Wake Up Call: Goodwin Procter Plans Office Move in Philadelphia

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

Goodwin Procter is moving to new space in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia next year from its current location downtown. “We are expanding our footprint in the city” with the move to the Schuylkill Yards development, the office’s co-chairs said. (Goodwin Procter)

Irwin Mitchell and Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie are combining their 20 offices in Scotland, England and Wales. Morton Fraser and MacRoberts also announced a merger to put them in Scotland’s top tier. (Daily Business and The Global Legal Post)

Litigation finance will face criticism when the House Oversight and Accountability Committee holds a hearing Sept. 13 on the practice. “Private equity and left-wing billionaires are funding litigation against companies and agencies,” the panel’s chairman, James Comer, said. (House Oversight)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Louis Anthony Pellegrino has joined Dentons as a partner in its commercial litigation practice. He was the former lead counsel in the Ponzi scheme case against Bernard Madoff.
• Andrew C. Adams has joined Steptoe & Johnson in the investigations and white collar defense practice in New York.
• Jennifer Hightower has been promoted to executive vice president and chief legal officer at Cox Enterprises.
• Haley L. Hansen has joined Gordon & Rees as a partner in the environmental and toxic tort practice group in Chicago.
• Eric Gold has joined Manatt Phelps & Phillips as a healthcare partner in the Boston office.
• Christopher McNamara has joined Foley & Lardner as a partner with the energy litigation practice group in New York.
• Matthew Blackburn and Evan Boetticher have joined Lewis Roca as partners in the intellectual property and litigation practice groups in the San Francisco office. The pair joins from Sullivan Blackburn Pratt.
• Kristen J. Fallon has joined Nixon Peabody as a partner with the real estate practice in Boston.
• Tarsha A. Phillibert has joined Duane Morris as a partner in the trial practice group in its Washington, D.C., office.
• Craig T. Dickinson has returned to Littler as a shareholder in New Haven, Conn., after practicing at FordHarrison.
• Helen B. Kim has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in Los Angeles. She joins from K&L Gates.
• Yasmin Nelson has joined Holland & Knight as a senior policy advisor in the public policy and regulation group in Washington, D.C. She formerly served as a senior policy advisor for then-US Sen. Kamala Harris.
• Justin M. Piccione has joined McLaughlin & Stern as a partner, and Diana Chen has been promoted to partner with the trusts and estates practice in New York.