Wake Up Call: Burford Earmarks $150 Million for Equity Project

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

• Burford Capital is launching phase three of its Equity Project, which includes earmarking $150 million for commercial matters with a woman or “racially diverse” lawyer in a leadership role. The previous phase saw $50 million earmarked to finance cases led by women lawyers. (Burford Capital)
• Gibson Dunn is cutting its Singapore partnerships in half, with four partners set to leave in the coming months. The move will leave the office with five partners, two of whom split their time between Singapore and China. (Law.com)
• General counsel compensation at the 500 largest US companies by revenue has increased nearly 25% since 2019. The median total compensation for general counsel during the five-year period grew to $3.3 million in 2023 from $2.6 million in 2019. (Equilar)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Kristen Mathews joined Cooley as a partner in its cyber, data, and privacy group and litigation department. She joins from Morrison & Foerster.
• April Kim joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a projects and energy transition partner in Southern California. She joins from Greenberg Traurig.
• Zach Hutton joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as a partner in its labor and employment practice group. He joins from Paul Hastings.
• Kal Dargan joined Husch Blackwell as a partner in its national tax practice.
• Ed Ivey joined Haynes and Boone as a partner in its finance group in Charlotte, N.C. He joins from Moore & Van Allen.
• Tamara Carmichael joined Saul Ewing as a partner in its intellectual property group in New York.
• Adriana Ochoa joined Snell & Wilmer as a partner in it special litigation and compliance practice group in San Diego.
• Diane Wozniak joined Holland & Hart as a partner in its private client team in Denver.
• Keith Enright joined Gibson Dunn as a partner in its artificial intelligence practice group. He joins from Google, where he was chief privacy officer.