Wake Up Call: Five Firms Lead CVS’ $8 Billion Deal for Signify

In today’s column, the legal sector shed 8,900 jobs in August, new preliminary government data show; big Midwest firm Taft is adding 120-plus lawyers through a merger with a Detroit firm; and a Texas jury bucked a trend with its $48 million verdict in a Covid business interruption case.

• Leading off, Fried, Frank, Dechert, and McDermott Will & Emery are advising drugstore chain CVS Health Corp. on its agreement to acquire home-health and technology services provider Signify Health for $30.50 per share. Ropes & Gray is advising Signify Health on the transaction, which values Signify at $8 billion and is expected to close in 2023’s first half. Skadden Arps said via email that it’s advising Goldman Sachs as financial adviser to Signify. (CVSHealth.com) (BLAW)
• The legal services sector shed 8,900 jobs in August, ending five consecutive months of gains, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new August mark is still 22,100 legal jobs more than in August 2021. (ABA Journal)
• Big Midwest-based firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister said it’s adding over 120 attorneys in over 25 practice areas through a merger with Detroit-based Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss. After the merger’s Dec. 31 close, Taft will have more than 800 attorneys in eight primary Midwest markets and the District of Columbia, Taft said. (TaftLaw.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said the Justice Department “has to appeal” a federal judge’s ruling granting President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to scrutinize documents seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound. (MSNBC.com) A new book by New York Times reporter David Enrich recounts that Trump once offered a race horse in payment for$2 million in legal fees. It also says Trump considered hiring Jones Day to represent him during the Russia investigation, but changed his mind. (The Guardian)
• A Houston, Texas, jury awarded $48.5 million to the Baylor College of Medicine in its finding that property insurance covers Covid-19 losses. A majority of courts in previous cases have found that Covid-19 shutdowns are not “business interruptions” under insurance coverage. (Texas Lawyer)
• Troutman Pepper said it’s getting “a very positive response” to its new program aimed at connecting clients with firm resources. Attorneys don’t bill for their time talking to clients about the program, this report says. (Daily Report Online)
• A group of Black attorneys is promoting a nationwide effort to protect voting rights in African American communities during the midterm elections. (Gothamist)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Gregg Costa, a former federal judge who recently resigned from the Fifth Circuit appeals court, is joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Houston as a partner. (Business Insider) Simpson Thacher & Bartlett hired Linklaters tax attorney Sarah Lindley in London as a partner; Locke Lord hired labor and employment attorney Nick Elwell-Sutton as a partner in London. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joins after close to 23 years at Clyde & Co; UK headquartered HFW said it hired experienced employment partner Michelle Chance to head and build the firm’s practice in London. She was previously head of contentious employment at London-based law firm Memery Crystal and earlier employment practice head at Rosenblatt and Womble Bond Dickinson. (HFW.com)
• UK elite firm Slaughter and May appointed longtime corporate partner Benita Yu as senior partner of the firm’s Hong Kong office, effective Oct. 1. Current Hong Kong senior partner Peter Brien is retiring; in Paris, McDermott Will & Emery recruited veteran King & Spalding international arbitration lawyer Amy Roebuck as a partner; Paris-based biotechnology company Coave Therapeutics hired former Sanofi Genzyme legal director Julien Berger as head of legal affairs & corporate secretary. (PR Newswire)

Technology

• European private equity firm Oakley Capital bought a majority stake in vLex, an international legal research platform, according to a press release (Yahoo!)