Wake Up Call: Eversheds Leader Says Adaptability Key to Success

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

• As Eversheds Sutherland celebrates its 100-year anniversary, longtime US Managing Parter Mark Wasserman says adaptability has helped the firm succeed and survive everything from the Great Depression to the pandemic. “I think it’s been our culture of focus on clients, focus on our own people, but also being willing to evolve and change with the changing times,” he said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Former New York City corporation counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix was “pushed out” of her post as the city’s top lawyer about a month ago by Mayor Eric Adams amid disagreements with his office that included her reluctance to defend a top Adams aide accused of sexual harassment. Hinds-Radix lost her bid not to represent the official in that case, a matter that was picked up by Wilson Elser when the city hired the firm because of a conflict of interest. (Politico)
• At legal technology presentations, panelists regularly joke about how bad lawyers are in adopting tech—often prompting audiences to “laugh in knowing acknowledgement.” Yet the “tired” cliché is “just not true,” says litigator Andy Greene. From Blackberries to computer clouds and AI, “lawyers as a whole have been pretty good at adopting technology at exactly the rate at which clients demand.” (JD Supra)
• Victoria Starmer, wife of incoming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, first sparked with Keir when she worked a case as a solicitor with Hodge Jones & Allen in the early 2000s in London. After he “demanded” to speak with her as a barrister in the matter about documents she drew up relating to the case, and then asked her if they were accurate, he heard her say, “Who the bleep does he think he is?” (CNN)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Deniz Tschammler has joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in the corporate department and as a member of the healthcare & life sciences practice in Frankfurt, Germany. He joins from McDermott Will & Emery.
• Ricardo Zimbrón has rejoined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a partner with its global antitrust practice in London.
• Lucas Love has joined Carlsmith Ball as of counsel in its Honolulu office.