims.
The platform says forcing everyone to verify their age creates security risks and cuts teenagers off from important conversations. Reddit pointed out that the Australian Human Rights Commission already flagged concerns about less extreme options that would not trash human rights as much. The company stressed it is not trying to dodge the rules and will keep working with...
CMS just rolled out Harvey's AI software to over 7,000 attorneys across 50-plus countries, which the firm says is the biggest Harvey deployment at any major law shop. The tech has been cutting down each lawyer's workload by roughly 118 hours annually, or about half an hour daily, by automating contract reviews and due diligence grunt work.
The firm's been using Harvey's transcription tools to convert audio files into text when putting together witness statements, which apparently saves tons of manual labor time. CMS also runs Microsoft Copilot and Relativity aiR alongside Harvey, and they tested over a dozen generative AI platforms this year.
Harvey recently closed another funding round that valued the company at $8 billion, pulling...
Ropes & Gray just brought on Gretchen Greene from Meta to run their AI strategy as chief of artificial intelligence strategy. Greene used to handle AI rollout for Meta's policy and legal squads, and she actually started her career as a tax attorney at Ropes & Gray before jumping into tech. The Boston-based firm has over 1,500 legal professionals globally, and they're letting first-year associates burn about 20 percent of their billable hours just messing around with AI tools.
The firm already uses Hebbia's AI-powered software for document review and data crunching during deals. Other big firms like Akin and McDermott are hiring similar AI chiefs, while Linklaters recently built a 20-lawyer AI team to train everyone else on the tech...
The Bar Council of England and Wales just tapped Jim Morris, a former Royal Marine and ex-military assistant to the prime minister, as its next CEO. Morris currently works as chief of staff at tech company VoCoVo and will replace Malcolm Cree, who is stepping down after running the organization for eight years. He starts in March.
Morris has a pretty stacked military background, starting his service back in 1987 and eventually becoming a Major General. He was the first military assistant to a prime minister since World War II when he worked for David Cameron at No. 10. The guy got decorated for his leadership in Afghanistan with a Distinguished Service Order and later picked up a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Cree also came from...
Sidley Austin just promoted 29 lawyers to partner across its US and European offices, which is actually down from the 38 people who made it last year. The firm also bumped 15 people up to counsel this round. Women represent just under half the new partner class, and the promotions kick in starting in January. New York led with nine new partners, followed by Chicago with six and Washington, DC with four. London got three promotions, with private equity attorney Florian Kamp, disputes lawyer Jonathan Lafferty, and finance specialist Azeem Sulemanji.
Global finance saw the most action with five partner promotions, while commercial litigation and private equity each added four. The rest of the new partners spread across restructuring, M&A...
Pallas Partners is dropping bonuses on its associates and counsel that actually beat what Cravath set as the standard, with top performers potentially walking away with $232k total. The transatlantic litigation boutique operates out of New York and London with just 21 junior lawyers, and its smaller headcount lets it go harder than the massive firms can manage.
The breakdown works like this: base bonuses run from $20k to $115k depending on seniority, matching what Cravath announced, plus special bonuses and extra cash for people who crush their billing hours. Associates need to hit 2,000 hours to qualify for anything, but those grinding out 2,500-plus hours can snag an additional $16k to $92k on top of everything else.
Other boutiques...
Christian Dior Couture's senior privacy and compliance director just got tapped for the Luxury Law Alliance advisory board. Benedicte Bayi-Mathijsen works out of New York, handling legal requirements and turning them into actual business strategies while training employees on risk management across different departments. She speaks both English and French while counseling teams on product features and agreements.
Her resume includes private practice stints before landing in-house roles at Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, and a hospitality company over in Paris. The advisory board already has heavyweights from Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, and a bunch of other luxury brands backing the alliance.
Norton Rose Fulbright promoted 51 lawyers to partner across 22 offices worldwide, and women made up 51 percent of the new class after last year dipped to just 35 percent. The bulk of promotions went to North America, with 30 spots split between the US and Canada, while London grabbed 10 slots and Australia snagged six. New co-global managing partners Peter Scott and Jeff Cody oversaw the round after taking over when former CEO Gerry Pecht bounced.
The firm pulled in $2.4 billion in global revenue while profits per equity partner hit $1.6 million, and litigation snagged 14 promotions as the top practice area. Two people got promoted in South Africa even though the 120-lawyer office is splitting off next year, which means the firm loses...
Three biotech outfits just brought in fresh legal chiefs as venture capital money starts flowing back into the sector after getting wrecked for two years straight. Sudo Biosciences grabbed Paul Bavier from HilleVax to be their first-ever chief legal officer, PepGen made Joseph Vittiglio the top business and legal guy after he spent months consulting for them, and Tonix Pharmaceuticals tapped Irina Ishak from Lowenstein Sandler, where she already repped them as outside counsel since 2017.
Bavier brings decades of experience handling IPOs and acquisitions, while Sudo works on anti-inflammatory drugs for autoimmune conditions. Vittiglio previously held the same role at Bluebird Bio before jumping to PepGen, which develops treatments for...
