Wake Up Call: Kirkland Gives Lawyers Lessons in Communication

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

• Kirkland & Ellis is launching communication training for its lawyers to address complaints from private equity investors who view the firm as overly combative in negotiations. The move follows backlash at an industry event where limited partners reportedly wished they could “fire K&E.” Investors have accused the firm of refusing to negotiate even minor fund terms and relying on curt phrases like “We respectfully decline.” (Financial Times)
• Federal government lawyers admitted providing inaccurate information to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals about the scale of the federal officer presence in Portland. They wrongly stated that 115 Federal Protective Service officers were reassigned to protect the city’s ICE building, when that number actually referred to deployments, not individuals, and there have actually been a total of 86 officers sent to the building from other regions. (The Oregonian)
• Fried Frank announced it will be a lead donor to the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial, which will be located in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The memorial, coordinated by the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Commission, will celebrate the life, legacy, and impact of the Supreme Court justice, the firm said. Ginsburg’s late husband, Martin, was a tax partner at the firm in Washington. (Fried Frank)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Conor Larkin joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in its mergers & acquisitions practice in Philadelphia and Houston. He joins from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
• George Turner joined Jones Day as a partner in its investigations and white collar defense practice in New York. He joins from the Justice Department.
• Heather Rees joined Squire Patton Boggs as a partner in its financial services practice group. She joins from K&L Gates.
• Wayne Gladstone joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as a partner in its professional liability defense, product liability, environmental and toxic tort, health care, class action defense, and transportation practices in New York.