Wake Up Call: How a Career DOJ Lawyer Became a Whistleblower

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

• Erez Reuveni, a career Justice Department lawyer, was fired in April after acknowledging a mistaken deportation in court and resisting pressure to make legally unsupported claims. Reuveni’s dismissal—despite a recent promotion and a long record of loyal government service—has become emblematic of a wider purge under the second Trump administration, which has sidelined or ousted hundreds of DOJ lawers deemed insufficiently loyal. Reuveni has since filed a whistleblower complaint detailing instances of senior officials disregarding court orders and pressuring attorneys to mislead judges. (The New Yorker)
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is defending his administration’s decision to spend $430,000 in taxpayer funds on outside legal counsel from K&L Gates to prepare for a congressional hearing on immigration policy. Walz hired the firm ahead of a June 12 House Oversight Committee hearing focused on “sanctuary states,” a label he rejects for Minnesota. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office supported the move, but Republican lawmakers blasted the expenditure as wasteful. (Minnesota Public Radio)
• A confidentiality agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association has drawn scrutiny from players and legal experts after it concealed a key arbitration ruling that found top NFL executives, including longtime general counsel Jeff Pash, encouraged team owners to limit guaranteed player contracts. The ruling was withheld from players and agents for nearly six months under the agreement, which restricted access to union and league lawyers and a few senior officials. (ESPN)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Vanessa Le joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice in Washington. She joins from DLA Piper.
• Gabe Steffens joined Mayer Brown as a partner in its real estate and real estate funds practices in Los Angeles. He joins from The Amherst Group.
• Evan Wolff joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a co-head of its cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection practice in Washington. He joins from Crowell & Moring.