Goodwin Taps Sullivan Cromwell Exec to Head Practice Management

Big Law veteran Bonnie Ciaramella will jump from Sullivan & Cromwell to become Goodwin Procter’s new chief practice management officer.

Convergence Plan: Ciaramella’s hire will unify two previously separate practice management roles at the firm, which supported the corporate and litigation groups, respectively. Merging the roles into one is part of Goodwin’s bigger goal to further convergence across practices, business units, and platforms.

Conversation Starter: “I think to be a part of that dialogue and to inform that dialogue with my own experiences as to what other firms have tried, what’s worked better, where clients have appreciated it more, where they’ve seen more value, that’s very exciting to me,” Ciaramella said of her move. Meghan Tribe has the story.

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DAILY BRIEF

Law Firms

McDermott Picks Up 7-Lawyer Trade Team From Hughes Hubbard
McDermott Will & Emery has tapped a team of seven attorneys from Hughes Hubbard & Reed to add to its international trade team in Washington, including two former Hughes Hubbard practice chairs.

In-House

U.S. Soccer Hires New Legal Chief After Pay Equity Defense Spat
The United States Soccer Federation has hired a new chief legal officer, the latest change for the organization following criticism over its arguments in a $67 million pay discrimination lawsuit filed by women’s national team players.

Business of Law

Taking on IBM in Sales-Commission Case Fun but Tough for Lawyer
Litigating against IBM Corp. over its sales-commission practices has been tough, but “it’s been fun,” plaintiffs’ counsel Matthew E. Lee, a partner at Whitfield Bryson LLP in Raleigh, tells Bloomberg Law.

Litigation Funding Scores Regulatory Win Against Uniform Rules
Litigation funders betting hundreds of millions of dollars on court battles again sidestepped new regulation when an influential oversight group abandoned an effort to propose legal restraints.

Simpson Thacher Guides Corsair Capital on Payment Business Buy
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett said it’s advising Corsair Capital on its agreement to acquire MSTS, a global B2B payment and credit solutions provider, from World Fuel Services Corporation.

Join Bloomberg Law on Aug. 5 for “The Call for Collaboration: How Legal Operations is Breaking Down Silos,” a free webinar on the best practices for managing legal operations and measuring its value, and utilizing multidisciplinary teams. Register here.

Follow Bloomberg Law’s global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on our Coronavirus Outbreak channel, and track the latest changes in the federal court operations with our interactive map.

WAKE-UP CALL

Lawyer Jobs Shrink 15% in Six Months
In today’s column, three Florida lawyers filed close to 300 federal consumer bankruptcy cases last month, as individuals follow the lead of major retailers in seeking protection from Covid-19’s economic devastation; the global Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, which now has over 240 participating firms, held its first meeting last week in Chicago; Atlanta plaintiffs attorney C.K. Hoffler was sworn in last week as the new president of the the oldest and biggest African American bar association in the United States; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett poached a Gibson Dunn private equity specialist in London.

PRACTITIONER INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: The Future of Junior Lawyers Through the AI Looking Glass
The Labor Department expects employment in the legal sector to grow, and the addition of AI in law firms will only expand those opportunities, according to Nick Whitehouse, CEO and co-founder of AI contract management service McCarthyFinch. He says AI won’t replace junior attorneys, but law firms need to adapt it or risk falling behind the curve to peers and competitors.

INSIGHT: Space Travel and Liability—The Next Frontier
As space travel—and eventually space tourism—becomes commonplace, liability of this public-private partnership to third parties will merit substantial exploration and consideration, not just by scholars, but by those in the insurance industry, Segal McCambridge attorneys say.

INSIGHT: SCOTUS Can Stop Abuse of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The purpose of the CFAA was to proscribe hacking, and not to turn a breach of a contract, company policy, or website notice into a federal criminal offense, says Washington, D.C., attorney Andrew Grosso, former assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts and Florida. He calls on the Supreme Court to clarify the issue in a CFAA case it will hear next term and as it considers hearing another.

INSIGHT: How to Address Enterprise-Wide Legal Considerations After a Crisis
As businesses begin to emerge into a post-Covid world, legal challenges are expected to arrive in waves, say EY Global Law Leader Cornelius Grossman and Nicholas Bruch, leader of EY’s Global Tax and Legal Analyst team. They discuss findings in a new EY report about challenges facing the C-suite and trends in the move to legal managed services to remain efficient and resilient.

WORKFLOWS

Shook, Hardy & Bacon has appointed Chris Johnson as the managing partner of the San Francisco office | Validity Finance grabbed finance and transactional attorney Jason Listhaus as its first corporate counsel; he previously worked at firms Fried Frank and Cadwalader | Erik Harssema has joined DLA Piper as managing director of the Data Protection, Privacy and Security practice in New York | Ballard Spahr has launched the Stimulus Enforcement Tracker, along with the Racial Justice and Equality Initiative | Ropes & Gray has launched a Data Analytics Consulting Arm | Bressler, Amery & Ross has launched an RIA Practice Group | Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie has appointed Joshua Chu the managing partner of its California offices in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley; Chu succeeds Anne Wang | California-based firm Dowling Aaron will merge with Mountain West-based firm Fennemore Craig, effective Oct. 1, 2020; the combined firm will be called Fennemore Craig Dowling Aaron.

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