Wake Up Call: Polsinelli Blocked From Taking Blue Cross Clients

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

• A federal judge in Alabama barred Polsinelli from representing plaintiffs in litigation against Blue Cross Blue Shield, citing an ethical conflict. The firm had been advising clients on potentially opting out of a $2.8 billion class-action settlement in the Blue Cross case in order to sue the insurer on their own. However, the judge ruled that former attorneys from Maynard Nexsen, who previously defended Blue Cross Alabama, had joined Polsinelli, creating a conflict of interest. (Reuters)
• The only known portrait of Macon Bolling Allen, the first Black lawyer in the US, has been lost for over a century and a retired judge is trying to find it. Allen was admitted to the Maine bar in 1844 but struggled to find clients in the predominantly white state. Despite his achievements—including becoming the first Black judge and co-founding the first Black-owned law firm—his contributions were often overlooked, and Maine’s legal profession has seen slow progress in diversity. (Portland Press Herald)
• Jennifer Zaccheus-Miller, a lawyer in Kentucky, pleaded guilty to theft charges after she stole over $200,000 from two different estates. As a result of her plea, Zaccheus-Miller will “automatically and temporarily be barred from practicing law,” the state attorney general said, though they did not say how long the ban would last. (WCPO)

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• Ed Siskel joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its Chicago and Washington offices. He joins from the White House, where he was counsel to President Joe Biden.
• Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson joined Freshfields as energy partners in London. They join from Paul Hastings.
• Michael Hochman joined Sidley Austin as a partner in its privacy and cybersecurity practice in Washington. He joins from the White House Office of the National Cyber Director.
• Matthew Axelrod joined Gibson Dunn as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice group in Washington. He joins from the Commerce Department, where he was assistant secretary for export enforcement in the Bureau of Industry and Security.