Back to Russian Gas

Hi ZipLawyer! Today’s Memo:

🇪🇺 EU debates Russian gas
📈 Big Tech earnings
💸 US cash in on strong 2024
💰 CMS, Slaughters advise on pension deal
📹 Bird & Bird, Hogan Lovells lead on patent claim

Back to Russian Gas

Europe is flirting with the idea of turning the taps back on for Russian gas, and not everyone is thrilled. Germany and Hungary argue it would slash energy costs and lure Moscow to a peace deal, while critics call it a spectacularly bad idea. The debate comes as Donald Trump pushes Europe to buy pricier U.S. LNG, adding fuel to the fire. With industries groaning under soaring energy costs, EU officials are stuck between economic pragmatism and geopolitical risk—so don’t expect this argument to cool down anytime soon.

Earnings Bonanza

Meta’s stock rocketed as Mark Zuckerberg hyped up a “really big year” betting its AI assistant will soon hit a billion users. Tesla shares followed suit, fueled by robotaxi dreams and a sales recovery. Meanwhile, Microsoft took a tumble after admitting its cloud business isn’t growing quite as fast as investors had hoped—turns out even tech giants have limits. And in the AI arms race, SoftBank is eyeing a massive $25 billion investment in OpenAI, angling to be the ChatGPT kingmaker.

Booming 2024 for US firms

Big Law had a blockbuster year, with revenue soaring 12.5%—the best since 2021—thanks to red-hot transactional work. The Am Law 50 dominated, growing 13.9%, while smaller firms trailed behind. Billing rates surged 9.1%, demand climbed 3.5%, and profits per equity partner jumped 16.9%—all fueled by tight control over equity partner ranks. With transactional practices printing money and collections speeding up, the biggest firms flexed their financial muscle while the rest scrambled to keep up.

CMS, Slaughters lead on pension deal