Wake Up Call: Kentucky’s Bourbon Boom Fuels Lawyer’s Income

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

• Kentucky’s $9 billion bourbon distilling industry is powering economic growth and creating jobs for the state. It’s also generating revenues for lawyers as companies seek specialized corporate services and advice for navigating the highly regulated industry. (The Lane Report)
• Goodwin Procter’s dealmaking bonanza of the last three years spurred it to hire 646 associates. But during that time the firm also lost 392 associates, for a net gain of 254, according to a report. (American Lawyer)
• Bankruptcy attorneys and other advisers to fallen crypto exchange FTX.com have billed the company more than $19.6 million for work done in 2022. Topping the list is Sullivan & Cromwell, which is seeking over $9.5 million for work done between Nov. 12 and Nov. 30, according to reports citing new court documents. (WSJ) (CNBC.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Former Twitter Inc. chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde got advice from two Sidley Austin white collar attorneys ahead of her appearance yesterday before a House committee probing alleged social media interference in elections and other questions. Other former Twitter executives that appeared before the committee got advice from white collar attorneys from Dechert LLP and Nixon & Peabody, according to a report. (Reuters)
• Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, a Winston & Strawn white collar partner, warned 14 people who have made public assertions about the famous laptop of President Joe Biden’s son that they could get sued over those claims. (Politico)
• Eight years after a Phoenix, Arizona, attorney accused the former president of Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association of sexually assaulting her in a car, a jury convicted him of sexual assault and sexual abuse. (AZ Central)
• An Atlanta plaintiffs attorney who did a TV interview about two of his cases could face sanctions for violating a court’s media interview restrictions. (Daily Report)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• DLA Piper snagged Baker McKenzie state-and-local tax attorney David Pope as a partner in New York. (DLAPiper.com)
• Neville Eisenberg, the former senior and managing partner of Berwin Leighton Paisner before it merged with Bryan Cave in 2018, took a job as adviser at big London-based firm Mishcon de Reya Group. (Mishcon.com)
• Speaking of Bryan Cave, the transatlantic firm picked up Perkins Coie real estate lawyer Doug Lane as a partner in Los Angeles. (BCLP.com)
• Saul Ewing added Bowditch & Dewey litigators Jon Barooshian and Patrick Tracey as partners in Boston. (Saul.com)
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath said a former associate at the firm, Mindy Westrick Brown, returned as counsel in Indianapolis, Indiana, in its government and regulatory practice group. She arrives from the Indiana Energy Association, where she was vice president. (FaegreDrinker.com)
• Former US Justice Department trial attorney Jenelle Beavers joined professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal as a managing director, in Denver and Washington. (AlvarezandMarsal.com)
• The UK branch of credit reporting agency TransUnion promoted legal director and data reporting officer Neil Bentley to UK general counsel. He takes over from Bill Flynn, who moved up to senior vice president and head of all TransUnion’s legal teams outside of the US. (Transunion.co.uk)
• The general counsel of Orange County Power Authority in California resigned abruptly as he was facing possible termination in a dispute. (Irvine Watchdog) (Voice of Orange County)

Promotions

• Financial services provider Empower promoted longtime deputy general counsel Kelly Noble to general counsel and chief legal officer effective March 2. She takes over from Richard Schultz, who’s retiring. (Empower.com)
• Litigation funder Validity Finance announced promotions of two Houston portfolio counsel. It promoted former Baker Botts intellectual property special counsel Michelle Eber to director of patent investments and former Kirkland & Ellis litigation partner Sarah Williams to director of underwriting. (ValidityFinance.com)
• Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck promoted eight attorneys to partner and five to counsel, effective Jan. 1. (KDVLAW.com)