Wake Up Call: Ex-Prosecutor Sues NY Over Skadden Protest Arrest

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

• A retired prosecutor is suing New York City and Brookfield Properties in federal court, alleging he was wrongfully arrested while protesting in a public space against Skadden over its deal with President Donald Trump to provide free legal work. David O’Keefe, a retired Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, says in his lawsuit that he was detained and charged with trespass while staging a solo protest in a privately-owned but public space outside Skadden’s Manhattan office. The charge was later dismissed. His lawsuit seeks damages and a ruling that constitutional free speech rights apply in New York’s privately owned public spaces. (Reuters)
• The military’s top lawyer told the Joint Chiefs chairman that if a commander decides an order is unlawful, the safest course should be to talk it through with a legal adviser and, if possible, ask to retire rather than resign in protest or openly clash with superiors. The advice was meant to avoid turning dissent into a political act, but it has drawn pushback from current and former military lawyers, who say it glosses over a core obligation: to disobey illegal orders, try to stop them, and report them up the chain. (CNN)
• As demand for immigration lawyers surges, scams targeting asylum-seekers are spreading fast, leaving some immigrants thousands of dollars poorer and at risk of deportation. Legal aid workers say scammers often use WhatsApp or social media, create urgency, demand upfront payments, and disappear, sometimes even stealing the identities of real attorneys. Federal data show reports of immigration scams more than doubled from 2023 to 2024. (BerkeleySide)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Paul Boehm joined Sidley Austin as a partner and co-head of its products liability practice in Washington. He joins from Williams & Connolly.
• Kenneth Yood joined Polsinelli as a shareholder in its health-care practice in Los Angeles.
• Thomas Sines joined Milbank as a partner in its global project, energy and infrastructure finance group in New York. He joins from Paul Hastings.
• Stephen Shaw rejoined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in its trademark, copyright, privacy and IP transactions practice group in Greensboro.
• Lewis Kuper joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin as chair of its cooperatives and condominiums practice and as a partner in its real estate practice. He joins from Abrams Fensterman.
• Adam Dempsey joined Hunton Andrews Kurth as a partner in its oil and gas corporate and transactions practice in Houston.