Wake Up Call: Energy Department Shells Out for Outside Counsel

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

• The Department of Energy plans to spend up to $50 million on outside law firms to handle work once done by its in-house attorneys. A draft solicitation shows DOE seeking broad legal services—from regulatory analysis and financial transactions to defending award cancellations—because about half its field lawyers have departed since the Trump administration’s downsizing push. (Latitude Media)
• The Arizona Supreme Court chose not to advance a proposal that would have let people who complete two semesters of criminal law-focused classes practice for nine months under the supervision of an experienced criminal attorney. The proposal aimed to bolster access to justice and bring more lawyers to rural areas, but prosecutors and public defenders criticized the plan, saying it would exacerbate the perception that public defenders are less qualified than other lawyers and drive down the rates some counties are willing to pay for indigent defense work. (Reuters)
• A California attorney must pay a $10,000 fine for filing a state court appeal full of fake quotations generated by ChatGPT. The fine appears to be the largest issued over AI fabrications by a California court and came with a blistering opinion stating that 21 of 23 quotes from cases cited in the attorney’s opening brief were made up. (KTVU)
• Prosecutors want the former head attorney of Queens Defenders, Lori Zeno, on electronic monitoring, saying she has continued to siphon money from the New York public defense nonprofit as she awaits trial. Zeno is charged with spending money meant for indigent legal defense on foreign travel, pricey real estate, and high-end clothing. (Queens Daily Eagle)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Jeffrey Philp joined Jones Day as a partner in its financial markets practice in New York. He joins from Orrick.
• Trish O’Donnell joined Squire Patton Boggs as a partner in New York. She joins from Reed Smith.