Wake Up Call: Baker McKenzie Seeks U.S. Merger to Grow in L.A., New York

• Chicago-based giant Baker McKenzie is looking for a U.S. merger to expand its presence in the North American legal market, especially in New York and L.A., but for now it’s using lateral hires to add heft. As for a merger, “It’s a question of when, not if,” the firm’s global chairman Paul Rawlinson said. ( The Recorder )

• Facebook Inc. targets job advertisements on its site to male users only, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Communications Workers of America, and plaintiffs’ law firm Outten & Golden allege in a federal sex-discrimination complaint. ( Bloomberg Law )

• Striking McDonald’s Corp. workers in the union-backed “Fight For $15” wage movement are demanding that the burger chain stop getting advice on sexual harassment policy from Seyfarth Shaw, because the firm has Weinstein Co., Harvey Weinstein’s old production company, as a client. ( Bloomberg via BLB )

• The woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago, Christine Blasey Ford, wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. ( Washington Post ) CNN published Ford’s attorneys’ letter requesting FBI investigation. ( CNN ) Republicans say there’s no need for an investigation. ( Bloomberg )

• Meanwhile, a Cozen O’Connor lawyer for Mark Judge, Kavanuagh’s high school classmate and possible witness in the case, says her client won’t testify. ( National Law Journal )

Lawyers, Law Firms, Deals

• Labaton Sucharow hired Richard Levine, veteran Securities and Exchange Commission associate counsel who helped start the SEC whistleblower program in 2011, as a partner in the firm’s whistleblower representation practice. ( Bloomberg Law via BLB )

• A push by Microsoft’s General Counsel Dev Stahlkopf for innovation from its external legal service providers could have ripple effects throughout the legal industry. ( ReplyAll via BLB )

• Boston-based plaintiffs lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan’s near 20-year career as a champion of employees ditched by tech giants has seen her take on Amazon, Uber, and Google. Now she’s targeting IBM. ( Bloomberg via BLB )

• K&L Gates client World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. got a federal judge to dismiss several concussion cases brought on behalf of former professional wrestlers and also hit a plaintiffs’ attorney with sanctions in the case. ( Bloomberg Law via BLB )

• In other wrestling news, WWE named in-house veteran Brian Nurse senior vice president, general counsel & secretary. Nurse was previously vice president, associate general counsel, and secretary at Nestlé Waters North America, the North American beverage division of Nestlé S.A.( Multichannel News )

• The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced nine fellows for the 2018 class of its program aimed at providing learning opportunities for alternative dispute resolution pros worldwide. ( JAMSadr )

Laterals, Moves

• Birmingham-based Coca-Cola Bottling Company United named attorney Lucas B. Gambino its new general counsel and vice president. Gambino previously spent 18 years practicing banking and corporate law at Birmingham law firm Maynard Cooper & Gale. ( Birmingham Biz Journals )

• Barnes & Thornburg said corporate attorney Ryan J. Barncastle joined as a partner in the firm’s corporate department in Los Angeles, arriving from Raines Feldman LLP. ( BTlaw.com )

• DLA Piper named Stacy Paz and Louis Lehot co-managing partners of its Silicon Valley office. Paz recently served as vice-office managing partner for Silicon Valley and is co-chair of DLA Piper’s transactional tax practice, while Lehot is co-chair of the firm’s U.S. emerging growth and venture capital practice. ( DLA Piper )

• DLA Piper said it hired management-side litigator Holly Lake as an employment partner in its L.A. office. She arrives from Miller Law Group. ( DLA Piper )

Legal Actions

• It’s too late to force Georgia to replace the state’s flawed electronic-voting system with paper ballots for the midterm election despite evidence that votes could be altered, diluted or not counted at all, a U.S. judge ruled, in a case in which Morrison & Foerster worked pro bono. ( Bloomberg Law )

Technology

• MoFo data security partners Christine Lyon (Palo Alto) and Julie O’Neill (Washington, D.C.) are holding a webinar tomorrow to discuss practical steps companies can take to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and California’s Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. ( Mofo.com )

• The Electronic Privacy Information Center is suing for records related to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s involvement in the George W. Bush administration’s use of warrantless surveillance. ( Bloomberg Law )

• Whether nameless employee postings about employers and former employers will stay secret on Glassdoor Inc.'s anonymous job review platform is set to be hashed out in Sept. 19 oral arguments before the Texas Supreme Court. ( Bloomberg Law )

Compiled by Rick Mitchell and edited by Tom Taylor.