Wake Up Call: Firms Eye $1 Billion in Fees in Twitter-Musk Fight

In today’s column, recent tech company layoffs could mean in-house lawyer jobs could go soon; big UK firm Clyde & Co. launched a permanent presence in Chile; and over 200 crypto-related federal lawsuits have been filed since 2014.

• Leading off, as more law firms pile into Twitter Inc.’s fight to force Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion deal for the company, a Columbia Law professor said legal fees could reach as much as $1 billion. (American Lawyer)
• Of over 200 crypto-related lawsuits filed by private parties in federal courts since 2014, some have settled for millions, some have been lost, and some are in progress. (Business Insider)
• In the wake of recent news of layoffs at big tech companies, some legal observers are warning in-house lawyers they could be next to go. (Corporate Counsel)
• A recent survey found some law firms are turning down clients on ethical grounds. (Law.com International via National Law Journal)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Big UK headquartered firm Clyde & Co. said it established a permanent presence in Santiago, Chile, through the merger of a local firm and other partners. The new firm, Clyde & Co Chile, will have 40 lawyers, including 11 local partners, with expertise in corporate and transactional law, litigation, tax, labor and projects and construction. It will also serve as Clyde’s Latin America region hub. (ClydeCo.com)
• A Miami lawyer who says he represents sexual abuse survivors was arrested on charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment. (CBSNews.com)
• In the midst of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, California bike company Rivendell started what its founder called a “Black Reparations Pricing” program. After legal attacks and anonymous threats, the company dropped the program. (Outside Magazine)
• A Los Angeles judge ordered actor Kevin Spacey to pay $31 million to the “House of Cards” production company for alleged sexual misconduct that got him booted from the Netflix series. (Bloomberg News via Bloomberg Law)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Goodwin grabbed Kirkland & Ellis private equity, investment funds partners Robert Emerson as partner New York; Davis+Gilbert said it snagged Reed Smith corporate and transactions partner John Algie as partner in New York to help it handle heavy deal volume; Greenberg Traurig picked up veteran finance attorney Nathan M. Eisler as shareholder in its Westchester County, New York, office, also working in its New York City and Miami offices. He arrives from Luskin, Stern & Eisler LLP, where he was co-founder and partner; Nixon Peabody named Boston-based transactional partner Catherine Ng and Chicago-based leveraged finance partner Robert Drobnak to co-lead its global finance practice; Nixon Peabody also hired two environmental attorneys in New York. Sami Groff joins as partner in the firm’s Long Island office, and Mark Mustian joins as counsel, based in Rochester. They both arrive from Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone; McDermott Will & Emery hired Ernst & Young tax principal Todd Angkatavanich as a private client partner in New York. He earlier spent 12 years at Withers Bergman as partner and co-head of its US and private client and tax group. (MWE.com)
• McKool Smith brought in commercial and intellectual property litigator William Ellerman and patent litigator Ari Rafilson as principals in Dallas. They were both partners at Shore Chan; Nelson Mullins grabbed Faegre Drinker IP lawyers Jason Kraus and Brian Oberst as partners in Minneapolis; labor and employment law firm Constangy added litigator Keya Denner as a partner in its Northern New Jersey office. He arrives from FordHarrison where he chaired the cannabis law group. It also added Davis Hartman Wright litigator and workplace investigator Missy Sumerell Spainhour in Asheville, North Carolina, as partner; Hunton Andrews Kurth said tax lawyer Allison Stelter, who started her legal career at the firm, returned as counsel in Richmond, Virginia. She arrives from from Honigman, where she was partner; Sidley Austin said longtime Food and Drug Administration official Jay Jariwala joined the firm in Washington as senior director of regulatory compliance for the firm’s food, drug, and medical device compliance and enforcement practice. (Sidley.com)