Wake Up Call: Milbank ‘Shoots For the Moon’ With Spiking Profits

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

• Milbank shot “for the moon” in 2023, boasting revenue that rose by 17.8%, and profits per equity partner that increased by 18.6% to a record $5.1 million. The firm’s lawyers were busier, said Milbank chair Scott Edelman, including its private equity and energy and infrastructure practices. (Law.com)
• Prince Harry’s lawyers asked a judge to order a tabloid publisher to pay $2.5 million for a portion of the legal fees spent to prove that the estranged royal’s privacy was violated. Attorney David Sherborne argued that his case was “overwhelmingly successful” and his clients should be reimbursed legal fees because Mirror “advanced a fundamentally dishonest case.” (Yahoo Finance)
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in the 1970s and 80s “was the definition, the epitome, of the civic-minded law firm.” The firm is still a “storied place” where top partners can rake in $25 million, yet the story has changed, writes legal pundit Jeffrey Toobin. These days among Big Law firms generally, “the only color that matters now is green,” he wrote. (Air Mail)
• An Alabama attorney and former judicial candidate was sentenced to 20 years in prison for stealing $250,000 from clients. Teresa Darwin Phillips used funds given to her by clients and elderly people for whom she had been appointed as a legal guardian “for her own personal gain.” (AL.com)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Kelley Geraghty Price has joined Husch Blackwell as partner in the commercial litigation practice group and the financial services and capital markets business unit. She joins from Dentons Cohen & Grigsby.
• Julia Duquette has joined Sikich as partner in the federal audit practice. She joins from Grant Thornton.
• Mark Hunting has joined Bracewell LLP as a partner with the disputes team in the London office. He joins from bp PLC.
• James Billingsley has joined Duane Morris as a partner in the business reorganization and financial restructuring practice group in the Dallas office. He joins from Polsinelli.
• Katlin McKelvie has joined Gibson Dunn as a partner with the FDA and health care practice group in the Washington, D.C., office.
• Mizuho Yamada and Ayako Kawano have joined Greenberg Traurig as real estate shareholders in Tokyo. They join from White & Case.
• Matthew Wawrzyn has joined FisherBroyles as a partner with the litigation practice in Chicago. He joins from Wawrzyn LLC.
• Rick Sofield has joined Debevoise & Plimpton as partner and co-head of the firm’s national security practice in Washington, D.C.
• Ricky C. Benjamin has joined Carlton Fields as a shareholder with the health care practice in Atlanta, Ga. He joins from Akerman.
• David K. Hong has joined Paul Hastings as a partner in the global financial restructuring practice in New York. He joins from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Liz Washko has been elected managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins.
• Chris Thomas, Ann Lee, and Samantha Wolfe have joined Holland & Hart as partners in the immigration practice. They join from Ogletree Deakins.
• Enzo Sallese has joined Cozen O’Connor as a shareholder with the North American real estate practice in the Toronto office. He joins from Minden Gross.
• David Ogles has joined Nelson Mullins as a partner with the Midwest commercial litigation team in Chicago.
• Rodrigo Gómez Ballina has been appointed the partner-in-charge of Jones Day‘s Mexico City office.
• Robert M. Hirsh has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in the New York office. He joins from Lowenstein Sandler.
• Norman Armstrong and Daniel Zach have joined Kirkland & Ellis as partners with the antitrust and competition practice.
• Michael Shortnacy has joined Shook Hardy & Bacon as a partner in its complex litigation strategic counseling practice.