Wake Up Call: Hogan Lovells’ Revenues, Partner Profits Fall

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

• Hogan Lovells’ $2.43 billion in global revenues for fiscal 2022 was down 6.6% from 2021’s mark, and its average profits per equity partner fell 8% to $2.27 million. The firm blamed sagging deals work, office closings in Russia and Asia, and unfavorable currency exchange rates for the contraction. Still, 2022 was the transatlantic firm’s second-best financial year ever, according to a report based on early data. (American Lawyer)
• Law firms in the UK have earned an estimated 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) from American-style class action lawsuits since legal restrictions were loosened eight years ago, according to a research report. (Law.com International) (The Times)
• Missouri-founded Husch Blackwell, actively looking for merger possibilities to enter new markets, expanded its revenues by 16.6% to about $555.8 million and its PEP by about 2.5%, to $867,000 in 2022, according to a report based on preliminary data. (American Lawyer)
• Houston-based Vinson & Elkins grabbed a team of eight energy regulatory litigators from Gibson Dunn. The team is led by Washington-based partner William Scherman, a former general counsel and chief of staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who spent about 20 years at Skadden and was recently chair of Gibson Dunn’s energy, regulation and litigation practice. He will co-lead V&E’s energy regulatory practice. The team also includes partners Jeffrey Jakubiak in New York and Jason Fleischer in Washington, four counsel, and an associate, V&E said. (VELaw.com)
• A North Dakota law firm that successfully sued to claw back pay from two former associates who underbilled during the pandemic received $792,000 in loans from the federal paycheck protection program. (Above The Law)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• A federal judge appointed Quinn Emanuel and plaintiffs litigation firm Hagens Berman to co-lead a consumer antitrust class action against Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., despite the firms’ “rocky relationship.” (Reuters)
• Covington & Burling got support from 83 law firms who joined an amicus curiae brief supporting its effort to fight a US Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena seeking names of clients affected by a cyberattack that hit the firm. (Reuters)
• Reed Smith said it appointed long-time environmental partners Todd Maiden, in San Francisco and Jennifer Smokelin in Pittsburgh, and entertainment and media partner Elle Todd in London to lead its efforts to drive environmental sustainability within the firm, its communities, and the legal industry. (ReedSmith.com)
• Former President Trump spent $10 million from his political action committee to pay legal bills last year. The report cites federal election filings. (New York Times) (CNN)
• A Manhattan law firm is suing ex-client Steve Bannon, accusing the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump of owing it $480,000 in unpaid legal fees. (Daily Beast)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft recruited New York federal white collar prosecutor and senior securities and commodities fraud task force member Gina Castellano as a white collar defense partner in New York. (Cadwalader.com)
• Greenberg Traurig hired corporate attorneys Shawn McIntee and Shauro Bagchi as shareholders in Minneapolis. They arrive from Maslon LLP. (GTLaw.com)
• Employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC hired labor and employment attorney Wilson Stoker as a principal in Austin, Texas. (JacksonLewis.com)
• Locke Lord Edwards added tax lawyer David Gair as a partner in Dallas, Texas, and chair of its tax controversy practice group. He arrives from Gray Reed & McGraw. (BLAW)
• Squire Patton Boggs picked up maritime attorney Michael Wray as of counsel in Houston in its litigation practice group and global commodities and shipping industry group. He arrives from UK-based firm HFW. (SquirePattonBoggs.com)

Technology

• Some lawyers are enthusiastic about the prospects for using OpenAI’s generative artificial intelligence tool to research and write legal documents. But among the tool’s problems is a tendency to “confidently make things up.” (Wired)

Legal Education

• Delaware is easing its bar admissions requirements as part of changes aimed at attracting legal talent to the state. (Delaware Law Weekly)