Wake Up Call: A&O Election of Black Managing Partner ‘Momentous’

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

• Hervé Ékué’s election as the first Black leader of Allen & Overy, a UK Magic Circle law firm, is being touted as “momentous” by legal diversity advocates. Magic Circle firms, which also include Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, and Slaughter and May, “have traditionally been dominated by white men.” (Financial News)
• Estée Lauder Cos. general counsel Deirdre Stanley is leaving her post after five years with the company, as the “battered cosmetics giant” deals with “sweeping changes.” Earnings in fiscal 2023 dropped at the company from $2.4 billion to $1 billion. (Law.com)
• Rachael Rollins, former US attorney for Massachusetts, has reportedly been suspended from practicing law in the state after she failed to pay law license registration fees. Rollins stepped down last May after investigators determined that she tried to block the election of her successor to become Suffolk County district attorney. (Boston 25 News)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Esther Lander has joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe as part of the employment practice in Washington, D.C. She was previously with Akin and held the role of principal deputy chief of the Employment Litigation Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.
• Daniel Guggenheim has joined Quarles & Brady as a partner in the health and life sciences practice group.
• Danny Nappier has joined Jackson Walker as a partner in the energy practice group in Dallas.
• Marwa Elborai, a capital markets lawyer, has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in London. She joins the firm from Allen & Overy.