Wake Up Call: Mergers Rain In 2024, With Kilpatrick Leading Way

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

• Big Law is seeing a “flurry” of merger activity in 2024, as evidenced by Wednesday’s notice that Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is combining with HMB Legal Counsel from Chicago. Fennemore Craig on Tuesday said it will expand into Seattle through a tie-up with the dozen-lawyer Savitt Bruce & Willey. (Reuters)
• In other merger news, Barclay Damon announced Wednesday that it has combined with the 10-lawyer DC firm Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram. Leadership of both firms voted unanimously to approve the deal, citing a “strong belief” that it would allow the combined firm to expand client offerings and its Washington footprint. (PR Newswire)
• Women are more likely to be identified as a general counsel’s successor than men, a trend “especially true” at non-profits and private companies, where women are about 60% likely to get the nod, a new study finds. In-house lawyers who receive coaching are also more likely to take over as general counsel than those who don’t. (BarkerGilmore)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Christopher Thompson has joined DLA Piper as a transactions tax and indirect tax partner in Brussels, Belgium.
• Jeffrey Gilbert has joined Greenspoon Marder as a partner with the litigation practice group in Miami.
• Kenyen Brown has joined Thompson Coburn as a white collar defense and investigations partner in Washington, D.C., and John Howard has joined as health care partner in St. Louis, Mo. Brown joins from Hughes Hubbard and Howard joins from the Physician Network at Novant Health.
• Lana Yaghi has joined Husch Blackwell as a cross-border transactional partner on the corporate practice team in Washington, D.C. She most recently served at Miller Canfield.
• Patricia Mastropierro has been appointed office administrative partner for Haynes and Boone in Mexico City.
• Julia L. Koechley has joined Gordon & Rees as a partner in its Chicago office.
• Matthew F. Hall is joining Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as partner in the litigation practice group in Tampa, Fla.
• Kami Haeri and Alexandre Kiabski have joined White & Case as partners with the global commercial litigation practice in Paris. They join from Quinn Emanuel.
• William C. Athanas has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as a partner in the government enforcement and investigations practice group in Birmingham, Ala.
• Albert Diaz-Silveira and Cristina Quintero have joined Polsinelli PC as shareholders with the corporate M&A practice group in Miami.