Wake Up Call: Colorado Okays Non-Attorneys for Some Family Law

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

• The Colorado Supreme Court approved a new civil procedure rule that will let some non-attorneys get licensed via a paraprofessional program to practice law in certain family relations matters. The new rule aims to improve access to legal representation in domestic law cases, the state’s judicial department said in a statement. Colorado joins Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon, and Utah, which have all issued some form of limited license for non-lawyers to practice law. (Colorado Judicial Branch)
• The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System is working on recommendations to help states develop legal paraprofessional programs, its director of special projects, Michael Houlberg, says in a recent Talk Justice podcast. (Legal Talk Network)
• Ice Miller’s gross revenues eeked down 0.6% to $247.5 million in 2022, as deal work slowed and a team of its litigators moved to another firm, according to a report based on early data. Indianapolis-founded Ice Miller said higher travel costs, non-partner salaries, and inflation dragged on its average profits per equity partner, which fell 14.5%. (American Lawyer)
• Leaders of some Big Law firms say they’re not overly worried about double-digit profit drops after the soaring revenue and profit gains of 2022. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A new Florida law championed by Governor Ron DeSantis makes it harder to sue insurance companies, businesses and property owners. (Miami Herald) Big Florida-based plaintiffs firm Morgan & Morgan told its lawyers that the law shows that insurers are “the enemy.” (Florida Politics) (The Insurer) (Above The Law)
• Women top lawyers of five major Washington sports teams including Major League Baseball’s Nationals, the NFL’s Commanders, and the National Basketball League’s Wizards, among others, talked recently about their jobs and challenges they’ve faced. ABC 7 News)
• The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Texas resident, his New York lawyer and law firm, among others, in three alleged schemes to defraud at least 28 investors of more than $8.4 million. (SEC.gov)
• Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders hired The Lanier Law Firm to litigate the state’s claims against Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Inc. (PR Newswire)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Gibson Dunn said it recruited former Apple Inc. senior counsel Christopher Rosina, who was principal architect of the iPhone maker’s global privacy compliance program. Rosina joins Gibson Dunn as of counsel in New York in its privacy, cybersecurity, and data innovation, artificial intelligence, and automated systems practice groups. (GibsonDunn.com)
• Transatlantic firm Womble Bond Dickinson added fintech attorney Howard Herndon as a corporate and securities partner in Nashville, Tennessee. Focused on the electronic transaction industry, he arrives from Frost Brown Todd where he led the payments industry team. (Womble Bond Dickinson)
• Greenspoon Marder brought in civil and white collar criminal litigator Marie L. Wrighten as a labor and employment partner in Los Angeles. She arrives from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. (GMLaw.com)
• Saul Ewing hired intellectual property litigation and transactions attorney Francelina Perdomo-Klukosky in New York as counsel. (Saul.com)
• The Rockefeller Foundation said its board of trustees confirmed its acting general counsel since May 2022, Erica Guyer, to the permanent role of general counsel and corporate secretary. (RockefellerFoundation.org)
• Cleveland, Ohio-based Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. hired Jon Ploetz as vice president, general counsel, and secretary. He succeeds Fred D. Bauer who recently retired. Ploetz joins from Harsco Corporation, provider of environmental solutions for industrial and specialty waste streams, where he was vice president, assistant GC, and assistant corporate secretary. (Applied.com)
• Mississippi-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. promoted in-house attorney Julie Jarrell Gresham to vice president and chief counsel of the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division. (Hii.com)