Wake Up Call: London Firms Adjust Work Plan to Soaring Heat

In today’s column, former Boies London office leader Natasha Harrison said her new litigation boutique has opened a New York office; embattled e-cigarette maker Juul is mulling a filing for bankruptcy protection; Big Law firms did less pro bono work last year.

• Leading off, London’s biggest law firms eased their requirements for employees to come into the office as the city faces what could be its hottest day on record. By noon the temperature in London had reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Weather.com. (Law.com International) In Paris, where temperatures are forecast to reach 104 degrees Tuesday, many offices don’t have air conditioning. (BFMtv.com)
• Former Boies Schiller London office managing partner Natasha Harrison said her London-based boutique Pallas Partners has opened an office in New York city and plans to have three lawyers there by September. She expects the office to eventually grow to around 30 lawyers. (American Lawyer)
• Embattled e-cigarette maker Juul is seeking financing to help it faces hundreds of millions of dollars in possible damage verdicts from lawsuits and a possible ban from the US market. The company, considering options including bankruptcy, is getting advice from Kirkland & Elllis. (Bloomberg News via BLAW) Meanwhile, the risk that Juul will file for bankruptcy protection spurred plaintiffs lawyers to change their trial plan in multidistrict litigation against the company. (Law.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• ALM’s latest pro bono survey found that attorneys at Big Law firms did 12.9% less pro bono work in 2021 than in 2020. The drop is probably because lawyers were busy with booming client demand, this report says. (American Lawyer)
• Soaring demand also spurred big New York firms to add to their headcounts last year, some by more than 10%. (New York Law Journal)
• A West Virginia circuit court judge allegedly waved a gun in the direction of defense lawyers in the courtroom in a fossil fuel royalties case. (Daily Beast) A sexual harassment lawsuit by a former associate at a California law firm accuses its managing director of “dirty behavior” at a strip club. (Fresno Bee)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Sidley Austin added to its M&A and private equity practice in Miami, bringing in Morrison & Foerster corporate partner Juan Delgado as a partner, along with an associate; Baker McKenzie grabbed Baker Botts intellectual property, technology transactions, and privacy lawyer Cynthia Cole as a transactions partner in Palo Alto, California. Cole, who was deputy department chair of Baker Botts’ Northern California corporate section, is a former tech industry executive and in-house leader; management-side worklaw firm Littler hired employee benefits attorney Eric Field as a shareholder in Washington. He arrives from Akin Gump; Littler also added former National Labor Relations Board trial specialist Bruce Buchanan as special counsel in Nashville. (Littler) Cleary Gottlieb picked up Vinson & Elkins employee benefits attorney Julia Petty as a partner in New York. (ClearyGottlieb.com)
• McGuireWoods hired veteran King & Spalding trial lawyer Jeremiah Anderson as a partner in Houston in its commercial litigation practice; Dykema named commercial and business trial lawyer Isaac Villarreal as managing member of its new Houston office; Troutman Pepper hired BakerHostetler commercial real estate and finance attorney Anna Altizer Dix as a partner in Atlanta; Troutman also hired consumer regulatory attorneys Clayton Friedman and Michael Yaghi as partners in Orange County, California, in its state attorneys general practice. They arrive from Crowell & Moring, where Friedman founded and led the state AG practice; Ballard Spahr hired former Morgan, Lewis & Bockius chief strategy officer Debra Lawrence to be its new chief operating officer based in Philadelphia. (Ballard Spahr)
• New Jersey-based health care law boutique Frier Levitt promoted partner Michelle Greenberg to general counsel; Canada-based LeddarTech, which provides LiDAR sensing technology for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems, named corporate lawyer and tech in-house leader David Torralbo as chief legal officer. (Investing News Network)

Legal Education

• A federal judge let a Covid-19 tuition reimbursement suit against Suffolk University go forward. (Law.com)