Wake Up Call: Justice Gets Sold to Lowest Bidder in California

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

• For years, many poor defendants accused of crimes in San Benito County, California have been represented by private, flat-fee public defense contractors who barely spoke with their clients and seldom filed legal motions on their behalf. Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo, known as the Ciummo firm, became the face of this model. (CalMatters)
• The number of Black students enrolling at the nation’s most elite law schools fell again this year, extending a decline that began after the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in college admissions. American Bar Association data show drops at schools including the University of Virginia, Northwestern, Penn, and Washington University in St. Louis, though a handful of top schools bucked the trend: Harvard sharply increased its Black first-year enrollment after a steep drop last year, and Georgetown, Columbia, Stanford, and Yale also saw modest gains or stability. (The New York Times)
• The resignation of Australia’s top lawyer, Stephen Donaghue KC, has left the government scrambling to find a replacement as it prepares to defend the social media ban for minors under 16. The Victorian Government announced Tuesday that Donaghue had been appointed to the state’s top court and would start work Jan. 27. (Capital Brief)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• David Fish joined Skadden as a partner in its litigation group in New York. He joins from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas.
• Sebastian Häfele joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in its office in Munich. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Aprajita Dhundia and Ian Ferreira joined Sullivan & Cromwell as partners in London.
• Chad Davis joined Morgan Lewis as a partner in its intellectual property practice in Boston. He joins from Dechert.
• Jan Sysel joined A&O Shearman as a partner in its US fund finance practice in New York. He joins from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.
• Per Chilstrom and Michael Pilo joined Baker McKenzie as partners in its capital markets practice in New York.
• Kieron Frazier joined Fox Rothschild as a partner in its gaming group in Chicago. He joins from Greenberg Traurig.
• Susan Taylor joined Carlton Fields as a shareholder in its government law and consulting practice. She joins from Perry & Taylor.
• Miles Masog joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as a partner in Phoenix.
• Michael Fruchter joined Moses Singer as a partner in its corporate trust and loan agency practice in New York. He joins from Holland & Knight.
• Nathan Mammen joined Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg as a partner in its intellectual property practice in Washington. He joins from Snell & Wilmer.