Wake Up Call: FisherBroyles Leaders Go, Which May Spur ‘Exodus’

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

• Leaders of the litigation and corporate practices at FisherBroyles have resigned, which could spur an “upcoming mass exodus” of about 140 lawyers from the “distributed” law firm that was one of the first to allow its lawyers to work from home. Joel Ferdinand and Michael Pierson plan to launch an unspecified new venture, sources said. (Law.com)
• Top Harvard University lawyer Diane Lopez will retire at the end of February after 30 years as an attorney for the school. Lopez, who became VP and general counsel in 2019, guided Harvard through complex lawsuits and led a review of its ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Harvard Crimson)
• For Sullivan & Cromwell and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX has proven to be profitable work. Between November 2022 and September of this year, debtor’s counsel Sullivan billed $131.5 million in legal fees, while Quinn Emanuel billed more than $28 million during the same period as FTX’s special counsel. (Law.com)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• David Kim has joined Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm as a partner in Korea. He joins from Lee & Ko where he led the international construction dispute resolution practice group.
• Boies Schiller Flexner has opened an office in Rome, Italy, and Natalia Bagnato and Simone Grassi join as partners.
• Erin M. Eiselein and Anna-Liisa Mullis have joined Greenberg Traurig as shareholders with the health care and FDA practice in Denver, Colo. Ishra K. Solieman joins Eiselein and Mullis as of counsel. They join from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.