Wake Up Call: Ex-CIA Top Lawyer Is Biden’s Defense GC Pick

In today’s column, Coca-Cola’s new general counsel told the company’s global legal team Coke’s diversity initiative is “taking a pause,” a report says; cloud-based practice management technology provider Clio got new funding and now has a $1.6 billion valuation; K&L Gates said it is matching the market for special associate bonuses, but it set a high billable hour requirement to get the money.

• Leading off, the Biden administration named former Obama White House special counsel Caroline Krass to be Defense Department general counsel. Krass, who in 2014 became the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency, is a former Gibson Dunn partner and currently at American International Group Inc. (WhiteHouse.gov)
• Coca-Cola’s new general counsel, Monica Howard Douglas, said during a virtual meeting Tuesday of the company’s global legal team that the company’s diversity initiative is “taking a pause for now,” Corporate Counsel reported, citing a single, unnamed person who was said to be in attendance; Douglas, a nearly 19-year veteran at Coca-Cola, finds herself under a spotlight after taking over from her predecessor, Bradley Gayton, who was abruptly replaced last week after eight months in the job. (BLAW)
• K&L Gates associates expressed frustration at the firm’s announcement that it is matching the Davis Polk standard for special bonuses, up to $64,000 based on year of seniority, but that associates have to bill 2,080 hours for the year to get the money. That’s 130 hours more than the firm’s threshold for year-end bonuses, a report says. (Above the Law)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A Vanity Fair article says two authors of a new book on the 2015 bankruptcy of casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corporation accuse Paul, Weiss and its chairman Brad Karp of trying to intimidate them and obstruct their investigation. Their book “The Caesars Palace Coup,” came out in March. (Vanity Fair)
• Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned in 2018 after several women accused him of abuse, will be suspended from practicing law in the state for a year, according to a court order. (BLAW)
• Homeland Security Department senior counselor Cass Sunstein earned over $580,000 from Harvard Law School and $220,000 from consulting work for Apple Inc., according to his financial disclosure released this week. Sunstein, who led the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration, is on unpaid leave from Harvard Law, where he is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. (National Law Journal)
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Ted Boutrous, global co-chair of the firm’s litigation group, and Paul, Weiss partner Ted Wells, co-chair of the firm’s litigation department, are among three major U.S. lawyers who represent oil and gas companies in climate change litigation while also being big donors to Democratic Party candidates, according to this report. (E&E News)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Morrison & Foerster said former top Justice Department antitrust lawyer David J. Shaw is joining the firm as partner in Washington. Shaw joined the DOJ as a trial attorney in 2016, later served as counsel to the assistant attorney general, and most recently was deputy chief of staff, and in January was acting chief of staff for the transition; MoFo is reportedly losing its New York office managing partner, Brett Miller, to Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Miller, a business restructuring and insolvency partner and co-chair of MoFo’s distressed real estate group. (American Lawyer)
• FisherBroyles recruited veteran Holland & Knight real estate attorney James Spitzer as a partner in New York; Holland & Hart got Polsinelli real estate shareholder Melinda Pasquini as a partner in Denver; Greenspoon Marder got corporate and business lawyer Michael Burwick as a partner in New York and Miami. He arrives from Taylor English Duma; IBM said its vice president and assistant general counsel Edward Sebold will be general counsel of Kyndryl, a spinoff planned for later this year of IBM’s managed infrastructure business, according to a report. Sebold’s LinkedIn profile says he is IBM’s global head of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures & alliances, and chief legal officer for IBM Watson health division. (AIThority)

Technology

• Clio, the Canada-founded cloud-based practice management technology provider, said it got $110 million in a new round funding to reach a $1.6 billion valuation. (Bloomberg News)