By Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.
- Sheppard Mullin expanded its revenues 4.8% to $1.05 billion in 2022, its 31st consecutive year of revenue growth, as balanced practices drove demand. The Los Angeles-headquartered firm’s average profits per equity partner contracted 6.5% to $2.1 million, thinned by a growing equity partnership, and spending on talent and expansion, among other things, according to a report based on early data. (The Recorder)
- Mintz PC’s solid intellectual property and litigation practices helped the firm post a revenue gain for the eighth-straight year in 2022, up 5% to $617.7 million. (American Lawyer) Cost-management helped Blank Rome post average PEP up 10.2% to $1.35 million in 2022, the firm’s second straight year of double-digit profit gains. (Legal Intelligencer)
- As Big Law firms jockey to set up under Saudi Arabia’s strict new legal profession rules, Norton Rose Fulbright has apparently poached all but one of the Riyadh-based lawyers of Big UK firm Herbert Smith Freehills. (Roll On Friday)
Lawyers, Law Firms
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that its chief operating officer and chief legal officer Connie Collingsworth is retiring after more than 20 years at the organization. The organization’s longtime general counsel and Washington office director, Lauren Bright, is taking over as CLO. (GatesFoundation.org)
- A New York state appellate court revised a state bar application rule that required aspiring lawyers to disclose all run-ins they have ever had with law enforcement. (Reuters) The New York State Bar Association welcomed the revisions, which it said harmed diversity in the legal profession, but said it continues to push for complete removal of the rule. (NSBA.org)
- About 1,000 federal judges have signed up to a new program that allows them to get their private information removed from the internet. (National Law Journal)
Laterals, Moves, In-house
- Paul Hastings lost German corporate finance partner Fritz Kleweta to Herbert Smith Freehills, which added him as a partner in Frankfurt. He advises on complex transactions for clients that have included private equity firms BlackRock, Sixth Street, HPS, and Apollo, among others, according to a statement. (HerbertSmithFreehills.com)
- Jones Walker hired four health-care lawyers across four cities, including former telehealth company chief legal officer Anjali Dooley, who joins as special counsel in New Orleans. Former Louisiana state medical malpractice litigator Jude Bourque joins as special counsel in Baton Rouge. The firm also added associates in Miami, Florida, and Washington. (JonesWalker.com)
- Greenberg Traurig announced it appointed projects lawyer Juan Manuel González Bernal co-managing shareholder of its Mexico City office and co-chair of its global infrastructure practice group. Latin America practice co-chair Jose Raz Guzman is the office’s other co-managing shareholder. Greenberg also promoted infrastructure and real estate attorney Gabriela Palomino and capital markets and corporate attorney David Argueta to shareholder. (GTLaw.com)
- Clark Hill recruited in-house veteran Ari Derman, recently general counsel and chief legal officer at debt-collection agency Harris & Harris, Ltd., as senior counsel in Chicago in its banking and financial services practice. (ClarkHill.com)
- Financial services technology company Fiserv, Inc. promoted Milwaukee, Wisconsin-area senior vice president, co-general counsel, and secretary Eric Nelson to general counsel. He’s a former Gibson Dunn attorney and joined Fiserv in 2006. (Fiserv.com)
- Former London Metal Exchange general counsel and enforcement head Tom Hine, who earlier spent time at Debevoise & Plimpton as a corporate lawyer, joined UK firm Acuity Law as partner in London. (AcuityLaw.com)
- The troubled Orange County Power Authority in California, whose general counsel resigned in a dispute earlier this year, is still looking for a replacement. (Los Angeles Times)
Technology
- Legal services provider Epiq launched an on-demand managed service it said helps legal departments find and hire outside counsel. (Globe Newswire)
