Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.
- Debevoise & Plimpton’s average profits per equity partner fell 11.8% to $4.42 million in 2022, pulled down by costs stemming from an 8.5% expansion of its headcount and a move to new Manhattan headquarters. The firm’s gross revenues “stayed flat” at $1.33 billion, as work on M&A deals and capital markets transactions dried up. (American Lawyer)
- Atlanta-founded Alston & Bird followed a record 2021 with steady growth in 2022, as its revenues grew 3.7% to $1.061 billion. (Daily Report Online)
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently beat a lawsuit accusing its general counsel office of gender discrimination, but the trial cast a harsh light on “dysfunction, turf wars, mismanagement and paranoia” inside the office. (Politico)
Lawyers, Law Firms
- Demand growth and a triple-digit realization rate helped Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg increase revenues 5.8% to about $608.8 million. Its average profits per equity partner fell about 3.9% to about $1.17 million. (American Lawyer)
- Akerman’s core practices drove 8.8% growth in revenues to $537.2 million. Its average PEP rose 2.6% to $1.044 million. (Daily Business Review) New Orleans-founded Phelps Dunbar had double-digit revenue and profit gains. (American Lawyer)
- Some US public pension and investment funds are scaling back investments into private equity, part of a larger wave of institutional investors pulling back from buyout funds, a report says. (WSJ)
- Big Japanese law firms are moving rapidly into international markets. Five firms have opened a total of eight new offices worldwide since January. (Law.com International)
Laterals, Moves, In-house
- EY hired a new leader for its global legal operations unit, getting Dan Hendy, the former executive vice president, corporate and commercial solutions at alternative legal services provider UnitedLex. Hendy’s, among other things, a former general counsel at GE Aviation Systems, LLC. (LinkedIn)
- Kirkland & Ellis hired DLA Piper international sustainability and ESG lead Rhys Davies in London as a partner in its environmental, social, and governance group. (Kirkland.com)
- Davis Wright Tremaine grabbed Holland & Hart worklaw partner Jeremy Merkelson as its labor and employment practice group’s first partner in Washington. He’s a former general counsel of the Association of American Law Schools. (DWT.com)
- Greenspoon Marder snagged Seyfarth Shaw commercial litigator Talat Ansari as a corporate partner in New York. (GMLaw.com)
- Shearman & Sterling capital markets partner Grissel Mercado left to join Paul Hastings as a partner in New York. Of counsel Maria Larsen also made the move. (PaulHastings.com)
- Hanson Bridgett added trusts and estates litigator Daniel Spector in Sacramento as a partner, with an associate and paralegal. (HansonBridgett.com)
- Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith added five attorneys, including three partners, in its Madison County, Illinois office. (LewisBrisbois.com)
- Cannabis vaping technology company Advanced Vapor Devices hired cannabis industry in-house veteran Doug Fischer as general counsel. A former Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft attorney, Fischer arrives recently from Ascend Wellness Holdings, where he was general counsel. He was earlier top lawyer at Greenland Holdings, Inc. (Businesswire)
- Grocery distributor and retailer SpartanNash Co. promoted its chief legal officer and corporate secretary Ileana McAlary from senior vice president to executive vice president. (Winsight Grocery Business)
Promotions
- Cozen O’Connor promoted 29 attorneys to member. (Cozen.com)
Technology
- Two lawyers who are Bernie Sanders supporters are suing to get their Twitter accounts reinstated, citing Elon Musk’s so-called amnesty tweet. (MediaPost) (ABAJournal)
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Opfer in New York at co[email protected]; Darren Bowman at [email protected]
