Wake Up Call: After Quinn Emanuel Co-founder’s Retirement, Only Quinn Remains

• After Eric Emanuel, L.A.-based co-founder of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, retired Dec. 31, John Quinn is the last of the original founders still practicing at the firm. (American Lawyer)

• While succession is top of mind for most Big Law firms, formal leadership transition plans are hard to get done. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• PG&E Corp.'s planned bankruptcy could become a legal fee bonanza for attorneys, if you consider the fees generated by some of the giant bankruptcies of the past. (Bloomberg News via BLB) (Houston Chronicle) Of course, those firms have to actually get paid, and reports are that “scores” of PG&E’s law firms are still waiting for their money. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• Another potential source of income for attorneys are the job openings for legal and compliance experts at financial technology startups like Betterment LLC, Coinbase Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Social Finance Inc. and Wealthfront Corp., which have been getting increased regulatory scrutiny. (Bloomberg News via BLB)

• Cash flowed in the wrong direction recently for Skadden, which agreed to pay $4.6 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over unregistered work it did with Paul Manafort to benefit Ukraine. (Bloomberg News via BLB)

• A former Kirkland & Ellis partner, now at Chicago firm Neal Gerber & Eisenberg, confessed to overbilling clients for seven years, and said he was motivated by his firms’ billing expectations, according to a report. (American Lawyer)

• White & Case said Ira Raphaelson, a former counselor to Attorney General William Barr under the first Bush administration, joined the firm as a senior counsel in the firm’s antitrust practice. Raphaelson recently has been general counsel at Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the Scientific Games Corporation, and spent time at O’Melveny & Myers, among other places. (WhiteCase.com)

• United Healthcare Services Inc., advised by Boies Schiller Flexner and Zelle LLP, is accusing a roster of pharmaceutical companies of conspiring to “fix, increase, stabilize, or maintain prices of generic drugs” in violation of antitrust laws. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco’s lawsuit aimed at forcing the Defense Department to report information for gun background checks was properly dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, a federal appeals court ruled. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman advised the cities. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

Lawyers, Law Firms, Deals

• Judge Kevin Carey, who announced plans to retire last week as one of Delaware’s six federal bankruptcy judges, has presided over large Chapter 11 cases in Delaware for 14 years. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• Morrison & Foerster is advising Centrifuge Systems, a provider of next-generation Big Data business intelligence and visualization software, in its sale to global government logistics contractor Culmen International, which is advised by Pillsbury. (PR Newswire)

Laterals, Moves

• Arent Fox said former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement attorney J.H. Jennifer Lee joined the firm as a financial services litigation partner in San Francisco, arriving from Dorsey & Whitney. (ArentFox.com)

• DLA Piper said former Ernst & Young principal Barbara Mace joined the firm as a principal economist in New York, where she will advise large multinational financial institutions on global issues related to intra-group pricing issues. (DLAPiper.com)

• McGlinchey Stafford said former Internal Revenue Service attorney Douglas W. Charnas joined the firm as a tax attorney in its corporate and business transactions section in Washington. He arrives most recently from McGuireWoods. (McGlinchey.com)

• Bressler, Amery & Ross named New Jersey-based principal Diana Manning and New York-area principal Michael Hensley as co-chairs of its business and commercial litigation practice. (Bressler.com)

• Hanson Bridgett added IP attorney Noel Cook as a partner in its intellectual property practice in San Francisco. He previously spent nearly 30 years at Owen, Wickersham & Erickson, P.C. (HansonBridgett.com)

• Management-side worklaw firm Littler said Ellen Storch joined the firm as a shareholder in its growing Melville, New York, office on Long Island, arriving from Kaufman, Dolowich & Voluck. (Littler.com)

• Steptoe & Johnson LLP said former Paul Weiss corporate lawyer Scott Fisher joined the firm as a partner in its New York office, where he will focus on capital markets and securities.(Steptoe.com)

Legal Actions, Bankruptcies, Decisions

• Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC‘s $28.8 million settlement with shareholders received final court approval. Gibson Dunn represented Och-Ziff. Pomerantz and Rosen Law Firm represented the investors. (Bloomberg Law)

• Duke University, advised by Alston & Bird, and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, will pay $10.65 million to settle lawsuits challenging fees and investment options in its $4.7 billion retirement plan. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)

• A would-be investors’ class suit against biotech firm PolarityTE secured a lead plaintiff, but judicial worries about “exorbitant” fees and duplicate filings leave class counsel uncertain. Stoel Rives and Latham & Watkins represented PolartiyTE. (Bloomberg Law)

• Greenberg Traurig client Champion Pet Foods USA, Inc. shed most claims in a proposed class suit alleging it deceptively markets high-end cat food without disclosing that the products contain heavy metals. (Bloomberg Law)

• Barnes & Thornburg client Kellogg Corp. won’t have to face a fired employee’s sexual harassment, race discrimination, and retaliation claims because he filed his lawsuit too late and didn’t follow proper administrative procedures, a court ruled. (Bloomberg Law via BLB)