Wake Up Call: Orrick Posts $1.38 Billion Revenues for 2022

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

• Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe increased revenue 4.8% to $1.38 billion in 2022 in a year that was excellent for strategy, finances, and lateral hiring, firm chair Mitch Zuklie said. The San Francisco-founded firm, which in January merged with 100-lawyer firm Buckley, posted profits per equity partner up 1.3%, to $3.11 million even as its equity partnership increased by 4.4% to 116. (The Recorder)
• Duane Morris expanded its revenues 5.8% to $631.3 million in 2022, as its trial practices, including employment and intellectual property, helped offset flat revenue from its corporate practices. The Philadelphia-founded firm’s average PEP contracted 2.9% to $1.23 million, pulled down by costs of aggressive hiring. (Legal Intelligencer)
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati settled a lawsuit with Colorado-based legal recruiter Tribuo Partners LLC, which accused the law firm of failing to pay it for help luring an Austin-based partner from Shearman & Sterling. (Reuters)
• A Florida federal judge awarded a $131 million default judgment in favor of Gilead Sciences Inc. in its fraud lawsuit against health-care clinics, pharmacies, prescribers, and lab testing facilities. (Daily Business Review)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Dominion Voting Systems argued in a court filing that Fox Corp. chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh should have prevented the airing of former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. Dominion is suing Fox for $1.6 billion. (Corporate Counsel)
• US companies spent $3.5 billion to defend against class actions in 2022, according to a report. (CarltonFields.com)
• Chicago firm Seyfarth Shaw more than tripled its office space in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a recent move in the city. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Private equity firm limited partners are having a tug of war with firms’ general partners over what kinds of data about environmental, social and governance matters they should be able to get regarding portfolio companies, according to a report. (New Private Markets)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• WilmerHale recruited former chief counsel of Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Julie L. Williams as senior counsel in Washington in the firm’s financial institutions practice. At the OCC, Williams served as first senior deputy controller and served two times as acting controller of the currency. She arrives recently from Promontory Financial Group, where she was managing director and global head of strategy. (WilmerHale)
• Sullivan & Cromwell poached private equity attorney Karan Dinamani from Allen & Overy as partner in London. (LinkedIn.com) (Global Legal Post)
• Nelson Mullins LLP picked up veteran Big Law international arbitration partner and practice leader Luis O’Naghten as a partner in Miami and to lead its international arbitration practice. He arrives from Hughes Hubbard, where he was a partner. (NelsonMullins.com)
• Distributed firm FisherBroyles grabbed corporate lawyer Dan O’Brien as a partner in Philadelphia. He arrives after 24 years Klehr Harrison. (FisherBroyles.com)
• Foley & Larder brought back a former partner at the firm, renewable energy attorney Morten Lund, as of counsel in San Diego in its finance practice. He arrives from Stoel Rives, where he was a partner. (Foley.com)
• Carlton Fields named former Florida federal prosecutor Vanessa Singh Johannes co-managing shareholder of its Miami office. (CarltonFields.com)
• Paramount Pictures hired veteran Spanish technology, media and entertainment in-house lawyer Teresa González Ercoreca as legal director within its international commercial legal team, based in Madrid. She’s been in-house at ViacomCBS Networks and other US companies. (Iberian Lawyer)

Legal Education

• The top 20-ranked US law schools have produced more than three times the number of lawyers for the fossil fuel industry than the average for law schools, according to a new report by Law Students for Climate Accountability. (LS4CA.org)