Wake Up Call: Judge Kept Tesla Shares After Taking Musk Suit

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

• US District Judge Reed O’Connor, who is overseeing a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against the watchdog group Media Matters, was buying and selling stock in Tesla in 2023, the year Musk filed the suit. O’Connor has repeatedly ruled in favor of Musk in the suit, and also made an investment in Tesla of between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2022. (NPR)
• A&O Shearman put in place a three-level modified lockstep partner remuneration system, which follows the firm’s adoption of an all-equity partnership structure. Under the system, the firm’s 800 partners will be assigned to one of three rungs, called “entry,” “core,” and “super,” the last of which is reserved for top performers. (Law.com)
• A booming job market for law graduates in 2023 did not help to alleviate racial disparities in employment rates, according to new data from the National Association for Law Placement. The disparities were widest in jobs that required bar admission, where 84% of White grads secured positions within 10 months of graduation, but only 73% of Black and Native American or Alaska Native grads did. (Reuters)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Gillian Emmett Moldowan joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a partner in its executive compensation and employee benefits practice in New York.
• Joshua Husbands was named executive partner of Holland & Knight’s Portland, Ore., office.
• John Robert joined Polsinelli as a shareholder in its tax practice group.
• Robert Karr Jr. rejoined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in its corporate department in Chicago.
• Danielle Foster joined Jackson Lewis as a principal in Los Angeles.
• David Attanasio joined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in its business litigation practice in Washington.
• Amy Earing joined Bond, Schoeneck & King as a member in its trust and estate practice group in New York.