Wake Up Call: Denton’s China Departure Is Warning for US Firms

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of legal industry moves and other news.

Dentons’ decision to quit China and new investment limits by the Biden administration underscore the growing challenges facing Western companies there. China’s new counterespionage law made it impossible to follow legal industry standards and best practice, a person familiar with Dentons’ decision-making told DealBook. For example, a provision that requires Chinese firms to keep the names of clients and employees secret from foreign entities raised thorny issues for American lawyers, who must check for conflicts with existing clients before taking on a new one. (The New York Times)

Corporate diversity efforts at Amazon, Comcast and other companies are being challenged by conservative groups in court using many of the same legal strategies that boosted minority representation in the workforce. (Wall Street Journal)

CMS is the latest leading firm not to disclose information on its profitability. The international outfit has reported a 6.2% rise in global income to 1.862 billion euros (about $2 billion) for 2022, but did not provide any information on PEP. Mishcon de Reya and Magic Circle firm Freshfields made similar declarations recently. (Law Society Gazette)

Israeli law firms and the president of Tel Aviv University are calling for a general strike on the Israeli government if it will not abide by the decision of the High Court should it invalidate a controversial new law that deprives the judiciary of the ability to reject some government decisions. Israel’s leading law firms such as Meitar, Arnon, Tadmor-Levy, Shibolet, Firon, and others joined the university president’s call for a general strike, stressing that the call is not political but “serves to carry out their duties as attorneys and legal experts.” (The Jerusalem Post)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Margie Hinckley has joined Allen & Overy in New York as chief marketing and business development officer of the Americas. Hinckley joins from Ropes & Gray.
• Sean Royall has joined King & Spalding as a partner in its trial and global disputes practice group in Washington. Royall joins from Sidley Austin.
• Raymond J. Jacobi has joined Polsinelli as a shareholder in the private equity M&A practice in Chicago. Jacobi joins from a Chicago-based law firm.
• Michael C. Hefter, Seth M. Cohen, and Ryan Philp have joined Alston & Bird as partners in the litigation and trial practice group in the New York office. They join from Hogan Lovells.
• Brian L. Schall has joined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in the entertainment, media, and sports practice group in Los Angeles. Schall joins from Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin.
• Agustin Ceballos and Daniel Silva have joined Buchalter in the San Diego, Calif., office.
• Jennifer Haworth McCandless has joined Baker Botts as a partner with the international disputes section of the litigation department in Washington. Haworth McCandless joins from Sidley Austin.
• Josh Escovedo has joined Buchalter as a shareholder in its Los Angeles and Sacramento, Calif., offices.