Wake Up Call: China Targets Lawyers Defending Jailed Christians

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

• Chinese authorities are cracking down on lawyers representing detained members of Beijing’s Zion Church, as they revoke or suspend legal licenses and issue suspension warnings. Human rights attorney Zhang Kai is among those targeted, raising concerns that officials are restricting Christians’ access to counsel and information about detainees. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Quentin Lewis has become a “jailhouse lawyer” at Wende Correctionsal Facility in New York. He has been using a provision of the state’s HALT Act that allows inmates to represent one another in disciplinary hearings. Despite having no formal law degree, Lewis spends hours in the prison law library helping fellow prisoners challenge rule violations, file lawsuits, and navigate a system he describes as stacked against them. (The New York Times)
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s London office missed a key filing deadline that forced its client Aramark to abandon its merger with Entier after failing to appeal a block by the Competition and Markets Authority in time. The firm misinterpreted tribunal rules on the four-week deadline, filing one day late and unsuccessfully seeking an extension. (RollOnFriday)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Stuart Nelson joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in its intellectual property practice in Minneapolis. He joins from Fish & Richardson.
• David Pearl joined Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer as a partner in its antitrust practice in Washington. He joins from Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider.
• Paul Schoenhard joined McGuireWoods as a partner in its intellectual property practice in Washington. He joins from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.