Wake Up Call: Paul Weiss Faces $258 Million Malpractice Claim

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

• A New York investment manager is suing Paul Weiss and partner Peter Fisch in Manhattan Supreme Court, accusing them of legal malpractice in a $258 million real estate deal. Paul Weiss called the plaintiff a “serial litigator” of “frivolous” lawsuits. (New York Law Journal)
• DLA Piper is the latest Big Law firm to hike pay for newly licensed junior lawyers in the UK, giving them a 5% raise effective Sept 1. London junior lawyers will get bumped up to 100,000 pounds ($126,525) and regional lawyers will go up to 68,500 pounds, a report says. In the competitive London talent market, DLA’s pay for juniors trails Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, which announced a raise earlier this week and several other big firms. (The Lawyer)
• Online retailer Overstock is buying the intellectual property assets of bankrupt home goods retail group Bed Bath & Beyond for $21.5 million. (Wall Street Journal)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Australian law firms have slowed their partner growth in response to rising costs and a slowing economy. (Financial Review)
• So-called hackers for hire are increasingly targeting law firms in an effort to steal sensitive data from courtroom opponents in litigation, according to a report by French cyber authority ANSSI. (ANSSI)
• A Washington lawyer who charged $30,000 for vacations and other spending on her firm’s credit card was permanently disbarred in New Jersey. (New Jersey Law Journal)
• A New Jersey lawyer accused of rapes in Boston that occurred 15 years ago faces new charges of sexual assault. (CNN)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Bracewell LLP added labor and employment lawyer Kelly Robreno Koster as partner in Houston. A former Eckert Seamans partner, she arrives from Munsch Hardt, where she was partner. She was general counsel at staffing company Pride Global. Bracewell also grabbed longtime Locke Lord litigation partner Paul Schuster as partner in Dallas. (Bracewell.com)
• Akerman brought back former partner Dennis Lueck in Denver as a member of its consumer financial services, data and technology practice group. He returns after stints as partner at two Big Law rivals. (Akerman)
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath said benefits and executive compensation attorney Betsy Olson, who was senior associate at the firm earlier in her career, returned as counsel in Los Angeles. She was recently at Jenner & Block. (Faegre Drinker)
• Greenberg Traurig grabbed two real estate partners from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe in Tokyo. (GTLaw.com)
• SoundCloud promoted in-house attorney Ama Walton to senior vice president of music licensing and deputy general counsel. (HypeBot.com)

Promotions

• Kelley Drye elected nine attorneys to partner and promoted seven to special counsel effective July 1. (KelleyDrye.com)

Technology

• Artificial intelligence-powered contract drafting startup DraftWise raised $5 million in a round led by EarlyBird with participation from investors Orrick. (LegalIT Insider)
• UK law firms say they suspect that candidates for training and other programs are using ChatGPT to write their applications. (Law.com International)

Legal Education

• The University of Buffalo announced that law professor and vice dean Todd Brown, a former Big Law attorney specializing in bankruptcy, complex litigation, and mass torts, will serve as interim dean of its law school. The school is searching for a permanent replacement for current dean Aviva Abramovsky, who is returning to her faculty role. Hofstra University named vice dean for academic affairs Julian Ku to interim dean of its Maurice A. Deane School of Law. The appointment of Ku, a former Debevoise & Plimpton attorney, comes as the school looks to replace Gail Prudenti, who announced she’s stepping down after six years as dean. (Hofstra.edu)