Wake Up Call: Cooley Partner to Be Acting Solicitor General

In today’s column, Big Law firms are hiring analysts to help them assess the profitability of their practices, to help them set partner compensation and make other business decisions; Reed Smith was hit by a gender bias suit filed by a former partner at the firm; Hogan Lovells introduced a diversity & inclusion billable hours credit; a Big Law partner is going in-house at the World Wrestling Entertainment company.

• Leading off, Cooley partner Elizabeth Prelogar, a Washington-based appellate lawyer who worked on the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling, will temporarily serve as the incoming Biden’s administration top U.S. Supreme Court advocate, according to reports. Prelogar, a former law clerk to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan, will be appointed deputy solicitor general in the coming days and serve as acting solicitor general until the Senate confirms President Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the position permanently, the reports said. (Bloomberg News via BLAW) (National Law Journal)
• Big Law firms are hiring financial analysis and pricing specialists and adding software to their tool box to help evaluate practice profitability. That work, in turn, helps the firms set partner compensation and make other business decisions, a report says. (American Lawyer)
• European data-privacy watchdogs levied about 272.5 million euros ($329 million) in fines since the General Data Protection Regulation gave them tougher powers almost three years ago, according to a report by DLA Piper. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)
• Despite the pandemic, out-of-state law firms are still opening offices in Texas, drawn by the state’s diversifying economy. (Texas Lawyer)
• One of Trump’s go-to law firms, Kasowitz Benson, announced market-matching year-end bonuses for associates, and because of the pandemic, it’s lifting billable-hour requirements for associates to get the money. (Above the Law)
• After two Los Angeles County Superior Court employees died from Covid, attorneys and court workers are asking if the court has adequate safety precautions. (The Recorder)

Biden Transition, Election Litigation, Fallout From Capitol Riots

• Trump loyalist and former GOP operative Michael Ellis started his new job as the National Security Agency’s general counsel on Tuesday. (Politico)
• Soon-to-be former President Donald Trump granted clemency to dozens of people Tuesday, including his former strategist Steve Bannon and the rapper Lil Wayne. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)
• A Trump supporter, son of a retired judge, was suspended without pay from his job as an analyst in the New York State Office of Court Administration after he allegedly made threats to kill government officials in Washington. (New York Law Journal)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A former Reed Smith non-equity partner based in New Jersey filed a suit accusing the firm of gender bias and thwarting her career. (New Jersey Law Journal)
• Fenwick & West topped Business Journal’s latest top 25 ranking of the biggest intellectual property firms in Silicon Valley, with 74 lawyers, followed by Wilson Sonsini, with 62; and Latham & Watkins, with 60. (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
• Longford Capital said its co-founder and chair Bill Strong has resigned from the role but is staying on as a general partner. The Chicago-based litigation finance firm also said it raised nearly $434 million in its third fund. (BLAW)

Diversity & Inclusion

• Prominent female M&A attorneys discussed possible solutions to the paucity of women leading large M&A deals. (American Lawyer)
• As firms tackle lack of diversity in the legal profession, two recently got new diversity leaders. Management-side worklaw firm Littler Mendelson named labor and employment litigator Paul Bateman as its first chief inclusion, equity and diversity officer. (BLAW)
• Blank Rome said legal placement consultant and corporate attorney Krystal Studavent Ramsey joined the firm in Houston as director of diversity and inclusion. She was a business development manager at Norton Rose Fulbright earlier in her career and arrives most recently from Axiom. (BlankRome.com)
• Hogan Lovells said it will allow U.S. counsel and associates to get billable hour credit for up to 50 hours of approved diversity and inclusion activities. It said the initiative is also being implemented globally. (HoganLovells.com)

Laterals, Moves

• Latham & Watkins is hiring two New York-based partners from Clifford Chance as the firm boosts investment in its capital markets practice. The partners, Gianluca Bacchiocchi and Guido Liniado, advise on energy and infrastructure transactions throughout Latin America. (BLAW)
• Clifford Chance brought on international trade attorney Renée Latour as a partner in Washington in its U.S. litigation, regulatory and enforcement practice. She arrives after over 14 years at Greenberg Traurig, most recently as a member, focusing on compliance with U.S. export controls and economic sanctions. (CliffordChance.com)
• Ropes & Gray hired two former federal prosecutors for its litigation and enforcement group. Brian Blais, former general crimes unit co-chief in the Southern District of New York, joins the firm’s white collar practice in New York. Samer Musallam, a senior counsel in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, joins the firm’s antitrust team in D.C. (BLAW)
• King & Spalding got former New Jersey federal prosecutor Craig Carpenito as a partner in New York in its special matters and government investigations group. He earlier spent close to a decade at Alston & Bird, where he was a partner and co-chair of the litigation and trial practice and white collar groups. (KSLaw.com)
• Locke Lord‎ added two partners to its bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency practice group. Former federal trial attorney Stephanie Wickouski joined in New York after close to 10 years as a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner; and Adrienne Walker joined in Boston from Mintz, where she was a member. (LockeLord.com)
• Honigman got patent litigator Gretchen Miller as a senior attorney in Washington. She, focuses on complex technologies in the life sciences sector, arriving after over 15 years at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. (Honigman.com)
• Norton Rose Fulbright added veteran employment litigator Tom Reddin in Dallas. He arrives from Polsinelli, where he was a shareholder. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)

In-House

• Davis Wright Tremaine partner Darren Traub is joining Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment as senior vice president of business and legal affairs, entertainment and talent management. (Corporate Counsel)
• HP Inc. announced that its top lawyer, Kim Rivera, and a prominent advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal industry, will step down Feb. 1 after five years with the company. (BLAW)
• XL Fleet Corp., a vehicle electrification company that went public in December, recruited veteran in-house leader and Big Law attorney James Berklas to be its general counsel and vice president of corporate development. (BLAW)
• SpaceLink Corp., a McLean, Va.-based company that plans to use satellites to improve communications on the ground, hired space law veteran David Lihani as its first general counsel. (BLAW)

Technology

• A new Hogan Lovells survey report finds most companies consider development or deployment of technology key to their growth strategy. But that technology comes with risks. (HoganLovells.com)
• Boston-based legal tech company LinkSquares, which provides AI-powered contract lifecycle management and analysis software, announced a customizable business intelligence tool for legal departments. (Businesswire.com)