Wake Up Call: Big Law Hires From Government Jumped 225% in 2025

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

• Government-to-law-firm moves in the DC market surged more than 225% in the first ten months of 2025, with 475 attorneys leaving federal agencies amid layoffs, reorganizations, and early retirements in the second Trump administration. Big Law firms with deep government practices—like WilmerHale, Covington, and Morgan Lewis—absorbed the largest numbers, and the influx created a talent glut that pushed many candidates into counsel roles rather than partnerships. DOJ lawyers represented the biggest share of departures, and government attorneys made up nearly a third of all lateral hires in the region. (Law.com)
• Optimum’s antitrust suit accusing major asset managers of colluding to fix its debt prices is creating strain for Kirkland & Ellis, which advises both Optimum on corporate finance matters and several of the defendant funds. Although Kirkland didn’t prepare the lawsuit, some asset managers have linked the action to the firm—especially after a Kirkland partner publicly warned that cooperation agreements among creditors could raise antitrust issues—prompting a few defendants to reconsider using the firm for future work. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Trump Justice Department launched an aggressive and unprecedented campaign targeting the University of California system—especially UCLA—over alleged antisemitism, pushing career civil-rights lawyers to build a discrimination case that internal documents show they believed lacked legal support. Political appointees ordered staff to produce evidence within weeks to justify predetermined conclusions that UC had violated federal law, despite internal DOJ memos noting that UCLA had already taken significant remedial steps, incidents were no longer ongoing, and legal theories were untested or weak. (ProPublica)