Wake Up Call: Trump Spending $90,000-Plus a Day on Legal Fees

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

• Former President Donald Trump has spent more than $100 million on legal fees and “lawyer-related costs” related to investigations and coming criminal trials since he left office—equivalent to more than $90,000 a day. Trump raised just over $250 million from supporters from Nov. 4, 2020, election day, through Jan. 20, 2021, President Biden’s inaugration, to help defray legal bills. (New York Times)
• Corporate general counsel are taking several steps to ensure they’re getting more value for their legal spend in 2024. About 70% of GCs are under cost pressures from their bosses, prompting an increasing number to negotiate more aggressively with their outside counsel, switch to less-expensive firms, and bring more work in-house, including contracts and litigation-related projects. (JD Supra)
• Meet Will Wooten, “the gay lawyer on the team” prosecuting Donald Trump in Georgia as an assistant Fulton County DA. Wooten, known for his identity as an out gay man, took a prominent stand for LGBTQ+ rights in 2021 through a speech in which he shared his experiences of having to conceal his sexual orientation in previous workplaces. (Advocate)
• Husch Blackwell partner Emily Logan Stedman said women lawyers long have been sensitive to the effects of “Tall Poppy Syndrome,” which occurs when people are targeted and criticized because of their success. As a young attorney, Stedman said, “I felt the need to fit a mold and ramp down my personality and ambition, because I felt different than the good ol’ boys club.” (Wisconsin Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Teia Kelly has joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as a partner with the commercial litigation practice group in its Houston office.
• Mitch A. Reid has joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in the litigation department in Denver and Dallas. He previously served as a partner at Spencer Fane.
• Tamara Giwa has been named the executive director of the Federal Defenders of New York.
• Scott Colton has joined Akin as a partner with the special situations and private credit practice in New York. He joins from Paul Hastings.