Wake Up Call: Deloitte-Linked Immigration Firm Opens in Chicago

In today’s column, one Big Law firm told associates they’ll have to hit 2,000 hours for the year to get bonuses; and two other firms said they’ll take associates’ billable hours into account when restoring Covid pay cuts; alternative legal services providers, fueled by an influx of investment, are growing fast and hiring a lot; Kirkland announced 145 new partners; Norton Rose Fulbright’s new chief executive started the job yesterday, three months early; law firm mergers are gaining pace but still way down from last year.

• Leading off, corporate immigration firm Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP said it’s opening an office in Chicago, its 10th in the U.S., calling it a “gateway to the Midwest” and a precursor to more expansion. In 2018, Deloitte’s U.K. arm announced a U.S. alliance with Berry Appleman and said it would also acquire that firm’s eight foreign offices, as the Big Four firm entered the U.S. legal services market. (Balglobal.com)

• Perkins Coie yesterday became the latest of many Big Law firms that have rolled back salary cuts they made earlier this year when they were concerned about the pandemic’s potential economic wallop. Several firms, noting that their business this year has turned out better than they’d expected, have restored pay to pre-pandemic levels and several have also announced special Covid-19 appreciation bonuses. (BLAW)

• But firms are taking different approaches. For example, a report says Nelson Mullins and Baker Donelson are applying revenue or billable-hour metrics to decide how they restore pay cuts. (Daily Report Online)

• And in a memo published yesterday by Above the Law, an Arnold & Porter partner told associates that, despite the unusual constraints created by the Covid-19 pandemic, they won’t be eligible for year-end bonuses if they have not hit the firm’s target of 2,000 hours for 2020. (Above the Law)

• As the Covid-19 pandemic forces changes in the way people and companies interact, law firms have to go digital because their clients are. A new Financial Times special report looks at how lawyers, law firms, and in-house teams are innovating to contend with the pandemic. (Financial Times)

• Alternative legal service providers are growing fast and hiring a lot of people. (Law.com)

• Law firm mergers picked up over the summer after cooling during the early months of the pandemic. However, it looks likely they’ll fall well short of last year’s record, according to a new report. (BLAW)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Burford Capital yesterday revealed first-half results that show its investment of $145 million in a group of related cases recently paid out $423 million. (BLAW)

• Law firms are failing to retain associates, especially minority associates, a new study says. (ABA Journal)

• Norton Rose Fulbright said Houston partner Gerry Pecht has already taken over as its new global chief executive officer, replacing Peter Martyr, who led Norton Rose and then Norton Rose Fulbright since 2002. When he was electedin August, the firm said Pecht would take over in early 2021. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)

• Big Law firms are doing a lousy job on climate, according to new ratings from a Yale Law School student group that says it’s encouraging their law school peers to avoid working at firms that represent the fossil fuel industry. (BLAW)

• Patent infringement lawsuits are on the upswing after falling four straight years. (Texas Lawyer)

• Regulators of the financial tech industry told a recent roundtable that they’re trying to keep up with new technology while also protecting consumers, but also trying to ease uncertainty for companies. (Corporate Counsel)

• Paul Weiss is advising Luxembourg-headquartered Covis Group, a specialty pharmaceutical company, on its estimated $647 million deal to acquire AMAG Pharmaceuticals, a Waltham, Mass-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that is getting advice from Goodwin Procter. Skadden Arps is advising Goldman Sachs, AMAG’s financial adviser on the deal. (GlobeNewswire.com)

Laterals, Moves

• White & Case says it has recruited three partners from Sidley Austin, including the recently named co-leaders of Sidley’s bankruptcy practice, Jessica Boelter and Bojan Guzina. (BLAW)

• Covington & Burling is getting back former FDA chief counsel Gerald Masoudi, who’s returning as a partner after five years away from the firm, first as general counsel for pharmaceutical company Celgene Corp., and then as the top legal officer with electronic cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs. (BLAW)

• King & Spalding grabbed Jones Day M&A partner Tim FitzSimons as a partner in Chicago in its corporate, finance and investments group. (KSLaw.com)

• Perkins Coie hired two top government environmental lawyers. Edward Boling joins as partner from the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality and Stacey Bosshardt joins as senior counsel from the Justice Department. (BLAW)

• Stroock recruited Katten Muchin Rosenman real estate lawyers Lorie Soares Lazarus and Peter David Ballance as partners in its office in Los Angeles. At Katten, Lazarus co-chaired the West Coast real estate practice and Ballance co-chaired the LGBT Coalition. (Stroock.com)

• Reed Smith’s London office added funds lawyer Shervin Shameli as a partner in its global corporate group. Shameli has worked at Proskauer Rose and SJ Berwin and he arrives most recently from MJ Hudson Law, a specialist funds focused firm, where he was head of private funds. (ReedSmith.com)

In-house

• Exxon Mobil Corp. is promoting deputy general counsel Craig Morford to take over from current GC Randall Ebner, who is retiring Nov. 1. Morford’s previous experience as top lawyer for Cardinal Health Inc., overseeing that company’s legal strategy in opioid litigation, could prove useful as Exxon faces climate litigation. (BLAW)

• Coca-Cola in-house lawyer Todd Grice joined Bacardi Limited as general counsel and senior vice president, to replace former GC Eduardo Sanchez. (BLAW)

• San Diego-based self-driving truck startup TuSimple Inc. hired former Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration official James Mullen as its new chief legal and risk officer. (BLAW)

Promotions

• Kirkland & Ellis announced it has promoted 145 new partners, which beats the record it set last year, 141. (Kirkland.com) (American Lawyer)

• Goodwin elected 29 lawyers (12 women) to partner. (GoodwinLaw.com)

• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius elected 25 lawyers (13 women) to partner. (MorganLewis.com)

Legal Education

• A group of law professors sued to block President Donald Trump’s order sanctioning the International Criminal Court over its investigation of possible war crimes committed by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. (Bloomberg News via BLAW)