Wake Up Call: Mergers Are Leading Texas-Based Firms to Disappear

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

• Texas-based law firms have been closing their doors as they merge with or get taken over by larger corporate firms looking to enter the state. Over the last dozen years, more than 30 firms headquartered in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio have followed this path, with more expected in the coming year. (The Dallas Morning News)
• Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis have the most alumni in the top 100 corporate in-house leader roles, according to a Law.com analysis. Latham, in particular, has eight alumni in the top 100 highest-paid general counsel, according to public records, the most of any firm. Second to it was Kirkland, which have five alumni in the top-paid general counsel gigs. (Law.com)
• John Baldante and his associate Daniella Price of Baldante and Rubenstein have filed nearly 600 civil cases under New Jersey’s new Child Victims Act, more than any other firm. The law relaxed the statue of limitations on child sexual abuse, allowing Baldante and Price to represent victims in “an avalanche” of cases. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Margaret Graham joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice. She joins from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
• Josefa Larraín joined DLA Piper as a dispute resolution partner in Chile.
• Deborah Kirk joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as a partner and head of the firm’s intellectual property and technology transactions practice in London.
• Scott Colwell and Patrick Kwak joined Sidley Austin as partners in its capital markets practice in London. They join from Latham & Watkins.
• Marina Aronchik joined Morgan Lewis as a partner in its technology and commercial contracts practice in Chicago. She joins from Mayer Brown.
• Zak Goodwin rejoined Ropes & Gray as a partner in its antitrust practice in Boston. He joins from Thermo Fisher Scientific.
• Piotr Nerwiński joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder and head of its project and structured finance practice in Warsaw.
• Stephan Rau joined Greenberg Traurig as a private equity and health-care shareholder in Germany. He joins from McDermott Will & Emery.
• Jonathan Dhanawade joined Mayer Brown as a partner in its global private equity and mergers and acquisitions practices. He joins from Paul Hastings.
• Rachel Gray joined Paul Hastings as finance partner in New York. She joins from Winston & Strawn.
• Sam Roh joined Alston & Bird as a partner in its investment funds group in New York. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Bill Efron joined Arnold & Porter as a partner in its antitrust practice in New York. He joins from the Federal Trade Commission.
• Sebastian Tiller joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner and co-head of strategic M&A in New York. He joins from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
• David Gonen rejoined Katten Muchin Rosenman as a partner in its commercial litigation practice in Washington. He joins from the FTC.
• Seth Mehrten joined Littler Mendelson as a shareholder in Fresno, Calif. He joins from Barsamian & Moody.
• Sandra Ramos White joined Ogletree Deakins as a shareholder in San Antonio. She joins from Steptoe.
• James Cooke joined Nixon Peabody as a partner in its fintech and financial service IP team in Washington.
• Richard Hanson joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft as a capital markets and private credit partner in London.
• Sam Young joined Haynes Boone as a partner in its real estate practice group. He joins from Holland & Knight.
• Phillip Stoup joined Freshfields as a capital markets partner in Silicon Valley.
• Paul Stewart, Mark Davis, and Nick Fortune joined Freshfields as partners in its global transactions practice. They join from Weil Gotshal & Manges.