Wake Up Call: Boston’s Biggest Firms Lost Lawyers in Past Year

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

• Boston’s top five law firms all cut their Massachusetts attorney headcounts in 2025. Ropes & Gray remained the top firm in the region, but dropped to 503 local lawyers—its lowest since 2016—while Goodwin, Mintz, WilmerHale, and Choate Hall also reported declines. (Boston Business Journal)
• Manning Kass is expanding into California’s Inland Empire by integrating Smith Law Group and opening a new office in Riverside. Led by trial attorney Doug Smith, whose firm primarily represents public entities, the team will join Manning Kass’ Governmental Entity Liability group. (Los Angeles Times)
• Hawaii’s effort to boost public defender pay has stalled due to the agency tasked with implementing the raises being understaffed, leaving attorneys underpaid for more than six months. Although lawmakers approved a 20% salary increase last year, personnel shortages and administrative bottlenecks have delayed payroll updates, shorting defenders for roughly 12 pay periods. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Alison Preiss joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. She joins from Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.
• Cliff Cone, Michael Sabin, and Daniel Drabkin joined Sidley Austin in its investment funds practice group in New York. They join from Clifford Chance.
• Randy Mastro joined Dechert as a partner in its securities and complex litigation practice in New York. He joins from former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
• Armando Albarrán joined Gibson Dunn as a partner in its private equity and M&A practice groups.
• Nicholas Jacobus joined Eisner as a partner in its entertainment group in Beverly Hills. He joins from Venable.