Wake Up Call: The Pressure on Small Firms to Grow, and Other News

• The number of merger discussions that happened last year suggest that boutiques and midsize firms competing with large firms are increasingly under pressure to merge or get bigger . (New York Law Journal)

• Last week’s layoffs at Reed Smith, which come as many firms have more lawyers than work, may be sign that the legal sector faces a new wave of “bloodletting,” sector experts say. (American Lawyer)

• An overhaul of its litigation strategy has allowed global energy group Shell to reduce overall litigation spending by 20 percent since 2014, and to cut the number of cases it handles by nearly a third since 2012. (The Lawyer ...