Wake Up Call: Justice Barrett’s Husband Defending Fox in Lawsuit

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

• Jesse Barrett, the husband of US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is defending Fox Corp. in a defamation case involving reports made by one of Fox’s local stations. Barrett practices out of the Washington office of SouthBank Legal, an Indiana-founded white collar and commercial litigation boutique. (Rolling Stone)
• Law firm office leasing was up nearly 50% in the first quarter, compared to the same three-month stretch last year, according to commercial real estate advisors at Savills. (Savills)
• Clifford Chance has raised its salaries for newly qualified lawyers in London to 150,000 pounds “amid fierce competition on pay” in the city’s legal market. The firm’s pay bump follows similar moves by rivals Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. (Financial News)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Jess Krannich and Paul Sampson have joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as partner and of counsel respectively with the firm’s litigation department in Salt Lake City. Both join from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Stephen Boone Jr. has joined Sidley Austin as a partner with the firm’s energy, transportation and infrastructure group in Houston. He joins from Akin Gump.
• David Lim has joined White & Case as an international trade partner in the firm’s Washington office.
• Sungbum Lee has joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman as an international trade partner in the firm’s London office.
• Dennis Kiely and Heather Horowitz are joining DLA Piper as partners in the firm’s real estate practice in New York.
• Steve Brook, Rob Chow, and Bill Sopp have joined Blank Rome’s corporate, M&A, and securities group in Boston, the firm said Wednesday.
• Wiggin and Dana will open a new Boston office in June, formalizing its footprint in an important market for clients in the life sciences, tech, healthcare, financial services, and defense sectors.
• Basil Seggos, formerly the longest-serving commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, has joined Foley Hoag as partner and senior policy director in the Energy & Climate Group.
• Josh Anderson has joined Faegre Drinker’s Los Angeles office as partner and leader of the West Coast class actions team for the business litigation group.
• Michelle Genet Bernstein has joined Polsinelli as a shareholder in the firm’s commercial litigation practice in Miami.
• Ellis Oster has joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as a partner in its consumer financial services practice in the New York office.
• Walter Foster has joined Cozen O’Connor’s Boston office as a shareholder in its national labor and employment department. Foster joins the firm from Eckert Seamans.