Wake Up Call: Kirkland Sublets in Miami Amid Market Slowdown

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’ apparent subleasing of two out of the six floors it leased last year at 830 Brickell Plaza in Miami’s financial district comes amid growing signs of a leasing market slowdown in South Florida, according to a report. (The Real Deal)
• Big Law firms that recently arrived in the Miami market are hosting summer associate programs in their new offices. (Daily Business Review)
• A UK law firm infuriated its attorneys with fake pay raise emails that turned out to be tests to see if they’d click on phishing bait. (Roll On Friday)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• The FBI arrested an Austin real estate developer who’s at the heart of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment scandal. (Politico)
• Collective enforcement actions by state attorneys general are a growing source of risk to corporate legal departments. (Corporate Counsel)
• A New York judge accused of giving false testimony in a municipal elections case was forced to resign from the bench. (New York Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Morgan Lewis picked up a five member labor-management relations team from Epstein Becker & Green in Century City, California. The team is led by partner Adam Abrahms, who most recently co-chaired Epstein Becker’s labor-management relations practice and served on the firm’s board of directors. (MorganLewis.com)
• Lewis Roca named business, real estate transactions partner Sam Chang as co-practice group leader of the firm’s business transactions group, with co-leader Matt Sweger. The firm said the move is aimed at expanding and developing the practice group. (LewisRoca.com)
• Bradley Arant Boult Cummings added two attorneys with experience in litigation and real estate for its new office in Atlanta. (Bradley.com)
• Greenspoon Marder and its affiliate specializing in environmental, social, and governance advising, Values Management and Investing, are adding four new members to their teams. The hires include two attorneys: Randi Morrison is joining VMI as executive vice president and joining Greenspoon Marder as partner on Aug. 1. She arrives from the Society for Corporate Governance, where she’s senior vice president, communications, member engagement, and general counsel. Former Chicago Title Insurance commercial counsel Amanda Mayberry joined VMI as deputy director and Greenspoon Marder as associate. (GMLaw.com)
• Arnold & Porter hired law-firm marketing pro Jeff Berardi as chief business development and marketing officer. (ArnoldPorter.com)
• McGuireWoods’ consulting arm added economic development executive Steven Pearce in Charlotte, North Carolina. He arrives from AllianceSTL Initiative in St. Louis, where he served as president and chief business attraction officer. (MWCLLC.com)
• The Toro Company, a Minnesota-based maker of turf maintenance and landscaping equipment, hired former Ford Motor Co. Latin America legal director Joanna Totsky as vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, effective June 19. She’s a former Miller Canfield associate and arrives recently from automotive and industrial supplier Cooper-Standard Holdings, Inc., where she was chief legal and transformation officer. (Businesswire)
• Nxu Inc., an Arizona-based battery cell manufacturer, hired former Arizona assistant attorney general Jordan Christensen as chief legal officer. (Yahoo! Finance)
• Quarles & Brady promoted trusts and estates attorney Dallas Klemmer to senior counsel. He’s based in Naples, Florida. (Quarles.com)

Technology

• Legal tech company EvenUp said it raised $50.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Bain Capital Ventures. The company, which makes an artificial intelligence-powered workflow product for valuing personal injury claims, said it has raised $65 million, bringing its valuation to $325 million. (EvenUpLaw.com)

Legal Education

• Fordham Law School Dean Matthew Diller announced he will serve one more year until June 30, 2024, after which he will return to teaching. (Fordham.edu)