Wake Up Call: Insurance Lawyers Eye ‘Bonanza’ After Hurricane

In today’s column, DocuSign is laying off 9% of its staff, or about 670 jobs, in a post-Covid shift; several major law firms advised on Porsche’s 78 billion euro initial public offering; and a federal circuit judge said he will no longer recruit clerks from Yale Law.

• Leading off, as Florida starts to pick itself up from Hurricane Ian, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute said early estimates put property losses from the storm at $30 billion, the highest in US history. That’s very bad news for insurers, but insurance litigators will get a huge boost in their business. (Daily Business Review)
• E-signature giant DocuSign is laying off 9% of its staff, or about 670 jobs, possibly due to a decline in demand for its services as companies return to in-person operations. DocuSign vice president Kevin Gidney, who was the co-founder of legal tech company Seal Software, which was bought by DocuSign in 2020, is leaving the company to pursue other interests. (Artificial Lawyer)
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Sullivan & Cromwell, and White & Case are among law firms that advised on Porsche’s initial public offering in Frankfurt, Germany. The IPO, Europe’s biggest in more than a decade, valued the German car company at around €78 billion ($79.55 billion). (Global Legal Post)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• U.S. Circuit Judge James Ho said he will no longer hire clerks from Yale Law School, accusing the school of actively practicing “cancel culture” and its students of hostility to conservative speakers. (Reuters)
• Long Island, New York, tax firm Forchelli Deegan Terrana said it has acquired the attorneys and staff of Koeppel Martone & Leistman. The merger will make Forchelli Deegan the biggest real estate tax law firm in New York state with 150 lawyers and staff, the firm said. (ForchelliLaw.com)
• An Illinois authority filed criminal charges against Paul Breaux, the Phoenix, Arizona-based vice president, general counsel, and secretary of online used car retailer Carvana. In a statement, Breaux said “the decision to charge me personally is highly unusual, to say the least.” (Repairer Driven News)
• Husch Blackwell announced its chief executive officer of the last five years Paul Eberle plans to step down in 2024. The Kansas, Missouri-headquartered firm, which has about 800 attorneys across 25 offices, said it has begun a national search for his replacement. (HuschBlackwell.com)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Goodwin picked up Manatt data privacy and cybersecurity attorney Kaylee Cox Bankston as a partner in Washington; Morrison Foerster recruited veteran in-house tax leader Brian Radigan, recently global head of tax at liquefied natural gas company New Fortress Energy, as a partner in its US federal tax group and global tax department. He was earlier at GE Capital as executive and tax counsel. (MoFo)
• Tyson Foods named its chief legal officer, Amy Tu,to take over as head of international business after the last holder of that job was fired last month. Tu, a former member of Boeing Co.’s legal team who joined Tyson in 2017, will keep her legal role. (WSJ) Self-storage industry company Janus International Group promoted corporate counsel Elliot Kahler to general counsel; European payment tech solutions provider MangoPay, a portfolio company of private equity company Advent International, hired Switzerland-based in-house veteran Olympe Leflambe as its new general counsel, legal and compliance. Recently eBay senior legal director for EU and APAC payments, Leflambe previously had a similar role at Amazon.com. (Iberian Lawyer)

Legal Education

• Rutgers Law School added a cannabis, business law certificate program for 2023 that is aimed at teaching students not in the law school or legal profession about how to navigate New Jersey’s blooming cannabis industry. (High Times) Drexel’s Kline School of Law launched a bachelor’s degree in law aimed at people headed for careers where a JD is not needed but solid knowledge of the law is beneficial. (Drexel.edu)