Wake Up Call: New Reed Smith Leader Updates Senior Management

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

Reed Smith announced an update to its senior management team under new global managing partner Casey Ryan, who recently took over from Alexander “Sandy” Thomas.

Houston-based trial lawyer Julie Hardin joins as managing partner, Americas; London-based entertainment and media co-chair Gregor Pryor joins as managing partner, Europe and the Middle East; and US corporate group chair James Tandler, based in New York, will serve as chair of the business and finance department.

Pittsburgh-based commercial and insurance recovery litigator Doug Cameron, previously managing partner, Americas, becomes global head of legal personnel. The team’s other returning members are Chicago-based Peter Ellis, as chair of the litigation and dispute resolution department, and Pittsburgh-based Nick Bagiatis as chief operating officer. (Reed Smith)

Vinson & Elkins is advising PureWest Energy LLC, a Denver-headquartered producer of natural gas in Wyoming, on its $1.84 billion cash merger with a private consortium of family offices and financial institutions. O’Melveny & Myers, Jackson Walker LLP, and David B. Denechaud PLLC are counseling the PW Consortium, according to a statement. O’Melveny said its team advising the consortium was led by partners Whit Roberts and Jason Schumacher. (PureWest.com)

The Texas House of Representatives hired two prominent Houston attorneys to lead the prosecution team in the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. (Texas Tribune)

Lawyers, Law Firms

Litigation firm Shook Hardy & Bacon hired corporate attorney James Mayor as partner to launch a corporate practice in Houston. He arrives from Culhane Meadows, where he was partner and chair of the corporate and M&A practice groups. He previously spent about 23 years at Baker Botts. (Texas Lawyer)

A Massachusetts federal judge halved Benchmark Technologies’ $1.7 million request for attorneys fees and costs in a trade-secret misappropriation case. (Law.com)

A little more than half of dealmakers who responded to a recent survey by Norton Rose Fulbright and Mergermarket said they expect appetite for M&A to increase this year despite inflation and regulatory challenges. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

Sidley Austin brought on antitrust litigator Carrie Mahan in Washington as partner in its antitrust and consumer protection practice. She arrives after nearly 20 years at Weil Gotshal, where she was a partner. (Sidley.com)

Ropes & Gray picked up Weil tax partner Eric Behl-Remijan as partner in New York. (RopesGray.com)

Holland & Knight hired the co-head of Baker McKenzie’s broker-dealer regulation team, former Holland & Knight partner Rebecca Leon, to return as partner and in a similar team leadership role. She’s based in West Palm Beach, Fla. (HKLaw.com)

Norton Rose Fulbright expanded its corporate insurance and technology transactions practice groups, getting another six lawyers and a senior consultant from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in four cities. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)

Polsinelli added private equity lawyer Matthew Weill as shareholder in New York. He arrives from Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell. (Polsinelli.com)

Foley & Lardner hired former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission attorney Kyle Hayes as energy projects partner in New York; he’ll advise on renewable energy project development and M&A. He arrives from Baker Botts, where he was special counsel. (Foley.com)

German information technology attorney Holger Lutz, who led Baker McKenzie’s IP/IT team in the country, is moving to Clifford Chance’s Frankfurt office to manage that firm’s German tech and digital team. (Juve.de)

ToolsGroup, a retail and supply chain planning and optimization software provider, hired veteran industry in-house leader Catherine Sigmar as chief legal officer. She arrives from supply chain solutions provider Tecsys Inc., where she was CLO. (ToolsGroup.com)

Technology

Big UK firm Mishcon de Reya said three startups joined its tech incubator program, MDR Lab. (Mishcon.com)