Snowflake’s Silicon Valley Law Firm is a Happy Investor

Snowflake Inc.’s meteoric rise following a recent initial public offering has been a windfall for early investors in the software company, including some of its lawyers at Cooley.

Record Set: Snowflake’s $3.4 billion IPO marked an all-time high for a U.S. software company and a big win for Cooley-affiliated GC&H Investments, whose roster includes seven current and former Cooley partners.

Conflict Questions: Taking stock in startup clients has become a common practice among law firms that advise technology companies over the last two decades. Still, the investments come with questions about potential conflicts of interest.

Brian Baxter has the story.

DAILY BRIEF

Law Firms

Crowell Hires Labor Lateral from Vedder Price in Washington
Crowell & Moring has picked up a new labor and employment lawyer, Sadina Montani, who joins the firm as a partner in the nation’s capital from Vedder Price.

Blank Rome Assists SPAC Novus with Billion Dollar Agtech Buy
Blank Rome said it’s representing Novus Capital Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, on its merger agreement with AppHarvest, Inc., an Appalachia-based farm operator that aspires to transform American agriculture with large-scale, controlled indoor farms.

Bryan Cave Taps Co-Lead for Supreme Court, Appellate Group
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has hired Jean-Claude “J.C.” André, former West Coast head of Sidley’s Supreme Court practice, to co-lead the firm’s appellate and Supreme Court practice.

Latham Hires Copyright Litigator from Mayer Brown In New York
Latham & Watkins has hired former Mayer Brown copyright litigator Allison Stillman as a partner in New York.

In-House Counsel

LED Lighting Company Energy Focus Hires First Legal Chief
Energy Focus, Inc. has hired former engineer and in-house lawyer Jim Warren as the sustainable LED lighting company’s first general counsel, senior vice president, and corporate secretary.

Ethics

California Court Pressed for Last-Minute Bar Exam Alternatives
A group of law school graduates in California is taking another shot at getting changes to the state’s bar exam in the final days before lawyers in training are scheduled to sit for the online test.

Jones Day Says Lawyer-Wife Rehashing Pay Act Loss, Wrong on Law
A female lawyer suing Jones Day along with her husband for pay discrimination and other bias misunderstands the elements of an Equal Pay Act claim and dismissal of that claim shouldn’t be reconsidered, the firm told a District of Columbia federal judge.

Schlichter Bogard Sanctioned for ‘Reckless’ Great-West Trial
Schlichter, Bogard & Denton LLP was sanctioned up to $1.5 million by a Colorado federal judge who said the St. Louis firm “recklessly pursued” its case against Great-West Capital Management to trial while ignoring red flags with the expert witness it relied on to calculate damages related to the company’s mutual fund fees.

Follow Bloomberg Law’s global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on our Coronavirus Outbreak channel.

WAKE-UP CALL

Wake Up Call: Cravath Says No Covid Bonuses for Associates
In today’s column, after losing dozens of partners, Boies Schiller is changing its unpopular compensation system, but some say the move comes too late; a London-listed law firm is laying off 50 lawyers and staff in a Covid-19 cost-cut; video game developer Epic and tech giant Apple are getting Big Law advice for their “legal deathmatch” in California federal court; recent California law grads dealing with Covid’s impact on their fledgling careers are trying to get a court to expand the state’s diploma privilege option, while a similar effort is aimed at avoiding what’s been called a flawed online bar exam failed in Washington; U Penn Law got a $50 million donation; New York Governor Cuomo plans to cut the state court budget by $300 million, in a Covid measure.

PRACTITIONER INSIGHTS

Where Does Judge Barrett Fall on IP?
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has decided only a small number of intellectual property cases over the three years that she has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Gibson Dunn attorneys say her written opinions have not clearly favored IP owners or accused infringers, but her history suggests she is likely to join the consensus of other justices who have looked to statutory text to answer IP questions.

Professional Civility Is Essential in the Pandemic
The pandemic is putting extraordinary home and work stresses on all employees, including attorneys. Elizabeth Holt Andrews, with Troutman Pepper, and Andrew Trask, with Williams & Connolly LLP, say that whether attorneys are in the midst of contentious litigation or protracted contract negotiations, they should consider unseen burdens colleagues may be carrying and showcase the profession’s commitment to civility.

The CFTC Should Remain Neutral on Climate Change
The CFTC’s new task force report on climate change marks the commission’s entrance into the political arena, says Robert Zwirb, former counsel to two CFTC commissioners. He sees problems with this and warns it could lead the CFTC to push a political agenda and detract it from its core mission, regulating the financial derivatives markets.

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