Wake Up Call: Big Law Steers Investments in Metaverse Projects

In today’s column, Gibson Dunn lawyers for Facebook hit back against claims they’re “foot-dragging” on discovery; Duane Morris said it wants to drop client Martin Shkreli; litigation boutique Selendy Gay Elsberg matched the Cravath scale for associate pay.

• Leading off, Cleary Gottlieb is advising Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation on its $1 billion investment in Epic Games Inc., maker of Fortnite, in a funding round aimed at advancing Epic’s plan to build in the metaverse virtual platform. Kirkbi, a Denmark-based holding and investment company that owns The LEGO Group, is also investing $1 billion into Cary, North Carolina-based Epic. The company, valued at $31.5 billion after the investment, said it’s being advised by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. A spokesman for Kirkbi said the company was advised by a U.S.-based firm, but it declined to name it. (Cleary)
• O’Melveny & Myers said it’s counseling ReKTGlobal Inc, a New York-based esports startup, on its $470 million acquisition by metaverse development company Infinite Reality LLC. Infinite Reality reportedly plans to expand ReKTGlobal’s brands into the metaverse, including by creating esports stadiums and skyboxes. (OMM.com)
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher lawyers for Facebook rejected claims they’re “stonewalling” discovery in multidistrict litigation against the company. (The Recorder)
• Litigation boutique Selendy Gay Elsberg matched the Cravath scale for associate pay. (Above The Law)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Duane Morris said it wants to withdraw as counsel for Martin Shkreli because the jailed ex-pharmaceutical executive isn’t paying his bill. (Reuters)
• South Dakota’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, also a Republican, who killed a pedestrian in a 2020 car accident and told investigators he thought he’d hit a deer. (Associated Press via U.S. News & World Report)
• Norton Rose Fulbright said it’s advising cryptocurrency exchange ByBit on its plan to enter the United Arab Emirates market. (Global Legal Post)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Gibson Dunn added private equity of counsel Lynn Abell and Adam Whitehouse in Houston, Texas. They arrive from Willkie Farr & Gallagher and have previously worked for energy companies; FisherBroyles hired corporate and securities lawyer Paul-Michael Rebus as a partner in London; Stoel Rives brought in environmental law attorney Lindsay Pucket as counsel in San Diego, Calif. (Stoel.com)
• Akerman snagged 40-year veteran Big Law litigator Peter Haveles in New York. He arrives from McDermott Will & Emery; Holland & Hart grabbed Hogan Lovells litigation and regulatory partner Andrew Lillie as a partner in Denver; New York-based Tarter Krinsky & Drogin launched a matrimonial & family law practice led by a former Big Law litigator and a former Queens assistant district attorney; Holland & Knight hired veteran Big Law corporate attorney Paulo Varnieri as a partner in Washington. He’s a former U.S. general counsel for CCR Airports, a unit of a Brazil-based Latin American infrastructure company. (HKLaw.com)
• The United Services Automobile Association, a financial services group, recruited in-house leader, former Greenberg Traurig shareholder, and ex-Tennessee insurance commissioner Julie McPeak as senior vice president and general counsel for insurance; Charlotte-based Carolina Tractor and Equipment Company hired former Alston & Bird attorney Stacy Gray, top lawyer at department store chain Belk Inc., to be its first-ever VP, general counsel and corporate secretary. (Construction Equipment Guide)
• Ad experience platform RevJet hired former Epic corporate counsel Jacob Craft as general counsel and chief administrative officer; Vecima Networks Inc., a Canadian maker of hardware and software for broadband networks, named in-house attorney Heather Asher former Global Payments Inc. senior associate general counsel as its new GC and corporate secretary; executive search firm BarkerGilmore said Jennifer Pileggi, former executive, top lawyer and compliance officer at enterprise software company Zuora, Inc., joined as a senior adviser. (BarkerGilmore.com)