Wake Up Call: 25-Year-Old Lawyer Takes On Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• At 25, Pakistani lawyer Mahnoor Omer has brought a landmark case before the Lahore High Court challenging the country’s so-called “period tax,” which classifies sanitary pads as luxury goods rather than essential items. With backing from the youth-led group Mahwari Justice, Omer is arguing that taxing menstrual products—which subjects them to duties that can raise prices by up to 40%—amounts to gender discrimination and deepens inequality for women and girls, many of whom already lack access to hygiene. (The Guardian)
• Baker Donelson moved its new Princeton, N.J., office into a permanent 11,000-square-foot space at 281 Witherspoon Street, marking another step in the firm’s northeastern expansion. The office houses 23 team members, including 16 attorneys, and focuses on complex commercial litigation, real estate, and corporate transactions. The firm earlier this year added 26 attorneys in the state from Epstein Becker Green. (Baker Donelson)
• Stanley Chesley, a class-action attorney once known as the “master of disaster,” died at 89. Over a five-decade career, Chesley won major settlements for victims of disasters and corporate misconduct, including the 1975 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, a $206 billion national tobacco settlement, and cases involving faulty breast implants and clergy abuse. His career, however, ended in disgrace after his 2013 disbarment by the Kentucky Supreme Court for unethical conduct in a $200 million diet pill settlement. (Associated Press)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Max Klupchak joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice in Houston. He joins from Sterling Group.
• Sebastian Fain joined Gibson Dunn as co-chair of its cross-border mergers and acquisitions practice in New York. He joins from Freshfields.
• Chrys Carey joined Dentons as a capital markets partner in Washington.
• Thomas Picton joined Paul Hastings as a partner in its structured finance practice in London. He joins from Ashurst.
• Nick Appleton joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a partner in its corporate practice in London. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Sean Monroe joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in its entertainment and media practice in Los Angeles. He joins from Paul Hastings.
• Fiona Coady joined BCLP as a partner in its finance transactions practice group in London. She joins from Taylor Wessing.
• Alex Msimang and Nadine Amr joined Baker Botts as partners in its energy and mergers and acquisitions practices in London.
• Chris Bennett rejoined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in its corporate practice in Houston. He joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
• Robert Gordon and Frederick Lee joined Boies Schiller Flexner as partners in New York.
• Dennis Raglin joined Carlton Fields as a shareholder in its business litigation practice in Los Angeles. He joins from Steptoe.
• James Green joined Cole Schotz as a member in its litigation department in Delaware. He joins from Seitz, Van Ogtrop & Green.