Wake Up Call: David Boies Reveals Billing Rate in Epstein Case

• Leading litigator David Boies’ hourly billing rate is now $2,110, his law firm told a judge weighing attorneys’ fees in a class action lawsuit brought by victims of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein against Deutsche Bank. Boies’ and other lawyers’ rates were disclosed in a fee petition his firm Boies Schiller Flexner filed Friday in Manhattan federal court. Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the case are asking the court to sign off on a $22.5 million fee award, representing 30% of a $75 million settlement that was preliminarily approved in June. (Reuters)
• UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer last week launched a taskforce aimed at banning Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) in British courts. It includes representatives of the Bar Council and Law Society, as well media organizations and civil liberty groups. If the taskforce is going to succeed, it will require a shift in culture within the British legal profession, which has acquired an international reputation for “libel tourism”. (The Independent)
• Top entertainment lawyer Craig Emanuel is leaving Paul Hastings where he has been a partner and global chair of the Entertainment and Media division. Emanuel is retiring from 42 years of legal practice to focus on working as an advisor to his longtime client, Ryan Murphy and his Ryan Murphy Productions. Emanuel was by Murphy’s side as his career took off with a string of hits, including “Nip/Tuck”, “Glee”, the “American Horror Story” franchise and its many offshoots as well as the popular 9-1-1 procedurals. (Deadline)
• Steven Fabrizio, the former senior executive vice president and global general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, has been disbarred in New York, according to a database maintained by the state’s unified court system. Fabrizio, once a high-powered figure in the MPAA, was fired from the Hollywood studio lobbying organization in the summer of 2019 following his arrest on charges of blackmail and sexual abuse. (Los Angeles Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Paul R. Genender has joined Paul Hastings as a partner and chair of its Texas commercial litigation practice in Houston. He joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
• Kate Vera has joined McDermott Will & Emory as a partner in New York. She joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Josh Goodman has joined Morgan Lewis as a partner in Washington, D.C. He joins from the Federal Trade Commission.
• Philipp Kurek has joined Signature Litigation as a partner in the London office. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Madison Spach has joined Frost Brown Todd AlvaradoSmith in Orange County, Calif.
• Kurt Konrad Lunkenheimer has joined Cozen O’Connor as a member in the white collar defense and investigations group in Miami.