Wake Up Call: Perkins Coie Breaks $1 Billion in Revenue

In today’s column, at least 15 Big Law firms made layoffs in 2020 and then posted major profits despite the pandemic; Coca-Cola’s new general counsel earned $4.7 million in a few months at the company last year; Davis Polk is defending Paul Hastings in a malpractice suit over rent contract terms; law school applications are way up, and Columbia Law is No. 1, again, for getting grads into law firm jobs.

• Leading off, Perkins Coie’s strong client relationships, tech practice, and work for the Democratic Party drove 7.1% growth in its gross revenues to get the firm over $1 billion for the first time, while its profits per equity partner gained 4.5% to $1.43 million, a report says. The firm in 2020 worked on Microsoft Corp’s $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc. as well as Fox News Corp.’s $350 million purchase of TV news stations from NextStar Media Group. Perkins Coie also represented the winner in more than 100 election related matters, including 60 post-election suits in an effort spearheaded by star partner Marc Elias. (American Lawyer)
• Debevoise & Plimpton closed its five-year-old Tokyo office at the end of February and will service its Japanese clients from New York and other offices. (Law.com International via American Lawyer)
• Texas businesses will still be able to require employees and customers to wear masks on company property after Governor Abbott’s executive order lifting the state’s mask mandate takes effect March 10, according to Jackson Walker trial partner Brad Nitschke. Actually enforcing their requirement could be tougher, said Nitschke, who is chair of the firm’s Covid-19 task force. (Houston Business Journal)
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said it is advising Jack Dorsey-run mobile payment company Square, Inc. on its plan to spend about $297 million to acquire a majority ownership stake in TIDAL, the streaming music service led by rapper Jay-Z. Reed Smith and Cummings & Lockwood are advising TIDAL. (Squareup.com) (Bloomberg News) Latham & Watkins is advising Airbnb on a $2 billion senior note offering. (Airbnb.com)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Coca-Cola Co paid its new general counsel Bradley Gayton about $4.7 million in total 2020 compensation after he arrived in September from Ford Motor Co., where he was top lawyer. The soft drink company disclosed the information in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gayton has already made a big impression at Coca-Cola by creating tougher guidelines around outside counsel diversity. (SEC.gov)
• Paul Hastings has hired Davis Polk & Wardwell to defend it from a $55 million malpractice suit filed by real estate entities over rent contract terms. (New York Law Journal)
• As U.S. tech giants increasingly face antitrust regulation and enforcement, law firms that have EU competition practices have to pick which side they’re going to fight on. (Law.com International via Legaltech News)
• Cooley started a U.K. diversity fellowship program; Meanwhile, U.K. firm Ashurst opened a Dublin office in response to Brexit and restrictions on practicing EU law. (Global Legal Post)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Ropes & Gray said its London office is getting European funds lawyer Emily Brown as a partner in April. She arrives from Schulte Roth & Zabel and advises private equity, real asset, and venture capital sponsors on fundraising. This week Ropes’ London office also got longtime Arnold & Porter partner Lincoln Tsang to lead its new European Life Sciences Regulatory Practice. Tsang is a former U.K. regulator and adviser to EU and global governmental authorities. (RopesGray.com)
• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS said retired U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Phillip J. Shefferly joined its Detroit panel; DLA Piper announced new office managing partners for five U.S. cities; Haynes and Boone said work law litigator Michael Gaston-Bell rejoined the firm from Katten as counsel in Dallas; Cozen O’Connor said its state attorneys general practice group will be led by the former head of Nebraska’s consumer protection division, Meghan Stoppel; Davis Wright Tremaine hired alcohol industry regulatory attorney Beth Hatef as counsel in Washington, from McDermott Will & Emery. (DWT.com)

Legal Education

• For an eighth-straight-year, Columbia Law School tops a ranking for law schools’ performance getting their grads into associate jobs at major law firms; After Covid forced firms to make their summer associate programs remote, some of them may never go back to in-person recruiting, this report says; Law school applications are up 20% so far this year, with the biggest growth coming in applicants that got high scores on the Law School Admission Test. (Law.com)