Wake Up Call: Dentons Establishes Task Force on Ukraine Rebuild

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• Dentons has established a global task force to lead its efforts to “navigate Ukraine’s transformation and rebuild.” The group, which includes partners based in Kyiv, London, Amsterdam, and Washington, will shepherd the mega-firm’s “client-facing” response, and will utilize cross-border experts from throughout the firm in energy, tech, and infrastructure, to work alongside its Ukrainian lawyers. (Dentons)
• The state of Maryland has approved the hiring of Kelley Drye & Warren and four other firms as it weighs filing suit over the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The Maryland attorney general’s office also chose Lanier Law Firm, Liskow & Lewis, Downs Ward Bender Herzog & Kintigh, which will serve as local counsel, and Partridge LLC. (Reuters)
• Christopher Edley Jr., the civil rights expert, former presidential policy advisor, and dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, died on May 10 at age 71. “As we mourn him, there is comfort in knowing that his legacies are large,” said former Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow. (Harvard Law School)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Chrystie Holmstrom has joined Holland & Knight as a partner with the firm’s corporate—Mid South practice group in Nashville.
• Chao “Wendy” Wang has joined Baker Botts as a partner in its intellectual property department in the firm’s Palo Alto, California office. She joins from Perkins Coie.
• Brian Koosed has joined Venable as a partner in its commercial litigation practice in Washington and New York.
• William R. Wagner has joined Miles & Stockbridge as a principal in the firm’s new Midtown Manhattan office in New York.
• Daniel Fayock rejoined K&L Gates as a corporate M&A partner in Pittsburgh.