Wake Up Call: AI Startup Reimagines the General Practice Firm

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

• Lawhive, a British legal tech startup, raised $60 million in Series B funding to speed up its expansion in the US. Rather than selling software to law firms, Lawhive operates as a regulated legal services provider, using its AI platform to automate routine work like document drafting, research, and client intake. Founded in 2020, the company now generates more than $35 million in annual revenue and works with about 500 lawyers across the UK and the US. (Fortune)
• Jay Lefkowitz, a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis who helped Jeffrey Epstein secure a 2007 plea deal, later maintained a personal relationship with him, including inviting Epstein to his son’s bar mitzvah and seeking to borrow his helicopter, according to files released by the Justice Department. (Financial Times)
• The University of Southern California appointed Beong-Soo Kim, the university’s general counsel, as its 13th permanent president. Kim, who succeeded Carol Folt as interim president last year, is overseeing efforts to close a $200 million deficit that has included hundreds of layoffs. (LAist)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Andrew Smolik, Michael Flood, Seth Aigner, Virginia Duong and Gordon Klein joined Norton Rose Fulbright as partners.
• Teresa Kosmidis joined McDermott Will & Schulte as a partner in its transactions practice group in Washington. She joins from the CFPB.
• Adam Jachimowski joined Holland & Knight as a partner in its financial services practice group in New York.
• Matthew Edwards joined Boies Schiller Flexner as a partner in its family law practice in Washington.