Wake Up Call: NBA Agent Sues Gordon Rees, Ex-Partners for Fraud

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

• Gordon & Rees is getting sued for more than $92 million by a longtime agent for National Basketball Association players and his business partner. The suit accuses the law firm and two of its former partners of fraud. (Reuters)
• Simpson Thacher’s London office had $378 million in revenues in 2022, up 13% from the previous year. That’s down from 43% growth in 2021, according to a report. (Law.com International)
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati announced market-matching year-end bonuses for associates and other non-member attorneys ranging $20,000 to $115,000 depending on class year, for its fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2023. (Above The Law)
• Greenberg Traurig lawyers who dropped Ye, AKA Kanye West, as a client after the rapper’s anti-semitic rants have reportedly resorted to newspaper advertisements to notify him, because they haven’t been able to find him. (TMZ.com)
• Former co-acting general counsel of the New York Federal Reserve Yoonhi Greene joined WilmerHale as a partner in its financial institutions group. She joins the firm after 23 years at the bank, following the bank’s former general counsel Michael Held who joined Wilmer in April. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Latham & Watkins said it advised JP Morgan and Dragon Capital as solicitation agents in Ukrainian Railways’ recent deal to delay payment on Eurobonds totalling $895 million. (Lw.com)
• Big Law firms are moving their London offices at a rapid rate as they add amenities and facilities to boost their chances in the fight for legal talent. Reed Smith, Clifford Chance, and Squire Patton Boggs are among firms that recently leased new premises in the city. (Financial Times)
• UK listed law firm group Knights acquired commercial law firm Meade King, known for real estate and corporate practices, for 2.1 million pounds ($2.57 million), getting 29 lawyers, including four partners. (City A.M.) London listed law firms’ share values are falling. That has investors worried. (The Times of London)
• A Florida insurance company that dragged its feet on paying out its $250,000 policy coverage limit for a catastrophic injury case stemming from a hit-and-run ended up settling for $8.5 million. (PropertyCasualty360)
• New York politicians are warning Madison Square Gardens Entertainment that its policy of using facial recognition to target litigation adversaries could cost it public support. (New York Post)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Wilson Sonsini added three partners London: tax counsel Sarah Lane from Simpson Thacher, employee benefits attorney Fleur Benns from Pinsent Masons, and employee law attorney Martin Luff from Vinson & Elkins. (WSGR.com)
• Paul Hastings said via email that it grabbed London restructuring partner Helena Potts from Shearman & Sterling, which is said to be in merger talks with Hogan Lovells. She earlier spent a decade at Latham & Watkins. (Paul Hastings)
• Locke Lord grabbed longtime Akin Gump energy lawyer Artem Faekov as a partner in London. (LockeLord.com)
• Bryan Cave said corporate real estate and funds lawyer Chris Beaumont-McQuillan is joining the firm in February as a partner. He arrives from Reed Smith where he led the London corporate real estate team. (BCLPLaw.com)
• Dykema Gossett hired former Michigan county budget director and counsel Drew D. Van de Grift as a senior attorney in its government policy and practice group in Lansing and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. (Dykema.com)
• Quarles & Brady named commercial transactions partner Margaret Utterback office managing partner of the firm’s Madison office. (Quarles.com)
• Global investigations firm Nardello & Co. hired Mexican attorney and former diplomatic agent Edgar Zurita as a managing director in Washington. He specializes in Latin American investigations and policy. (Nardelloandco.com)