Wake Up Call: Dentons Extends Flexible Work Trial for UK Region

In today’s column, virtual firm FisherBroyles’ 29.3% gross revenue growth last year leads all firms in a new ranking of “second 100” firms; the Justice Department named a Kaplan Hecker partner to a top post; a Florida in-house attorney said she was expelled from a Facebook group for posting her concerns about Covid vaccines for her children.

• Leading off, Dentons, the world’s biggest law firm by headcount, said it’s extending its year-old flexible-working trial for its UK, Ireland, Middle East region until the end of the year. Based on feedback it received from employees, the firm said it clarified “mutual expectations” for times when people are expected to be in the office. (The Lawyer)
• Virtual law firm FisherBroyles, with 29.3% gross revenue growth in 2021, led all firms for that category in American Lawyer’s latest Am Law 200 ranking of the so-called second hundred biggest US law firms based on gross revenue. (American Lawyer)
• The Justice Department named Kaplan Hecker partner Marshall Miller, a former New York federal prosecutor and DOJ criminal division chief of staff, as a top adviser to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. (National Law Journal)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• An in-house lawyer in Florida said she got booted from a Facebook group for lawyers who are mothers, Law Mamas, after she made a post stating that that she didn’t want her children to get Covid-19 vaccinations. (Corporate Counsel)
• The new chair of Maryland’s medical cannabis regulatory commission has reportedly stirred ethics questions by taking a job as personal injury and medical malpractice attorney at a law firm that has a cannabis practice. (The Baltimore Sun)
• Sidley Austin and Baker Botts advised satellite radio company SiriusXM on its acquisition of Team Coco and its podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.” Under the deal, O’Brien signed a multi-year agreement to remain host of the podcast and create and executive produce a new Team Coco comedy channel on SiriusXM. (SiriusXM.com) O’Melveny & Myers advised DoraHacks, a multi-chain Web3 developer incentive platform, on its $20 million equity funding round led by FTX Ventures and Liberty City Ventures. (CoinDesk)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Former Winston & Strawn finance partner Monica Barton moved to White & Case in London; employer-side worklaw firm Fisher Phillips added litigator William “Bill” O. Stein as a partner in Los Angeles. He arrives from Epstein Becker & Green; Nixon Peabody hired two ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) litigators away from DLA Piper in Washington, getting labor and employment attorneys Jen Squillario and Ian Taylor as partners; Perkins Coie appointed emerging companies & venture capital law partner Andy Smetana as managing partner of the firm’s Austin office, which has grown to 20 lawyers and 23 business pros since its February 2020 opening; Shearman & Sterling grabbed Haynes and Boone litigator Emily Westridge Black as a partner in Austin, Texas. ( Shearman.com)
• Polsinelli expanded its New York office, adding commercial real estate attorney Crystal Persaud as a shareholder. She arrives from Reed Smith; Seyfarth Shaw hired real estate and environmental lawyers Courtney Seim and Ian Sutton as partners in its real estate department in Seattle. They were recently partners at Seattle’s Summit Law Group; BakerHostetler recruited real estate lawyer Michael Cortez as a partner in its business practice in Houston. He arrives from Andrews Myers, P.C., where he was construction transactional law leader. (BakerLaw.com)
• Beverly Hills, California-based United Talent Agency hired entertainment in-house veteran Stefanie Liquori as general counsel and partner. A former Skadden Arps corporate finance and M&A attorney, Liquori was recently CEO and GC at DSG Entertainment Services, the former holding company of Deluxe Entertainment Services, where she’d previously been top lawyer. She starts at UTA on May 31; Stephanie Lamoureaux, the global head of legal operations at Block, Inc., formerly known as Square, announced she’s leaving for a similar role at promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LinkedIn)

Technology

• More than two-thirds of data breaches in the UK legal sector are caused by people inside firms, a report says. (Betanews)