Wake Up Call: Big Law Attorney Arrested in NYC Over Molotov Attack

In today’s column, reports say the FBI’s top lawyer has retired after conservatives panned his involvement in the investigation of Michael Flynn; Stroock is the latest major firm to make Covid-19 salary cuts; Boies Schiller Flexner is revamping its associate bonus structure; a divided Supreme Court rejected churches fighting Covid-19 restrictions on their worship services; two Big Law firms are advising in Cisco’s plan to buy internet monitoring company ThousandEyes.

• Leading off, furloughed Pryor Cashman corporate lawyer Colinford Mattis was arrested by New York police who accused him of driving a van from which a human rights lawyer tossed a Molotov cocktail into a police vehicle during violent protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. (New York Law Journal) (NYT)

• Above the Law reported that New York-based Stroock is the latest Big Law firm to cut lawyer and staff pay to shore up its finances during the Covid-19 cash crunch. The firm is reducing equity partner draws by 20%, and monthly draws for contract partners by 15%. A 15% salary cut will also apply to non-partner lawyers and to staff earning over $75,000, ABL said. (Above the Law)

• Hogan Lovells’ 300-person Paris office is encouraging its staff to return to the office starting tomorrow, according to a report. (Law.com International)

• The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many Big Law firms to shift to shortened, virtual summer associate programs, or cancel the programs altogether. That means firms could lose key opportunities to recruit future legal talent, while law students could miss out on key chances to connect face-to-face with firms and partners and to get valuable training and work experience. (BLAW)

• Allen & Overy’s London-based managing partner Andrew Ballheimer talked recently about the challenges of managing the firm during the Covid-19 crisis, and about A&O’s failed merger talks with O’Melveny (Financial Times)

• It depends on your point of view: Big Law attorneys told Fortune magazine that working from home because of the pandemic has been expectedly pleasant. (Fortune) But a new book of poetry by defense lawyers in the U.K. shows frustrations of remote work, such as this limerick: “It’s all very well to do Zoom, but it’s better to be in the room.” (The Guardian)

• The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject calls by churches in California and Illinois to block restrictions on religious services during the coronavirus outbreak. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• The FBI’s top lawyer, Dana Boente, retired Friday after getting asked to leave by top Justice Department officials. His exit came in the wake of criticism by Fox News pundits of Boente’s role in the investigation of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, reports say. (NBCNews.com) (Washington Post)

• Boies Schiller Flexner is changing its associate bonus structure from a formula system to a “market-rate” system that pays associates based on seniority instead of billable hours, a report says. (American Lawyer)

• Sidley Austin was approved to serve as bankruptcy counsel for the Boy Scouts of America after overcoming a conflict of interest objection raised by an insurance provider the law firm previously represented. (BLAW)

• Lawyers and other employees of public defense nonprofit Bronx Defenders are planning to unionize. (BLAW)

• King & Spalding beat a bid by WhatsApp and its counsel Cooley in a cyber case to get the Atlanta-based firm disqualified in the case because King & Spalding and its former partner and now FBI Director Christopher Wray provided legal services to WhatsApp in a sealed matter four years ago. King & Spalding is representing WhatsApp’s adversary in the current case. (The Recorder)

• With parades and other public events canceled for this year’s Pride Month, Mayer Brown said it’s launching a series of discussions, a “virtual pride parade,” in which lawyers from the firm, major corporations, and LGBTQ organizations will discuss key issues affecting LGBTQ people in the legal profession and in the LGBTQ community in general. (MayerBrown.com)

• Cisco Systems Inc., advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher, said it will acquire internet monitoring company ThousandEyes, advised by Fenwick & West. The price is a reported $1 billion. (Bloomberg News)

Pro Bono

• Twitter and Reddit Inc. joined the Internet Association in a brief supporting a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration requirement that applicants for U.S. visas register their social media handles. The original suit was filed on behalf of documentary filmmakers by the Brennan Center for Justice and the Knight First Amendment Institute and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)

Laterals, Moves

• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS said mediation professional Howard A. Herman, who led a California federal court’s ADR program for 23 years, joined JAMS’ panel in San Francisco. (JAMSadr.com)

• DLA Piper added corporate securities and M&A lawyer Jeffrey Selman as a partner based in its Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices. He arrives from Crowell & Moring, where he was a partner. (DLAPiper.com)

• Perkins Coie grabbed K&L Gates corporate M&A and securities partner Jill Louis as a partner in Dallas. According to her LinkedIn, she’s a former top lawyer at FleetPride, a distributor of replacement parts for heavy duty trucks and trailers, and was a managing director at FedEx. (PerkinsCoie.com)

In-house

• Airbnb Inc. chief ethics officer and former general counsel, Robert Chesnut, who stepped down last week, said his departure was in works before pandemic. (BLAW)

• A look back at top in-house counsel moves in May. (Corporate Counsel)

Promotions

• Civil defense firm Tyson & Mendes named litigator Andrew Smith its office managing partner for Los Angeles. It promoted litigation associates Sitar Bhatt in Phoenix and Kathryn Lee Colgan in San Diego to partner. (TysonMendes.com)

Legal Education

• Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, at least six states are limiting seats for their next bar exam and pushing repeaters to the back of the line. Four educators argue that another way to protect safety should be found. (BLAW)