Wake Up Call: Herbert Smith Freehills Merges Tech, Digital Teams

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

• Herbert Smith Freehills, the mega-firm with 2,600 lawyers and roots in London and Australia, has launched a “global digital legal delivery practice” that will merge teams that focus on digital transformation, emerging tech, and alternative legal services. The 420-person practice will assist businesses looking to digitize projects. (Global Legal Post)
• Wilson Sonsini chief innovation officer David Wang says GenAI hasn’t yet pushed the legal industry to change in ways that justify the “breathless discussions” heard these days “in the halls of legal power.” But with ChatGPT, the possibilities “have been put into everyone’s pocket, including GCs, partners and judges. There’s no going back from those expectations.” (Artificial Lawyer)
• A Buffalo-area judge who “brawled” with neighbors before he flew “into a rage” and tackled a police officer, will be censured but not booted from the bench, New York’s judicial conduct commission decided. Acting NY State Supreme Court Justice Mark Grisanti showed “exceptionally poor judgment,” the commission found. (New York Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Marty Walsh has joined Snell & Wilmer as a partner in Denver. He joins from Armstrong Teasdale.
• Savi Hebbur has joined White & Case as a partner in London. He joins from Linklaters.
• Carrie Collier-Brown has joined Husch Blackwell as a partner in the Austin, Texas, office. She joins from Locke Lord.
• Chang-Do Gong has joined Clifford Chance as a partner in the US mergers and acquisitions practice.
• Edward S. Sarnowski has been appointed executive partner of Holland & Knight’s Jacksonville, Fla., office.
• Jennifer Dunn has joined Proskauer as a partner in the private funds group in the New York office.
• Jeff Symons has joined Foley & Lardner as an M&A partner in the transactions practice in New York.
• Thomas J. McCaffrey has joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in the corporate and financial services department and private equity practice group in the Houston office. He joins from Akin Gump.
• Jared Nagley has joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as a partner in the antitrust and competition practice group and healthcare industry team in the New York office. He joins from Paul Weiss.
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett will open an office in Boston later this year.
• Elaine Taussig and Tom Williams have joined Crowell & Moring as partners in the corporate group in the Chicago office. They join from Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg.
• Sarah Walters has joined Ropes & Gray as a partner in the litigation and enforcement practice in the Boston office.
• Todd Lowther has joined Clifford Chance as a partner in the tax practice in the Houston office.