Wake Up Call: Dentons Delays Bonuses to Try and Soften Blow From Virus

In today’s column, McGuireWoods says its conservative approach and a solid 2019 put it in a good position to face the economic fallout of Covid-19; Davis Polk is still mulling whether to delay its summer associate program; and litigation funders say they’re getting a surge in inquiries from law firms amidst the crisis, especially about insurance coverage disputes.

• Leading off, Dentons, the world’s biggest law firm by head count, said it is delaying bonus payouts in a “pre-emptive” move to cushion the financial impact of the Covid-19 crisis. It will pay 50% of attorneys’ 2019 bonuses on schedule and delay the rest until the second half of 2020. (AbovetheLaw.com)

• Dentons joined the parade of firms making cost-cuts to ride out Covid-19’s financial storm. Pittsburgh-based Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is making a temporary 5% pay cut for associates and a reduction of partners’ compensation by an undisclosed amount. Neither Dentons nor Buchanan announced layoffs or furloughs. (AbovetheLaw.com)

• Day Pitney, based in Connecticut, is also avoiding layoffs, for now, while making a 15% cut in pay for all attorneys and some staff, a 60% cut in working hours for some other staff, and a reduction to partner draws. Goldberg Segalla has already announced layoffs; now it’s cutting partner draws by 10 to 20% and ending its 401(k) matching program for partners. (AbovetheLaw.com)

• American Lawyer got no response when it tried to ask Massachusetts-based Nixon Peabody about reports the firm has furloughed 25% of its staff and taken other drastic measures to confront the Covid-19 crisis. (American Lawyer)

• McGuireWoods said its conservative spending and solid 2019 results put it in good position to “take care of our people” during the crisis. The Richmond, Virginia-based firm has heavily cut discretionary spending and held back a portion of partner draws in April. (American Lawyer)

• Many firms have also delayed or canceled their summer associate programs. New York-based Davis Polk & Wardwell told its 133 summer associates that it’s still deciding whether to hold its program as planned but that, whatever it decides, it will still pay them and offer them full-time jobs upon graduation. (New York Law Journal)

• One anticipated effect of Covid-19 is a wave of litigation over insurance coverage. Some litigation funders report seeing, or expecting, a surge in inquiries from law firms, in particular regarding insolvency and insurance coverage cases. (Law.com)

• Law firms poised to benefit most from the insurance-litigation wave are Reed Smith and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Those firms are already shifting commercial litigators to get ready to sue insurers for denying claims on business interruption policies. (BLAW)

• Quinn Emanuel said counsel Steven Edwards died due to complications from Covid-19. (BLAW)

• When the pandemic finally eases enough to end confinement, courts with a high number of judicial vacancies could have a hard time clearing a backlog of cases. (BLAW)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Paul Weiss launched a corporate sustainability practice group to be managed by former litigator and business executive David Curran, a new hire. (BLAW)

• Mutual-fund company Franklin Resources has reportedly hired Akin Gump in expectation that oil and gas driller Chesapeake Energy will restructure or file for bankruptcy. Franklin holds a substantial stake in Chesapeake, which hired Kirkland & Ellis in March. (Seeking Alpha) (BLAW)

• As life under lockdown leaves lawyers feeling stressed and isolated, some law firms are using virtual hang-outs, cocktails, and other measures to try to boost morale and maintain a sense of “team.” (Financial Times)

• Covington & Burling said it found more documents to hand over to former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn has accused the firm of ineffectively defending him as he tried to withdraw his guilty plea on charges of lying to the FBI. (National Law Journal)

• K&L Gates said its partner Brian Montag helped a small manufacturer of personal care products, E.T. Browne Drug Co., hook up with energy giant ExxonMobil. That partnership allowed E.T. Browne to get isopropyl alcohol, a key ingredient in the medical-grade hand sanitizer it is making to distribute to U.S. military personnel and medical first responders. (Lehigh Valley Business)

• Goodwin Procter advised Slack Technologies, Inc. on its $862.5 million convertible bond offering. (SEC.gov)

• DLA Piper advised Haemonetics, a medical technology company focused on hematology, in its acquisition of Enicor GmbH, a Germany-based manufacturer of a whole blood coagulation testing system. (MassDevice.com)

Laterals, Moves

• Lowenstein Sandler announced two management hires in New Jersey. It added J. Danielle Carr as director of diversity, equity and inclusion. According to her LinkedIn, Carr was previously at Polsinelli and was a managing director at legal recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa. Lowenstein also hired Kerry Lunz for the new role of director of legal talent acquisition. She’s had recruiting roles at several major law firms, most recently at Pepper Hamilton. (Lowenstein.com)

• Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht, whose founder John Pierce has been on leave pending a probe into financing questions, has lost name partners Maxim Price, David Hecht, and Carolynn Beck, and several other partners, according to a report. (American Lawyer)

• With coronavirus bankruptcies looming, Schiff Hardin is the latest firm to boost its restructuring practice. It announced that corporate and municipal debt specialist Rick Frimmer is re-joining the firm as a counsel in its restructuring practice. (SchiffHardin.com)

• Holland & Knight hired corporate M&A lawyer Brent Singley as a partner in Tysons, Virginia. He arrives from Hogan Lovells, where he had been for 22 years. (HKLaw.com)

• Akerman hired Baker McKenzie litigation partner Charles Critchlow in the firm’s antitrust and trade regulation practice in New York. (New York Law Journal)

In-house

• Santander Holdings USA Inc., Boston-based U.S. unit of Spain’s Banco Santander SA, hired financial industry in-house leader Brian Yoshida as its chief legal officer. Yoshida, a senior vice president and senior deputy general counsel at M&T Bank Corp., starts May 4. (BLAW)

Technology

• LinkedIn is launching a lawyer marketplace as part of its wider professional services finder offering, a report says. (ArtificialLawyer.com)

• LinkedIn’s new service will staffed by former employees from UpCounsel. That online lawyer marketplace announced in March that it was shutting down, but it turns out that UpCounsel is still going under a new owner, Enduring Ventures. (Legaltech News)

• Remote working forced by the Covid-19 crisis could hasten the demise of “wet signature” requirements and boost use of electronic signature tech. (BLAW)

Legal Education

• Students and professors in law clinics and programs at Fordham University, Harvard, U.C. Berkeley, Cornell; U.C.L.A, and other schools have been finding ways to give legal help during the pandemic. (Law.com)