The
state-owned
miner
is
partnering
with two
Chinese
metals
giants to
build
the
600,000
metric
ton
per
year
lithium
concentrator.
The
two
firms
will
build
and
operate
the
plant
for
a
minimum
of
five
years,
before
transferring
it
back
to
Kuvimba.
Barnard
declined
to
name
the
companies,
citing
ongoing
talks.
“We
are
still
finalising
the
last
few
agreements
that
we
need
to
put
in
place
and
making
sure
we
have
all
the
necessary
and
compatible
industry
conditions
for
our
partner
to
start
construction,”
Barnard
told
reporters.
“We
are
looking
at
breaking
ground
in
the
third
quarter,”
he
added.
Kuvimba,
which
has
been
stockpiling
lithium
ore
at
Sandawana,
has
been
hauling
some
of
it
to
a
processing
plant
in
Gwanda,
owned
by
Chinese
nickel
and
steel
giant
Tsingshan
Holding
Group.
Barnard
said
the
targeted
completion
of
the
Sandawana
lithium
concentrator
could
coincide
with
a
recovery
in
the
price
of
the
battery
metal.
A supply
glut mainly
driven
by
Chinese
output
has
caused
lithium
prices
to
plunge
nearly
90%
over
the
past
two
years,
forcing
miners
to
halt
projects
and
cut
jobs.
However,
analysts
say
those
production
cuts
and
robust
electric
vehicle
sales
in
China
could
propel
lithium
demand
above
supply
this
year.
“Our
forecast
is
that
lithium
prices
will
recover
sometime
in
the
year
2027,
right
at
a
point
in
time
when
we
expect
the
concentration
plant
to
be
in
production,”
Barnard
said.
Zimbabwe,
Africa’s
top
lithium
producer,
has
said
it
will ban the
export
of
lithium
concentrates
from
2027
to
push
for
more
local
processing.
By
then,
the
government
expects
Zhejiang
Huayou
Cobalt (603799.SS),
opens
new
tab and
Sinomine (002738.SZ),
opens
new
tab to
have
completed
facilities
for
further
processing
in
the
country.
Reporting
by
Chris
Takudzwa
Muronzi.
Editing
by
Nelson
Banya
and
Mark
Potter
You
have
the
right
to
remain
silent,
Alan
Dershowitz.
No
one
is
making
you
run
to
the
Wall
Street
Journal
and
remind
us
again
that
you
are
up
to
your
underpants
—
which
you
never
took
off!
—
in
the
Jeffrey
Epstein
mess.
Four
years
ago,
when
Dersh
was
a
sprightly
81-year-old,
we
opined
that
someone
who
loved
him
should
take
his
phone
and
throw
it
into
the
ocean.
Quick!
Do
it
now,
while
he’s
weeping
in
the
waves
that
no
one
wants
to
join
him
for
a
no-pants
picnic
at
his
favorite
nude
beach
on
Martha’s
Vineyard!
If
this
guy
would
just
STFU
for
ten
minutes,
maybe
people
would
forget
about
the
role
he
played
in
getting
Epstein
that
disgraceful
plea
deal
in
Florida.
Or
that
Dersh
characterized
Epstein’s
child
victims
as
prostitutes.
Or
that
he
engaged
in
a
years-long
flame
war
with
one
of
those
victims,
the
late
Virginia
Giuffre,
and
her
lawyer,
David
Boies.
Sadly,
it
was
not
meant
to
be.
Instead
Dersh
spent
the
past
four
years
selling
himself
as
some
kind
of
apostate
liberal
and
shilling
for
pillow
pumping
loons
like
Mike
Lindell.
So
it’s
not
exactly
surprising
that
at
the
very
moment
the
flames
of
the
scandal
threaten
to
engulf
the
Trump
administration,
the
professor
is
racing
in
from
stage
right,
stripping
down
to
his
skivvies
and
diving
into
the
fire.
The
WSJ
piece
promises
“The
Inside
Scoop
on
Jeffrey
Epstein.”
“I
was
his
lawyer.
I
know
things
that
court
orders
won’t
allow
me
to
disclose,”
he
vamps
in
the
subhed.
But
like
an
aging
burlesque
dancer,
he
leans
heavy
into
winking
titillation,
covering
up
the
bits
that
might
offend
his
viewers’
delicate
sensibilities.
Dershowitz
says
there
is
no
“client
list,”
and
also
no
one
you
know
is
on
it:
Epstein
never
created
a
“client
list.”
The
FBI
interviewed
alleged
victims
who
named
several
“clients.”
These
names
have
been
redacted.
They
should
be
disclosed
but
the
courts
have
ordered
them
sealed.
I
know
who
they
are.
They
don’t
include
any
current
officeholders.
Last
week,
the
DOJ
said
that
“The
files
relating
to
Epstein
include
a
large
volume
of
images
of
Epstein,
images
and
videos
of
victims
who
are
either
minors
or
appear
to
be
minors,
and
over
ten
thousand
downloaded
videos
and
images
of
illegal
child
sex
abuse
material
and
other
pornography.”
But
Dersh
says
that
the
only
tapes
“are
of
public
areas
of
his
Palm
Beach,
Fla.,
home,”
and
the
camera
was
installed
by
cops
after
a
burglary.
He
did
not
say
when
he
made
this
discovery.
I
hope
Epstein
made
videos There
have
been
suggestions
that
Epstein
made
secret
videos
of
all
the
men
who
had
sex
in
his
houses
and
planes.
I
hope
he
did
and
they
are
all
revealed,
because
they
will
prove
I
am
not
among
them.
I
hereby
waive
any
right
of
privacy
in
Epstein
videos.
Dershowitz
says
that
President
Trump
is
pure
and
innocent,
Epstein
was
never
a
Mossad
agent
according
to
“my
sources
in
Israel,”
and
the
notorious
pedophile
probably
killed
himself
after
being
deliberately
left
alone
by
his
jailers.
He
did
not
repeat
his
prior
tirade
against
age
of
consent
laws.
I
challenge
my
readers
to
distinguish
the
cases,
as
a
matter
of
constitutional
law.
I
did
not
suggest
that
it
is
moral
to
have
sex
with
a
16
year
old,
but
rather
that
the
issue
presents
a
constitutional
conundrum
worthy
of
discussion.
2/
Instead
he
tut-tutted
about
“gossip
mongers”
annoyed
when
“stubborn
facts
(or
the
absence
of
facts)
get
in
the
way
of
a
juicy
theory.”
“Sorry
to
disappoint
you,
but
there
is
really
nothing
much
to
see
here,
beyond
what
has
already
been
disclosed,”
he
concluded,
reminding
us
all
that
he’s
got
nothing
to
say,
and
he’s
going
to
keep
saying
it
in
our
faces
as
long
as
he’s
able.
Speed
limits
are
kind
of
like
the
15
drink
per
day
limit
on
the
Carnival
Cruise
line.
Is
it
annoying?
Sure,
but
at
some
point
you
recognize
that
limits
are
placed
on
people
to
ensure
public
safety.
As
nice
as
it
is
to
get
home
right
after
work,
going
20
miles
over
the
speed
limit
invites
cops
who
are
zealous
(or
need
to
meet
quota)
to
pull
you
over
and
wave
their
fingers
at
you.
Everyone
knows
this,
especially
lawyers.
That
didn’t
prevent
Sandra
Doorley
from
trying
to
“Do
you
know
who
I
am?”
her
way
out
of
a
traffic
violation.
Back
in
April
of
last
year,
we
covered
her
tantrum
and
subsequent
apology
for
her
behavior.
As
it
turns
out,
sorry
just
didn’t
cut
it.
Law.com
has
coverage:
New
York’s
prosecutorial
misconduct
watchdog
issued
its
long-awaited
first
public
adjudication
on
Tuesday,
announcing
that
Monroe
County
District
Attorney
Sandra
Doorley
has
agreed
that
she
should
be
censured
for
seeking
special
treatment
during
an
attempted
police
stop
for
speeding.
Doorley
has
indicated
her
intent
to
retire,
according
to
the
determination
by
the
Commission
on
Prosecutorial
Conduct.
If
you
haven’t
seen
the
traffic
stop,
you
can
watch
the
cop
cam
footage
of
her
getting
indignant
about
being
told
she
can’t
go
55
in
a
35:
Hopefully
she
keeps
the
traffic
violations
to
a
minimum.
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.
In
its
2024
Annual
Report,
ZimRights
said
the
violations,
ranging
from
forced
displacement
to
restricted
access
to
social
services,
“highlight
systemic
failures
and
a
politicisation
of
basic
rights
and
services,”
pointing
to
a
worsening
national
human
rights
climate.
“The
data
on
perpetrators
reveals
a
troubling
trend,”
the
report
states.
“ZANU
PF
members
were
identified
as
responsible
for
1
359
violations,
followed
by
local
government
officials
and
police
forces.”
The
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
(ZRP)
was
linked
to
4
697
incidents,
raising
further
concerns
about
the
use
of
law
enforcement
to
silence
dissent.
The
report
notes
that
4457
women
and
3,822
men
were
victims
of
abuses,
including
109
people
with
disabilities.
Urban
centres
such
as
Harare
and
Bulawayo
recorded
the
highest
rates,
with
1,170
females
and
912
males
affected
in
the
capital
alone.
ZimRights
said
the
leading
types
of
violations
included
unjustified
arrests,
inhuman
treatment,
abductions,
hate
speech,
restricted
movement,
and
politically
biased
food
aid.
“4,687
individuals
were
affected
by
restricted
access
to
social
services,”
it
stated,
“indicating
systemic
barriers
to
essential
services,
likely
exacerbated
by
political
affiliations.”
The
organisation
is
also
campaigning
for
the
repeal
of
the
colonial-era
Vagrancy
Act,
which
it
says
“criminalises
homelessness
and
disproportionately
impacts
vulnerable
populations.”
On
31
July
2024,
ZimRights
submitted
a
petition
to
Parliament.
“A
key
victory
this
year
was
securing
an
audience
in
Parliament
to
present
our
petition
to
repeal
the
Vagrancy
Act,”
the
organisation
said,
describing
the
effort
as
a
testament
to
“the
power
of
grassroots
mobilisation
and
the
vital
role
local
communities
play
in
driving
legal
reforms.”
ZimRights
presented
evidence
to
the
Parliamentary
Portfolio
Committee
on
Defence,
Home
Affairs,
War
Veterans,
and
Security
Services,
highlighting
the
Act’s
incompatibility
with
Zimbabwe’s
Constitution
and
the
African
Charter
on
Human
and
Peoples’
Rights.
Despite
the
climate
of
repression,
the
report
describes
2024
as
“a
year
of
impact
and
transformation.”
ZimRights
recruited
2
057
new
members,
formed
96
Human
Rights
Action
Committees,
and
hosted
52
legal
aid
clinics
across
the
country.
“Our
approach
is
clear:
shifting
power
to
the
people.
We
believe
real
change
starts
at
the
community
level,”
the
report
says.
The
launch
of
the
CollectiVibe
digital
platform
also
marked
a
new
era
of
digital
mobilisation.
“The
platform
revolutionised
how
we
engage
with
communities,
enabling
real-time
collaboration
and
advocacy,”
the
organisation
noted.
HARARE-
More
than
144
sites
in
Harare
have
been
invaded
by
land
barons
resulting
in
the
city
going
to
the
courts
for
recourse,
parliament
heard
this
Monday.
This
comes
as
Harare
has
seen
an
influx
of
buildings
being
built
on
wetlands
and
other
places,
including
roadsides.
Admond
Nhekairo,
the
housing
director
for
Harare,
told
parliament’s
thematic
committee
on
climate
change
that
the
land
barons,
do
not
stop
there,
but
use
“lawfare”
to
frustrate
the
city’s
efforts
to
curb
rampant
lawlessness.
He
said
this
has
resulted
in
illegal
developments
proceeding
while
court
processes
drag
on,
sometimes
for
years.
Nhekairo
told
MPs:
“There
is
now
a
tendency
by
some
of
these
invaders,
what
I
can
call
lawfare,
where
they
quickly
rush
to
the
courts
with
dirty
hands
and
apply
for,
say,
spoliation
orders,
where
they
seek
to
regain
what
they
feel
they
are
being
repossessed
in
terms
of
that
piece
of
land.
And
we
will
be
in
courts
for
two
years.
“Meanwhile,
developments
will
be
taking
shape.
When
council
finally
wins
its
case,
we
now
take
restorative
action
to
ensure
that
whatever
has
been
done
wrongly
is
rectified.
“This
is
the
challenge
that
we
are
having,
but
when
I
spoke
of
144
sites
invaded,
I
was
basically
talking
of
the
preponderance
by
land
barons
to
take
occupation
of
municipal
land
illegally.”
At
the
same
meeting,
the
Environmental
Management
Agency
said
at
least
152
applications
for
the
development
of
wetlands
from
developers
and
proposed
subdivisions
by
the
City
of
Harare
have
been
lodged
for
regularisation.
“The
agency
has
so
far
received
a
total
of
152
applications
for
proposed
developments
in
wetlands,
it’s
quite
a
huge
number
and
these
applications
includes
Environmental
Impact
Assessment
applications
by
the
developers
and
proposed
subdivisions
or
change
of
land
use
applications
by
the
city
and
the
department
of
spatial
planning
to
us.
It
is
a
positive
that
at
least
now
we
are
communicating
in
terms
of
what
needs
to
be
done,
”
said
Christopher
Mushava,
the
acting
director
general.
Like
proper
Jerry
Bruckheimer
action
stars,
David
Esseks
and
Eugene
Ingoglia
just
walked
out
of
A&O
Shearman
leaving
explosions
in
their
wake.
Esseks,
A&O
Shearman’s
co-head
of
investigations
&
white-collar,
will
join
Ingoglia
in
a
new
litigation
outfit,
Essecks
Ingoglia.
As
the
American
Lawyer
notes:
Esseks
and
Ingoglia
are
the
latest
partners
to
leave
A&O
Shearman,
which
has
experienced
fairly
consistent
departures
since
the
firm’s
merger
took
effect
in
May
2024.
Many,
but
not
all,
of
these
are
likely
to
be
connected
to
the
firm’s
plans,
reported
on
by
Law.com
in
September
2024,
to
cut
10%
of
its
equity
partnership.
But
that’s
been
cooking
since
late
last
year
and
the
firm’s
co-head
of
white-collar
probably
wasn’t
on
the
chopping
block.
If
only
something
much
more
recently
transpired
that
might
convince
attorneys
to
cut
ties
with
the
firm…
It’s
not
like
we
haven’t
already
seen
this
play
out
elsewhere.
Paul
Weiss
suffered
a
huge
litigation
loss
when
many
of
its
high-profile
litigators
pulled
up
stakes
to
form
Dunn
Isaacson
Rhee.
That
boutique
also
snagged
talent
from
another
Trump
collaborator
when
Meryl
Governski
left
Willkie
Farr.
Coincidentally,
while
we’ve
been
writing
about
Dunn
Isaacson
Rhee
for
a
while
now,
the
firm’s
official
launch
date
is…
today.
It’s
not
even
—
necessarily
—
political.
If
your
business
is
based
on
defending
your
clients
against
the
federal
government,
you
can’t
really
get
the
job
done
if
clients
think
your
firm
owes
the
government
favors
under
the
table
and
you
definitely
can’t
when
the
government
THINKS
SO
TOO.
Transactional
clients
might
enjoy
knowing
their
lawyers
have
a
cozy
relationship
with
regulators,
but
litigation
requires
the
freedom
to
tell
the
DOJ
to
pound
sand.
That’s
just
not
possible
when
the
White
House
thinks
they’ve
officially
deputized
the
firm.
We
all
know
the
inherent
risks
in
the
business
of
law.
But
if
you
want
to
keep
these
from
escalating
into
existential
threats
to
your
firm,
you
need
to
learn
about
financial
resilience.
For
solo
practitioners
and
small
law
firms,
“financial
resilience”
simply
refers
to
your
ability
to
maintain
stability
and
respond
quickly
when
things
change.
The
good
news
is
that
building
this
resilience
doesn’t
require
guesswork.
With
the
right
systems
in
place,
you
can
take
control
of
your
firm’s
financial
future.
Ready?
Here
are
some
practical
steps
to
make
it
happen.
Step
1:
Get
Clarity
Financial
stability
starts
with
visibility.
You
can’t
manage
what
you
can’t
see.
A
legal
practice
management
solution
enables
you
to
keep
a
close
eye
on
your
finances
with
robust
reporting
and
clean
visual
dashboards.
With
a
cohesive
solution
in
place,
you
can
monitor
your
firm’s
financial
position
with
real-time
visuals,
profit
and
loss
tracking,
and
insights
into
receivables
and
collections.
The
MyCase
solution
works
in
the
background
to
track
metrics
from
every
aspect
of
your
practice,
eliminating
the
need
to
chase
down
data
—
and
ending
the
frustration
of
reconciling
conflicting
metrics.
Step
2:
Stabilize
Your
Cash
Flow
Now
that
you
can
easily
track
how
your
firm
is
doing,
it’s
time
to
shore
up
your
income.
For
lawyers,
calculating
cash
flow
gets
a
little
tricky
since
you’re
not
necessarily
paid
when
the
work
is
done,
but
once
the
client
pays
the
invoice.
•
Seasonal
spending
lulls •
Complexities
around
IOLTA
accounting •
Delays
in
collections •
Relying
on
manual
processes
A
solution
like
MyCase
will
address
these
issues
and
make
it
easy
for
clients
to
pay
—
while
you
get
paid
faster,
without
the
follow-up
fatigue.
More
specifically,
the
following
features
will
directly
reduce
cash-flow
variability:
•
Online
payment
options,
automated
invoice
reminders,
and
recurring
payment
plans
that
make
it
easier
for
clients
to
pay •
Split
billing
tools
that
manage
shared
matters •
Next
day
payments
that
give
you
faster
access
to
funds.
Step
3:
Build
a
Financial
Buffer
Once
you’ve
stabilized
your
cash
flow,
the
next
step
is
building
some
reserves
to
survive
any
challenges.
One
basic
yet
effective
way
to
build
these
reserves
is
to
earmark
a
percentage
of
collected
payments
into
a
savings
account.
Over
time,
these
payments
will
become
your
emergency
fund.
MyCase’s
flexible
billing
and
collection
features
can
help.
Using
steady
payment
schedules
with
automated
reminders
will
increase
the
collections
you
can
earmark
as
a
buffer,
while
streamlined
billing
processes
will
lower
your
overhead
expenses.
Step
4:
Bill
for
All
of
Your
Work
(and
Expenses!)
Aside
from
rate
increases,
you
have
two
basic
options
to
increase
your
cash
flow:
(1)
Do
more
billable
work,
and
(2)
Collect
for
more
of
the
work
you’re
doing.
For
many
firms,
focusing
on
the
latter
option
quickly
leads
to
impactful
improvements.
When
it
comes
to
invoicing,
today’s
automated
time
tracking
tools
will
allow
you
to
log
billable
work
contemporaneously
and
avoid
underbilling.
That’s
where
MyCase’s
integrated
expense
tracking
comes
in.
When
you
enter
expenses
for
a
client
matter,
they’re
automatically
linked
to
the
next
invoice,
so
no
extra
effort
is
required.
You
can
also
mark
each
expense
as
billable
or
non-billable.
This
gives
your
firm
the
flexibility
to
build
goodwill
with
clients
by
covering
small
costs
while
still
capturing
a
full
record
of
your
spending.
It
also
supports
modern,
client-friendly
billing
practices
that
build
trust
and
foster
long-term
relationships.
Because
all
expenses,
whether
reimbursable
or
not,
are
still
tracked
in
the
system,
you’ll
have
complete
visibility
into
each
matter’s
true
cost
for
better
financial
reporting
and
decision-making.
Step
5:
Lighten
the
Accounting
Load
Even
if
your
financial
management
is
flawless,
the
lack
of
a
unified
solution
can
increase
the
burden
of
keeping
your
books
in
order.
Indeed,
IOLTA
account
compliance
and
other
financial
management
tasks
challenge
even
sophisticated,
full-time
accountants.
For
a
time-crunched
litigator
without
formal
financial
training,
keeping
the
books
in
order
can
be
even
more
daunting.
Mix
in
the
financial
errors
that
can
arise
simply
from
having
disparate
systems,
and
you’ve
got
a
minefield
to
navigate.
But
with
the
right
all-in-one
platform,
you
can
position
yourself
for
success.
MyCase’s
legal-specific
accounting
tools
will
lighten
your
accounting
workload
with
a
single
solution
that
manages
your
case
data
and
finances
together
—
no
switching
tools,
no
exporting
spreadsheets.
Step
6:
Stay
Agile
and
Current
In
today’s
permanently
hybrid
workplace,
the
ability
to
securely
work
from
anywhere
at
any
time
is
key.
So
is
the
need
to
securely
communicate
with
clients.
Tools
like
the
MyCase
client
portal
will
support
this
type
of
agility
in
your
business,
allowing
you
to
adapt
to
quickly
changing
circumstances.
Take
Your
Next
Step
Studies
continue
to
demonstrate
that
billing
more
hours
and
delivering
top-quality
legal
work
simply
aren’t
enough
to
ensure
a
financially
resilient
business.
Resilient
firms
aren’t
just
busy
—
they’re
financially
secure,
operationally
efficient,
and
ready
to
weather
uncertainty.
Want
to
simplify
your
firm’s
finances,
get
paid
faster,
and
spend
less
time
chasing
payments?
There
are
many
different
and
exciting
ways
to
rank
law
firms.
How
prestigious
are
they?
How
much
money
are
they
making?
How
much
take-home
cash
do
partners
earn?
How
big
are
they?
Yes,
size
continues
to
matter
when
it
comes
to
legal,
and
since
Florida
has
been
in
the
news
so
much
lately
thanks
to
its
inauspicious
ties
to
“Alligator
Alcatraz,”
today,
we
bring
you
a
ranking
of
the
largest
law
firms
in
the
Sunshine
State,
courtesy
of
the
Daily
Business
Review.
As
luck
would
have
it,
many
midsize
and
large
law
firms
increased
their
Florida
headcounts
in
2024,
and
the
top
100
firms
in
the
territory
netted
a
8%
increase
in
attorneys
over
their
2023
numbers.
If
you’ve
ever
wondered
about
headcounts,
this
is
the
ranking
for
you.
It
wasn’t
just
law
firm
headcount
that
remained
healthy
in
Florida,
but
their
finances
too.
The
Daily
Business
Review
has
the
details:
Miami-founded
Greenberg
Traurig
reported
the
highest
gross
revenue
nationwide
among
Florida
firms,
bringing
in
$2.62
billion
in
2024—a
13.7%
increase
over
the
prior
year.
Its
revenue
per
lawyer
(RPL)
rose
9.3%
to
$991,000,
while
profit
per
equity
partner
(PEP)
climbed
nearly
10%
to
$2.63
million.
The
firm
had
a
small
dip
in
the
number
of
Florida
attorneys
it
employs,
but
still
ranks
third
in
attorney
headcount
of
law
firms
in
the
state.
Holland
&
Knight
followed
with
$2.04
billion
in
gross
revenue,
up
10.5%
year-over-year.
The
firm’s
RPL
and
PEP
climbed
5.6%
and
4.8%,
respectively.
Other
strong
performers
included
Akerman,
which
saw
a
3.3%
increase
in
revenue
and
5.2%
growth
in
RPL,
and
Carlton
Fields,
which
posted
a
6.8%
revenue
gain
and
a
4.5%
rise
in
PEP.
The
top
15
biggest
firms
aren’t
terribly
surprising
(after
all,
some
of
the
largest
law
firms
in
the
world
were
founded
in
Florida).
Let’s
take
a
moment
to
gawk
at
the
Disney
State’s
largest
law
firms:
Cole
Scott
Kissane:
597
Morgan
&
Morgan:
566
Greenberg
Traurig:
362
Holland
&
Knight:
356.3
Akerman:
290.6
Gunster:
288
Shutts
&
Bowen:
273.8
Quintairos
Prieto
Wood
&
Boyer:
262
Wicker
Smith
O’Hara
McCoy
&
Ford:
261
Kubicki
Draper:
240
GrayRobinson:
233
Carlton
Fields:
199.3
Nelson
Mullins:
187.1
Kelley
Kronenberg:
171
Littler:
160
Congratulations
to
Cole
Scott
Kissane
for
employing
more
lawyers
in
Florida
than
any
other
firm.
Cole
Scott
is
letting
people
know
that
Florida
isn’t
just
home
to
big
beaches
and
big
theme
parks
—
it’s
home
to
big
law
firms,
too.
Head
to
the DBR if
you’re
curious
about
the
firms
ranked
16-100.
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.
Above
the
Law
is
conducting
an
audience
survey.
We
want
to
know
what
readers
like
you
think
about
the
site
—
what
you
like,
what
you
love,
and
what
you
wish
were
different.
The
survey
is
anonymous,
and
any
information
you
provide
will
only
be
used
in
the
aggregate
to
help
us
better
understand
our
readers
and
what
matters
most
to
them.
As
a
thank
you,
those
who
complete
the
survey
will
get
a
chance
to
enter
a
drawing
for
a
$250
Amex
gift
card.
Come
on,
now’s
your
chance
to
tell
us
what
you
really
think.
We
appreciate
your
feedback
and
look
forward
to
hearing
from
you!
When
I
was
a
young
lawyer,
I
spent
hours
in
dark
dusty
warehouses
paging
through
documents,
looking
for
something
relevant
and
important.
At
the
time,
I
didn’t
think
it
did
much
for
me
and
I
still
don’t.
It
was
my
belief
then
and
now
that
much
of
the
mundane
work
young
lawyers
were
expected
to
do
really
didn’t
train
them
to
do
much
of
anything
other
than
maximize
billable
hours.
Moreover,
having
to
do
that
kind
of
work
was
depressing
and
lowered
worker
satisfaction.
That’s
why
I’ve
been
a
vocal
advocate
for
the
theory
that
AI’s
takeover
of
mundane
legal
work
won’t
necessarily
harm
junior
lawyer
training.
So,
while
future
on-the-job
training
may
be
different,
it
doesn’t
have
to
mean
younger
lawyers
wouldn’t
ultimately
just
as
good
if
not
better
than
today’s
lawyers
for
a
whole
lot
of
reasons.
Being
passionate
and
defending
a
theory
can
often
be
a
good
thing.
However,
it’s
sometimes
good
to
question
that
theory
every
now
and
then
just
to
make
sure
there
isn’t
some
nuance
that
you
need
to
be
aware
of.
It’s
time
to
at
least
question
my
own
assumptions.
It’s
always
good
to
recognize
that
things
are
never
as
simple
as
your
beliefs
make
it
seem.
Gut
Instinct
and
Science
Recent
research
by
Daniel
Kahneman
and
Gary
Klein
in
a
substantive
work
entitled
The
Foundational
Kahneman-Klein
Study
“Conditions
for
Intuitive
Expertise:
A
Failure
to
Disagree
looks
at
the
unconscious
recognition
of
patterns
a
person
has
previously
seen
and
experienced
when
presented
with
a
problem.
These
patterns
are
then
applied
to
the
situation
presented
to
find
solutions
to
a
problem.
This
theory
may
have
significant
implications
for
how
we
think
about
legal
training,
particularly
the
grunt
work
AI
is
replacing
This
process
leads
you,
for
example,
to
“sense”
something
is
wrong,
although
it’s
really
not
sensing
at
all.
The
theory
is
called
Recognition-Primed
Decision
Making
(RPD).
When
I
was
more
experienced,
for
example,
I
usually
could
predict
when
the
other
side
would
approach
settlement
because
I
had
been
through
enough
cases
to
see
patterns
of
behavior
in
the
other
side.
Experienced
lawyers
though
unknowingly
call
this
their
gut
instinct
when
making
decisions
and
recommendations.
If
RPD
is
valid,
then
it
stands
to
reason
that
the
more
patterns
you
see,
the
more
ability
you
would
have
to
apply
those
patterns
to
future
situations
and
the
better
your
so-called
gut
instinct
will
be.
Pattern
Recognition
in
Legal
Training
Let’s
take
document
review
and
research,
the
bane
of
many
young
lawyers’
existence.
The
argument
can
be
made
that
document
review,
the
sifting
through
contracts
or
discovery
materials,
due
diligence,
simple
legal
research,
or
drafting
routine
motions
exposes
young
lawyers
to
recurring
patterns:
common
clauses,
the
patterns
and
links
between
documents
that
you
see
as
you
review
typical
legal
risks,
the
pattern
of
judicial
reasoning
that
leads
to
conclusions,
the
patterns
of
judicial
reasoning
that
enables
prediction.
This
repetitive
work
exposed
lawyers
to
thousands
of
variations
of
legal
problems.
For
example,
a
junior
lawyer
reviewing
hundreds
of
contracts
might
start
noticing
red
flags
like
ambiguous
indemnity
clauses
or
risky
termination
provisions.
Once
I
was
exposed
to
a
situation
involving
a
potential
ambiguous
noncompete
clause,
I
could
use
what
I
had
seen
in
similar
cases
so
that
I
recognized
the
clause
in
question
could
lead
to
trouble.
Over
time,
this
repetition
could
embed
a
mental
database
of
“what
looks
wrong”
or
“what
feels
right,”
which
manifests
as
gut
instinct.
Of
course,
real
life
is
more
nuanced
than
that.
We
can’t
just
say
that
the
old
ways
that
younger
lawyers
gained
experience
meant
they
were
necessarily
better
lawyers
than
those
who
come
up
in
age
of
AI.
Merely
reviewing
endless
emails
with
little
legal
significance
without
more
might
not
sharpen
instincts
as
much
as
analyzing
a
few
pivotal
documents
that
AI
can
enable.
Simple
Repetition
Is
Not
Enough
Tools
like
legal
research
platforms
or
predictive
analytics
can
expose
lawyers
to
more
patterns,
faster,
by
surfacing
relevant
cases,
trends,
or
outcomes
that
would
take
years
to
encounter
manually.
Moreover,
you
don’t
hone
contract
negotiation
skills
by
reviewing
a
bunch
of
contracts.
You
don’t
learn
how
to
create
a
successful
litigation
strategy
by
doing
routine
motions
over
and
over.
It
takes
more.
Of
course,
there
are
studies,
particularly
Ericsson’s
work
that
suggest
that
repeated
exposure
to
specific
tasks
can
build
some
sort
of
intuitive
judgment.
But
Ericcson’s
studies
on
expertise
show
that
effective
skill-building—real
expertise—
requires
more
than
just
repetition.
It
requires
what
he
calls
“deliberate
practice.”
Deliberate
practice
refers
to
“a
special
type
of
practice
that
is
purposeful
and
systematic.
While
regular
practice
might
include
mindless
repetitions,
deliberate
practice
requires
focused
attention
and
is
conducted
with
the
specific
goal
of
improving
performance.”
A
junior
lawyer
using
AI
might
develop
a
richer
“database”
of
patterns
than
one
slogging
through
manual
document
review.
Indeed,
AI
may
eliminate
or
at
least
reduce
the
need
for
the
gut
instinct.
Data
analysis
may
replace
the
gut
instinct
with
fact-based
data.
Indeed,
those
who
subscribe
to
my
theory
about
the
impact
of
AI
on
younger
lawyers
typically
pooh-pooh
the
whole
notion
of
a
gut
instinct,
viewing
it
as
little
more
than
wild
ass
guesses
versus
reliance
on
data
and
facts.
(Interestingly,
even
if
you
subscribe
to
RPD,
humans
are
basically
doing
just
what
AI
and
data
analytics
do
inside
their
brains:
they
are
looking
at
past
experaince
(data)
and
looking
for
patterns.
AI
can
just
do
it
thousands
of
times
faster
and
better.)
And
what
we
call
gut
instinct
doesn’t
solely
stem
from
pattern
recognition
that
somehow
develop
through
repetitive
tasks.
It
involves
a
broader
mix
of
cognitive
and
emotional
skills
like
empathy,
or
ethical
judgment.
A
lawyer’s
ability
to
read
a
client’s
emotional
state
or
anticipate
a
judge’s
reaction,
for
example,
might
rely
on
interpersonal
skills
or
situational
awareness,
not
just
patterns
from
grunt
work.
These
softer
skills,
developed
through
mentorship,
courtroom
observation,
or
client
interactions,
could
contribute
significantly
to
what’s
perceived
as
“gut
instinct.”
AI
taking
over
grunt
work
wouldn’t
erode
this
instinct
although
it
might
shift
its
foundation
to
other
forms
of
experience.
Practical
Solutions
So,
I
still
think
we
will
survive
AI
and
that
future
lawyers
will
turn
out
fine.
But
we
do
need
to
at
least
consider
that
the
RPD
theory
may
have
some
merit.
While
it
makes
little
sense
to
make
younger
lawyers
do
what
AI
can
now
do,
we
may
need
to
think
about
things
that
would
build
pattern
recognition
and
be
more
purposeful
about
it.
Things
like:
Adopting
the
notion
of
deliberate
pattern
exposure
by
creating
structured
programs
that
expose
junior
lawyers
to
diverse
scenarios
even
if
not
billable.
Embracing
simulation-based
learning:
Use
case
studies,
mock
transactions,
and
scenario
planning
much
like
what
Alta
Clara
is
doing
and
I
have
discussed.
The
idea
is
to
present
young
lawyers
with
a
simulated
legal
scenario
and
then
have
senior
lawyers
critique
their
solutions
Thinking
of
AI
as
teaching
tool:
Teach
younger
lawyers
how
to
effectively
use
AI
and
then
mentor
them
to
the
separate
the
wheat
from
the
chaff
in
the
results.
Embracing
AI
for
younger
lawyers
and
recognizing
that
it
may
enable
younger
lawyers
to
do
more
sooner
so
that
the
development
of
pattern
recognition
will
come
more
through
actual
experience
instead
of
grunt
work
in
a
dusty
warehouse.
Evolving
mentorship
programs
to
ensure
senior
lawyers
actively
teach
pattern
recognition
rather
than
assume
it
develops
naturally
Understanding
that
what
makes
a
good
lawyer
is
not
only
how
well
they
do
mundane
tasks
but
how
well
they
adopt
and
learn
the
key
skills
that
document
review
may
in
the
past
have
constituted
only
a
small
part
of.
Engaging
in
client
education
to
help
clients
understand
the
value
to
them
of
investing
in
junior
lawyer
development
A
Path
Forward
Clearly,
AI
will
alter
not
only
the
substantive
practice
of
law
but
how
we
need
to
train
younger
lawyers.
Whether
you
buy
RPD
or
not,
AI
and
the
work
it
replaces
isn’t
going
away.
And
the
need
to
maximize
its
use
across
the
board,
including
training,
is
imperative.
So,
we
need
to
think
carefully
about
training
our
lawyers
for
the
future
and
what
skills
they
need
to
have.
Wringing
our
hands
over
what
used
to
work
doesn’t
solve
the
training
dilemma.
Let’s
be
thoughtful.
And
purposeful
about
training.
The
legal
profession
stands
at
a
crossroads.
We
can
either
thoughtfully
redesign
legal
training
for
the
AI
age,
or
watch
as
tomorrow’s
lawyers
lack
the
pattern
recognition
that
makes
today’s
best
attorneys
so
effective.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.
