Wake Up Call: NJ Firm Accuses Ex-CFO of Over $3 Million Rip-Off

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

• New Jersey law firm McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter is suing its former chief financial officer, accusing him of stealing over $3.2 million from the firm in the last decade by paying himself big bonuses and abusing a firm credit card. (NJ.com)
• UBS group general counsel Barbara Levi has reportedly taken over the top lawyer tasks of former Credit Suisse general counsel Markus Diethelm. Diethelm was among executives who recently left Credit Suisse after UBS completed its acquisition of the bank. (Corporate Counsel)
• State University of New York’s Buffalo School of Law was hit by a June 27 federal civil-rights complaint over its summer program that gives preference to “students of color” over white students. (New York Post)

Programming Note

• Wake Up Call won’t publish on Monday, July 3. We’ll resume regular publication Wednesday, July 5.

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Baker McKenzie promoted 89 lawyers to partner across 41 locations worldwide. (BakerMcKenzie.com)
• The nonprofit New York Lawyers for the Public Interest announced that Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe restructuring partner Lorraine McGowen took the role of chair of its board. (NYLPI.com)
• A Florida man pleaded guilty to fraud in which he impersonated a private equity firm general counsel and global law firm partner to rip off senior executives of New York investment firms for over $1 million. (Justice.gov)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Global giant Dentons LLP said its Pittsburgh-based affiliate, Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, added trusts and estates attorney Juan Bendeck as shareholder in Naples, Florida. He arrives from Hahn Loeser & Parks. (Dentons.com)
• Pryor Cashman said family law attorney Marcy Katz joined as partner in New York. She arrives from McLaughlin & Stern, where she was partner and family law group co-chair. (PryorCashman.com)
• Holland & Knight recruited former Washington DC deputy attorney general James Pittman as senior counsel in its public policy and regulation group and DC business team. He was recently director of government and external affairs for electric utility Pepco. (HKLaw.com)
• Dykema Gossett said veteran health care and dental service organization in-house leader Jena Taft joined the firm as senior counsel in Dallas, working mostly remotely in North Carolina. (Dykema.com)
• Employer-side worklaw firm Fisher Phillips recruited attorney Deborah O’Toole, a veteran human resources and risk officer at education institutions, as of counsel in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fisher Phillips also brought back retired New Jersey Superior Court judge Alan G. Lesnewich, a former partner at the firm, as senior counsel. (FisherPhillips.com)
• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS hired longtime counselor and litigator Marbury Rainer as mediator and arbitrator on its Atlanta panel. JAMS also added international dispute resolution professional Anton G. Maurer to its New York panel. (JAMSadr.com)
• Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance underwriter SiriusPoint Ltd. hired former Willkie Farr litigator and insurance industry veteran Linda Lin as chief legal officer based in New York, effective July 24. She arrives recently from New Jersey-based Coaction Global, Inc, where she was executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. (SiriusPT.com) Coaction replaced Lin with experienced insurance industry in-house lawyer Erin Brennan Bagley, a former health-care counsel in the Massachusetts insurance regulator’s office. (Investors Observer)
• Billtrust, which makes cloud-based software for processing B2B payments brought in payments company inhouse lawyer Philip Ragona as CLO. He arrives from Paysafe, where he was senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Americas. (PRNewswire.com)
• Boston-based home equity fintech company Hometap brought in former American Express managing counsel Josh Gaffney as general counsel. He was recently at consumer data fintech Banyan as chief privacy officer and general counsel. (Hometap.com)

Legal Education

• The University of the District of Columbia Law School named interim dean and law professor Twinette Johnson as permanent dean, effective July 3. (UDC.edu)