News, analysis and commentary of interest to the CodeX crowd, ranging from more e-discovery acquisitions to how to deal with a jerk. 

We start with “Deal Mania Continues in E-Discovery Services Space,” which continues the discussion about lots of movement in the e-disco. Gabe Friedman, at Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business, reports that Inspired Review has acquired Pittsburg’s Review Less, and the Carlyle Group has acquired LDiscovery. (Press release.) See also, “Inspired Review acquires Fellow Document Review Company Review Less,” reporter Ian Lopez, Legaltech News.

• “11 Lawyers Depart Arent Fox to Start Litigation Boutique”  by BBBLB’s Casey Sullivan, notes that the new firm is called Larson O’Brien. The firm will “focus on high stakes matters, including commercial litgation, internal investigations, appellate work and international arbitration, according to co-managing partner Robert O’Brien.” See also: “11 lawyers from LA office of Arent Fox form litigation boutique; new firm seeks associates,” by Martha Leil, American Bar Association’s ABA Journal. See also: Business Wire report.

• What do Microsoft Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission have in common? Check out Sean Doherty’s “Microsoft And The SEC Put Time In A Bottle,” at Above The Law.  And if you were too busy with the holidays and missed Doherty’s  Dec. 29 review, check out “The Anywhere Law Office: Legal Workspace.”

• “E-Discovery Giants Share Their Take on the Market Challenges,” part 2, by
D. Casey Flaherty, principal of Procertas, for Legaltech News. (Part 1: E-Discovery Disruption and the Field of Challengers.”)

• Check out “How to Deal With Jerks (Part 2)” by Jeena Cho on Above The Law.  Among her advice: “As we all learned in first grade,  counting to 10 before you say something when you’re angry is just as applicable in lawyering. When you’re feeling attacked, triggered, and seeing red, the first thing to do is attend to your own emotions so that you can find a wise response.”   (Part 1 here.)

• “Mayor nixes new San Francisco law allowing bicyclists to make rolling stops at intersections,” ABA Journal, by Martha Neil.

Monica Bay is a Fellow at CodeX: The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics. She is a columnist on Above the Law; a freelance journalist for Bloomberb BNA Big Law Business; and a special consultant for The Cowen Group. A California lawyer, she is based in New York City and can frequently be found at Yankee Stadium.