Wake Up Call: Greenberg Traurig Tops $2 Billion, Goes to Suburbs

In today’s column, Greenberg Traurig said it hired a former acting U.S. attorney to join around 20 attorneys it will have in two new Long Island offices; a California federal judge urged attorneys to object to Covid-19 related trial suspensions; and Penn Law said it plans to sanction a professor accused of making anti-Asian comments.

• Leading off, Greenberg Traurig said that in 2021 it topped $2 billion in global revenues for the first time and had a “substantial increase in profits.” The Miami-headquartered firm, which posted $1.73 billion revenues in 2020, said it’s opening two Long Island, N.Y. offices as part of its adaptation to the “new normal” with a “work-near-home strategy.” (GTLaw.com)
• Greenberg, which has about 2,400 lawyers worldwide, said the offices in Bridgehampton and Garden City will have about 20 lawyers with Long Island connections, including several senior shareholders relocating from Manhattan. Former acting U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko is joining the firm in Long Island on Jan. 24. (NewsDay)
• A California federal judge Tuesday urged attorneys to object to trial suspensions after the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California extended its ban on jury trials through Feb. 28, citing an “alarming” spread of Covid-19. (The Recorder)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Boies Schiller lost more than 40% of its lawyers in roughly the last two years, including a key leader last year. A new profile of the firm’s co-founder, Jonathan Schiller, says he helped make the firm a litigation powerhouse, but he’s also “alienated many colleagues.” (Business Insider)
• Big Four accounting firms have been rethinking their strategy for entering the legal market in the last five years, a strategy Big Law firms don’t seem to understand. (Law.com International)
• Greenberg Traurig partner Mathew Rosengart, Above The Law’s “lawyer of the year,” filed papers aiming to block an effort by Britney Spears’ father to force the pop star to pay his legal bills. (New York Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Latham & Watkins snagged veteran Sidley Austin executive compensation and employee benefits partner Benjamin Rosemergy as a partner in Chicago; Orrick got executive compensation and employee incentives lawyer Anna Humphrey as a partner in its tech practice in London. She arrives from U.K. firm Taylor Wessing; Boston-based Brown Rudnick announced “transformational hires” in New York for its technology practice, getting five partners and three associates from McCarter & English.
• WilmerHale hired two former Federal Trade Commission competition bureau lawyers, getting former bureau chief trial counsel Jennifer Milici and mergers II division assistant director Dominic Vote as partners in Washington; Arnold & Porter grabbed Jenner & Block’s New York international arbitration head Mélida Hodgson as a partner in New York. She’s a former Justice Department litigator and U.S. Trade Representative associate general counsel. (ArnoldPorter.com)
• Wilson Sonsini recruited Bryan Cave white collar criminal defense lawyer Timothy Broas, a former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and Big Law partner, as senior of counsel in its government investigations practice; Eversheds Sutherland hired two Hogan Lovells restructuring and insolvency lawyers in New York for its insurance practice group. Peter Ivanick joins as partner and Lynn Holbert as counsel. (Eversheds-Sutherland.com)
• Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney said it opened a new office in Phoenix with bankruptcy partners Scott Jenkins, Isaac Gabriel, and Andrea Palmer, picked up from Quarles & Brady; Vinson & Elkins launched an aviation finance practice co-led by two new partners in New York, David Berkery, from A&L Goodbody, and Niels Jensen, arriving from Milbank with two associates; K&L Gates got aviation finance partner Pete O’Hare in London, from Watson Farley & Williams; Venable added litigation partner Joshua Rosenberg in Los Angeles; Clark Hill hired tax lawyer Alex Pérez, as a member in both its San Antonio, Texas, and Mexico City offices. (ClarkHill.com)

Technology

• Baker McKenzie announced a partnership with intellectual property solutions provider MaxVal. The law firm will make MaxVal’s IP management platform, Symphony, available to clients and use it internally. (BakerMcKenzie.com)

Legal Education

• The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School said it plans to pursue sanctions against a controversial professor accused of making disparaging comments about Asian Americans. (Law.com)