Wake Up Call: Perkins Coie Hikes Hours Required to Get Bonus

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 has reportedly angered its associates with an announcement that it’s adding 50 hours to the billable hours tally they need to get a full bonus. The report, citing tips from inside the firm, said the new requirement applies to the current “stat” year, which started nearly five months ago. (Above The Law)
• Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders confirmed a report of a cyberattack that hobbled its network, but said it appears no client data was compromised. Attorneys at the firm are using personal email to communicate with clients. (Legal Intelligencer)
• Litigation, contingency fee work, and billing rate increases helped Roseland, New Jersey-headquartered Lowenstein Sandler boost its gross revenues by 15.3% to $451.9 million in 2022. The firm’s average profits per equity partner surged 26.7% to $3.62 million, according to a report based on preliminary data. (New Jersey Law Journal)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Locke Lord said its executive committee re-elected Houston-based partner David Taylor as chair of the firm. It also re-elected executive committee vice chairs and made other leadership appointments. (LockeLord.com)
• Goodwin Procter advised venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in practice management platform provider Litify. Pryor Cashman advised Litify, which is based on Salesforce and was created in 2016 by leaders of plaintiffs firm Morgan & Morgan. (Businesswire) (GoodwinLaw.com)
• Manhattan’s district attorney said his office is investigating Madison Square Garden’s ban on lawyers from firms litigating against the company. (New York Law Journal)
• Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis, Shearman & Sterling, and two Chinese law firms advised on an agreement by Geely Holdings Group Co’s electric-car maker Lotus Technology to go public on the Nasdaq via a merger with an LVMH-backed special purpose acquisition company. The deal values the combined entity at about $5.4 billion. (China Business Law Journal)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Autonomous truck startup TuSimple Holdings Inc. promoted deputy general counsel and corporate secretary Evan Dunn, a Big Law veteran who joined the company 10 months ago, to general counsel. He replaces interim GC Susan Marsch, who took that role in September 2022, when then chief counsel James Mullen resigned amidst an investor lawsuit accusing the company of suppressing safety concerns ahead of an IPO. (PR Newswire)
• Cozen O’Connor brought in corporate attorney Jonathan Kitchen as a member in New York. He arrives from Barton LLP, where he was partner. (Cozen.com)
• Alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS hired litigator, arbitrator, and mediator Richard E. Buck to its panel in Orange County, California. JAMS also added mediator and law professor Genesis Fisher to its New York panel. She’s director of New York Law School’s mediation clinic. (JAMSadr.com)
• FisherBroyles snagged Tucker Ellis business and employment litigator Daniel Messeloff as partner in Cleveland, Ohio. (FisherBroyles.com)
• K&L Gates hired corporate attorney Matthew Watts as partner in its asset management and investment funds practice in Sydney, Australia. He was recently GC at funds management company Maple-Brown Abbott. (KLGates.com)
• Blank Rome hired Clark Hill litigator Alexander Bell as an associate in Pittsburgh. (BlankRome.com)
• The CW Network, a commercial television broadcaster, hired entertainment industry veteran Tom Martin as head of business affairs and general counsel. He arrives from MasterClass, where he was vice president and head of business affairs. (Nexstar.tv)
• Alabama-based fast food chain Chicken Salad Chick hired former longtime General Electric Co. in-house leader Carol Terry as VP and general counsel. (FastCasual.com)

Legal Education

• A Harvard Law School student was reportedly charged with a hate crime in a homophobic attack on a fellow law student. (The Harvard Crimson)
• The national nonprofit Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America announced the launch of a program to expand the pipeline of underrepresented, low-income students attending top-tier law schools. (Businesswire)