Wake Up Call: Perkins Coie Considers Launching a London Office

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

• Perkins Coie is considering opening a London office, which would mark the Seattle-founded firm’s first foray into Europe. US law firms have shown increased interest in London in the last decade, including Wilson Sonsini, which launched in London in 2018, Alston & Bird, which landed the following year, and others like Paul Hastings and Paul, Weiss that have boosted their existing presence. (Financial News)
• Ex-Linklaters partner Ronald Gibbs, who is being sued for 31 million pounds by a Saudi princess, says his life has been “destroyed” by the case. Gibbs, in a protracted legal battle with Saudi royals over his management of a $25 million investment fund for Princess Deema Bint Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has been “reduced to working ‘cash in hand’” as a boat captain. (Mirror)
• Eckert Seamans has hired a chief operations officer, Eddie Raychaudhuri, after going a decade without one. Before joining Eckert, an AmLaw 200 firm, Raychaudhuri worked as practice group director at DLA Piper, and has been a pricing manager with several other Big Law firms. (Above The Law)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Jennifer Polovetsky has joined Duane Morris as a partner in its real estate practice group in New York. She previously served as chair of the eminent domain practice at Herrick Feinstein.
• Ira Kustin has rejoined Akin as a partner in its investment management practice in the New York office.
• A commercial finance team led by partners Rick Boyd and Tyler Wolf has joined Barnes & Thornburg in the corporate department.
• Joe Sarcinella has joined Haynes and Boone as a transactional partner in the New York City office. He served as chair of the real estate practice group at Reed Smith.
• Nina Siewert will join Reed Smith as a tax partner in the global corporate group in Frankfurt, Germany.
• Robert Dever has joined Pinsent Masons as a partner to lead the tax law practice in Dublin. He served as a partner in the tax group at Eversheds Sutherland.
• S. Sherry Xia has joined Hinshaw & Culbertson as a partner in its consumer financial services practice in New York.
• Rebecca Chaffin has joined Holland & Knight as a partner with the financial services team in Charlotte, N.C. She was a partner at McGuireWoods.
• Caroline Patterson has joined Saul Ewing as a partner in its Chesterbrook, Penn., office.
• Kaitlin Abplanalp Brown has joined FisherBroyles as a partner with the corporate practice in Detroit, Mich. She joins from Maddin Hauser.
• David Sharrow has joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe as a partner with the life sciences and tech transactions team in Boston and New York. He led the licensing, strategic partnering, and commercial transactions group at Gunderson Dettmer.
• Lisa M. Lanham has joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in the financial regulatory and compliance practice in New York and Miami. She co-led the fintech and payment solutions team at Ballard Spahr.
• Colleen Tracy James has joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel as a partner in the litigation group and the life sciences patent litigation and intellectual property litigation practices in New York.