Wake Up Call: California Considers Van Nest for Paramount Case

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

• California is weighing outside counsel for a possible Paramount-Warner challenge. State officials have discussed bringing in Keker, Van Nest & Peters partner Robert Van Nest as a lead lawyer if a coalition of attorneys general sues to block Paramount’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. California is leading a multistate investigation; any eventual case could focus on competition issues in theatrical distribution, streaming, and news. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Bill Gates turned to a DLA Piper partner for help ahead of his Epstein testimony. Gates retained Jake Greenberg, now at DLA Piper, to prepare for a private interview before the House Oversight Committee. Greenberg previously served as the panel’s top investigative counsel and worked on the committee’s Epstein inquiry before leaving Capitol Hill last year. Ethics experts told the Times that while such an arrangement may be permissible if Greenberg does not deal directly with the committee, it underscores the optics and revolving-door questions that can arise when former congressional investigators move into private practice. (New York Times)
• Todd and Julie Chrisley are suing their former lawyers for malpractice. The reality TV couple filed a $25 million suit against former attorney Christopher Anulewicz and Balch & Bingham, alleging they were not competently represented in the fraud and tax case that sent them to prison before President Donald Trump pardoned them last year. The complaint claims counsel mishandled a challenge to evidence stemming from a 2017 search and argues the fallout cost the Chrisleys prison time, business opportunities, and their television career. (NBC News)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Monica Freas joined Skadden LLP as a partner in its financial institutions regulatory group in Washington, DC.
• Ryan Tansey joined King & Spalding as a partner in its business litigation practice in New York. He joins from the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where he was chief of the Washington Criminal Section.
• Kaleb Walker joined Orrick LLP as a partner in its energy and infrastructure team in Houston. He joins from King & Spalding.
• Ching-Lee Fukuda and Tom Broughan joined Morrison Foerster as partners in its intellectual property litigation group and life sciences and healthcare industry practice. Fukuda joined the New York office, while Broughan joined the Washington, DC, office. They join from Sidley Austin, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
• Melissa McGrory and Teresa Napoli joined Foley & Lardner as partners in its employee benefits and executive compensation practice in Chicago. They join from Sidley Austin.
• Dean Valore joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as a partner in its Cleveland office. He most recently was partner at Wegman Hessler Valore, according to his LinkedIn profile.
• Andrew Yocopis joined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in its real estate practice in Phoenix. He joins from Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.
• Bradley Micsky joined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in its intellectual property practice in Minneapolis. He joins from Dykema Gossett PLLC, according to his LinkedIn profile.
• Carolyn Pokorny joined Akerman as a partner and co-chair of its white collar crime and government investigations practice in New York. She previously served as acting US attorney and first assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
• Natalie Rainer joined Steptoe as a partner in its environment, food, and chemicals group in San Francisco. She joins from K&L Gates, according to her LinkedIn profile.
• Edward Hannon joined Kelley Drye & Warren as a partner in its tax and real estate practice groups in Chicago. Hannon joins from a major national law firm in Chicago where he served as co-leader of the firm’s DST working group.