Wake Up Call: Girardi Found Fit to Stand Trial, Prosecutors Say

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

• Federal prosecutors said a government expert has concluded that Tom Girardi, the disbarred attorney accused of stealing millions of dollars from his clients, is mentally fit to stand trial. (Los Angeles Times)
• Fenwick & West said it’s advising Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company Chinook Therapeutics, Inc. on its agreement to be acquired by pharma giant Novartis AG in a deal valued at about $3.5 billion. Fenwick said its transaction team included corporate partners Effie Toshav, Doug Cogen, David Michaels, Amanda Rose, and Ryan Mitteness. Hogan Lovells said its team representing Novartis on the proposed deal includes Joe Gilligan, Gabi Witt, Mahvesh Qureshi, and Katherine Keeley. (ChinookTx.com)
• Akin advised credit specialist Bain Capital Credit, LP, on a $1 billion bond offering issued by GGAM Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of commercial aircraft leasing and alternative management business Griffin Global Asset Management Holdings, Ltd. Certain funds managed or advised by Bain Capital Credit provided substantially all of the equity capital in Griffin Global Asset Management. Akin said its team advising Bain was led by special situations & private credit co-head Ranesh Ramanathan, partner Catherine Goodall, and counsel Alexander Cushman. (AkinGump.com) (Globe Newswire)
• Football great Lionel Messi’s recent decision to sign with Inter Miami gave local sports lawyers another reason to tout South Florida’s rising prominence as a global sports center. (Daily Business Review)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Big Law’s antitrust practices are getting a steady stream of client demand fueled by antitrust enforcement activity in the US and abroad. (National Law Journal)
• A man who unsuccessfully sued Cardi B for millions in damages has agreed to pay her $350,000 in legal fees. (Billboard)
• Two North Carolina lawyers pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and lie to the Federal Election Commission over a sham political action committee. (Justice.gov)
• The New York Senate confirmed 19 candidates to the state’s judicial bench including a lawyer said to be the first openly transgender male to be confirmed as a judge in the US. He’ll serve on Manhattan’s Court of Claims. (New York Law Journal)
• Delaware’s Court on the Judiciary issued a public censure of a judge for the first time in a decade. (Delaware Law Weekly)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Dykema added former federal prosecutor Chantel Febus as partner in Washington and head of East Coast appeals. Arriving from Proskauer Rose, where she was partner, she joins Dykema’s appellate and critical motions, business litigation, and government investigations and corporate compliance teams. (Dykema.com)
• Norton Rose Fulbright’s Paris office picked up Allen & Overy corporate partner Jean-Claude Rivalland, who was co-founder of A&O’s office in the city and spent about eight years as its office managing partner. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)
• Employment law boutique Wigdor LLP hired three attorneys, including two partners. (New York Law Journal)
• Gordon & Rees hired construction lawyer Megan Stacy as partner in Raleigh, North Carolina. She arrives from Hall Booth Smith. (GRSM.com)
• San Francisco-based Keker Van Nest & Peters hired legal operations pro Michelle Friends as its first chief operating officer. She arrives from Denver-based Fairfield & Woods, where she was executive director. (Keker.com)
• Cozen O’Connor said its government relations practice recruited former Congressional Black Caucus executive director Kyle Anderson as senior principal in its reputational management and crisis communications practice in its Washington and Philadelphia offices. (Cozen.com)