Wake Up Call: Latham Proposes 'Super' Way to Surpass $20 Million

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

• Latham & Watkins is considering adding “super points” to its comp structure to allow “star performers” to broach the $20 million mark, amid “a raging pay battle among elite US law firms.” Super points would give select top-tier partners extra profit shares on top of the “eye-watering sums” they already receive through the current system. (Financial News)
• Jenner & Block won the most recent annual Yale Law Women+ 2024 Top Firms Report advancement award, which celebrates firms that “create opportunities for diverse attorneys to not only be hired, but thrive,” with Pillsbury and K&L Gates taking honorable mention. The group’s “agency and flexibility” award, which recognizes firms that “effectively enable” attorneys to balance individual life choices with their careers, went to Sheppard Mullin. (Yale Law Women+)
• Cherée Johnson has been appointed new chief legal officer of SPX Technologies, a cooling and heating equipment manufacturer, effective June 10. Johnson, who succeeds John Nurkin, has held leading in-house counsel posts at a number of companies, including most recently at Dentsply Sirona, and before that at W.R. Grace & Co. (GlobeNewswire)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Michael Bergmann and Scott McCall have joined Cooley’s compensation and benefits practice as partners in Washington and San Diego respectively. Bergmann joins from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. McCall joins from Wilson Sonsini.
• Ellen Snare has joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its transactions practice group in New York. She joins from King & Spalding.
• Joshua Ayal has joined Freshfields as a partner in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice in New York.
• Matthew Micheli has joined Arnold & Porter’s bankruptcy and restructuring practice as a partner in Chicago.
• Vasiliki Yiannoulis-Riva has joined Polsinelli as a real estate practice shareholder in its New York office.
• Sandi Dubin has joined Cozen O’Connor as a member of its labor and employment practice in New York. She joins from Ogletree Deakins.
• Charmaine Huntting has joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as an employment law partner in its San Diego office.
• Michael Silverman has joined Goldberg Segalla as a partner in its toxic tort and environmental law practice groups in New York.
• Irene Nikolados has joined Goldberg Segalla as a partner with the firm’s workers’ compensation group in Garden City, New York.
• Chris Marando has joined Perkins Coie as an intellectual property and patent litigation partner in its Washington office.
• Melissa Patterson has joined Dickinson Wright as a member of its intellectual property practice.