Wake Up Call: Katten to Axe Staff Made Redundant by Remote Work

In today’s column, U.K.-listed Big Law firm DWF is eliminating 60 jobs, including 13 partners and closing two offices; a California county DA is getting criticized after failing to inform courtroom participants they’d been in contact with a Covid-infected prosecutor; Latham & Watkins is the latest major firm to say it will gradually reopen in London; the Justice Department named a former King & Spalding litigation partner as acting head of its civil division; Hogan Lovells gets a new CEO tomorrow.

• Leading off, after two months of remote work because of the pandemic, Katten Muchin Rosenman says it has realized its new Covid-inspired workflow has eliminated need for certain administrative staff positions. The Chicago-founded firm, which in April announced an unspecified number of furloughs as part of series of cost-cuts to protect its cash line from the pandemic’s economic impact, said it is converting some of those furloughs into permanent job cuts effective Aug. 1, a report says. (American Lawyer)

• DWF, a Manchester, U.K.-based listed law firm with about 1,100 lawyers, is closing offices in Brussels and Singapore and eliminating 60 jobs, including 13 partners, as it cuts costs to offset Covid-19’s impact on its business, according to reports. The firm, which until recently had 33 offices, is also reducing its presence in Dubai and Cologne, Germany, a report says. (GlobalLegalPost.com) (The Lawyer) (The BusinessDesk.com)

• A California defense attorney is complaining that the San Mateo County district attorney’s office failed to promptly inform him and others that they had been in court with a prosecutor who later tested positive for Covid-19. According to a report, the DA said he informed about 30 people on his staff who may have come into contact with the infected prosecutor, but he didn’t think it was his responsibility to tell other people who may have been in contact with her in the courthouse. (Mercury News)

• Latham & Watkins said it’s gradually re-opening its office in London, following similar announcements by London elite firms and other U.S. firms. (The Lawyer)

• Hogan Lovells CEO Steve Immelt is due to step down tomorrow after a six years in the role, with Hong Kong-based Migueal Zaldivar set to take over as the firm confronts the economic impact of Covid-19 and other challenges. (BLAW)

• The bankruptcy filing by shale energy company Chesapeake Energy Corp. is bringing work to several Big Law firms. (American Lawyer)

• As the Covid crisis has sparked a string of bankruptcies, midlevel associates at some firms are getting temporarily re-assigned from their regular practices to work as restructuring lawyers. That’s one of the ways the pandemic has changed the way law firms work, according to this report. (American Lawyer)

• Demand for health care contract attorneys is also up during the pandemic. (Corporate Counsel)

• With the pandemic fueling interest in home exercise, yoga apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica inc., advised by Fenwick & West and Canadian firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon, agreed to a $500 million deal to acquire Cooley client Mirror, an in-home fitness company that makes an interactive workout platform. (Bloomberg News)

The Legal Profession Reacts to George Floyd Protests, Systemic Racism

• A Minnesota judge in the trials of four former police officers charged in George Floyd’s death yesterday warned public officials, attorneys, and family members to stop making public statements about the case. (Associated Press)

• As Big Law lags on improving diversity and continues to lose Black attorneys as result, larger firms’ loss could be midsize firms’ gain. (American Lawyer)

• Florida’s dozen law schools are collaborating on a new initiative to fight racism. (Law.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• The Justice Department named former King & Spalding litigation partner Ethan Davis as acting head of its civil division. Davis has since July 2019 been a top deputy to the man he will now replace, Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt. Hunt, also a King & Spalding alum, is leaving July 3. (National Law Journal)

• Women in general counsel positions made roughly $100,000 less than men in 2019, on average, but the gap may be closing, according to a recent report. (BLAW)

• Uncertainty over Hong Kong’s future is helping propel Singapore’s rise as a financial center and a destination for law firms. (American Lawyer). As other firms eye the exits in Hong Kong, Steptoe & Johnson LLP opened an office in the city earlier this year. (Law.com International)

• Greenspoon Marder said it expanded its Denver office with a move to a new 25,000 square foot office in a downtown office tower. (GMLaw.com)

• Meanwhile, Greenspoon represented Wiley Rein in negotiations for its lease to move into new Washington headquarters in a 166,000-square-foot space in a “trophy office building” on M Street in January 2022. (GMLaw.com)

• Cosmetics company Coty Inc., represented by Skadden Arps, agreed to a $200 million dollar deal to buy a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian West Beauty, advised by Cooley. (Bloomberg News)

Laterals, Moves

• Mintz hired litigation partner Courtney Rockett from Boies Schiller & Flexner as a member in New York, the latest in a long series of departures from David Boies’s high-profile firm. (BLAW)

• Williams & Connolly counsel and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement lawyer Rachel Rodman joined Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice in Washington. (BLAW)

• Fenwick hired Alston & Bird privacy and cybersecurity lawyer Helen Christakos as counsel in the San Francisco area. (Fenwick.com)

• Locke Lord said energy partner Michael Malfettone joined its Austin office and will move to New York in coming months. Arriving from Husch Blackwell, he advises on renewable power, clean energy, and midstream natural gas industry. (LockeLord.com)

• Eversheds Sutherland’s Chicago office hired former McDonald’s senior counsel Ruth A. Schoenmeyer as a partner. According to her LinkedIn, Schoenmeyer arrives most recently from White & Case, where she was a partner, and has been at several other Big Law firms previously. Former White & Case counsel Stephanie J. Kim joined the Chicago office as counsel. Veteran in-house real estate attorney Kathleen Dempsey Boyle joins as counsel, arriving most recently from Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle. (Eversheds-Sutherland.com)

In-house

• Madison Square Garden Entertainment Co., recently spun off from Madison Square Garden Co., hired a former top lawyer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., Scott Packman, as its new executive vice president and general counsel, starting tomorrow. Packman, a Big Law veteran, arrives most recently from a stint as legal chief at TV studio Sonar Entertainment. (BLAW)

• Kushner Cos. LLC, the real estate company owned by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, hired former Big Law attorney, Christopher Smith, as its new general counsel. Smith, arriving from real estate investment firm East End Capital Partners, where he was GC and managing director, replaces Emily Wolf, who left Kushner Cos. last month. (BLAW)

Technology

• UpCounsel Inc., a venture-backed lawyer marketplace, was sued Monday in Delaware by the founders of Silicon Valley law firm LegalForce RAPC Worldwide. Those founders claim UpCounsel’s leaders took key assets to LinkedIn before selling it for a “small fraction of its value.” (BLAW)

Legal Education

• Fordham Law said its McGannon Center received a $50,000 award from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support research on internet governance. (News.Fordham.edu)