Wake Up Call: AI Legal Tech Promises to Show ‘How Judges Think’

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

• Former Kirkland & Ellis partner and legal tech entrepreneur Jimoh Ovbiagele, backed by Big Law firms, has unveiled AI-informed software that is promising to show “how judges think.” California-founded Cooley, Fenwick & West, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are among the investors into Bench IQ, which has raised $2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. (Reuters)
• Kirkland senior litigation partner Matthew Solum said private equity, which has continued to become a “more and more dominant mode of deploying capital,” is going to continue to drive litigation. He added that clients are facing parallel regulatory and criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions. "(A)ll of that increases complexity,” he said. (Lawdragon)
• Sacramento, California law firm Mastagni Holstedt is suing the computer company it hired for cybersecurity, after the firm was hit with a ransomware attack. The 44-lawyer firm, which represents law enforcement groups in the area, is asking for more than $1 million from Lantech LLC, claiming that the attack forced the firm to pay ransom to regain its data. (Sacramento Bee)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Sarah Mirza has joined Squire Patton Boggs as a partner in the intellectual property and technology practice. She joins from Artegis Law Group.
• Brian Miner has joined Dechert LLP as a partner with the corporate and securities practice group in New York.
• Nils Röver will join Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in Germany. He joins from Latham & Watkins.
• Sonita M. Bennitt has joined Seward & Kissel as a partner with the tax group in New York. She joins from Goodwin Procter.
• Blair Jacobs, Christina Ondrick, and John Holley have joined Spencer Fane as partners with the intellectual property practice in Washington, D.C.
• Brent Hockaday has joined K&L Gates LLP as a partner in the labor, employment, and workplace safety practice area in the Dallas office. He joins from Bell Nunnally & Marin.
• Adam Braun has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner with the employee benefits and executive compensation group in St. Louis. He joins from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
• Lisa Oliver White has joined Shook as a partner with the product liability litigation practice in Boston.
• Christine N. Lindblad has rejoined Fox Rothschild as a partner in the litigation department in Minneapolis. She rejoins form Medica.
• Michelle Canerday has joined Holland & Hart as a partner in the Denver office.