David Lat Trials New Virus Drug And In Critical Condition

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AbovetheLaw founder David Lat is in critical condition and has been put on a ventilator as he battles coronavirus and is also placed on an experimental new drug, according to reports.

LawFuel reported on Lat’s illness recently, where he had tweeted about the seriousness of the virus.

Lat’s husband, Zachary Shemtob, told news sources that Lat is in a critical condition at NYU Langone Hospital in Manhattan where he is sedated and the “very experimental” drug therapy is being provided.

“We won’t know for a few more days, whether he’s going to get better—whether this stuff [the drug therapy] is working or not,” said Shemtob.

“We’re hanging in there,” he said. “We’re just waiting and hoping,” Shemtob told the NY Law Journal.

In a phone interview on Saturday evening, Shemtob said that Lat, founder of the legal blog Above the Law and now a well known legal recruiter, was put on a ventilator after “his oxygen levels dropped.”

“He’s not doing great,” Shemtob said, adding that the NYU Langone doctors and other staff “are really attending to him. They’re taking it hour by hour, day by day.”

Lat, who is a Yale Law School graduate, a former federal prosecutor and the author of a legal-appeals-centered novel, is 44 years old.

Asked if the doctors had talked about or know Lat’s prognosis, Shemtob responded,  “It’s a bit much for me right now.” He said it was not clear if any prognosis is even known.

“I just want folks to know that he is so strong; he is hanging in there, and we are praying he’ll recover,” Shemtob said. “Any thoughts or prayers people have are much appreciated.”

Shemtob, a former clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Robert Sack and a former associate at Cooley, echoed a message that Lat himself delivered during a phone interview on Wednesday night. “I just want people to know how serious this can be,” Shemtob said.

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How The Unprecedented Coronavirus Emergency Will Strip Away The Law Profession’s Illusions

/ Law Firms, NZ Top in LawFuel, UK Law / March 24, 2020 / By
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LegalBusiness editor Alex Novarese has been reporting on the law profession for a long time – but there has been nothing like the current Coronavirus crisis to confront the profession. His opinion piece is worth considering to help provide some context to the crisis, using the GFC as an ‘anchor’.

The longer you do this job, the more your mind wanders to the big moments – recessions, terrorist attacks, political shocks, wars. Yet as I sit here typing this leader in a near-deserted London office, the majority of our team working from home as we try to put this issue to bed, it is a struggle to recall anything that compares to the coronavirus pandemic spreading through the world.

We face unprecedented times – hyperbole typically flung around with abandon until you realise with shock that this time it applies. As I write, London and New York, those famous global cities and the world’s two dominant legal hubs, look within days of total lockdown.

But since people cannot get by mentally without context and narrative, I’ll use the banking crisis more than a decade ago as the anchor, the closest touchpoint to what the profession now faces. The rolling sense of fear and uncertainty is certainly familiar.

… perhaps managing partners have yet to catch up with the speed of this crisis, and the looming threat to cash flow.

Alex Novarese

At the time of Lehman’s collapse, the profession went in fat, complacent and inefficient and came out shell-shocked and lean. Debt was cut, balance sheets cleaned up, operational management improved. Few law firms failed. That period cut a swathe through the profession and led to job losses on a scale never before seen.

Client Expectations

Client expectations changed – whether they changed enough is open to debate – and law firms partially listened. In retrospect, there was more nervousness among law firm leaders back then than now – with their biggest clients being the first hit in the post-Lehman age.

In many regards, the law currently looks like one of the least directly-impacted industries. But perhaps managing partners have yet to catch up with the speed of this crisis, and the looming threat to cash flow.

The relevant point here, obviously, is how the huge promises of state aid for business will work and whether it can keep money flowing to bill-paying clients.

Like the banking crisis, this is an inflection point that will change the world, change business and the profession with it. There will be a sharp economic shock and what emerges at the other end will mean many received wisdoms on issues like globalisation, open borders, state intervention and the role of business are up for revision. We entered the coronavirus crisis as a society dominated by division and identity politics – will we emerge with these concerns seeming as anything more than the trivialities of post-capitalism complacency?

‘Unprecedented Experiment’

At the prosaic industry level, law firms are now already well into an unprecedented experiment with remote working. It is probable that major changes to the dominant business models of the law will emerge.

Returning finally to the lessons of the banking crisis, this will be another period in which institutional illusions will be brutally stripped away, elevating some firms and individuals and diminishing others. Recent years have seen law firms often badge themselves on soft issues and lofty values. This crisis will put those sentiments to the test.

I have covered the legal industry long enough to know that some will fall far short of their rhetoric. But I also believe many will distinguish themselves in how they treat staff, colleagues and clients (and it should be in that order). I

n 20 years of observing the industry, I still find more angels than devils. The days ahead will determine whether that is wishful thinking or not. Either way, we’ll strive to keep you informed. Take care.

Source: LegalBusiness

Author – Alex Novarese is editor-in-chief and in-house legal counsel at LegalBusiness. His LinkedIn profile is here.

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