Wake Up Call: NY AG James Calls for Volunteers to Monitor ICE

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

• NY Attorney General Tish James is creating a team of legal observers that will monitor and record immigration officers as they seek to detain and deport migrants. James said the legal observers would be volunteer employees from her office, trained to observe, without interfering, whether Trump’s immigration enforcement “remains within the bounds of the law.” (The Guardian)
• Eversheds Sutherland is launching an ‘AI-centric’ US innovation department. The 20-person department will consolidate several existing technology functions, including data and analytics, research and knowledge services, legal technology, and client-facing technologies. The department will be led by senior director Katrina Dittmer—previously the firm’s US director of legal technology. (Global Legal Post)
• More than 175 law professors from across the US signed a letter sent to Arkansas lawmakers expressing “profound concern” over the revocation of Emily Suski’s offer to become dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law. While the faculty who signed the letter “disagree about many specific matters of law and policy, including in relation to this specific issue ... we are united in our view that the selection of a law school dean should be guided by academic values and appropriate institutional processes, all of which appear to have been subverted here,” the letter states. (Law.com)
• The Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office is seeking a prison term of four to five years for ex-Queens Defenders chief Lori Zeno after she pleaded guilty Tuesday to using money meant for indigent clients on luxury shopping sprees. (New York Times)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Jeffrey Fisher joined Hecker Fink as of counsel. He joins from O’Melveny & Myers.
• Maria Varsellona joined Rolls-Royce Holdings as general counsel. She joins from Unilever.
• Craig Kenesky joined Brown Rudnick as a life sciences partner in New York. He joins from Wilson Sonsini.
• Malcolm Nicholls rejoined Proskauer as a partner in its private investment funds group in Boston.
• Tamerlin Godley joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in its litigation department in Los Angeles. She joins from Paul Hastings.
• Cedric Powell and Lauren Briggerman joined Squire Patton Boggs as partners. Powell joins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. Briggerman joins from Miller & Chevalier.
• Max Silverstein and Steven Dunst joined Latham & Watkins as partners. Silverstein joins from Ropes & Gray. Dunst joins from Cooley.
• Lee Schindler and Jamie Nicole Johnson joined Cooley as partners in its emerging companies and venture capital practice in Seattle. They join from Perkins Coie.
• Katie Mills and Ryan Mitchell joined Barnes & Thornburg as corporate partners.
• Asher Funk joined Alston & Bird as a partner on its health care regulatory team in Chicago.
• Mark Johansen joined Blank Rome as a partner in its business litigation group and financial services industry team in Dallas. He joins from Egan Nelson.
• Andrew Wein joined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in its consumer financial services team in New York. He joins from McGlinchey Stafford.
• Teresa Johnson joined WilmerHale as a partner and co-chair of the sports and gaming practice in San Francisco. She joins from Arnold & Porter.
• Peter Meier joined Eversheds Sutherland as a partner in its litigation practice group in Silicon Valley. He joins from Paul Hastings.