Wake Up Call: Legal Services Company Launches Arizona Law Firm

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

• Flexible lawyer services company Axiom launched an Arizona law firm, Axiom Advice & Counsel, after the state supreme court granted the subsidiary a license to practice under 2020 rules allowing nonlawyer owners of law firms. Axiom is the latest of several alternative legal services companies to set up in the state, including Law on Call and LegalZoom, among others. (PRNewswire.com)
• K&L Gates grabbed a seven-partner private equity team from Dentons LLP’s Pittsburgh office. They include partners Chris Thel, Ron Aulbach, Curt Anderson, John Wingerter, Lauren Crossett, Andrea Steiner, and Jeff Berkey. (KLGates.com)
• Donald Trump hired criminal defense trial lawyer Joe Tacopina to take on former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz for allegedly defaming the former president. Tacopina, a senior partner of a New York boutique firm, has defended clients including embattled Washington Commanders co-owner Dan Snyder, rapper Meek Mill, and Fox News host Sean Hannity. (TMZ)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Recent changes to Florida’s trust laws have made the state increasingly attractive to the private trusts of ultra wealthy families and the Big Law firms that advise them. (Daily Business Review)
• A New York state bill would prohibit Madison Square Gardens Entertainment Corp. and other sports venues from refusing entry to opposing lawyers in litigation and other perceived enemies. (Associated Press)
• Dechert’s new Paris offices in the city’s Eighth arrondissement occupy three floors of an “iconic” eight-story building that formerly housed the headquarters of the broadcasting company RTL. (Law.com International)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Simpson Thacher added financial services attorney Stephanie Biggs as a partner in London, where she will co-lead the firm’s European financial services and funds regulatory team. She arrives after eight years as partner at Travers Smith and was partner at Kirkland & Ellis before that. (STBLaw.com)
• Snell & Wilmer’s Phoenix office recruited litigator Joseph Kanefield, chief deputy and chief of staff to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, as a partner in its special litigation and compliance group. A former Ballard Spahr partner, Kanefield also served as general counsel to former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and as president of the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors. He recently argued a capital punishment case at the US Supreme Court. (SWLaw.com)
• Orrick grabbed Davis Wright Tremaine energy transition adviser Patrick Ferguson as partner in its energy & infrastructure practice in San Francisco. (Orrick)
• Holland & Knight hired former Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jon Steverson as senior policy advisor in its government advocacy team in Tallahassee. (HKLaw.com)
• Minneapolis, Minnesota-headquartered Dorsey & Whitney picked up Perkins Coie corporate and M&A attorney Steve Hardesty as a partner for its new office in Boise, Idaho. (Dorsey.com)
• Biopharmaceutical company IO Biotech hired industry in-house veteran Devin Smith, a former Nixon Peabody partner, as general counsel and chief compliance officer. He’s been top lawyer at several life sciences companies, most recently at Yumanity Therapeutics. (IOBiotech.com)
• South Carolina-based packaging products company Novolex hired veteran in-house leader Daniel L. Rikard as general counsel. He arrives from fiber and materials manufacturer The LYCRA Company, where he was chief legal officer. Rikard was also general counsel at Polymer Group, Inc. and was at Alston Byrd early in his career. (PR Newswire)
• Winebow, a national importer and distributor of wine and spirits, hired wine industry veteran Jo Moak as senior vice president and general counsel. She arrives from Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, where she was executive vice president and general counsel. (Wine Business)

Technology

• Crypto lawyers say non-fungible tokens are increasingly used to serve defendants in blockchain-based litigation who would otherwise be unreachable. (CoinTelegraph)